8 O'Clock Buzz

May 31, 2021 is Memorial Day.  Throughout the day today, you will hear politicians speaking piously about “honoring those who have served” and “paid the ultimate sacrifice” for their country.  There will be jingoistic displays of military might, flag waving, singing of the national anthem, and of course, barbecues.  You will find precious few today who speak about stopping the production of war dead that make days like Memorial Day necessary.  Few who speak not about more war, but about peace.  You can find one of those precious few remembrances today from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. when the Clarence Kalin Chapter of Veterans for Peace holds their annual peace rally.  This year’s event is a virtual event, broadcast on YouTube.  David Giffey is an artist, author and journalist who served as a combat journalist with the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam.  Giffey is one of today’s rally’s featured speakers.

It’s only May, but 2021’s first Atlantic cyclone — subtropical storm Ana — has already begun gyrating northeast of Bermuda. With another hurricane season underway, coastal communities, many still reeling from last year’s storms, begin bracing themselves for more heavy weather.  Meteorologist Athena Masson, also known as the “Weather Goddess,” has looked at almost fifty years of hurricane data to come up with better ways of predicting the severity of storms and where they make landfall.

 

Photo of historic hurricane tracks by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, public domain.

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Occupy Madison’s Maleyk Mason Talks About Their Upcoming Open House

Occupy Madison is holding an open house Saturday, June 5, at noon for their second tiny house village, located off of Aberg Avenue. They’re inviting the community to come and see the village and celebrate housing 33 people who would have otherwise been homeless last winter. Find more information about the event on Facebook here.

Maleyk Mason of Occupy Madison joins Friday Buzz host, Jonathan Zarov, to talk about the village and the open house.

 

(Image courtesy of proposed plan on City of Madison site)

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Scott Gordon On State Republicans’ Push To End Federal $300 Unemployment Supplement

In his recent article, Quit taking it out on the unemployed, journalist, Scott Gordon, talks about the Republicans’ push to have Governor Tony Evers end the federal $300 unemployment supplement. State Republicans argue that the supplement is causing the current shortage of workers, but Scott argues that “the real shortage is not one of workers, but of good opportunities that offer livable pay, rewarding work, valuable experience, and opportunities for advancement.”

Scott Gordon, editor-in-chief and founder of Tone Madison, joins Friday Buzz host, Jonathan Zarov, to discuss this topic.

 

(Images courtesy of Sharon McCutcheon and Connor Betts on Unsplash)

WORT 89.9FM Madison · A Room of One’s Own’s Gretchen Treu talks WisCon 2021

WisCon is the oldest—and often called the world’s leading—feminist science fiction convention, which takes place every year over Memorial Day weekend. They’ll be holding their annual event virtually May 29-30th. It’s an online not-quite-WisCon, including a group video chat space, complete with virtual bar, pool, and sofas.

Grethen Treu, is a co-owner of A Room of One’s Own Bookstore. They’re also a longtime WisCon attendee, a member of the convention’s committee, and a presenter at this year’s WisCon and they join Friday Buzz host Jonathan Zarov to talk more about this event.

Did you know that a 2003 Supreme Court ruling, claiming a 80% recidivism rate of sex offenders was based on an unfounded and unsupported statement by a prison social worker? And a high-school romance of an 18-year old with a 16-year old classmate that “goes too far” could result in a lifetime of GPS monitoring? These are only a couple of the issues described and being challenged by Ron Schroeder, Chair of the Registrant Rights Responsibility Group of the Ex-incarcerated Persons Organizing (Ex-PO) action group.

Unlike major cities with a larger established Black population, Madison’s newer, but growing, Black community is lacking any sort of cultural anchor — so says Dr. Alex Gee, Director of the Nehemiah Center for Urban Development. Dr. Gee plans to change that, and his vision for “The Center for Black Excellence and Culture” on the south Madison Gateway is a place for visual arts, performance, shared “intellectual property”, youth programming, and a hub to create a sense of “home” for the Black community in Madison and the Midwest. His fundraising goal of $25 million for this 55,000 sq. ft. space is moving forward, with the help of many.

In the fifth century B.C.E., the City of Athens was laid low with a terrible plague that killed many of the Ancient Greek city’s citizens.  In 1998, researchers extracted dental pulp from bodies found in an ancient cemetery unearthed during excavations for the 2004 Olympics. The researchers were able to identify the disease that laid ancient Athens low as typhoid fever.  The plague had a profound effect on Greek culture, and became a touchstone theme for Greek playwrights, including Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex.

Joel Christensen is a classical scholar at Brandeis University, and the author of the “Many Minded Man,” an exploration of Homer’s Odyssey. Christensen argues that the Ancient Greeks’ dramatic tradition of catharsis can help modern society deal with similar plagues, such as the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Conversation | How theater can help communities heal from the losses and trauma of the pandemic

 

Image: Jean-Joseph Taillasson – “Achilles Displaying the Body of Hector at the Feet of Patroclus” (CC-Zero) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

When people are told to stay six feet away from each other to avoid catching a potentially deadly virus, large assemblies are banned and millions of people suddenly start working from home instead of commuting, it’s not surprising that mass transit would become relatively unpopular.  In fact, the U.S.’s major transit systems saw an 80% drop in ridership last April, triggering massive budget shortfalls, which in turn have triggered layoffs and service cuts.  As the U.S. gradually emerges from the pandemic, what will the future be for transit in the U.S.?  Ruth Steiner, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida, believes mass transit could be the answer to recover from the economic damages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Conversation | Pandemic-stricken mass transit would get $85 billion in Biden stimulus plan – a down payment on reviving American cities

 

Photo by Katt Yukawa on Unsplash

 

Dane County boasts multiple renowned hospitals, a variety of clinics and a competitive health insurance market, all of which make the Madison area score highly as a healthy place to live.  At least for white people.  The bad news is that despite all those assets, Dane County continues to have some of the highest health disparities in the nation between white residents and people. United Way of Dane County recently unveiled their latest Health Mobilization Plan to target nonprofit funds to combat health inequities.  Joining us for this interview is Gabe Doyle, Community Impact Director for Health at United Way — Dane County, as well as Jesi Wang, Health Community Solutions Team Chair and Board member of United Way — Dane County.