<span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" data-mce-type="bookmark" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

We all know, or maybe we’ve played in, a garage band.  Something about that large expanse of concrete and high ceilings just begs to be used for something more fun than parking a car.  If not a band stage, how about an art gallery? Texas transplants Abby Johnson and Austin Swearengin have done just that, periodically converting their apartment’s 5-car garage into R&D Galleries, a space for temporary exhibits of new works.   Their next exhibit “Hard Country, Fine Grain” goes up on Saturday August 15th and comes down the next day – so you only have this weekend to see it.  Abby Johnson and Austin Swearengin joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on August 10, 2026.

Featured image: R&D Galleries. (Photo courtesy R&D Galleries)

The post R&D Gallery Provides DIY Exhibition Space appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

At 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 4th, City of Madison workers began dismantling an ad hoc memorial encampment at the site of the July 22 shooting of Corey Ruiz by a Madison Police officer.  The action came as a surprise to protestors, since previous conversations with city officials left organizers with the impression that they had time to wind down the encampment.  Barricades were removed, personal items and food thrown into garbage trucks.  When people objected, police in riot gear moved in.  At least 22 people were arrested, and police injured Police Independent Monitor Airaemique Glass when she attempted to obtain an officer’s badge number.  Alan Robinson, racial equity activist and columnist for Madison 365 joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on August 10, 2026.

Featured image: Corey Ruiz Memorial (photo by Brian Standing)

The post Alan Robinson on Corey Ruiz Memorial Aftermath appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Follow the Money is a periodic deep dive into the campaign finance reports for candidates seeking office in Wisconsin.  On Friday, August 7, candidates for Wisconsin Governor filed the last of their campaign finance reports before the partisan primary on Tuesday, August 11.  Joining us once again with all the twists and turns is self-described campaign finance nerd Michelle Ellinger-Linley.

Featured image: pile of cash

The post Follow the Money: Primary Eve appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Today on the Too Turnt Up Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Tara Wilhelmi featuring Jackie Brodean, Chakari Daezhare and Eric Hall join for some serious talk about community in light of the police killing two weeks ago and the city’s forcible removal of protesters and clearing of the encampment and memorial on Willy St.  In the second half, talking about Eric’s mentorship program, “The Boys Club” at Sun Prairie Westside Elementary, and Chakari’s upcoming Jamboree at High Noon on August 20th! 

Reporting on the city’s clearing of the encampment and memorial on Willy St from Chali Pittman at Isthmus: https://isthmus.com/news/news/Madison-clears-willy-street-encampment/

More information and tickets to Thee Chakari Jamboree at High Noon on 8/20: https://high-noon.com/event/thee-chakari-daezhare-jamboree/ 

Coming up next week, Ju-Ju’s (Julian Walters) 6th annual back to school Block Party Weekend 8/13-16: https://www.facebook.com/jujusblockparty/ 

Get out for some R&B:

Check in with Urban League at https://ulgm.org/calendar/ and https://ulgmhub.org/calendar/  for info on resume and job seeking workshops, banking workshops, home ownership clinics, information on Expungement, childcare assistance, fatherhood support, healthcare administration, food safety and trades training, and more!

Music from today’s show: https://spinitron.com/WORT/pl/22819865/Tuesday-8-O-Clock-Buzz 

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

The post Don’t Let Them Write the Narrative appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Former City of Madison alder and longtime police oversight activist Rebecca Kemble sat down with Monday Buzz host Brian Standing to discuss the tortured history of the Office of Independent Police Monitor and the Civilian Police Oversight Board.

The post A Brief History of the Madison Office of the Independent Police Monito... appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, workers from all industries suddenly found themselves without a job.  In response, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal program created institutions like the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration and the Public Works Administration to put people to work on projects that would benefit the public.  In addition to civil engineering projects focused on employing workers in construction, factory work, office work and forestry, the Roosevelt Administration also paid attention to another group whose work had disappeared: artists.  In 1935, the Works Progress Administration established the Federal Art Project, which employed as many as 10,000 visual artists and craft workers.  On September 8, the Chazen Museum of Art will open a new exhibit, “Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in the 1930s,” featuring works by Federal Art Project artists.  Kathryn Koca Polite curated the new exhibit, and she joined the Monday Buzz on August 2, 2026.

