A Public Affair

Next Tuesday, April 7 is the Spring Election in Wisconsin. On today's show, host Ali Muldrow is in conversation with two local election officials: Madison City Clerk, Lydia McComas, and Dane County Clerk, Scott McDonell. They talk about absentee and early voting, voter turnout, and the vicious environment around elections created by the Trump administration. McDonell says that Madison is the gold standard for early voting in the state. That's because the city has made early voting available at libraries even at night and on the weekends. He says that this measure has increased voting by 3-4%, especially engaging the casual voters out there. He's noticed an increase in-person early voting this year, closer to pre-pandemic levels. McComas discusses the quick turnaround between the Spring Primary in February and the Spring Election in April and all the work that her office does to make this quick transition seamless. She says that no matter how you cast your ballot, it will be counted in Madison and that she's working to rebuild trust after 193 ballots went uncounted in 2024.  They reassure listeners that our local elections are safe and secure, despite the erosion of trust in voting that the Trump administration has fostered. And they talk about efforts to help students engaged in voting, how they have been threatened at their jobs, increasing access to voting for the elderly and eligible voters in Dane County jails, and the importance of showing gratitude to poll workers. If you want to find your polling place, register to vote, or learn what's on your ballot, go to myvote.wi.gov.  Lydia McComas is Madison's City Clerk. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in political science. She holds a graduate certificate in election administration from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Her previous role was as Voter Engagement Division Manager with Hennepin County in Minnesota. Scott McDonell has served as the Dane County Clerk since he was first elected in 2013. In 2014, McDonell became the first clerk in Wisconsin to issue a same-sex marriage license, and he is the only clerk in the country to oversee two presidential recounts in 2016 and 2020. Featured image of a polling sign courtesy of WORT. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Thank Goodness for Local Election Clerks appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Dana Pellebon is in conversation with Madison Common Council District 14 Candidates, Kate Blood and Noah Lieberman. District 14 encompasses parts of South Madison and is currently represented by Alder Isadore Knox Jr. The candidates speak about their priorities for their district, what they'd like to see in Madison, and how to reduce racial disparities in the city. Next Tuesday, April 7 is Election Day. Find out what's on your ballot here.  Common Council District 14 Candidate: Kate Blood Kate Blood says that she decided to run for office when a housing development was proposed in her neighborhood without the input of her Latinx neighbors. She supports restorative justice, restorative courts, and using diversion programs to keep people out of jails and prisons. Blood says that reducing racial disparities in Madison should start with supporting our students. That means reevaluating discipline formats using deescalation protocols. She says that fully funding the CARES program is a long-term investment in our community.  Kate Blood worked for WHEDA and the DOA providing affordable housing around the state. She now works as a chaplain.  Featured image: remix of a photo of Kate Blood with the Madison City Council district map by Sara Gabler/WORT. Common Council District 14 Candidate: Noah Lieberman Noah Lieberman is running for Common Council because local government is where community is put into practice, from parks and libraries to good roads and transportation. He wants to create home ownership opportunities for Black and Brown residents of his district to help address long-term racial disparities in the city. He also supports state-level changes to the minimum wage and wants to see the city build up tenants' rights in order to stop predatory landlords who he says are an impediment to making the city affordable. Noah Lieberman is a stay at home dad. He previously served as vice chair of the Dane County Democratic Party, helping to recruit and support progressive candidates around the county. He also served as chair of Madison’s Landlord Tenant Issues Committee. Featured image: remix of a photo of Noah Lieberman with the Madison City Council district map by Sara Gabler/WORT. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Common Council District 14 Candidates: Kate Blood and Noah Lieberman appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

The Spring Primary election is next Tuesday and on today's show, Sara Gabler is in conversation with Madison Metropolitan School District School Board Seat 7 Candidates, incumbent Nicki Vander Meulen and challenger Dana Colussi-Lynde. They speak about their priorities for the school district, how they would address opportunity gaps, safe learning environments, literacy rates, student enrollment in the district, and more. School Board Seat 7 Candidate: Nicki Vander Meulen Nicki Vander Meulen is seeking a fourth term on the school board. She says that Madison is a “property rich but tax poor district” and that the current state funding formula has created two separate school systems for public schools and charter schools. She would like greater transparency when it comes to funding and at the same time better compensation for veteran teachers so that their talents stay in the district.  Serving students with disabilities is a top priority for Vander Meulen, who says that having the opportunity to attend public schools changed her life. She wants to see K-3rd grade classrooms capped at 23 students and more partnerships with community organizations who could provide tutoring to MMSD students. Equitable staff compensation, tutoring, keeping police out of schools, and addressing the culture of bullying would all contribute to reducing the opportunity gaps and declining enrollment in the district, Vander Muelen says. Nicki Vander Meulen is a juvenile attorney and member of the Madison Board of Education. When Nicki was elected in 2017, she became the first openly autistic school board member in the United States. Featured image of Nicki Vander Meulen. School Board Seat 7 Candidate: Dana Colussi-Lynde Dana Colussi-Lynde comes from a family of educators, and she's running for school board because she's concerned about the state of our democracy. She says her background in information technology has prepared her to address process improvement and assess the effectiveness of student technology use.  She points to the unfavorable data on student technology use and test scores and supports the “bell to bell” cell phone ban in the district.  She is also concerned about the educational opportunity gap and would like to see partnerships with the Goodman Center, NAMI, and other organizations to support students' wellbeing. She wants to see students graduating at their reading level and an increase in apprenticeship programs so students can be future-ready when they leave the school system. Dana Colussi-Lynde was born in Madison and raised in the Madison area by two teachers before graduating from Madison West High School. She then went on to Madison College for a degree in Information Technology, leading to a 25-year career in IT leadership, analysis and process improvement. She was a board member of New Leaders Council, a progressive leadership organization, for two years following their institute in 2019. She has also volunteered for Courage Plus and Planned Parenthood along with canvassing for local and national political campaigns. She was recently endorsed by the Wisconsin State Journal, Dane Dems and Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance and designated as a Mental Health Now Candidate. The school board would be her first, but hopefully not her last, public service role. Featured image of Dana Colussi-Lynde. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Madison School Board Seat 7 Candidates: Nicki Vander Meulen and Dana C... appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Esty Dinur is in conversation with four guests–Joe Bates, Matthew Borke, Rob Lee, and Gracie Waukechon–who are fighting against the reroute of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation in northern Wisconsin. Enbridge has begun construction on the reroute though the legal battle has not been fully resolved. Joe Bates discusses how he uses his drone to observe the construction. He's captured footage of the new easement where Enbridge plans to use horizontal directional drilling to install the new pipeline. Matthew Borke says that what we're hearing from the Trump administration is a forked-tongue message. He encourages folks to stay informed about the legal proceedings.  Gracie Waukechon says that this issue is personal. In light of the threat that the pipeline poses to the lands and waters of the region she says, “I feel as if my future has been taken away from me.” She's also worried about the future of resistance in light of a contract that Ashland County officials signed last month for policing protests.  Rob Lee talks about how Enbridge is starting to break ground on construction of the reroute, but it's not a foregone conclusion that they will get final approval. He reminds listeners that the oil that passes through Line 5 passes from Canada and back to Canada, which should concern people across the political spectrum.  Joe Bates is a Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa tribal elder and water protector.  Matthew Borke was raised in southern Michigan and graduated as a Chef from Northern Michigan University's Culinary Arts program. Matthew has been organizing for the complete shutdown of Enbridge Line 5 since 2017 locally, nationally, and internationally. Rob Lee is a Senior Staff Attorney at Midwest Environmental Advocates. His work spans a wide range of environmental and public health issues. His areas of focus include PFAS contamination, oil pipelines, Clean Water Act compliance, wetlands and waterways, the Great Lakes, Wisconsin's Public Trust Doctrine, hazardous substances, mining, and open government. Gracie Waukechon/Meyāwāēw (May-yow-way) is a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and a Menominee Descendant. She resides near the Menominee Reservation with her family. Gracie is a student at the College of Menominee Nation and interns at the Sustainable Development Institute. Featured image of the proposed Line 5 reroute via the Wisconsin DNR. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post The Fight Over Line 5 Is Far From Over appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, guest host Bert Zipperer is in conversation with scholar Gianni Cicali about the famous children's play Pinocchio and how it speaks to the vital importance of the arts during times of national crisis, from the 1930s to today. Next month marks the 200th birthday of Pinocchio's creator, Carlo Collodi. They discuss the 1930s Federal Theater Project production of Pinocchio. The play was produced by Yasha Frank with the children theater division of the WPA. The program employed people who were unemployed during the Great Depression and offered low-cost tickets so more people could access the theater. The FTP production of Pinocchio played nationwide for two years and on Broadway until June 1939 when Congress and the House Unamerican Activities Committee killed the production. Gianni Cicali is a specialist in the history of Italian theater (Renaissance, Baroque and 18th-century). He holds an Italian “laurea vecchio ordinamento” (M.A. equivalent) and doctoral degrees from both Italy (Università di Firenze) and Canada (University of Toronto). His interests focus on Italian theater, opera and culture from the 15th to the 18th century; Renaissance and Baroque religious theater; cinema; migrations to the Americas of Italian theater professionals (19th-century New Orleans). Featured image: of a photo from the Federal Theatre Project's production of Pinocchio via Library of Congress. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Public Theater in Times of National Crisis appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

There was once a time in the US when public banks were the norm; but now the financial landscape is dominated by large retail and commercial for-profit banks. On today's show, guest host Zoe Sullivan is in conversation with Don Morgan and Oscar Perry Abello about the benefits of public banking for local communities and small and medium-sized businesses, especially when it comes to supporting communities that have historically been discriminated against and that may not have much collateral or credit history. Morgan describes the services that the Bank of North Dakota provides, including novel ways of responding to natural disasters and other crises. For instance, they have a Farm Financial Stability Program for row-crop farmers who have been struggling due to extreme flooding, high input costs, and low commodity prices.  Abello discusses how public banks support housing initiatives. He says that so much of construction lending is done by local and regional banks who are the institutions that people turn to when they want to build affordable housing or build on vacant lots. However, access to community banks is limited. Abello says there are 4,000 community banks out there, but only 3% of those banks are run by Black, Latinx, or Native American owners. They also talk about how public banks would respond to a national banking crisis, crypto currency, address community needs quickly and nimbly, how they're different from postal banking. Morgan says that “behind strong communities are strong community banks.” And Abello adds that “banking is too important to leave to the bankers.” Don Morgan is the CEO of the Bank of North Dakota. Oscar Perry Abello is a journalist covering alternative economic models and policies across the United States and the author of The Banks We Deserve. He is currently the senior economic justice correspondent for Next City, an independent, not-for-profit, online publication covering cities from the lens of social, racial, and environmental justice.  Featured image of a piggy bank. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Banking Is Too Important to Leave to the Bankers appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Dana Pellebon is in conversation with District Attorney Ismael Ozanne about his office and the new community court that will help reduce racial disparities and recidivism in Dane County.  DA Ozanne has a long history in Madison, from playing soccer at UW-Madison to overseeing the report on racial disparities commissioned by Governor Doyle. He says that in a city with a growing population and growing law enforcement, there aren't enough public defenders to represent the community. His office has 30 total prosecutors, but there should be 1 prosecutor for every 10,000 residents. Many of these positions are funded by the state, but others like the Victim Witness Program and Crime Response Program are funded by the county. DA Ozanne discusses how these offices work together and how they will connect to a new initiative out of the Community Justice Council (CJC). The CJC was created in 2008 and now works to take criminal justice decisions out of the criminal courts.  The CJC is composed of major criminal justice leaders and aims to make evidence-based improvements and expand restorative courts with the goal of slashing recidivism rates, like similar programs in New York City and Chicago did. However, laws in Wisconsin mean that community courts have to take place in a courthouse, not in a more relaxed community setting. The new community court will be led by Circuit Judge Nia Trammell. District Attorney Ismael Ozanne is a lifelong resident of Madison, Wisconsin. He received his law degree from the UW Madison Law School in 1998 and was appointed as the Executive Assistant for the Department of Corrections (DOC), the largest cabinet agency in the state, by Governor Doyle in 2008. In 2010, he was appointed by Gov. Doyle to Dane County District Attorney and is the first African American District Attorney in Wisconsin's history. Featured image of District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post A New Community Court is Coming to Dane County appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

