On July 30, 2020, at a press conference devoted to the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos renewed the Administration’s insistence that the nation’s public schools reopen for in-person classes this fall.  Trump and DeVos backed their stance by claiming that children are not a significant vector for the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.  Although those claims were quickly debunked by public health experts, the pressure on schools to reopen is enormous and growing.  Michael Addonizio is a Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Wayne State University and a member of Wayne State’s Kaplan Collaborative for Urban Education. He previously served as Assistant Michigan State Superintendent for Research and Policy.

In July, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced that the state government would try to trim 250 million dollars from its 38 billion dollar current year.budget, blaming the shortfall on the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.  Wisconsin may be getting off easy, compared to other states.  New York State, which is facing a 13 billion dollar shortfall this year and up to 60 billion over the next four years, called the impacts “unprecedented in modern history.”  Carla Flink, a professor of public administration and policy at American University, joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on August 3, 2020.

 

 

Impact Demand (Facebook, Instagram) is a youth-led group that has been the organizing force behind several of Madison’s ongoing protests for racial justice. The group formed in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and subsequent demonstrations against police brutality, and has quickly established itself as one of the driving forces behind Madison’s Black Lives Matter movement.

Damita Brown speaks with Impact Demand organizer Ayomi Obuseh to discuss the group’s demands, the fight for justice, and the group’s future events.

It’s been a quiet year for live theater, as the coronavirus pandemic has shuttered most venues since March.  Madison Shakespeare Company is planning on trodding the boards once more this summer, with an offering of classic short plays, all dealing with the theme of scandal.  The productions will take place at Tyranena Brewery’s outdoor beer garden, with ample room for social distancing.  Director Kendra Thompson and actors Jason Compton and Annie Jay joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on July 27, 2020.

 

On July 9, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Jimcy McGirt, a member of the Seminole, could not be tried in an Oklahoma court, because McGirt’s alleged crime occurred in territory reserved to the Creek under an 1833 treaty.  Aside from the impact on McGirt’s case, who could still be tried in federal court, the ruling has profound implications for the relationships between U.S. State governments and Native American nations.  Kirsten Carlson is a professor of Law and Political Science at Wayne State University, and she joined the Monday Buzz on July 27, 2020.

We think of our beds, and our bedrooms, as the most intimate, personal part of our house.  The bedroom is the room that is closed off if we have guests in our house, and inviting someone into your bedroom has certain… connotations.  But it hasn’t always been thus.  Throughout human history, beds were often more communal, public places — sometimes with sexual overtones, but more frequently with none whatsoever.  Brian Fagan is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California – Santa Barbara.  He, along with co-author Nadia Durrani, recently wrote “What We Did In Bed: A Horizontal History.”  Brian Fagan joined Buzz host Brian Standing on Monday, July 27, 2020.

No standardization of community correction / community supervision policies in Wisconsin — according to Karen Reece Phifer, V.P. of Research and Education at the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development in Madison. The probation and parole system is heavily overburdened and under supported, which leads to inconsistencies in administration and makes Wisconsin the worst state in the Midwest and one of the worst in the country for failure rates of probation. Dr. Reece Phifer talks with Jerome Dillard from Ex-PO about these and other issues.

In today’s 8 O’Clock Buzz Ex-PO hour, Jerome Dillard speaks with Melissa Sargent, candidate for the 16th District Senate seat vacated by Mark Miller. The discussion focuses on her work on social justice issues, investing in people and opportunities rather than punishment, disproportionate rates of arrest for people of color, legalization of cannabis, and more.

Efforts to undermine and privatize the U.S. Postal Service has continued since the mid-1970’s, according by the recently published research by Lisa Graves, Executive Director of True North Research, in her article “Wait a Minute, Mr. Koch-Man: The Plot to Kill the Public’s Postal Service”. Libertarians, led by the Koch Brothers, have undermined, and continue to sabotage, funding and the financial solvency of the USPS. Even in the continued importance of the mail system in light of the COVID crisis, bills to help support the Post Office (and its hundreds of thousands of employees) are threatened by this group.

Photo by Tariq Ismail from Unsplash

“Monitoring from birth to death” — this is how author and prison reform activist, Victoria Law, describes the juncture of liberal prison reformists and financial conservatives efforts to monitor people …focussing on people of color…in efforts to reduce the cost of prisons. The result is electronic monitoring which may start in schools (and before), and last a lifetime. She talks to Jan Miyasaki about these issues and her new book: “Prison By Any Other Name”.