8 O'Clock Buzz

“Arts make us human”, says Anne Katz, Executive Director of Arts Wisconsin, a Community Shares organization which focuses on supporting both the activity and the economics of art in the state. She explains the group’s activities to Jan Miyasaki.

According to Sarah Lazare, reporter for In These Times, while the U.S. economy is failing because of the COVID-19 issues, the military is accelerating contract awards to military weapons manufacturers. Read more in her article “As the World Economy Grinds to a Halt, the U.S. War Machine Churns On“.

With victims of COVID-19 including a raft of Hollywood celebrities and United Kingdom prime minister Boris Johnson, it would be easy to think that the pandemic is an equal-opportunity crisis — posing an equal threat to all humans on the planet.  In truth, though, existing social and economic inequities become magnified when viewed through the lens of a public health crisis. The fact is, if you’re poor, uninsured, homeless, undocumented or simply don’t have a safe place to isolate, your chances of contracting the virus are higher, and the seriousness of your health risks increase.  Add to that the social stigma of being LGBTQ+, and you have what NBC news recently described as the “perfect storm” of a crisis. Brave Space Alliance is the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ center on Chicago’s South Side. Brave Space Alliance Associate Executive Director Stephanie Skora joined the Monday 8 O’Clock Buzz on April 13, 2020.

Caty Borum Chattoo has made a career not only telling stories herself, but talking about how storytelling works and how it can effect real social change.  Her book, “A Comedian and an Activist Walk Into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice” is out now from the University of California Press. She’s worked as a documentary filmmaker, and was once a producer for television icon Norman Lear.  Lately, though, the funny — and perhaps — necessary side of the coronavirus pandemic has been on her mind.

International law grants governments the ability to temporarily suspend most civil rights during a state of emergency.  That’s how state governments in the U.S. can issue lockdown orders — essentially suspending the first amendment right of free assembly — during the coronavirus pandemic.  It’s relatively easy to see how preventing unnecessary deaths can justify temporarily limiting the number of people who can get together. But what about open meetings, or open records?  Can the government increase secrecy during a temporary emergency? That seems a little harder to justify. Yet many local, state and federal governments have done exactly that, making it more difficult for reporters and others to obtain records or to find out who said what in a public meeting.  David Cuillier is the president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, and he joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on April 13, 2020.

Caitlin Stronell from the Citizen’s Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) gives a live update from Tokyo on the activities of the Fukushima power plant decommissioning, child thyroid cancer in Japan, “Recovery Olympics”, and more.

David Bacon, author, photojournalist, and migrant worker activist talks about some of the issues facing undocumented workers in the time of COVID-19. His latest piece in the Progressive Magazine, illustrates the contradictions of these “essential” farm workers face by being excluded from the CARES Act.

The ACLU of Wisconsin has sent a letter to the Sheboygan County Sheriff, asking him to rescind his agreement with ICE to detain released prisoners, in light of the social isolation needed for the COVID-19 precautions. Tim Muth from the ACLU of Wisconsin elaborates on the issue.

On Monday, March 30th, 2020, Tom Every, better known as “Dr. Evermor,” passed away at Maplewood Nursing Home in Sauk City, Wisconsin.  His legacy looms as large as his colorful persona: over four million pounds of welded metal sculpture at his art park in Baraboo, scores of commissioned sculptures scattered throughout Wisconsin, an international reputation as a folk artist and — at least to hear him tell it — the secret mastermind behind one of Wisconsin’s best-known tourist attractions, the House on the Rock.  Joining Monday Buzz host Brian Standing to reflect on Tom Every’s life and work on Monday April 6, were Thayer Every, Tom’s son, who works as a welder and machine operator. and Erika Koivunen, an artist, and former collaborator and protege of Tom Every.

 

Zoonotic infectious diseases — ailments that jump from one species to another — have plagued human beings for a long time.  Bubonic plague, smallpox, tuberculosis and rabies are all examples of diseases that started in other animals, and then made the leap to infect human beings. For much of human history, low population densities and little direct contact with other animals kept such diseases in check.  Starting in the 18th century, humans began concocting vaccines to train human immune systems to attack viral and microbial agents. But as human and domestic animal populations have continued to expand, aand wildlife populations come into more frequent contact with humans, more and more microbial parasites have evolved the ability to exploit human hosts.  Conservation biologist George Wittemyer spends most of his time working with animals at the other end of the size scale from microbes. He specializes in African elephants. But he is certainly no stranger to the international wildlife trade, which he thinks contributes to outbreaks like the current COVID-19 pandemic. Wittemeyer joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on April , 2020.