The Spring Election is two short weeks away and on today's show, host Douglas Haynes is in conversation with Madison Metropolitan School District School Board Seat 6 Candidates, challenger Daniella Molle and incumbent Blair Mosner Feltham. They speak about their priorities for the school district, how they would address opportunity gaps, safe learning environments, public funding for schools, student enrollment in the district, and more.  School Board Seat 6 Candidate: Daniella Molle Danielle Molle's educational journey began in public schools in Bulgaria before she attended public universities in the US. She has worked as an education researcher for 15 years with an emphasis on the needs of multilingual students. For the past five years, she has worked as a research partner to districts across the country that are changing their systems to advance equity in schools. Molle says there hasn't been someone on the School Board with a background in language development; and in a district where a quarter of the students are bilingual, the School Board needs to understand their experience. She is concerned about the adoption of new math and literacy curriculums and how they would address opportunity gaps. She also discusses her perspective on restorative justice practices and ballot referenda.  Daniella Molle is an education researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has two children in the Madison schools, one at Hamilton Middle School and one at West High School. She volunteers weekly in a math classroom at Cherokee High School, and is a parent representative on the district’s Advanced Learning Advisory Committee. Professionally, she worked with Madison teachers for a decade as a researcher and as a teacher supervisor.  Featured image of Daniella Molle. School Board Seat 6 Candidate: Blair Mosner Feltham Blair Mosner Feltham has been a teacher since 2010 and says you can't produce curriculum unless you've been in the classroom. She wants to keep her seat on the School Board so she can see her vision of a stable future for the district in practice. She is the first Board member to run for reelection to Seat 6 in more than 10 years. Mosner Feltham says the district needs collaboration with political leadership to address opportunity gaps. The school district provides transportation and food banks, but she wants to think bigger about how affordable housing and healthcare are other barriers that affect students' opportunities. Recently, she worked with the School Board to pass a resolution to advance safe firearm storage. She also discusses student cell phone use and state funding formulas.  Blair Mosner Feltham is a classroom teacher, a mom to two MMSD students, and has been serving on the MMSD Board of Education since 2023. She is the only serving Board member and the only candidate who is a public school teacher. Over the last 15 years, she has taught in public schools in 4 districts and two states, including for 7 years in MMSD, mostly at West High School, where she also served as a union rep for many years.  Featured image of Blair Mosner Feltham. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Madison School Board Seat 6 Candidates: Daniella Molle and Blair Mosne... appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

With so much carnage in the news cycle, it's easy to overlook the wellbeing of the world's rainforests like the Amazon, the “lungs of the planet.” On today's show, host Esty Dinur is in conversation with Laurel Sutherlin of the Rainforest Action Network about the importance of protecting this precious resource from deforestation caused by industrial agriculture.  Sutherlin says that the world's rainforests are integral to global climate and the products that are being consumed in the US are destroying them. He wants more people to understand that deforestation is the second leading cause of the climate crisis and that's being driven by industrial agriculture like palm oil plantations. This is also a human rights story, says Sutherlin, as rainforests around the world are home to Indigenous peoples. The Rainforest Action Network works to hold the companies extracting resources and violating the human rights of Indigenous peoples accountable. Sutherlin says that the countries driving deforestation will often set up shell companies to shield themselves from accountability.  From March 21-18, the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement is calling for a boycott of Chevron. Sutherlin says that Chevron is a “poster corporation” for the destruction of the rainforests. In Ecuador they left hundreds of open pit oil pools throughout the rainforest, polluting drinking water and food sources. They also talk about the link between war and climate change, the shining examples of Indigenous leadership and climate activism, National Oreo Day in opposition to the Mondelēz International corporation, and the health of rainforests from Sumatra, to Borneo and the Congo.  Laurel Sutherlin is the Director of Strategic Communications at Rainforest Action Network, where he has worked on international conservation and human rights campaigns for over 15 years. Laurel also sits on the board of Directors of a bioregional, forest protection group in Oregon called the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KSWild). He is a lifelong birder, naturalist and outdoor educator. He currently lives in Kingston, in the Hudson Valley of New York State, where he hosts a weekly live radio talk show program called Nature Nuggets. Featured image of a palm oil plantation in Indonesia. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Deforestation Won't End Because of Good Corporate Hearts appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Allen Ruff is in conversation with Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archive, an expert on US-Cuba relations. White House threats to Cuba are making the daily news, and just this week, President Trump said he plans on “taking Cuba in some form” and doing anything he wants with it.  Kornbluh sketches the US's long antagonism toward Cuba. He says the seeds of the current situation are in the early twentieth century, when the US “appropriated” Cuba's war of independence against Spain and into a neocolonial relationship with Cuba with the Platt Amendment. Kornbluh reminds listeners that March 20 is the 10th anniversary of President Obama's historic trip to Havana.  Currently the crisis of the Cuban electrical grid is taking a humanitarian toll and the lack of fuel is impacting all areas of life on the island. Kornbluh says that Trump “needs to stop suffocating Cuba.” But Trump's “imperious attitude” makes it hard for diplomacy to proceed. He effectively created what Kornbluh calls a “sphere of intimidation” in Latin America where other countries are concerned if they could be the President's next target.  Peter Kornbluh is a Senior Analyst at the National Security Archive. He currently directs the Archive's Cuba and Chile Documentation Projects. He was co-director of the Iran-Contra documentation project and director of the Archive's project on U.S. policy toward Nicaragua. From 1990-1999, he taught at Columbia University as an adjunct assistant professor of international and public affairs. Featured image of the Cuban flag.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post The Economic Warfare That's Suffocating Cuba appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Esty Dinur is in conversation with writer Hooman Majd about the escalating Israel-US war on Iran and how these countries are expanding the war to Lebanon, the Gulf States, and beyond. Majd describes the constant barrage of bombs on Tehran, how Israel is displacing Lebanese people, and that the death toll is growing. This week, Iranian leaders marched in the streets of Tehran projecting unity and defiance as the war reaches two weeks.  Majd says there's no sign that Israel or the US are going to end the war, and there's no sign that Iran is going to surrender or negotiate a ceasefire. Despite Trump's claims that he would pick the next leader of Iran, Iranian leadership appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as the country's new Supreme Leader.  They also discuss the restrictions on foreign journalists in Iran, how the attacks on Iran come on the heels of Trump's assault on Venezuela, how fundamental religious figures are shaping the war, and the creation of a new refugee crisis in Lebanon and this crisis could spread to Iran if the US deploys ground troops. Hooman Majd is an Iranian-American writer, and the author of three books on Iran, including the New York Times bestseller The Ayatollah Begs to Differ. His new book, a memoir, is Minister Without Portfolio: Memoir of a Reluctant Exile. Majd has also written for The New Yorker, GQ, Newsweek, The New York Times, The New Republic, Time, Vanity Fair, The Financial Times, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Politico, and Interview Magazine, among others. He is a contributor to NBC News. He has published short fiction in literary journals such as Guernica and The American Scholar. He lives in New York City. Featured image of a protest against US war with Iran from 2020 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Analysis of the US-Israel War on Iran with Hooman Majd appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

