Got your life vest? We’re in Madison, Wisconsin this week! Catch all the behind the scenes gossip with John, Emmy, and Lois as they discuss art, food, and museums in Land of the Four Lakes. Tune in to see if you're the next fan shoutout! Find extra content, podcasts or show merchandise on https://mainstreets.tv. @mainstreetstv on social…

Food science? That’s our specialty. Join John, Emmy, and Lois as they talk about college life, root beer, and the great art collections of Greater Lafayette, Indiana. Tune in to see if you're the next fan shoutout! Find extra content, podcasts or show merchandise on https://mainstreets.tv. @mainstreetstv on social…

Wait, how many flavors of Spam are there?! Listen in as John, Emmy, and Lois discuss wacky flavors, how-tos on messy food, and what it takes to spot a local in Austin, Minnesota. Tune in to see if you're the next fan shoutout! Find extra content and show merchandise on https://mainstreets.tv. @mainstreetstv on social…

We had a lot of surprises with this trip! Join John, Emmy, and Lois as they discuss the busiest bakeries, ore docks, and parks dedicated to art. Tune in to see if you're the next fan shoutout! Find extra content and show merchandise on https://mainstreets.tv. @mainstreetstv on socialDoor John McGivern's Main streets

I think John has found a new hobby! Listen in as John, Emmy, and Lois discuss cleaning up cemeteries, Emmy’s dancing skills, and John’s fashion in Decorah, Iowa. Tune in to see if you're the next fan shoutout! Find extra content and show merchandise on https://mainstreets.tv. @mainstreetstv on social…

The mayor makes what?! Join John, Emmy, and Lois as they discuss being close to home, the new generation of theater, and the best picnic foods in Waukesha, Wisconsin! Tune in to see if you're the next fan shoutout! Find extra content and show merchandise on https://mainstreets.tv. @mainstreetstv on social…

Lois really put John and Emmy through the wringer with this one! Listen in as they talk about crazy weather, great food, and amazing people in Oak Park, Illinois. Tune in to see if you're the next fan shoutout! Find extra content and show merchandise on https://mainstreets.tv. @mainstreetstv on social…

John, Emmy and Lois go behind the scenes of Red Wing, Minnesota where they discuss boating, special Red Wing Shoes, and who has the best café in town! Tune in to see if you're the next fan shoutout! Find extra content and show merchandise on https://mainstreets.tv. @mainstreetstv on socialDoor John McGivern's Main Streets

Michigan City, Indiana, surprised John by having so many of his favorite things: Incredible sandy beaches and dunes (so unlike Milwaukee), the Barker Mansion (very Downton Abbey), beautiful consignment and local stores (an addiction for sure), large scale manufacturing (so much to learn), and, of course, delicious food (yes, pierogies please)! In t…

Grand Rapids, Michigan, was once known as Furniture City. Now thanks to craft brewers, it’s self-coined as Beer City. The top tourist attraction is probably The Gerald R Ford Presidential Museum. But ArtPrize, Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and Max’s South Seas Hideaway help make this city just plain attractive! In thi…

Davenport is the largest of the Quad Cities and the third largest city in Iowa. It’s where chiropractic began, and music is celebrated. Now it’s home to the most incredible Ethiopian food, a great art museum, and is where work vehicle seats are made. Who knew? It’s also a city John wants to visit again soon. In this episode you'll hear from John, E…

In Springfield, Illinois, you could spend a week just taking in all of the incredible Abraham Lincoln history. But then you’d miss the “new” Capitol, horseshoe sandwiches, the Route 66 experience, and cozy dogs. John McGivern and Emmy Fink didn’t miss any of it, so come along for their visit. In this episode you'll hear from John, Emmy, and Main St…

Dodgeville, WI, is a close-knit yet welcoming driftless area community built on mining. Dodgeville has some legendary Wisconsin treasures, like Governor Dodge State Park, The House on the Rock and Bob’s Bitchin BBQ. There are legendary people, like Softball Coach Gene Van Dyke and the Reilly brothers. Dodgeville more recently attracted Steph’s Swee…

