8 O'Clock Buzz

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Christo Ruppenthal Releases “Café Allongé”

Local musician Christo Ruppenthal, a former member of the group Mal-O-dua, has released his first all-original body of work under his own name, entitled Café Allongé. He had a CD release party at Zuzu Cafe last night and will be performing at 2pm next week Saturday, Sept. 18 at Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest. Christo joins Friday Buzz host Jonathan Zarov to talk more about the album.

 

 

(Images courtesy of Christo Ruppenthal)

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Local Activists Take Action to Fight for Abortion Rights

As the Texas anti-abortion law goes into effect and the Supreme Court prepares itself to hear another abortion case, massive rallies and marches across the US are happening to ensure that abortion, a fundamental human right, is not criminalized across the US. Activists in Madison are taking action as well. A Rally and Speakout to Defend Abortion Rights took place at UW Library Mall yesterday evening.

Two of the rally organizers: Scot McCullough, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and the public-sector labor union Wisconsin Professional Employees Council, and Kim Gasper-Rabuck, an abortion rights activist, join Friday Buzz host Jonathan Zarov to talk more about the topic.

 

 

(Image courtesy of Scot McCullough)

A recent report, “STATE OF INSECURITY: The Cost of Militarization Since 9/11“, co-authored by Lindsay Koshgarian of the National Priorities Project, looks in detail at the monies spent by the U. S. since 9/11, not just at international spending for the “War on Terrorism”, but also homeland security, increased spending on local law enforcement, and more. Kosgarian’s report puts the total at over $21 trillion in the past 20 years, vs. $4 trillion in the previous 20 years. Where is it spent? Who’s profiting? Has it made the country safer? Who oversees the spending? The report investigates these and other questions.

The top 7 wealthiest individuals in the U. S. have just accumulated over $1 Trillion between them, and only pay around 2-3% in taxes (vs. 15-18% of “typical” taxpayers), using the strategy of “Buy, Borrow, Die”. Most of their earnings is taxed as capital gains, at an extremely low tax rate. Biden’s “American Families Plan” strives to level the tax field for the “uber-rich” with “stepped-up basis reform”, according to Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Bob Lord in his article “Our ‘Trillion-Dollar Seven’: Can We Summon the Courage to Tax Them?”.

The Biden administration has advanced global warming by opening up 80 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling leases. Immediately following, Earthjustice filed the lawsuit in federal court in the District of Columbia on behalf of Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, and the Center for Biological Diversity. It was filed against Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management following the notice of lease sale 257.

Brettny Hardy, Senior Attorney at EarthJustice Oceans Program, discusses the recklessness and nearsightedness of this action in light of recent world-wide wildfires and aftermath of hurricane Ida, as well as other climate-related catastrophes.

Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Dr. Damita Brown…

Jim Hightower is an nationally known and best-selling author, commentator, populist and labor activist.  His monthly (rabble) rousing newsletter reaches out worldwide and his daily radio commentaries are heard on hundreds of stations across the country (including WORT!).  He joins us to talk about Fighting Bob Festival this Thursday, progressive and populist issues, and his hope for the future!

More information on Jim Hightower: https://jimhightower.com/ and the Hightower Lowdown: https://hightowerlowdown.org/ 

More information on Fighting Bob Fest, coming up Thursday, September 9th at Barrymore Theatre: https://fightingbobfest.info/ 

Promotional Photo

Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Dr. Damita Brown…

Frank Emspak is Professor Emeritus of UW-Madison School for Workers and a labor activist based in Madison, WI.  He is a regular contributor to WORT Labor Radio, Progressive Magazine and other Labor-related publications.  He joins us to talk about the state of labor in 2021 and where we’re going in the future!

Labor Radio is on WORT at 5:30 on Friday, for clips and more information: https://www.wortfm.org/news-talk/news/labor-radio/ 

Photo by Norm Stockwell for WORT

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Party in the Park Is Back!

For the first time in over 15 years James Madison Park will be hosting Party in the Park Festival later today. The Festival is being put on by WSUM, UW Madison’s premier radio station, with the help from Friends of Madison Student Radio and FPC Live.

Izzi Bavis is the Music Director at WSUM and has been working diligently, along with her coworkers, all summer to bring the festival back to life. She joins Friday Buzz hosts Ankur Malhotra and Austin Exum to talk more about the Festival.

 

 

(Images courtest of Izzi Bavis)

WORT 89.9FM Madison · What Is Limnology?

Established in July 1982 to coordinate, conduct, and facilitate research on freshwater ecosystems at University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Center for Limnology is the window on freshwater resources through the Hasler Laboratory of Limnology on the shore of Lake Mendota in Madison. Their research addresses significant applied questions about fisheries, invasive species, climate change, pollutants, harmful algal blooms, and other societally-relevant issues related to freshwater.

Dr. Hilary Dugan is an assistant professor at the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a limnologist, Hilary studies how terrestrial and atmospheric changes, such as

warming air temperatures or land use patterns, alter biogeochemical fluxes and aquatic processes in lakes. Her research balances field-based programs, which rely heavily on sensor networks, with the use and development of analytical models, and the application of geophysical and geospatial tools. Her research focus is on temperate and polar lakes, with sites spanning from Wisconsin to Antarctica. Hilary joins Friday Buzz hosts Ankur Malhotra and Austin Exum to discuss more about what the center does.

 

 

(Images courtesy of Dave Hoefler on Unsplash and Hilary Dugan)

WORT 89.9FM Madison · UW Madison Opens Center For The Study Of Psychoactive Substances

The UW School of Pharmacy is now housing a new center researching the effects of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA as a possible treatment for conditions like depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and opioid addiction. The UW Madison Transdisciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances is looking into the long stigmatized drugs that are now rising in profile as mental illness treatment options.

Paul Hutson is the Director of the Center at UW and has been a pharmacist with the UW Madison School of Pharmacy for 33 years. He has worked at UW Madison in the areas of experimental cancer therapeutics and palliative care, and 7 years ago was given the opportunity to lead a pivotal dosing and safety trial of psilocybin. He is also a co-investigator on the more recent clinical trials of psilocybin and MDMA being performed at the UW Madison. He joins Friday Buzz hosts Ankur Malhotra and Austin Exum to talk more about the new center.

 

 

(Images courtesy of Christopher Ott on Unsplash and Paul Hutson)