The state of Wisconsin has a constitutional obligation to provide equal opportunity for a sound basic education and adequate and reasonably uniform funding of our public schools. But for decades, the state hasn't provided sufficient funds to school districts or distributed those funds fairly. That's why a group of five school districts have filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin legislature–the topic of our show today.  Guest host Bert Zipperer is in conversation with Jeff Mandell, Julie Underwood, and Heather DuBois Bourenane to break down the reasons for the lawsuit and how the state can better serve its 421 school districts.  Shortfalls in state funding have left many school districts using ballot referenda to increase their spending limits. Mandell points out that referendums were once used for capital expenses but now are increasingly applied to operational costs. He says this isn't how the system is designed to work. Bourenane calls it a “disequalizing way to fund public education,” that further divides the “haves from the have nots.”  But you can't talk about the school finance system without talking about vouchers, “because they suck so much money out of the landscape,” says Underwood. Mandell clarifies the lawsuit isn't against voucher schools, but legislators need to reckon with the reality that the state is now funding voucher/independent schools to the tune of over $700 million a year. Some municipalities, like Green Bay and Eau Claire, have started to publish how much of residents’ property taxes go to voucher schools.  Underwood says public education is at the heart of our democracy, and we need adequately-funded public schools to create an informed citizenry who can participate in public debate.  Jeff Mandell is a co-founder of and General Counsel at Law Forward, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to protecting and strengthening democracy in Wisconsin. Jeff has nearly twenty years of experience in complex litigation and appellate advocacy, and is widely recognized as one of Wisconsin's leading experts in constitutional litigation and election law. Julie Underwood has focused her career on issues involving public school law and policy, as General Counsel for the National School Board Association and former Dean of the School of Education at UW-Madison. Heather DuBois Bourenane is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Public Education Network, a public education advocacy group that shares resources, ideas, and actions that support the public schools at the heart of our communities. Their annual Summer Summit will be held this year in Superior, Wisconsin. Featured image of a child exploring library bookshelves via Rawpixel. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Meeting the Constitutional Obligation to Public School Students appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Ali Muldrow is in conversation with two of the editors of We Are Each Other’s Liberation: Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities, Rachel Kuo and Jaimee A. Swift. They discuss the challenging, contemplative, and moving essays that chart the long history of Black and Asian women in coalition and how these communities have, at times, been pitted against each other. The editors emphasize the intersection of disability justice and abolition in framing the collection to help readers analyze systems and relationships of power. Swift says that the book came about as she was watching Black women become the victims and survivors of COVID at the same time as anti-Asian hate crime was spiking around the country. Kuo says that the international solidarity movements of the 60s and 70s brought people together based on their shared relationship to power and shared analysis of US empire, capitalism, patriarchy, and racism, not especially their shared identity. Swift says “we need each other to challenge oppressive systems.”  They also talk about the need for cop-free communities, coalition politics, the exhaustion of movement work, and how to build real joy without losing the seriousness of the fight.  Rachel Kuo is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and cofounder of the Asian American Feminist Collective, which engages intersectional feminist politics grounded within Asian diasporic communities. Jaimee A. Swift is the creator and executive director of Black Women Radicals, dedicated to uplifting and centering Black women and gender-expansive people's radical activism in Africa and in the African diaspora. Featured image of the cover of We Are Each Other’s Liberation: Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities, available from Haymarket Books.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Black and Asian Feminists Imagine A Better World Together appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, we're flipping the script. Producer Sara Gabler interviews Monday host, Douglas Haynes, about his new book, Teaching Toward Slow Hope: Place-Based Learning in College and Beyond.  If you listen to this show regularly, you know that Haynes is a Professor of English and cares deeply about the state of higher education in Wisconsin and beyond. His book is an ode to the hopeful and resilient educational practices at work across the Midwest in places like UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, Northland College, and Kalamazoo Valley Community College.  As college students experience rising rates of mental health disorders, food and financial insecurity, and eco-anxiety, some educators are turning to place-based learning to prepare students for a changing world. Whether through urban mapping projects, culinary and food share programs, or novel interdisciplinary outdoor learning cohorts, the classes Haynes' profiles are prioritizing deep listening, reciprocity, collaboration, and embodied cognition. And they're successful and popular.  Haynes shares anecdotes from his research into the five place-based learning projects in the book and how they are changing students' lives by reducing the separation between education and ordinary life, combining disciplines from the humanities to the sciences, centering Indigenous knowledges, and taking students emotional needs as seriously as their intellectual ones. Contrary to the extractive model of education which treats students like consumers and parades AI as the next horizon, place based learning is human-centered and teaches students the crucial skills of relationship building, resilience, and self-efficacy.  Teaching Toward Slow Hope: Place-Based Learning in College and Beyond will be published tomorrow by Johns Hopkins University Press.  Douglas Haynes teaches environmental humanities, creative nonfiction and poetry writing at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. He's also written a poetry collection called Last Word and a nonfiction exploration of inequality and the climate crisis called Every Day We Live Is the Future: Surviving in a City of Disasters, about two Nicaraguan families' quests to reinvent their lives in Managua, one of the world's most disaster-prone cities. Featured image of the cover of Teaching Toward Slow Hope. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Healing the Crisis of Isolation in Higher Ed appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Esty Dinur is in conversation with writer and journalist Casey Michel about Greenland, kleptocracy, the Epstein files, and more. Michel says that “the preponderance of corruption is nothing like we've ever seen before” in the US. Though money has always shaped American politics, the scope and scale of what's happening under the Trump regime is unprecedented.  Michel has written multiple books about corruption in American politics, including American Kleptocracy, Foreign Agents, and the forthcoming United States of Oligarchy. His reporting on Trump's attempts to take over Greenland reveals a web of financial interests at play. Trump is being guided by the interests of wealthy donors and corporations who want to mine the “whole periodic table of elements” that are being blocked by environmental and labor regulations imposed by Greenland, Denmark, and the EU. He says that the financiers pulling the strings want to build a super power where there is no democracy, taxes, or any restrictions on their actions, and authoritarians like Trump are happy to help them. Note: This pledge drive interview was edited to remove parts of the show dedicated to station fundraising. We thank our listeners for their generous support. Casey Michel is an American writer and journalist who covers international corruption, dark money, and foreign influence for a range of outlets, including The New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, and more. He has written multiple books on these topics, including “American Kleptocracy” and “Foreign Agents,” and his new book “United States of Oligarchy” will be released in August. He is currently sanctioned by the Russian regime for his work. Featured image of the cover of Casey Michel's book, American Kleptocracy. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post On Kleptocrats, Plutocrats, and Lobbyists with Casey Michel appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, guest host Bert Zipperer is in conversation with Negin Owliaei, editor-in-chief of Truthout, about the war that the US and Israel launched on Iran last weekend. On Saturday, Owliaei woke up to dozens of text messages from her family in Tehran announcing the bombardment of their city. Since then, the US and Israel have killed more than 1,000 people across Iran and the Middle East, including 150 school children. Owliaei says that she is frustrated by the public discourse about Iran and the way that the language of “preemptive strikes” and “imminent threats,” sanitizes war. She reminds listeners that there were signs that the US was gearing up for an attack on Iran and that it costs the nation $1 billion per day to wage this unjust and illegal war. She insists that “just because it's started, doesn't mean it needs to go on” and “every minute we can shorten this war is a success.” In her latest article for Truthout, she discusses the need for resistance and support for grassroots organizing like Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, Taxpayers Against Genocide, and No Tech for Apartheid. They also discuss Nowruz (the Spring holiday in Iran), the history of the 1953 CIA-backed coup, the deportation of Iranians following the 12-day US-Israel war on Iran last summer, and the Women, Life, Freedom movement. She wants people to understand that everything that's going on domestically has a foreign policy effect. Owliaei joined A Public Affair last summer to talk about the US and Israel's 12-day war on Iran.  Note: This pledge drive interview was edited to remove parts of the show dedicated to station fundraising. We thank our listeners for their generous support. Negin Owliaei is Truthout's editor-in-chief. An award-winning journalist, she previously worked at Al Jazeera's flagship daily news podcast, The Take. She lives in Washington, D.C. Featured image in celebration of Nowruz, or the beginning of spring by Hamed Saber on Flickr.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post US Leaders Are Cheerleaders for a War Machine appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

As part of our series on appetites, food and politics, and the need to snack during difficult times, host Ali Muldrow is in conversation with Jen Rubin and Jenny Pressman who spent the last two years on the hunt for the perfect bagel. They talk about their favorite cultural comfort food and their quest to find not just any bagel, but the Great Midwest Bagel, one that has been properly kneaded, fermented, boiled, and baked. Rubin began this quest as a grief project after the loss of her mother, the cultural bearer in her family. The bagel holds a central place in New York Jewish communities, says Rubin, who grew up eating bagels while chatting, or kibitzing, with family and friends. Pressman joined Rubin in the search for bagels that were made like the ones they used to love back in New York City.  Part food-travel, part archival research, and part personal family story, the Great Midwest Bagel Quest is a road trip story without the tragedy of Bonnie and Clyde or Thelma and Louise, just carbo-loading. Food is a manifestation of culture, and Rubin says the Quest has been a way to connect with her Jewish culture but untethered from Israel. Pressman says that their road trips around the Midwest were some of the funniest and seediest experiences she's ever had.  They also debate the role of capers in a bagel spread, how blueberry bagels don't count as traditional bagels, the rise of chain bagel stores and “millenial-pandemic-bagel-bakers,” how people regularly injure themselves when cutting bagels, and the desire for a “cripsy exterior.” Note: This pledge drive interview was edited to remove parts of the show dedicated to station fundraising. We thank our listeners for their generous support. Jenny Pressman is a passionate community activist, fundraiser, and connector. Previously a lawyer and director of a charitable foundation, Jenny is now in her dream role as the Director of Development and Community Partnerships for the UW Odyssey Project, a jumpstart program in the humanities addressing multigenerational poverty through access to education. Jenny is a proud Jewish lesbian mother and the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Jen Rubin produced the Moth StorySlam for ten years, is the author of We Are Staying: Ten Years in the Life of a Family, a Store and a Neighborhood and can be found on the Midwest Bagel Quest. Featured image of fresh baked bagels with sesame seeds via Pexels.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Road-Tripping for Bagels appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Dana Pellebon is in conversation with Misty L. Heggeness about her new book, Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy. Heggeness is a professional economist, and in her book she blends a data-driven approach to women's work and gender analysis. She says that economics is a useful tool for understanding how people behave at a societal scale and in our homes. Taylor Swift is Heggeness's muse, helping Heggeness describe economic trends. For instance, the average income of a woman who lives in one of the cities where Taylor Swift's Eras Tour stopped is only $30K-$40K. This tells us about the economic status of women today, especially when you break down salaries by profession. However, Heggeness insists that women have significant economic power–as consumers and in their homes. On average, women do an hour more economic work a day than men, says Heggeness. Heggeness says that the field of economics is a male-dominated field and she wanted to write her book to center women, like her grandmother who was “the most efficient CEO of her household and garden” in the stories we tell about the economy. Taylor Swift becomes the stand in for the “modern” millennial woman who has greater educational attainment and is delaying marriage and having kids. Contrary to previous generations, folks today are getting married based on shared interests, rather than on building efficient households, says Heggeness.  They also discuss how Kansas recently revoked the drivers licenses of trans women and men, how consumers boycotted Target after the company turned its back on DEI, and how too many people making policy decisions have “care privilege.” She wants to see more care givers voted into office.  Note: This pledge drive interview was edited to remove parts of the show dedicated to station fundraising. We thank our listeners for their generous support. Misty L. Heggeness is co-director of the Kansas Population Center, Associate Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at the University of Kansas, and former Principal Economist and Senior Advisor at the US Census Bureau. She is also creator of The Care Board, a dashboard of economic statistics built by and for caregivers that brings their economic contributions into the fold. Her new book Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy merges three passions – economics, women's rights, and, of course, Taylor Swift. She has over a decade of experience leading high-profile research that informed decision-making within the U.S. federal government. Her research focuses on poverty & inequality, gender economics, and the high-skilled workforce, and has appeared in outlets such as The New York Times, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Economist, and Science. Featured image of the cover of Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy by Misty L. Heggeness. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Economic Empowerment, Babe appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Douglas Haynes is in conversation with Lindsay Weinberg about her new book, Smart University: Student Surveillance in the Digital Age. It's a timely book that gives a snapshot of how higher education is increasingly relying on digital student surveillance presumably to better prepare students for the digital economy. But the reality is that education technology or “ed tech” too often perpetuates austerity, structural racism, and the privatization of public universities under the guise of solving problems.  Weinberg writes about predictive analytics that divert students to certain degree paths, data brokers, how student learning software tracks student activity and behavior, automated exam proctoring that uses facial recognition, and the rise of student wellness technologies. These measures are undertaken in the name of improving student success metrics and outcomes. But schools are cutting the proven and effective programs run by real people in order to usher in technology-based solutions. Ed tech is often marketed as a cost-saving solution, but these technologies are quite costly themselves. Weinberg's research shows how ed tech and austerity go hand in hand.  Students really aren't aware of how their institutions are tracking them, even before they matriculate, says Weinberg. She traces how, in practice, FERPA actually enables public-private information sharing and says we need more transparency about student data and work. The rise of ed tech in higher education is possible because we've romanticized technology and students aren't invited to the conversation.  Weinberg also tracks the resistance to ed tech, from community organizing and policy efforts that seek to “turn back the clock” on digital technologies in education. She's seen students successfully fight to get predatory technology off their campuses. Weinberg advocates slowing down to allow the time and space for democratic process and deliberation. Note: This pledge drive interview was edited to remove parts of the show dedicated to station fundraising. We thank our listeners for their generous support. Lindsay Weinberg is a clinical assistant professor and the Director of the Tech Justice Lab in the John Martinson Honors College at Purdue University. Featured image of the cover of Smart University: Student Surveillance in the Digital Age by Lindsay Weinberg.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post In Search of Data, Schools Snoop on the Their Students appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

