8 O'Clock Buzz

Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz, the old dog is back to give Tara and company a few weeks off for the holiday!  Stan Woodard is back behind the mic talking with Executive Director of the Black Public Defender Association Alaina Bloodworth about what it’s like being a public defender and their important role in keeping the justice system just and providing for the community.  In the second half, Judith Tick, professor emerita of music history at Northeastern University and Author of “Becoming Ella Fitzgerald – The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song” joins us to talk about her new book and Ella Fitzgerald’s iconic role in American music history! 

More on the Black Public Defender Association: https://blackdefender.org/

More on Judith Tick and “Becoming Ella Fitzgerald” from Northeastern Univeristy: https://news.northeastern.edu/2011/01/19/judithtickfitzgerald/

Music playlist: https://spinitron.com/WORT/pl/18299315/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!

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Art Paul Schlosser Hosts Holiday Variety Show

On Saturday, December 23, Madison’s Cargo Coffee offers a respite from the frenzy of holiday preparations with a wing-ding of a variety show.  The show features the multiple talents of Noah Stafford, Marie on Violin; Momic and friends, Michael Owen Sullivan the singing Irishman, Steve Cast, Buddy Holly Cheesehead, Lynn Gillitzer, Dr Chris Kammer the Rock n Roll dentist, Po Ivey, Ted Kowle and more.  The show is headlined and hosted by Madison State Street legend Art Paul Schlosser.

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Water Protectors And Northwoods Lore

Nick Vander Puy describes himself as “woodsman, renegade journalist, born again pagan, trout bum, anarchist in black granite territory.”  He lives in Mellen, Wisconsin, where he reports on the politics and the natural phenology of the north woods.  His 2022 book “Water Protectors: The HELP Campaign to Save the Penokees,” details the 2014 activist campaign that blocked the proposed Gogebic-Taconite iron mine near the shores of Lake Superior.  Nick Vander Puy joined the Monday Buzz on December 18, 2023.

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Solar Powered Affordable Housing

Solar energy and weatherization are solid bets to reduce monthly utility bills.  The problem is, even with generous federal tax credits, the cost of installing solar panels or even better insulation falls beyond the reach of those most burdened by utility payments.  To make matters worse, Wisconsin law makes it nearly impossible for renters to take advantage of new energy technologies. Out in River Falls, Wisconsin, the West Central Community Action Agency, better known as West CAP, has found a way around the legal obstacles providing low-income households with cheap, renewable energy.  Peter Kilde is the executive director for West CAP, and he joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on December 18, 2023.

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Investigative watchdog group True North Research, founded and headed by Lisa Graves, has kept an eye of a number of issues in 2023, including U. S. Supreme Court ethics issues — failure of Clarence Thomas to recuse himself in conflict of interests cases and unreported gifts and travel of Justices, State Court election funding of right wing candidates, distortion of local public education school board by special interest groups, and more. Graves gives the details.

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Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear, gives an update on Holtec’s attempts to get authorization to restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan, currently shut down and scheduled to be decommissioned, amidst issues of the age and condition of the power plant, and petitions to halt Holtec from receiving almost $12 billion of public money. Kamps suggests that something similar may occur at the Kewaunee Power Plant in Wisconsin.

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Janet Parker from World Beyond War, Madison Chapter, joins the Thursday edition of the 8 O’Clock Buzz to discuss efforts to get political figures to support an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing war in Gaza that has resulted in the mass displacement of thousands of Palestinians and the death of hundreds of women and children in the region.  The organization has been frustrated by the lack of support from liberal members of the US Congress, and they have finally scheduled a meeting with US Senator Tammy Baldwin in an attempt to convince her to support the cause.  World Beyond War is cooperating with Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Madison Rafa Sister City Project in this endeavor.

Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash

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Jean Claude Alvarez, a recently arrived asylum seeker, joins the 8 O’Clock Buzz to recount his months long journey traveling from Venezuela, primarily on foot.  His arduous trek included a month long walk through the rain forest between Columbia and Panama and a crossing of the Rio Grande River.  Joining Jean Claude during the interview were Adriana Soto from Interpreter’s Cooperative of Madison, and Dennis Noonan from the Madison Catholic Worker group.  The Interpreter’s Cooperative provides services to help with the transition of non-native English speakers to our area, and the Catholic Worker group has recently purchased a single-family residence in Madison to provide transitional housing for recently arrived immigrants from Latin America.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

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Chaos Riddle and Meg Nog from Santas Without Chimneys are live in the studio on the 8 O’Clock Buzz to talk about their efforts to provide holiday gifts for those less fortunate children in our community.  The organization identifies “highly mobile” kids in the area with the help of social service agencies and personal observations, and asks them for their three wishes for the upcoming holidays.  They try to fulfill those requests with donations, but at the very least to provide warm clothes, books, crafts and bicycles whenever possible.  They are in need of volunteer drivers and phone callers, as well as food cards and financial assistance.  It’s also possible to sponsor a child with this type of assistance.  Santas Without Chimneys is located at 201 S. Stoughton Road and you can find them on the web.  Volunteers can just show up at the facility.

Photo by Mike Arney on Unsplash

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Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Tara Wilhelmi and RR Moore talk with Papa-Kobina Brewoo, Creative Movement Artist, Ceo and Director of The The Hitterz Collective about his story, street dance, and their up coming BAM Festival

More on BAM Festival  Battle Art Music coming up this weekend (12/15-17) at at Arts Lit Lab, My Arts Madison, Madison Circus Space: https://www.thehitterzcollectivellc.com/event-details/b-a-m-festival

More about Antoine’s Ugly Sweater Comedy and Poetry Jam on December 16th at Wil-Mar Center, see: https://www.facebook.com/ComedyAndPoetryJam/ 

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

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here