Featured image: Chet La More, Civilians, ca. 1937. Lithograph. Allocated by the US Government, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects, 1943-4-231.

The post Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

In her book Syllabus, Richland Center, Wisconsin native comic book artist and University of Wisconsin professor Linda Berry asks the question, “What do ideas look like when they’re taking physical shape?” Through August 29th, Madison’s Arts and Literature Laboratory has an exhibit entitled You Are Here Sitting With Me: A Comics Show, featuring works that seek to answer Berry’s provocative question. Textile artist Noa Rickey recently earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin School of Design, and is one of the featured artists in the Berry Inspired exhibit. Noah Rickey joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing from Donegal, Ireland.

Featured image: “Queerphoria” by Noa Rickey (Photo courtesy Noa Rickey)

The post “You Are Sitting Here With Me” at Arts Lit Lab appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

<span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" data-mce-type="bookmark" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

On July 22, 2026, a yet-to-be-identified Madison police officer shot 38-year old Corey Ruiz three times in the head, killing Ruiz on the spot.  Bystander video appears to show that Ruiz had already been subdued by three other officers when one officer fired his gun.  The incident occurred at the intersection of Madison’s Williamson and Baldwin Streets, in the Williamson-Marquette neighborhood.  That neighborhood has seen more than its share of police violence, with Madison Police officer Stephen Heimsness shooting Paulie Heenan dead in 2012, officer Matt Kenny shooting Tony Robinson dead in 2015 and officer Hector Rivera shooting Michael Schumacher dead in 2016.  In the aftermath of the Ruiz shooting, friends, neighbors and activists have erected a Corey Ruiz memorial at the intersection where Ruiz died.  Williamson and Baldwin Streets remain barricaded, and an ad hoc village has sprung up at the site.  Tents provide food, shelter, mental health services, clothing swaps – even a beautician for neighborhood residents, many of whom are homeless.  When Monday Buzz host Brian Standing visited the Memorial on Sunday, August 2nd, many people were reluctant to speak to the media, citing poor experiences with coverage in the past.  Here’s a sample of some of the folks who were willing to talk about their experience.

All photos by Brian Standing

The post Voices from the Corey Ruiz Memorial appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

Today on the Too Turnt Up Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Tara Wilhelmi, Rudy Scott, CEO of Abstract Global Entertainment joins us to talk about his new project to help people navigate the legal appeals system.  Also, Madison mainstay Clyde Gaines drops in to talk about the Next Level Park St. Music Fest, coming up this weekend to bring the community together.

More on the Next Level Park Street Festival coming up 8/1 at the Labor Temple from Madison 365: https://madison365.com/park-street-music-fest-now-in-its-9th-year-returns-to-madisons-south-side-saturday/

More on Rudy’s project, Pro Se Pathways to help people navigate the legal appeals process: https://prosepathway.com/ and Rudy’s creative works: https://rudolphcollect.com/ 

Coming up soon:

And Regular Shows:

Check in with Urban League at https://ulgm.org/calendar/ and https://ulgmhub.org/calendar/  for info on resume and job seeking workshops, banking workshops, home ownership clinics, information on Expungement, childcare assistance, fatherhood support, healthcare administration, food safety and trades training, and more!

Music from today’s show: https://spinitron.com/WORT/pl/22786727/Tuesday-8-O-Clock-Buzz 

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

The post We The People Can Change This appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

<span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" data-mce-type="bookmark" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

Erstwhile Monday Buzz producer and international roving reporter Nicholas Wootton is just back from a brief sojourn across the pond.  Nicholas sent us this postcard from London about a street poet for hire.

(All photos by Nicholas Wootton)

The post Postcard From London: Street Poetry on Demand appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.