With the threat of drilling in the arctic on the horizon in Trump 2.0, host Esty Dinur focuses today's show on the urgent threat of climate change with climate journalist Dana Drugmand. They discuss where we stand with current environmental policy in the US and Drugmand's reporting on climate change lawsuits that would hold corporations accountable. Drugmand says that the Trump administration's environmental policy changes have been “sweeping and unprecedented.” From the flurry of executive orders that Trump signed on his first day back in office to pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the administration has changed policies and made new efforts to erase the science of climate change and attack clean energy projects. Most recently, the EPA rescinded the “endangerment finding” for greenhouse gasses, effectively eliminating the agency's ability to regulate emissions.  They also talk about the costliness of fossil fuels in comparison to clean energy, youth lawsuits like one in Wisconsin, and Drugmand's reporting on a Paris climate lawsuit against the company Total that could set a new precedent internationally.  Note: This pledge drive interview was edited to remove parts of the show dedicated to station fundraising. We thank our listeners for their generous support. Dana Drugmand is an independent climate and environmental journalist with a specialization in reporting on climate accountability and justice, including covering the rapidly growing and evolving space of climate litigation. She has a Master’s degree in environmental law and policy from Vermont Law School and resides in western Massachusetts. Her reporting has appeared in outlets like Sierra magazine, Inside Climate News, The New Lede, and DeSmog, and she also publishes her work on two start-up publications Climate in the Courts, and a Substack newsletter called One Earth Now. Featured image of a smokestack from the Zimmer Power Plant via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post When Climate Change Goes to Court appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

The US is busy saber rattling all over the globe. On today's show guest host Norm Stockwell checks in with two anti-war activists, Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright, about what they're hearing on the ground in Venezuela and Cuba.  Wright says that activists should be tired right now from the burnout of protesting in the streets and visiting their congressional representative's offices. She says that it's important to travel to places like Cuba and Venezuela to see what the US government is actually perpetuating and how Venezuelans are saying “we hope you can control your own government and how it acts internationally.” She also describes how Venezuelans are responding to the US kidnapping of their head of state and the purposeful bombing of their communications and energy facilities.  They also discuss the situation in Cuba and Benjamin's latest article about US sanctions. Benjamin has covered the US's relationship with Iran and says that you don't have to like the Iranian government to oppose a US invasion. Polls show there's little support for such an action, but Israel continues to push for war with Iran. She describes how everyday people become the victims of US warfare. Note: This pledge drive interview was edited to remove parts of the show dedicated to station fundraising. We thank our listeners for their generous support. Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of both CODEPINK and the international human rights organization Global Exchange. She is the author of 11 books, including Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection, Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran and War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, coauthored with Nicolas J.S. Davies. Her most recent book, coauthored with David Swanson, is NATO: What You Need to Know. Benjamin has been an advocate for social justice for more than 30 years. Ann Wright is a US Army/Army Reserves veteran, retired Colonel, and former US diplomat who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book Dissent: Voices of Conscience. Featured image of protestors gathered in Times Square against the invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post From Venezuela to Cuba with Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

The wait is almost over – the much anticipated Madison Public Market is scheduled to open in Late Spring. To learn about what folks can expect from the new space and all the art and food vendors it will house, host Ali Muldrow is joined by Keisha Harrison. The Madison Public Market has been more than twenty years in the making. Harrison says it's a true community investment and her goal has been to make sure that it represents the diversity of Madison. It will serve as a third space and complement (not compete with) the Dane County Farmer's Market. Harrison discusses the balance of celebrating the local while welcoming new vendors and how the space will be transformed for private events and entertainment.  There are three outdoor murals that are currently visible, Issis Macias and Rodrigo Carapia's Axolotl & Alma, Tom Jones's Elizah Leonard, and a piece by La Follette High School and Middleton High School students called And Still, She Blossoms. Get ready for Madison's most Instagram-able location! Keisha Harrison is the CEO of the Madison Public Market Foundation, tasked with creating a vibrant, community-centered space that connects commerce and culture. Previously, she led the historic Indianapolis City Market and spent over two decades in public libraries, shaping her commitment to access, equity, and community-centered design. Featured image of the Madison Public Market. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Madison Public Market Will Celebrate the Local appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Ahead of the Big Share next week, host Dana Pellebon speaks with Cheri Dubiel of Community Shares of Wisconsin and Alex Lindenmeyer of Urban Triage. Community Shares is a member-based fundraising organization that you might be familiar with from workplace giving campaigns or the CHIP program at Willy St. Coop. They focus on supporting social justice and environmental causes.  Urban Triage is a community organization that offers direct services like housing initiatives and urban agriculture. Their farm serves multi-generational Black and Brown folks, and the organic produce they grow is donated back to the community. Lindenmeyer describes Urban Triage's upcoming art exhibit, Seen and Unseen, that will open at the Wisconsin State Capitol on March 3. This immersive, outdoor installation is designed to deepen community understanding of homelessness and the real pathways to housing stability, representing crisis response, case management, and long-term housing solutions. They also discuss how federal funding cuts are affecting community organizations, especially those that are working to alleviate housing insecurity and follow housing-first principles. Youth are the largest group of folks at risk of becoming unhoused, and it's estimated that 1400 kids in MMSD will experience homelessness this year. Alex Lindenmeyer is a proud founding board member of Urban Triage and was just hired full-time this year as their Development Manager. Cheri Dubiel has served as Executive Director of Community Shares since January, 2017. She has worked at Community Shares of Wisconsin for a combined total of 17 years, being hired first as Development Director.  Featured image of artwork from the Seen and Unseen installation. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Seen and Unseen Installation Opens The Big Share appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

You've probably heard of a watershed or a foodshed, but have you heard of a fibershed? On today's show, host Douglas Haynes unpacks the growing movement of farmers and fiber artists rebuilding Wisconsin's wool and flax textile systems. He's joined by Leslie Schroeder of the Midwest Linen Revival, Jane Hansen, a sheep farmer and Board Member of the Three Rivers FIbershed, and WORT's Talk Producer, Sara Gabler, whose article about fibersheds is featured in this month's Isthmus magazine. Fibersheds focus on what can be readily grown within a particular bioregion. In the Upper Midwest, that's not cotton or indigo, but wool and flax. These grassroots organizations nurture place-based relationships–between sheep, the soil, water systems, and the farmers and laborers who grow and process the raw materials into the quality yarns that fiber artists love.  Going local is a choice that supports the environment and local farmers at a time when small family farms need as much backing and better crop opportunities as they can get. Hansen and Schroeder recommend mending the clothes that you already own and avoiding buying synthetic fabrics that shed microplastics. Schroeder says to start small, make one garment from locally sourced materials and it will become something you always cherish. Hansen describes the work that goes into raising healthy sheep, including her pasture management practices and the process of prepping fleece to go to the fiber mill. She gets support from her fibershed and uses her farm to educate the public about the importance of locally grown textiles.  Though there are several cottage mills in the state, Wisconsin lacks the infrastructure that would make it possible for sheep farmers to produce wool at a commercial scale. We don't have any infrastructure for producing linen, the fiber that is derived from the flax plant. There's a healthy demand for locally grown linen, says Schroeder, but you'd have to grow and prepare it yourself at the moment. Schroeder hopes to change that with her grant-funded work to source high-quality domestic seeds, purchase and import harvesting equipment, and site a multi-million dollar mill.  You can learn more about wool and fibersheds by reading one of Schroeder's recommended books (Vanishing Fleece, Women's Work, or Fibershed) and find your local organization here. Jane Hansen raises Coopworth sheep in Ogema, WI. She is a board member of the Three Rivers Fibershed, Northern Pines fibershed and Embrace (a domestic and sexual violence advocacy service provider in a 4 county region of Northern WI). She is also an active member of Wisconsin Farmers Union and host of a monthly Fiber Fun on the Farm event at her own farm. Leslie Schroeder is the co-founder of Midwest Linen Revival, an organization dedicated to laying the groundwork for establishing flax for fiber as an agricultural crop in our region. She is co-curator of the Field to Frock festival, co-creator of two teenaged daughters, and sleeps outside whenever she can. Featured image of the stages of flax production. Courtesy of Sara Gabler/WORT. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Local Fiber Movement Is Re-Stitching the Social Fabric appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Esty Dinur is in conversation with Kieran Knutson and Coleen Rowley about the ongoing presence of ICE and other federal agents in the Twin Cities. Knutson says that the assault on the people of Minneapolis and surrounding areas isn’t over even though some ICE activity has diminished following the announcement by border czar Tom Homan that Operation Metro Surge has concluded. He also discusses the vast network of rapid response groups, daily protests, mutual aid, and a new tenant’s union and other labor organizing that has galvanized the population. Knutson says that labor unions like his are helping their members find ways to participate in local organizing. Rowley says that she's optimistic about the role of US attorneys' offices in standing up for the Constitution. She sees this as proof of how unlawful ICE and Homeland Security's actions are. They also discuss the connection between what's happening in the Twin Cities and Palestine, US empire and counter insurgency operations, how people build bridges to work in solidarity against ICE, how local law enforcement has provided cover for federal agents, and how industries where immigrants are employed are feeling real strain. Kieran F. Knutson is the President of Communication Workers of America Local 7250. CWA Local 7250 is a non-profit membership labor union representing workers at AT&T mobility retail stores in Minnesota, and AT&T Legacy T in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North & South Dakota. Coleen Rowley is a retired FBI agent who served as Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel for the latter 13 years of her career, teaching constitutional law (i.e. criminal procedure) to FBI agents and other law enforcement. She disclosed some of the FBI’s pre 9-11 failures as part of the Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry, then testified later to the Senate Judiciary Committee and as part of the lengthy, detailed Department of Justice Inspector General’s investigation of these same matters. She also publicly warned FBI Director Mueller in Feb 2003 that his wrongful support for President Bush’s illegal war on Iraq would prove counterproductive. Rowley was one of three whistleblowers selected as TIME Magazine’s 2002 Persons of the Year. Featured image of law enforcement officers at the site of Renée Good's murder via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Minneapolis Stays Vigilant Against ICE appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Ali Muldrow is in conversation with Joanne Molinaro, aka The Korean Vegan. A former lawyer turned content creator and award-winning author with over 6 million followers, Molinaro sends a message of optimism and strategy that helps her followers feel like they can engage in informed political conversations. Molinaro says that she's followed her talents, using her power as a storyteller to make an impact in the world. She started The Korean Vegan in 2016 as a hobby but eventually left her law firm to become a full-time influencer. She's a master of the bait and switch, melding videos about food with captions about what it's like to be an immigrant in the US. In addition to recipes, Muldrow and Molinaro discuss the echo chamber of social media, what her family thinks about her storytelling, and who she would and wouldn't make dinner for (she'd cook JD Vance japchae). Molinaro says that we need to invest in institutions that aren't online, like dinner parties, book clubs, picnics, etc. Joanne Molinaro has over 6 million fans spread across her social media platforms. She is a New York Times best-selling author and James Beard Award winner. Her debut cookbook was selected as one of “The Best Cookbooks of 2021” by The New York Times and The New Yorker among others. Molinaro is a Korean American woman, born in Chicago, Illinois. After a single post of her making Korean braised potatoes for dinner (while her husband taught a piano lesson in the background) went viral, Molinaro shifted her attention to producing 60 second recipe videos, while telling stories about her family—immigrants from what is now known as North Korea. Featured image of the cover of The Korean Vegan Cookbook. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post News Served with a Side of Glass Noodles appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Dana Pellebon is in conversation with Director Ilesa Duncan and cast of cullud wattah,  Jnae Thompson (Ainee), J'Nya Smith (Reesee), Jayda Smith (Plum), and Faerie Afi Mlatawou (Reese/Plum understudy). It is 2016 and it has been 936 days and counting since Flint, Michigan, has had clean water. Third-generation General Motors employee Marion finds herself on the cusp of a promotion until her sister begins participating in protests accusing the company of poisoning the water. Forced to confront their past and weigh their limited options for the future, the family of Black women finds their tight-knit unit threatened by more than just the toxicity of the water. Written by UW-Madison and First Wave alumna Erika Dickerson-Despenza, this powerful play deconstructs the linear passage of time to ponder the choices we make for the sake of our survival.  They discuss the ongoing Flint water crisis and break down a key refrain from the play, “there's money in war, and there's war in money.” They also talk about the actors’ relationship to their characters, their favorite moments in the play, and what it's like to perform with an all-Black and femme-identified cast.  cullud wattah is showing later this month at the UW Vilas Hall-Mitchell Theatre. Tickets are available here.  Featured image of J'Nya Smith, Jayda Smith, Dana Pellebon, Faerie Afi Mlatawou, Ilesa Duncan, and Jnae Thompson. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post A Roundtable with the Cast and Director of cullud wattah appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

