1050 Bascom

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful to have the opportunity to speak with Todd Newman, Professor of Life Sciences Communication at UW-Madison, about the research in his recently published article, “Science Elicits Hope in Americans – It’s Private Brand Doesn’t Need to Be Partisan”. In Covid-19, partisan disputes over the seriousness of the virus, the efficacy of masks, and the science of reopening business and schools is at the forefront of American politics and life. Prof. Newman’s research and teaching on science communication speaks to this crucial defining moment in American history.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful to have the opportunity to talk with Barry Burden, Political Science Professor and Director of the Elections Research Center, to discuss this week’s the Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris, and a summer of pandemic, protest, and campaign politics. We enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Burden and appreciated his suggestions on how all citizens might help to ensure a secure and fair election.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful to have the opportunity again to interview Prof. Ken Mayer, UW-Madison’s renowned presidential scholar to talk about President Trump and a summer of pandemic, protest, and campaign politics.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful to have the opportunity to speak with UW-Madison’s Keisha Lindsay, Associate Professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and Political Science. Professor Lindsay’s research and teaching interests include feminist political theory, black feminism, black masculinity, and gender-based politics in the African diaspora. Prof. Lindsay shared her insights into how her research and teaching speak directly to issues of race and police brutality, the Black Lives Matter movement and race and racism in the United States more generally. We learned so much from our conversation with Prof. Lindsay and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we talk to 2016 Badger grad, Phoenix Rice-Johnson. Phoenix, who majored in PS and International Relations, was awarded both the prestigious Marshall and Truman Scholarships, and received her MA in Public Policy at King’s College in London. Phoenix, who is interning this summer at the Office of the Public Defender in San Diego, will start her second year at Yale Law School in the fall. Phoenix offered her insights on applying to top law schools and prominent scholarships. We appreciated Phoenix’s down-to-earth honesty and insights into why she thinks top law schools like Yale are increasingly looking for students with nontraditional pathways as well as those who have taken gap years to grow personally and professionally and reflect on their motivation for pursuing post-graduate education. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Phoenix, and hope you will too. Listen here.

In this episode, we were grateful to interview Don Stanley, an award-winning instructor who teaches design, social media, and digital marketing courses for the UW-Madison Department of Life Sciences Communication. He also owns his own digital consultancy firm, 3Rhino Media, We thought now would be a great time to get his take on several of the many conversations and controversies surrounding platforms like Tik Tok, Facebook, and Twitter. Don shares his insights on why we should all think more critically about the data collection, surveillance and profit motivations of the platforms we use (even though they are fun and interesting). He also tells us why he thinks Facebook is never going away. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Don, and hope you will too.

Today on 1050 Bascom, we are excited to welcome back Josh Mesner to the podcast. As many of you know, Josh was the first host and editor of 1050 Bascom before moving to DC to begin a position at Energy Impact Center. Josh is a 2017 Badger who majored in Political Science and Environmental Studies. Throughout his undergrad years and in the two years afterward, Josh built an impressive resume of internships and jobs in the legal field, the state legislature, and in environmental policy positions. As part of our career conversations series, we wanted Josh’s advice for students hoping to eventually live and work in the nation’s capital. Josh also shared his insights into what he thinks makes an applicant competitive in a tough job market and how to approach the early years of your career.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful to talk to Laura Albert, professor of industrial and systems engineering at UW-Madison, about Covid-19 testing and tracing and the return of major league baseball. Professor Albert’s research focuses on modeling and solving real-world discrete optimization problems with application to homeland security, disasters, emergency response, public services, and healthcare. She is also interested in sports analytics and with the start of major league baseball this week, we thought now would be a perfect time to talk about modeling Covid-19 cases and outcomes, testing and tracing and how this might work (or not!) in major league baseball and professional and NCAA sports more generally. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Albert, and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful to talk to Laura Albert, professor of industrial and systems engineering at UW-Madison, about Covid-19 testing and tracing and the return of major league baseball. Professor Albert’s research focuses on modeling and solving real-world discrete optimization problems with application to homeland security, disasters, emergency response, public services, and healthcare. She is also interested in sports analytics and with the start of major league baseball this week, we thought now would be a perfect time to talk about modeling Covid-19 cases and outcomes, testing and tracing and how this might work (or not!) in major league baseball and professional and NCAA sports more generally. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Albert, and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we had the opportunity to talk with UW-Madison’s Stephen Kantrowitz, Professor of History and affiliate faculty in the department of Afro-American Studies and in the American Indian Studies Program to situate the Black Lives Matters protests in a historical and contemporary context. We asked Prof. Kantowitz’s about his comprehensive published response to a UW undergrad’s questions to him regarding whether he believes violent protest is ever justified. Prof. Kantowitz offered his insights into the role of social media in both media coverage of protests and politics more generally, sharing his take on emergence of a “self-surveillance” state. Prof. Kantowitz shared his thoughtful analysis of why there are kernels of hope but also cause for concern in contemporary discourse over Black Lives Matter and debates and struggles over confederate monuments in terms of civil discourse in democratic debate in American politics today.