Radio Stories

#1: Exotic in Wisconsin

Crystal Chan grew up a mixed-race kid in Wisconsin. She’s been finding her place and answering people’s questions about her place ever since.

#2: Names

Names are one of the most important things we have. Crystal shares what it’s like to have a hidden name – her Chinese name – and what it was like to finally have a place for it in the world.

#3: Pay It Forward

There’s tremendous power in giving. When writer Crystal Chan was the beneficiary of kindness in an unlikely place – Chicago traffic – she found a way to repay that kindness by giving to someone else.

#4: The Joy of Walking in the Rain

For some people, rain is the chance to hunker down indoors. For others, rain is something to enjoy outdoors. Crystal Chan grew up with a rain-loving mother who encouraged her kids not to come inside when the rain drops fell but to go outside. Chan still loves rain to this day.

#5: When a Baseball Game Goes Awry

Many of us were forced to play sports as a child. Crystal Chan’s parents signed her up for tee-ball. One disastrous outing led to a change of plans.

#6: Winter Hitchhiker Tests Balance of Safety and Compassion

It was a bad snowstorm, the kind that wipes out your vision, erases the world, and makes you break for a red light a full city block before you come to the intersection.

#7: Wonder and Terror on the First Day of School

The first time I experienced wonder was on my first day in kindergarten.

#8: Dancing in the Cornfield

My childhood home in Oshkosh lay on the outskirts of town, at the edge of a farmer’s field.

#9: An Over the Lake Drive to Milwaukee

My dad never asked for directions. Never. He always knew the best way to get there, especially when he didn’t.

#10: A Winter Childhood

Editor’s Note: Snow and cold trigger warm memories for Crystal Chan. Now living in Chicago, she recalls what winter meant during a Wisconsin childhood and how she tries to recapture that now.

#11: A City Got Together and Built A Place To Play

A playground can be more than just a playground. Sometimes it’s magic. But sometimes it’s even more than that.

#12: Driving Lessons (and I’m on TV)

Author Crystal Chan has lived in Chicago for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has brought her back to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to reconnect with her family. She shares a story of the renewed confidence she learned during a hometown driving lessons, taught by her mother.

…and psst! Spectrum 1 News got word of this radio story and made a video about it. Enjoy the heart-warming mother/daughter story of families coming together in Covid.

#13: A Savory Gift of Gratitude

Foodie alert! Writer Crystal Chan loves to cook. During the pandemic, she traveled home often, enjoying long stays with her parents. To show her gratitude, she would cook delicious and comforting dishes …

#14: The Goose Pond: Finding Healing in Presence

Sometimes, an ordinary experience surprises us — turning the mundane into something extraordinary. Writer Crystal Chan felt this on a walk she took in her neighborhood with a friend, reminding …