In recognition of the urgency of the climate crisis, groups of young people around the country are taking their concerns to court. In places like Montana and Hawaiʻi, they're winning lawsuits and forcing states to address greenhouse gas emissions and more. In late August, fifteen youth in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and the state legislature. To talk about their lawsuit and others like it, host Douglas Haynes is joined by two lawyers helping the youth bring their case to court, Tony Wilkin Gibart of Midwest Environmental Advocates and Joanna Zeigler of Our Children's Trust.  The youth plaintiffs are claiming their constitutional right to live in a world with a stable climate system and that climate change is threatening their rights to life, liberty, and happiness. They've been successful in Montana where the state constitution provides a right to health and safety. And in Hawaiʻi, the state has committed to decarbonizing transportation by 2045. In Wisconsin, the youth plaintiffs are claiming that the state is both supporting and fueling the climate crisis by approving fossil fuel power plants and preventing renewable energy projects. They say these actions by the state are infringing on their constitutional rights and the state is failing to preserve and protect the right to use and enjoy the waters of the state.  Gibart tells the story of some of these plaintiffs, like Kaarina Dunn who experienced the major floods in the Driftless region a few years ago and Lucy Wright who grew up cross country skiing, but has seen the seasons cut short. Zeigler says that youth have a strong, intuitive moral compass and since they're the ones who will be disproportionately impacted by climate change, it's important to hear their voices.  Tony Wilkin Gibart has led Midwest Environmental Advocates since 2019, guiding the organization's legal, policy, and community-focused work to protect Wisconsin's natural resources and strengthen environmental rights. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School and one of the attorneys representing the young plaintiffs in Dunn v WI PSC. Joanna Zeigler joined Our Children's Trust as a staff attorney in 2022. She primarily works on state cases filed by Our Children's Trust, including Sagoonick v. State of Alaska II and Dunn v. Wisconsin Public Service Commission and is working to develop new cases in other states. Joanna is also working with the State of Hawaiʻi to implement the historic settlement agreement reached in Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Dept. of Transportation. Prior to joining Our Children's Trust, Joanna worked at a Honolulu law firm as a litigation associate for over five years and she earned her JD with a certificate in environmental law from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi. Featured image of skiers in the American Birkebeiner, which has been cancelled several times in recent years due to warm weather, via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Young Wisconsinites Claim Constitutional Right to Clean Environment appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Esty Dinur is in conversation with Killian Clarke about his new book, Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed. He researches moments of democratic liberation brought about by mass struggle and why some succeed and others fail. Though he did not write about the US, he's seen his research become surprising and tragically poignant in the second Trump presidency. Clarke says that democratic backsliding like we're seeing in the US, has happened in other democracies around the world. But elected leaders who systematically dismantle institutions of democracy and then install an authoritarian regime is far more common in young democracies than in places like the US. It's shocking how quickly Trump and his team are succeeding. There are resonances between tyrants everywhere in how they cement their rule and gain popularity. They also discuss comparisons between Trump and Hitler's rise to power, political polarization in the US, Clarke's research on Egypt, and the vulnerability of other unarmed revolutions. Clarke says that there are downsides to the prevalence of technology in today's social movements and says that grassroots organizing is needed to sustain a movement. He recommends Zeynep Tufekci's book, Twitter and Tear Gas and says it's possible to pressure the Democratic Party to stand for something, like was done during the Civil Rights Movement.  Killian Clarke is an Assistant Professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, affiliated with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. His research examines revolution, protest, democratization, and authoritarianism with a regional focus on the Middle East. He is the author of Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed (Cambridge University Press, 2025), as well as peer-reviewed articles in the American Political Science Review, Annual Review of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, and World Politics. Featured image of the cover of Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed, available from Cambridge University Press. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post How to Make Tyrants and Cement Power appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

