8 O'Clock Buzz

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On December 10, the Middleton Public Library will host a poetry reading event entitled “Families: Real or Imagined,” featuring Madison-area poets Ronnie Hess and Shaushana Shy.  Ronnie Hess grew up in New York City, developed a career in broadcast journalism where she worked for Wisconsin, Chicago and Minnesota Public Radio, not to mention a stint as a Paris, France correspondent for CBS news. After settling in Madison, Hess turned to poetry.  Her new book, Eggprhasis: The Sky is Falling,  available from Kelsay Books, makes up the “real families” portion of the upcoming reading event – although most of the family members she describes are chickens.

Madison resident Shaushana Shy twice won the  Wisconsin Library Association Outstanding Achievement award for her poetry books What the Postcard Didn’t Say and  The Splash of Easy Laughter. Shaushana is the founder of Woodrow Hall Editions publishing house, the Poetry Jumps off the Shelf Program and runs a thriving cat-care business.  Shaushana considers herself primarily a fiction author, and her new poetry book, Shortcut to Thief River Falls, makes up the “imagined families” portion of the reading.

Both poets joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on November 9, 2026.

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Once a month, we check in with Monday 8 O’Clock Buzz roving feature reporter, Nicole Gruter, who’s busy documenting – in fine grain detail – the denizens along U.S. Highway 14, which traces a route from Chicago through Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota before ending at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.  This month, Nicole brings us a report from tiny little Leiter, Wyoming.

The post Finding Home on Highway 14, Episode 13: Leiter, WY appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

On November 3, Wisconsin voters handed Democrats control of the Governor’s office and both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature for the first time since 2010.  Voters split, however, on three constitutional amendments also on the ballot.  An amendment to limit the Governor’s line-item veto authority passed 50.8% to 49.2%, while an amendment to prohibit any governmental entity from “discriminating or providing preferential treatment” passed by a wider 56.5% to 43.5%.  A third measure, which would have prevented public health officials from closing places of worship during an emergency, failed 51.9% to 48.1%.  With two of those amendments now enshrined in the state constitution, what practical or legal impact will they have?  Sterling Knoche, staff attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative of the University of Wisconsin Law School joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on November 9, 2026.

Featured image: “Legislation” mural, Wisconsin State Capitol (photo by Brian Standing for WORT News)

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Jan Miyasaki chats with Chris Mills Rodrigo, Managing Editor of Inequality.org, about some of the national election results, and the future of the Democratic Party.

The post Chris Mills Rodrigo on Election Results appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Playwright Danielle Dresden talks about the upcoming performance of her play “The Caffeinated Book Club of Chestnut Street Performs the U.S. Constitution“, a comedy/history lesson with witty insight into the constitution and today’s politics. The play runs from November 6-15 at TNW Ensemble Theater, 1957 Winnebago Street, Madison. Performances are at 7:30 PM on Friday and Saturday nights and at 2:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

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Today on a the Too Turnt Up Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Tara Wilhelmi featuring Jackie Brodean, Taylor Jackson, Interim President and CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Dane County joins us to tell us her story and looking forward (with Pay It Forward) at what’s going on with Boys and Girls Club in the wake of the death of Michael Johnson;  Drew Greens joins to talk about mentoring and his enterprises and what’s going on around town; and finally Keetra Burnette, Director of Stakeholder Engagement at United Way joins to talk about their upcoming peaceful observer trainings!

Check in for more information on Pay It Forward from Boys and Girls Club at https://www.bgcdc.org/payitforward

Come to United Way Peaceful Observer Trainings this week:

Keep up with Drew Greens at https://dgemcxrecords.com/ and catch him and others at High Noon Saloon on January 30th: https://high-noon.com/event/drew-greens-live-at-the-high-noon/ 

Music from today’s show: https://spinitron.com/WORT/pl/23281341/Tuesday-8-O-Clock-Buzz 

Get out for some R&B:

Check out dance and jazz events all week at Cafe Coda!

Listen in Madison at 89.9FM or online anywhere at wortfm.org.  Support your community radio with a donation online at wortfm.org!

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Reg’s mom, Josephine has become more irascible, difficult and downright violent in her old age.  With no-one wanting to deal with Josephine, Reg turns to the only help available – a home health care robot.  That’s the premise of the new play, “Dragonsocks and Queen of the Universe” running through November 14th at Madison’s Broom Street Theater.  Playwright Brendon Smith, director Suzan Kurry and actor Jim Rowe joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on November 2, 2026.

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The United Nations Environmental Program has released its 2026 Emissions Gap Report. It  paints a generally gloomy picture of the earth’s climate, but contains a few shreds of hope.  Titled “The Point of Return,” UNEP’s 17th annual climate change assessment warns that global warming will almost certainly overshoot the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature increase target established in the Paris Accords.  That could mean permanent damage to permafrost, global ice sheets and coral reefs, as well as weather patterns that the report’s authors describe as having “devastating human impacts.” There is some good news in the new report, though, as it documents a slowing of greenhouse emissions – the first since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Bill Hare is a Senior Scientist and CEO with Climate Analytics, a climate science and policy institute based in Berlin.

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Since the Republican wave election of 2010, the once-reliably Democratic state of Wisconsin has found itself under varying degrees of Republican control.  Although Democrats and their sympathetic though officially nonpartisan magistrates have wrested control of the Governor’s office and the state supreme court from Republicans in recent elections, the Legislature has remained firmly in GOP territory, with Republicans enjoying large majorities in both the Senate and Assembly for the last decade.  That may be about to change, as new legislative districting maps and a potential Democratic wave fueled by anti-Trump sentiment have the Dems licking their chops.  But nothing is certain, polling is tight and the fall elections may bring surprises.  Brittany Carloni has worked as Wisconsin Watch’s state government and politics reporter since 2025.  She joined the Monday 8 O’Clock Buzz on November 2, 2026.

Featured image: Wisconsin State Capitol (photo by Chali Pittman for WORT News)

The post Wisconsin Legislative Districts to Watch in 2026 Election appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

When Trump signed executive order 14203 in February of 2025, it passed sanctions not only on the International Criminal Court (ICC), a court designed to resolve international crimes and with members of 124 countries except the US and two others, but also to individuals or groups supporting the ICC. The US group Taxpayers Alliance Against Genocide, headed by Seth Donnelly, brought suit against Trump and his order on the basis that it infringed on freedom of speech. Donnelly talks about the October 13 preliminary injunction staying the order, and what the future may be for the executive order.

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