Goshen is in Elkhart County, IN. This area makes 85% of recreational vehicles in the US. Dynamax, Janus Motorcycles, Goshen College and Radio Horizonte were surprising. Mexican food is a given here, but Neopolitan pizza at Venturi and Maple City Indian Restaurant? Yum! Add the Old Bag Factory and Quilt Gardens and what you get is joy. In this episo…

Iowa City is a college town. Go Hawkeyes! It’s also a literary town, home to Prairie Lights Books and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. It’s a farming town, growing well at Urban Greens and Wilson’s Orchard & Farm. And it’s an innovative town, with one-of-a-kinds like the National Advanced Driving Simulator, Unimpaired Dry Bar and Crepes De Luxe Café. In…

In Milwaukee WI’s Menomonie Valley, The Harley Davidson Museum, Palermo’s Potawatomi Casino and BBC Lighting are well known and always fun. But there’s more happening here. Do you like pickled foods? Bay View Packing is for you. Art? Warehouse Art Museum is unreal. How about eating and drinking? Twisted Fisherman and Third Space Brewing got you! In…

Escanaba, Michigan, has a “Yooper” culture all their own. You can taste it in the delicious pasties at Dobber’s and in the sweet wines at Leigh’s Winery. You can hear it in Ludington Park when nearly 100-year old City Band plays. You can feel it in the great outdoors while you fish with Beaver’s Lures or watch the sun rise at Terrace Bay Inn. In th…

Winona, MN, is a city of 26,000 very lucky people, built on a Mississippi River sandbar. A Willet Hauser, artists make stained glass. Watkins Co. employees make tons of vanilla, and the crew at Wenonah Canoe make – guess. Sugar Loaf Bluff is a paradise for climbers, Yarnology is home for knitter and NOSH is heaven for John, because he’s an eater! I…

Fort Wayne, Indiana, is such a great city to visit, but residents say the best part is living here. John knew it’s home to Vera Bradley and Sweetwater. But he didn’t expect a Diocesan Museum, a huge Public Library with genealogy center and Abe Lincoln collection, the most perfect Children’s Zoo or Coney Island Hot Dogs. What a great city! In this e…

Woodstock, Illinois, may have been put on the map by the movie Groundhog Day, but it’s what John McGivern finds in real life that deserves the spotlight. Beside the movie tour stops, places like Cherry Tree Inn, Boss Straws, Ethereal Confections and Dented Gate Flower Farm make Woodstock the perfect little community. In this episode you’ll hear fro…

Iowa’s Amana Colonies lived communally until 1932. Today their innovative past and welcoming hospitality draw visitors by the thousands. John McGivern is reminded of a simpler time at the Meat Shop, the Woolen Mill and Schanz Furniture, and very grateful for present amenities at Whirlpool Corp, the Ox Yoke Inn and Millwright Hotel. In this episode …

What’s in Holland, Michigan, besides tulips? Get ready for all things Dutch, and much more. John McGivern clomps around in wooden shoes at the Windmill Gardens, satisfies his sweet tooth at Nelis’ Dutch Village and DeBoer Bakery, cherishes his wooden bowl from the Holland Bowl Mill, and is enthralled at the only Delft factory in North America. In t…

Everybody knows that Bloomington, MN is home to that Mall of America, but the behind-the-scenes tour was full of surprises for John McGivern. Then there’s the rest of the city. He didn’t expect to find a ski jump, the largest bicycle distributor in America, the first tap room in Minnesota and a goat farm! In this episode you’ll hear from John, Main…

De Pere, WI is sometimes called a suburb of Green Bay, but don’t say that to anyone who lives there. John McGivern loved visiting both sides of downtown, the only Notbertine College in the world, making his own blend of Luna Coffee, opening the manual lock on the Fox Locks system and tasting all that Seroogy’s Chocolates has to offer. In this episo…

Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood boasts a main street straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. John McGivern enjoys the German roots still present, but also finds many ethnicities in this diverse neighborhood. A few highlights include the Old Town School of Folk Music, Merz Apothecary, Gene’s Sausage and Timeless Toys. In this episode you’l…

Welcome to season 2 of John McGivern’s Main Streets! The Main Streets podcast takes you behind the scenes of this popular TV program. As we explore great communities across the Midwest on the show each week, you can come here to get the inside scoop from John, Main Streets producer and director Lois Maurer and the content producer of that week’s ep…

Sister Bay was named after the unincorporated Sister Islands just off the horizon in the bay.Its endless shoreline has been a hotspot for tourists since the late 1800s.