As the Justice Department releases new documents from the Epstein files, more and more high-profile and powerful men are being exposed as having ties to the financier, child sex offender, serial rapist, and sex trafficker. There are also serious concerns about how the files are being released and what information is or isn't being redacted for the safety of the survivors. Today, host Ali Muldrow tackles this challenging topic with two guests, Prenicia Clifton, a Madison-based child advocate and founder of Seein’ is Believin’, and Grace Panetta, a journalist with The 19th. Panetta joins us from Capitol Hill where Attorney General Pam Bondi is testifying about the Justice Department's release of the Epstein files and where survivors are gathering to demand accountability. Panetta says that Democratic lawmakers are pressing Bondi about why survivors' information wasn't properly redacted and why some perpetrators’ names were.  Clifton describes several problems with how the Epstein files are being handled. First, is the adultification and therefore re-victimization of the survivors when officials and the press fail to treat them as children, as minors, who cannot consent to their abuse. Another problem is that white supremacy and wealth underpin our justice system such that when Epstein was first convicted in 2009, he received a short sentence and after that his powerful allies maintained their ties. Abuse happens when people have access, privacy, and control of others, says Clifton. She advises parents to have conversations with their children about consent and to know who their kids spend time with, including online.  They also discuss the “tough on crime” rhetoric of the Trump administration in comparison to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwells' crimes, the power dynamics between adults and children, and prioritizing abuse prevention in our communities by observing, interrupting, and creating policies to hold people accountable.  Prenicia Clifton is the founder of Seein’ is Believin’ where she works to address the needs of youth, including mental health, life readiness, and suicide prevention. Her goal is to make a difference in the lives of 1 million kids through culturally infused programming, policy creation, and community advocacy. She is a certified Praesidium Youth Protection Guardian and a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid trainer. Grace Panetta is a Washington, DC-based politics reporter at The 19th, a nonprofit independent newsroom covering the intersection of gender, politics and policy. Featured image of Jeffrey Epstein's private island via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post The World Won't Crumble If We Hold Abusers Accountable appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Douglas Haynes is in conversation with Chris Purdy, the Founder and CEO of the Chamberlain Network, an organization dedicated to mobilizing veterans to protect democratic values and institutions. They discuss the changing civilian-military relations in the second Trump presidency, the tradition of the military as an apolitical institution, and the militarization of ICE. Purdy is himself a veteran and says his story is an American one: his family migrated to the US due to violence in Belfast and he joined the army to serve his country. He's noticed that after their service ends, veterans often “don't feel comfortable in their veteran-ness.” So he founded his organization with the goal of creating a non-partisan but political space for veterans to work for their communities. Purdy is concerned about the misuse of active duty forces through the Insurrection Act and he breaks down what the law says about when the military can be used for law enforcement.  He says that because veterans are often credible members of their communities, they can be champions of democracy. Contrary to the way the Trump administration is “laundering military credibility for their agenda” The Chamberlain Network is organizing retired veterans, business and church leaders, and others to help their communities feel safe to vote during elections. They also discuss Trump's restructuring of military leadership, Purdy's article about the misuse of the National Guard, how ICE is acting recklessly by enforcing a political agenda, and the longstanding practice of ICE and other law enforcement recruiting from the military and the “warrior class.” Purdy insists that active duty service members and veterans aren't ICE, DHS, or other federal law enforcement agencies.  Chris Purdy is the Founder and CEO of The Chamberlain Network, an organization dedicated to mobilizing veterans to protect democratic values and institutions. A former Combat Engineer in the Army National Guard and an Iraq War veteran, Chris also has extensive experience supporting immigrant communities, having previously led veterans' initiatives at an international human rights organization. He also has a background in education, serving as a Special Education teacher and school administrator. Featured image: photo of Chris Purdy courtesy of The Chamberlain Network. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post How Veterans Can Reduce Polarization appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Esty Dinur is joined by friend of the program, Norman Solomon, to discuss the status of the Democratic Party. His new book is The Blue Road to Trump Hell: How Corporate Democrats Paved the Way for Autocracy and it is available for free online. Solomon says we need a stronger Democratic Party–a progressive Democratic Party–to stop fascism and prevent a Vance presidency. It's not feasible to stop xenophobia and misogyny with neoliberal centrism, as with Biden and Harris's campaigns, says Solomon. At the top, the Democratic Party is pro-military, pro-corporations. Too often, centrist Democrats work against progressives, as with NAFTA and the Crime Bill that  accelerated mass incarceration. Though Biden did some good work while in office, he ultimately folded when it came to the Build Back Better Act. Instead, we need strong Democratic leadership “that fights like hell for working people, children, the elderly, and the infirm.” They also discuss how corporate paywalls keep information inaccessible to regular people, how RFK is “viciously anti-Palestinian” and anti-democratic, Bernie Sander's success in calling out plutocracy and corporate greed, Mamdani's success in New York City, and the status of the DHS budget. Norman Solomon is a journalist, media critic, author and activist. He's the National Director of RootsAction and the Executive Director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.  His book War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine was published in 2023. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews called the book “a powerful, necessary indictment of efforts to disguise the human toll of American foreign policy.” Norman's dozen other books include War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. Featured image of the cover of Norman Solomon's most recent book, The Blue Road to Trump Hell: How Corporate Democrats Paved the Way for Autocracy. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Why We Need to Complain About Democrats appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Allen Ruff is joined by friend of the program, John Nichols, who is on the ground reporting from Minneapolis. He says that ICE is sowing a great deal of chaos; restaurants are empty and the atmosphere is tense. However, thousands are showing up to daily demonstrations creating a remarkable moment of dissent.  They discuss Nichol's latest article, co-written with Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel, “The ‘Donroe’ Doctrine: Trump Unleashes the Dogs of War.” Nichols says that our contemporary struggles have deep roots in earlier moments of US imperialism. He calls the US's aggression in Venezuela an act of war, not simply a police action as it has been described. The fact that Congress has not been given a say in these actions, effectively makes Trump a king. Unlike Trump's first term in office, this time around he's very focused on international affairs, from kidnapping foreign leaders to threatening to bomb nations and more, says Nichols.  From Venezuela to Minneapolis, we're seeing invasion abroad and at home, says Nichols. He sees hope in the number of folks, especially young people, who are talking about and engaging in general strikes. More and more people are dissatisfied with the Democratic Party and are looking for ways to counter a political system that is infused with money. They also discuss war tax resistance, mutual aid groups, and the role of religious leaders in political movements. John Nichols is the executive editor of The Nation, and previously the magazine’s long-time national affairs correspondent. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than a dozen books on media, democracy, and American political history. His latest, cowritten with Senator Bernie Sanders, is the New York Times bestseller It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism. Featured image of an anti-ICE protest sign from a January 2026 protest in Minneapolis via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post On the Ground in Minneapolis with John Nichols appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean to find an Edenic scene that has since been mythologized. Today on A Public Affair, host Ali Muldrow is in conversation with Tao Leigh Goffe who charts this mythology in her new book, Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis. She writes about the legacy of slavery, indentured labor, and the forced toil of Chinese and enslaved Black people who mined the Caribbean islands for the benefit of European powers at the expense of the islands' sacred ecologies.  Goffe bridges climate justice and racial justice in order to meet the demands of the present, from the pandemic and the Global Black Lives Matter movement to celebrity environmentalists buying private islands and the everyday complicity of owning an iPhone. She interrogates the colonial imagination that leads people to fantasize about island spaces as secretive, private, or grounds for experimentation. And she wants to turn away from notions of property and ownership, making the main characters in her book the Caribbean islands themselves, marijuana buds, mongooses, rocks, and more.  They also talk about who experiences the burden of climate change versus who is presented as environmental saviors, having reverence for land, plants, and animals, and the legacy of Toni Morrison's Playing in the Dark. Goffe's next project picks up with the theme of maternity and breastfeeding in the context of resource extraction and racialization.  Tao Leigh Goffe is a London-born, Black British award-winning writer, theorist, and interdisciplinary artist who grew up between the UK and New York. Her research explores Black diasporic intellectual histories, political, and ecological life. She studied English literature at Princeton University before pursuing a PhD at Yale University. She lives and works in Manhattan where she is currently an Associate Professor at Hunter College, CUNY. Dr. Goffe has held academic positions and fellowships at Leiden University in the Netherlands and Princeton University in New Jersey. She is the author of Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis. Featured image of the cover of Dark Laboratory, available from Vintage. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post The Music of Caribbean Witness appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Dana Pellebon is in conversation with SkyeGia Garcia and DaMontae January who work for OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center. They discuss their work and the larger issue of housing in Dane County, especially for disenfranchised youth.  OutReach works for the equity and quality of life for all LGBTQ+ people through community building, health and human services, and economic, social, and racial justice advocacy. Garcia and January work for the program, Everstrong, that provides resources for 17-24 year olds who are at risk of experiencing homelessness. January says that the program empowers young folks to find stable housing and jobs, sign up for insurance, and take on other adult responsibilities with confidence. Young people in the program should be given a second chance and they just want to be heard, says January. In addition to the Everstrong program, they talk about OutReach's food pantry, meditation sessions, and anti-colonial yoga classes where folks can “get back in touch with their sovereignty and autonomy,” says Garcia. She says that the LGBTQ+ community has a strong culture of taking care of people and has consistently led with compassion, empathy, and support.  SkyeGia Garcia has been a community organizer since 2016. Her work has focused on anti-colonial awareness that connects to Indigenous struggles and liberation. SkyeGia currently works at OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center for a project that focuses on youth empowerment and housing justice. DaMontae January comes from a background of social work and counseling and has been working for housing justice since 2020. Currently January works as Program Director for EverStrong at OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center and has been there since 2023. Featured image: of DaMonte January, Dana Pellebon, and SkyeGia Garcia. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Everstrong Housing Program Sets Up Youth for Success appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Douglas Haynes is in conversation with Jacob Hundt of Thoreau College in Viroqua and Grace Greenwald of the Springboard Foundation. They explore how the growing microcollege movement is becoming the antidote to the crisis in higher education. Contrary to the transactional, consumer-oriented nature of traditional education, microcolleges are place-based with small student bodies where students' education includes manual labor and community building.  Founded in 2015, Thoreau College offers immersive gap year programs, internships, and short courses for young adults that integrate academic studies, hands-on manual work, wilderness expeditions, arts and crafts, and engaged community life. Thoreau College is Wisconsin's only microcollege, but there is a growing interest in this phenomena in the state. The school offers semester-length programs and admits around 8-15 students with several interns learning about teaching. It's broad, holistic, and immersive, says Hundt. Microcolleges offer accessible entry into higher education for students, says Greenwald. She's seen the movement growing in two ways: there's a growing interest in founding microcolleges around the country, particularly in rural areas and existing colleges are increasingly connecting with each other on issues like decision making.  More and more, students are choosing not to go to college because they don't see college as offering a path to a purposeful life. Greenwald says that microcolleges are great at engaging students in resilient relationships and offering them real opportunities to be responsible to each other and their communities. Students work on self-governance and communal living and conflict is a feature, not a bug, says Hundt. Grace Greenwald is the Director of Research for the Springboard Foundation, which helps support the movement of microcolleges. She served on the early team building Outer Coast, a microcollege in the rural island community of Sitka, Alaska.  Jacob Hundt is Executive Director of Thoreau College, a microcollege located in Viroqua, Wisconsin. In addition to his teaching and leadership roles, he is the host of the Microcollege Podcast, a key platform for documenting this growing movement. He lives on a 10 acre farm with his wife and 4 children. Featured image of farmland in the Driftless region of Wisconsin via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Microcolleges Build Resilient and Responsible Students appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On the day of a national anti-ICE general strike, host Esty Dinur is in conversation with writer Sophie Lewis about her book, Enemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen, and Girlbosses Against Liberation.  Lewis reckons with the white supremacy of bourgeois feminism but refuses to “be evicted from the house of feminism” because she doesn't want to cede ground to TERFS, femonationalists, and other enemy feminisms. Meanwhile, Lewis wants to recover histories of anti-fascist, anti-colonial, insurgent, and undercommons feminism. Dinur points to women like Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Caroline Levitt, Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton, and even Kamala Harris who have supported wars all over the world, and wonders, “are these the women I've fought for?” Lewis also discusses the right to pleasure within the gender liberation struggle, the mythology of feminist figures like Mary Wollstonecraft and May French Sheldon, “feminist misogyny,” and family liberation. Sophie Lewis is a self described ex-academic, writer, left activist and adoptive Philadelphian (transplanted from Europe). She is the author of several books, including Full Surrogacy Now, Abolish the Family, Enemy Feminisms, and the forthcoming essay collection FEMMEPHILIA. Sophie’s essays also appear everywhere from the New York Times to n+1 and the London Review of Books. She teaches short courses on social philosophy and theory online at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, and you can find her newsletter at patreon.com/reproutopia or browse her archive at lasophielle.org/. Sophie is currently working on a book for Penguin, The Liberation of Children (2027). Featured image of the cover of Enemy Feminisms, available from Haymarket Books.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Refusing Eviction from the House of Feminism appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Marking the first anniversary of Trump's presidency, the White House released a statement, “365 Wins in 365 Days,” celebrating the success and prosperity that Donald Trump has brought to the nation. To reflect on Trump's first year back in the White House, host Allen Ruff is joined by journalist Chris Walker, who says that the President has certainly transformed things but for the worse. Walker says that he's most concerned about the rising authoritarianism of the administration and how Republicans in Congress seem to be OK with this. We have limited checks in terms of the judiciary, and no checks in the legislature, says Walker. Additionally, Trump is increasingly transparent about his intentions of being a dictator and desire to cancel the midterm elections. They also talk about the terror that ICE is bringing to Minneapolis, the general strike called by Rep. Jaime Raskin of Maryland, the resurgence of measles outbreaks under RFK, and Trump's use of the term “environmental insurrectionists.” While it has been common in the past for elected officials to defend law enforcement, Walker notes that now ICE's victims are being cast as “domestic terrorists” and described as “readying for a massacre” against DHS without any proof. Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout, based in Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker. Featured image of Donald Trump via Picryl. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post The General Rubric of Idiocy appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

