Erika Janik is the award-winning author of Odd Wisconsin, A Short History of Wisconsin, Madison: A History of a Model City, Apple: A Global History, and Marketplace of the Marvelous: The Strange Origins of Modern Medicine (Beacon Press, Jan. 2014). She is the recipient of a 2011 Wisconsin Historical Society Award of Merit for History Writing, 2009 North American Travel Journalists Association award for historical travel writing as well as the 2007 William B. Hesseltine Award. Her work has appeared in many publications, including Smithsonian.com, Mental Floss, The Onion, MyMidwest, Wisconsin Trails magazine, On Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Magazine of History, as well as on Wisconsin Public Radio. Originally from Redmond, Washington, she now knows more about Wisconsin than she ever thought possible. In her spare time, she's the producer and editor of "Wisconsin Life" at Wisconsin Public Radio.