In 1900, Kalamazoo was the celery capital of the world! No kidding. The nearby “mucklands” are perfect for growing celery! In the second half of the 1800s, Kalamazoo was known as paper city. The Bryant Paper Company here in Kalamazoo became the largest Michigan manufacturer of book paper. And by World War II, a score of local mills made Kalamazoo t…

Le Claire is a storied river town, a classic Mississippi River port that boomed in the mid–19th century. The old river pilot homes are still here, which are testament to the fact that river pilots were needed because here is where the river makes a sharp turn to the west. LeClaire is about 15 miles northeast of the Quad Cities and is so close that …

Formed more than 10-thousand years ago by glaciers, the area was first the home of the Miami and Potawatomi tribes. The area quickly thrived thanks to its location to not just Lake Michigan, but also rivers –helping the fur trade and eventually steel production, flourish. But the water wasn’t the only mode of transpiration that brought in commerce.…

Rochester is located in Southeastern Minnesota. It’s about an hour and a half drive southwest of the Twin Cities and about 50 miles due east of Winona on the Mississippi River. Today, Rochester has residents and visitors from all around the world. The city’s population is about 120,000 and the Mayo Clinic employs over 40,000 of them.…

This charming town in northwest Illinois is named after a mineral mined here 20 years before the gold rush in California. It was a booming mining town in 1860 with a population of over 12000 when Ulysses S Grant moved here. Grant and the lead mines are no more, but the buildings still are.

The Harbor District has been a hub of prosperity for hundreds of years –first as a rice marsh with plentiful fish and game, then as an economic hub that served industries throughout the state. Roughly, the boundaries are Pittsburg Avenue on the north side of Harbor District, Bay Street to the south, South First Street to the west and Lake Michigan …

South Bend is on the St. Joseph River and got its name because the city sits on the river’s southernmost bend. The first residents were the Miami and Potawatomi tribes –and the river access eventually drew in an influx of fur traders. Established in 1865, South Bend saw a business boom in industry thanks to the St. Joseph River. Studebaker, Oliver …

On the corner of Myrtle and Main Streets in Stillwater, Minnesota began. So why here? Well... when Wisconsin became a state in 1848, that left people WEST of the St. Croix river “high and dry” with no government. So, the people of Stillwater held a territorial convention right hereand voted to send a delegate to Washington D.C. to organize a new te…

Rockford is the largest city in Illinois outside of the Chicago area. It was originally known as “Midway Village” because, for travelers, it was halfway between Chicago and Galena. This city was known for industrial manufacturing in the last century but today it’s been retooled into a center for healthcare and aerospace technology. John & his produ…

Being right on Lake Michigan, South Haven Michigan has always been a port city. In the late 1800s, the surrounding timber industry gave way to farming, but another industry grew very well here–the resort and tourism industry. John & his producer Lois Maurer on the drive home as they chat about their impressions of the community and share interestin…

John & his producer Lois Maurer on the drive home as they chat about their impressions of the community and share interesting stories that may have hit the cutting room floor. This city has the same name as the lake. Green Lake is about seven miles wide, and its maximum depth is 237 feet, making it the deepest natural lake in all of Wisconsin. It’s…

John & his producer Lois Maurer on the drive home as they chat about their impressions of the community and share interesting stories that may have hit the cutting room floor. Dubuque is in Iowa, where Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois would meet if the Mississippi didn’t divide them. This was and is, first and foremost, a river town. The mighty Mississ…

Welcome to John McGivern's Main Streets, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of this popular TV program. We're kicking off this podcast to give you more of what you love. Great stories about communities across the Midwest featuring actor and comedian John McGivern.Door John McGivern's Main Streets