 On this show, we've been reflecting on the last year of the Trump regime's attacks on immigrants. Today, we're focusing on how activists are protecting their communities and taking care of themselves. Host Ali Muldrow is joined by two disability activists, Dr. Sami Schalk and Martha Siravo, who discuss how they balance art with activism and how they maintain joy as we're bombarded with tremendous tragedy around the country. Siravo talks about her experiences in the adaptive arts space where she uses her wheelchair for adaptive ballet. Last fall, her aerial dance performance of “Defying Gravity” went viral on Tik Tok.  Dr. Schalk says that she's approaching activism differently since the police violently assaulted her while she was supporting UW Madison students protesting the genocide in Gaza. She says there are many ways she can use her resources and visibility without putting her body on the line. Right now is the time to prepare and care and bedazzle gifts for friends, she says. They also talk about how to challenge assumptions about disabled peoples' sexuality, how to create accessible spaces, and how they negotiate wanting to be joyous and find pleasure while also feeling overwhelmed by the injustice in the world. Dr. Schalk says that pleasure is a daily practice that happens alongside resistance and activism. Dr. Sami Schalk is a full professor in the Department of Gender & Women's Studies at UW-Madison. She is the author of many books, and her research focuses on disability, race, and gender in contemporary American literature and culture. She is also a working artist and has had her art displayed at the Ford Foundation Gallery in New York City and at Art + Literature Laboratory in Madison.  Martha Siravo is a disability rights advocate and founder of Madtown Mamas and Disability Advocates. She's a single mother, whose daughter is in the sixth grade. Featured image of a bedazzled rose via Rawpixel. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Finding Joy Even When the World Demands Outrage appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Dana Pellebon is joined by Dr. Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, author of the new book, How I Know White People are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes from a Frustrated Black Psychologist. Dr. Lassiter works in private psychotherapy practice and provides culturally relevant care for marginalized professionals. He is part of the mere 1% of Black male psychologists in the country. His memoir makes the case for better cultural representation in the therapy field and defines the theory of the “whiteness mindset.”  Dr. Lassiter says that he's always been curious about why people do the things they do, and this led him to pursue a career in education followed by a psychotherapy practice. He describes his upbringing and the isolation and microaggressions he experienced in his graduate studies and clinical settings. He noticed that though the clinics he worked in were serving Black and Latinx clients, the vast majority of the therapists were white. And while working in the VA hospital in Indianapolis, he was the only Black male therapist. At that time, he read Toni Morrison's Playing in the Dark: Whiteness in the Literary Imagination and went on to write a corollary essay, “Whiteness in the Psychological Imagination,” that became the seed of his current book.  In How I Know White People are Crazy and Other Stories, Dr. Lassiter uses diagnostic criteria to define “the whiteness mindset” as a way of thinking and being that values materialism, competition, and individualism, which all promote oppression. It's a “distress producing phenomena” that hurts everyone and is making white people sick, he says. They also discuss other concepts in psychology, like “post traumatic slave syndrome” and “black fatigue,” and how Christianity becomes a weapon, especially when it comes to sexuality. Dr. Lassiter says he wants marginalized people, the global majority, to understand that they're not the problem. His future work will focus on the Afro-centric and Indigenous psychologies as pathways to better, more healthy futures. Dr. Jonathan Mathias Lassiter is a licensed clinical psychologist in New York City specializing in culturally informed mental health care for Black, POC, and LGBTQ+ individuals and couples. With a passion to use his Ph.D.for the culture, he serves as a therapist, scientist, educator, author, mental health columnist, on-air mental health expert, and international public speaker. Dr. Lassiter has appeared in such outlets as NBC, PBS, Forbes, Huff Post, Radio NewZealand, SiriusXM, iHeart Radio, and more. Follow Dr. Lassiter on all social media platforms at @lassiterhealth. Featured image of the cover of How I Know White People are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes from a Frustrated Black Psychologist.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Dr. Jonathan Lassiter Defines the Whiteness Mindset appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Douglas Haynes is joined in the studio by three representatives of Isthmus –Judith Davidoff, Linda Falkenstein, and Dean Robbins–who share their stories about Isthmus's history and its arts and news coverage as the newspaper celebrates 50 years in the community. Davidoff describes how Isthmus was founded back in 1976 covering the local arts scene before it expanded to become a local news outlet. Robbins says that the newspaper became a home for alternative voices, the quirky, the artsy, and the hard news that didn't find a home elsewhere in Madison. In those years, Isthmus was the only outlet working consistently with freelance writers, and it quickly became known for its award-winning arts writing, says Davidoff. Over the years, Davidoff says they've maintained their commitment to highlighting local voices, local events and news, and high-quality writing and editing. Their coverage of the Act 10 protests was a highlight of Robbins' time at the magazine. Falkenstein says that when the magazine was located at 101 King St., the office had a “vitality” and energy that can't be matched.  They also discuss the current journalism landscape and how they choose to cover protests and breaking news with a limited staff. We also hear from callers who share their memories of reading Isthmus over the years. Judith Davidoff is the editor and president of Isthmus Community Media. She led the transition of the paper to a nonprofit in 2021 and its relaunch as a print monthly.  Linda Falkenstein is the associate editor at Isthmus. She started at Isthmus in 1999 as special sections editor. Dean Robbins is a children’s book author and journalist who started as a freelance writer at Isthmus in 1983 and worked as the editor from 2009-2014.  Featured image of Dean Robbins, Linda Falkenstein, Judith Davidoff, and Douglas Haynes courtesy of Sara Gabler/WORT.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Reflecting on 50 Years of Publishing Isthmus Newspaper appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Today, host Esty Dinur is joined by Jennifer Loewenstein to debrief about the ongoing Israeli attacks on Palestine. They discuss what's happening in Gaza and the status of the ceasefire and Gaza “Board of Peace.” Loewenstein says that nothing has changed in Gaza since the ceasefire except the intensity of bombing, which has decreased, but not ceased. She describes the partitioning of Gaza into green and red “zones” and the “yellow line” that marks the line of Israeli occupation. Over two million Palestinians have been pushed into the “red zone” along the coast where they are living in non-winterized tents in conditions that Loewenstein calls “abject misery.” Meanwhile the Rafa crossing remains closed and Israel is planning concentration camps for Palestinians. Loewenstein says that the ceasefire and the creation of the “Board of Peace” have been successful in keeping what's happening in Gaza out of the news. She says that “it's scandalous that no Palestinians are on the Board and after two years of genocide that what's happening is a deeper entrenchment of the occupation.” They also discuss the role of gangs in the “red zone,” the deliberate targeting of journalists, and the wiping out UNRWA. Loewenstein says that what's happening in Gaza is an expression of Western imperialism and the expansion of Israeli hegemony around the Middle East. Jennifer Loewenstein is an American activist, journalist, and founder of the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project. Her work has appeared in academic journals such as The Journal of Palestine Studies, and she is a regular contributor to the CounterPunch magazine. Featured image of an aerial view of Israel's destruction of Rafa via UNRWA on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post It's Still A Nightmare In Gaza appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Though Wisconsin hasn't been faced with the major ICE raids as we've seen in LA, Chicago, and Minneapolis, there is growing concern that ICE will arrive in Wisconsin. Governor Evers said this week that the state is preparing for this inevitability. To talk about ICE raids and the larger context of anti-immigrant sentiment in the US, host Allen Ruff is joined by Armando Ibarra.  Ibarra works with Voces de la Frontera, an organization with deep roots in Wisconsin. Founded in 1994, the organization responded to the displacement of people from NAFTA. Over the years Voces has helped more than 16,500 families create “family disruption plans” and has held “know your rights” sessions for more than 30,000 people across Wisconsin. Voces de la Frontera will be holding its annual assembly this weekend. Ibarra also discusses the US as a land of immigrants in a land of anti-immigrants, from colonization,  Westward expansion, and the Chinese Exclusion Act, to the present. Ibarra says that the US is no longer pretending not to be an empire, as we've seen with the Trump  administration's aggression in Latin America.  They also discuss the Supreme Court ruling that legitimizes racial profiling, the reframing of protest as “domestic terrorism,” the rise of state-sanctioned violence against immigrants, and the 287(g) programs that deputize local law enforcement to act as immigration agents. Voces organizes a 24-7 emergency ICE hotline at 1-800-427-0213. Armando Ibarra is a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the School for Workers. He's the co-author of the award winning book, The Latino Question: Politics, Labouring Classes and the Next Left. Featured image of the mural “Labor Solidarity has no Borders” (1992) by Mike Alewitz via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post A Land of Immigrants or a Land of Anti-Immigrants? appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. In the past year, we've watched as Trump delivered on his campaign promises of “mass deportation now” with violent assaults on immigrant communities, most recently in our neighboring state of Minnesota. On today's show, host Ali Muldrow is joined by scholar Sara McKinnon to talk about what has been predictable and surprising about the Trump administration's immigration enforcement.  McKinnon says that the scale and speed of what has been put in place is unprecedented, from deportation flights, detention, to ICE raids. We've seen that ICE activity in city centers has become more visible, public, and long lasting, with sometimes months-long occupations and tactics that challenge what is lawful. The rhetoric that justifies mass deportation relies on a message of crime and criminality that has been popular with Christian nationalists. On Trump's first day in office, he limited the Refugee Resettlement Program from 125,000 recipients to 7,500, which will be available to white South Africans. They also discuss the power and authority of ICE to kill at will, as with the killing of Renee Good earlier this month, the exponential growth of ICE forces and detention centers, and the racially motivated fear of immigrants that the Right cultivates. Sara McKinnon is Professor of Rhetoric, Politics & Culture in the Department of Communication Arts, and Faculty Director of Latin American, Caribbean & Iberian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. McKinnon has published three books, including Gendered Asylum: Race and Violence in U.S. Law and Politics (University of Illinois Press, 2016), which examines the gender discourse that emerged in U.S. immigration and refugee law between the 1980 Refugee Act and 2014. Her current research explores the dynamics of human migration in Latin America and analyzes foreign policy relations and rhetoric in a transnational context. Additionally, she leads a collaborative project aimed at expanding legal information about US immigration and refugee programs, as well as legal counsel available to migrants across the Americas, helping them to explore options for safe migration and residence. Featured image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post One Year of Immigration Enforcement on Steroids appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

This Thursday, January 22, is the 53rd anniversary of the passing of Roe v. Wade, which was overturned by the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022. On today's show, host Dana Pellebon discusses abortion rights with two representatives from Free & Just, Veronica Ingham and Laurel Marcinkus. Free & Just is an organization working nationally to amplify the stories of everyday people and demonstrate the devastating consequences of abortion bans across the country. Free & Just was founded after the Dobbs decision as more and more people across the country started telling their abortion stories. Ingham says that storytelling is the most effective way to build support for reproductive rights, as she saw in her work in Ohio where the majority of people voted to protect reproductive rights. Now, there are over 300 abortion storytellers across 49 states, including 30 in Wisconsin. Marcinkus is one of those Wisconsin abortion storytellers. She shares her story of needing emergency medical care when she was pregnant with her daughter. Though her doctors recommended life-saving care, she had to wait hours before she could be induced. She lost her daughter and the situation further endangered her health.  Marcinkus's story is representative of what happens to pregnant people in the absence of Roe v. Wade. And there are more and more pregnant people dying who can't get the care they need, as a recent ProPublica article exposes. In Wisconsin, there are two “medical waste” bills moving through the legislature that would criminalize people who miscarry and do not “catch” their miscarriage and return it to a physician. Nationally, there are similar bills being proposed. They also discuss how the anti-abortion movement arose in response to the Civil Rights movement, how the Trump administration has effectively defunded Planned Parenthood through Medicaid cuts, and the misinformation about medical induced abortion. Even though there may be barriers to sharing abortion stories publicly, people can still find community by bravely sharing their experiences.  Veronica Ingham is the Managing Director for Free & Just, overseeing the team focused on protecting and expanding reproductive freedom and rights nationwide. Before joining Free & Just, Veronica most recently led the historic abortion referendum in Ohio as campaign manager, where Ohioans voted overwhelmingly to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution. Laurel Marcinkus is a Free & Just storyteller and advocate for reproductive freedom from Kenosha, WI. She’s a mom who was forced to wait hours for lifesaving medical care here in Wisconsin and now tells her story to spotlight the dangers of anti-abortion laws. Featured image of stencil reading “Defend Roe v. Wade” via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post The Abortion Stories Behind Every Anti-Abortion Law appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show, host Esty Dinur is joined by Alfred W. McCoy to talk about his latest book, Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage, available from Haymarket Books. His book offers an intimate portrait of both covert operatives and antiwar activists, thus humanizing a history often told in impersonal terms of nuclear arsenals or diplomatic ententes. Turning away from the usual focus of the Moscow-Washington stalemate, McCoy looks at the regions of the world where the Cold War was actually fought, arguing that Southeast Asia experienced the worst of Cold War violence. From South Vietnam to the Middle East, to Africa and Latin America the major world powers fought surrogate wars amounting to 20 million deaths.  McCoy describes how the US spread its military around the world and operated covertly in Afghanistan, Angola, and elsewhere. He says that the first success of “the man on the spot,” Kermit Roosevelt Jr., was in Iran where he helped to install the Shah in “a spectacularly successful exhibit of regime change.” McCoy says that we're currently seeing a “radical shift in US geopolitical posture” moving away from “an international system of law and commerce to becoming a regional hegemony” as seen in what McCoy calls Trump's “tri-continental strategy.” Trump has decided to concentrate US power in the Americas, from Canada to Greenland and Venezuela. He says that Trump views oil and power as synonymous, but this is a miscalculation on Trump's part. McCoy sees the era of oil as over and the next horizon is in renewables and will be dominated by China.  Alfred W. McCoy holds the Harrington chair in history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since earning a history doctorate in 1977, his teaching and writing have focused on Southeast Asian history, modern empires, and the covert netherworld of syndicate crime and state security. Featured image of the cover of Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage, available from Haymarket Books. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post From the Cold War to the Trump Regime's Geopolitics with Alfred McCo... appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On December 14, hard-right candidate José Antonio Kast was elected as Chile's president with over 58% of the vote. Kast built his campaign around the promise of expelling undocumented migrants and has been called the “Trump of Chile.” On today's show, host Allen Ruff is joined by journalist Nyki Duda to talk about the political history of Chile and what led to the election of Kast. Duda says that what makes Kast different from other far-right leaders like Trump or Bolsonaro, is that he developed his career within the institutional Right in Chile. His father was a member of the German Nazi Party who fled Europe to avoid accountability for his crimes. Kast's father established himself within the landed gentry outside of Santiago and, with Kast's brother, was involved in a series of murders around the 1973 coup. Kast's other brother was one of the “Chicago boys” who implemented neoliberalism in Chile. Kast has never renounced his family's crimes and is poised to be the most right-wing leader Chile has seen since the Pinochet dictatorship, says Duda. There was a time in the 90s when Chile was seen as a model of democracy and economic growth in Latin America coming off the repressive regimes of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. But that dream has not come to pass. Duda describes the legacy of Pinochet-era “anti-terror” laws and attempts to rewrite the dictatorship-era constitution and the media misinformation campaign against the draft of a new constitution that would have created plurinational status for Indigenous tribes and introduced rights of the environment.  Duda also discusses the 2019 student protests and the violent government backlash, including the case of Nicolás Piña.  Nyki Duda is an editor at Al Jazeera digital and researcher at Lead Stories. As a freelance journalist, she covers migration, social movements and far-right politics. Her writing has appeared in Truthout, Jacobin, In These Times and more. Featured image of José Antonio Kast from 2009 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0 CL). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post The Run-up to the “Trump of Chile,” José Antonio Kast appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

At a time when it feels like our social fabric is being torn apart, today's show is about the power of art to pull people back together. Host Ali Muldrow is in conversation with Issis Macias, Lesley Numbers, and Emily Popp about the current exhibit at Art + Literature Laboratory, Pulling Together: Work from Madison's Roundhouse Studios. Roundhouse Studio houses 47 artists, and each of their studios is like a little train car, “chugging down the track” to affordable and sustainable art careers, says Popp. Roundhouse Studios opened in January 2025 as a collaborative project between Arts + Literature Laboratory and Apex Property Management to address Madison's critical shortage of affordable artist workspace. Popp says that the exhibit is a good display of the talent at Roundhouse, representing all different kinds of mediums. Even though everyone has the capacity to be creative, there are financial barriers to being an artist and our economy and culture make it hard for everyone to pursue the arts. Our guests debunk the myths about art being a solo, frivolous activity, and praise the ways that their colleagues at Roundhouse root for each other. They also talk about how motherhood is the inspiration for their artistic practices and why it’s so important to have studio space for their work. Numbers says that she first knew she was an artist when she was giving birth to her child. Macias says she turns to art for healing, and she embraces art as a refuge. She translates all kinds of emotions through vibrant colors and textures. They wind down the conversation by discussing the ways that their current political moment, including the killing of Renee Good last week by ICE, will impact their art.  Issis Macias is a self-taught artist and daughter of Mexican immigrants whose work explores the emotional spectrum of human experience through vibrant, intuitive abstraction. Born in Los Angeles and now based in Madison, Wisconsin, she began painting during a transformative period of motherhood and career transition amid the pandemic. Working with acrylic and oil pastels, Macias draws upon memory, intuition, and shared emotion to create her dynamic, layered compositions. She was named the 2025 Latina Artist of the Year and received the 2024 Micaela Salinas Artist Fellowship, sponsored by Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development. Macias was also a 2023–2025 Bridge Work artist at Arts + Literature Laboratory, a 2023 Forward Art Prize finalist through the Women Artists Forward Fund, and is an active member of the Madison Art Guild. Her work is held in private collections across the United States, Mexico, and Europe. Lesley Anne Numbers is an artist, educator, mother and earth-tender, born and raised in Madison. She earned a B.S. in Art Education and an MFA in Printmaking, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her art practice is rooted in a sense of spirit, curiosity and love and her imagery is inspired by daily walks with her dogs, the living world, music, poetry and dreams. Currently, Lesley serves as Director of Youth Education at Arts + Literature Laboratory, creates art at Roundhouse Studio and helps run Polka! Press, a printmaking cooperative. Emily Popp is a fashion and costume designer, teaching artist, performer, and creator of the small handmade fashion brand The Popp Town Mall. Her artistic practice centers on the repurposing and transformation of found and secondhand materials. Emily's definition of fashion includes anything worn on the body. She considers fashion to be one of the most accessible art forms, a means of individual artistic and intimate expression shared daily.  Emily currently works as a costume designer for the University of Wisconsin Opera and as Director of Adult Education at Arts + Literature Laboratory. Emily holds a Master’s degree in Fashion and Textiles from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Post-Baccalaureate in Fashion from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Featured image from the Pulling Together exhibit, courtesy of Art + Literature Laboratory. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Mother Artists Unite! appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On today's show host, Dana Pellebon is joined in the studio with long-time Madison leader, Anthony Cooper Sr. the CEO and Founder of Focused Interruption which provides community violence intervention and prevention in Dane County. Their work includes mentorship, trauma-informed care, and direct support to survivors of violence and individuals seeking a fresh start.  Cooper discusses how his experience of incarceration paved the way for the work that he's doing now with Focused Interruption and how he draws on his prior experience working for Nehemiah. He says that crisis intervention is important for everyone in the community, in addition to the victim and the perpetrator.  With Focused Interruption, Cooper works to address gun violence in a preventative way, though much of their work includes working with perpetrators of violence, navigating law enforcement and investigations, and community needs. This means pointing out challenges and moving toward repair in situations where “trauma is stacked on top of violence,” says Cooper. Community members are partners in this work, in helping the folks at Focused Interruption identify situations before they escalate.  They also discuss how important it is to show up in your community spaces in order to make a positive impact, what it would look like to have community rather than community policing, and how Focused Interruption takes care of its workers. Anthony Cooper Sr. is a dedicated and visionary leader, serving as the CEO and Founder of Focused Interruption, a pioneering organization specializing in community violence intervention and prevention in Dane County. His leadership is defined by a deep commitment to creating safer, more inclusive communities through innovative and compassionate approaches. Featured image of Anthony Cooper Sr. and Dana Pellebon in the WORT studio. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post Anthony Cooper Sr. Paves the Way for Local Violence Intervention appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Last week the federal government reduced the number of vaccines it recommends for children in the US from 17 to 11. The CDC made these changes without the approval from a federal panel. On today's show, host Douglas Haynes takes a look at these changes and their implications for public health with two experts, Mary Hayney of the UW School of Pharmacy and Kia Kjensrud of Immunize Wisconsin.  They break down the latest 6 changes to recommendations for the HPV, Hepatitis A, Rotavirus, RSV, flu and covid, and Meningococcal vaccines. The difference is that now the CDC doesn't recommend these vaccines, they say “talk to your doctor about them” through a process known as “shared clinical decision-making.” From the point of a published vaccine schedule, the CDC's new recommendations make it appear as if these vaccines are optional, says Hayney. And the changes imply that there hasn't been shared clinical decision-making, though it is common practice already, says Kjenstrud. At the end of the day, there is no scientific basis for these changes and the majority of parents still want their children to be vaccinated, says Hayney. For those who are skeptical about vaccines, Kjensrud says that vaccines are under strict scrutiny. More than 200 groups have joined the American Association of Pediatrics in calling for oversight for these changes. The rationale from the Trump administration is that these changes are in line with other countries like Denmark that recommend fewer childhood vaccines. Hayney says that there are significant demographic differences–in terms of size and diversity– between these countries to make it hard to compare. In addition, universal healthcare covers all citizens in Denmark. They also discuss the trust that pediatricians build with the families they care for, how measles and the flu are deadly and preventable diseases, school attendance policies, the misconception that physicians are making money from these childhood vaccines, and how insurance policies will be affected by these new guidelines.  Mary S. Hayney is a Distinguished Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy and a Master of Public Health Program Faculty Member at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health/ Her research lab studies vaccine responses in immunocompromised individuals. She teaches immunology topics at the School of Pharmacy, including the immunization course for pharmacy students. Kia Kjensrud has served as the executive director of the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics since 2007. She is the interim director of Immunize Wisconsin, a statewide coalition supporting efforts around strengthening vaccination ecosystems at the local, regional, and statewide level. Featured image of a child receiving a vaccine. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post The CDC Endangers Public Health and Abandons Science appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On Wednesday, ICE agents in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Nicole Good. Hours later, immigration officials raided a high school in the same city; and in Portland, ICE shot two additional civilians. In response, the Trump administration has been blaming the victims and promoting new expansive definitions of “terrorism” to silence dissent. To talk about this, host Esty Dinur is joined by independent journalist, Ken Klippenstein. They unpack Trump's recent national security directive which lists new identifiers of “terrorism” including expressing feelings that are anti-Christian, anti-capitalist, or anti-traditional family values (similar to this bill in Wisconsin). Klippenstein says that if you look at polling, these feelings are expressed by millions of voters. The effect of this directive is “bringing what was the global war on terror home,” by making enemies of American people. Attorney General Pam Bondi's expanded these qualities of “terrorism” to include anti-Ice sentiment.  Klippenstein says we have to understand that federal law enforcement has been instructed to view impeding ICE actions as terrorism, and there's no precedent in the US for this. Trump and Bondi's directives create a psychological environment in which ICE agents can view their fellow citizens as combatants. It's a world based in fear, one that MAGA supporters have been primed to accept as the dominant narrative by the media.  They also discuss the unpopularity of the Democratic Party and how top Democrats in Washington aren't in touch with rank and file voters. Klippenstein says we should be skeptical of calls for impeachment of Kristi Noem and alarmed by Bondi's directive to the FBI to offer cash bounties for “radicals.” Ken Klippenstein is an American journalist who previously worked at The Intercept before announcing his decision to go independent, believing the move necessary in order to report critically on national security. Soon after going independent, Klippenstein published the JD Vance Dossier, a hacked document numerous major media organizations — the very ecosystem he just left — refused to publish. Before The Intercept, Klippenstein was The Nation magazine’s DC correspondent. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Featured image of a group in Minnesota protesting ICE in 2018 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate hereThe post The Global War on Terror Comes Home appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.