8 O'Clock Buzz

Filmmaker John Mossman has appeared on the Friday Buzz under many fictional names, including Dirk Seehoosen, the CEO of the new sports streaming service QAnon Sports. On this edition of the Friday Buzz, John finally appears on the show as himself. An actor, director, writer, producer and filmmaking instructor, his feature-length movie credits include the 2012 movie, “Into the Wake,” shot entirely on location in his own hometown of Baraboo, Wisconsin. His new film, in release now, won so many awards in Europe this past winter that he had to buy a separate seat on the plane to get them all home. It’s called “Good Guy with a Gun” and it screens on April 15 in the Wisconsin Film Festival. He joins host Andy Moore to talk about his new film, from its inception to its reception.

John Mossman is a Baraboo native who graduated from UW-Madison. Over the course of his filmmaking career, he’s written, directed and produced numerous award-winning films and acted in many more. He and his wife Kathy founded The Artistic Home, a wildly popular little theater in Chicago that trains actors and produces plays. John is also a film instructor at Columbia College. His newest film “Good Guy with a Gun” will appear at the Wisconsin Film Festival on April 15 at the Chazen Museum of Art. More information on the screening can be found here.

Photo courtesy of John Mossman via his website

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Brenda Konkel, Policy Committee co-chair of Progressive Dane, joins host Tony Castañeda of the Thursday Morning 8 O’Clock Buzz to talk about the city-wide results from Tuesday’s general election. In the mayor’s race, Satya Rhodes-Conway, the incumbent won re-election, but by a much smaller margin than expected. In an interesting development, incumbent alders faced off against each other due to a redrawing of district and ward boundaries in 2021. With regards to campaign financing, the National Association of Realtors poured a lot of money into backing certain candidates, with zoning issues becoming an increasingly hot topic for City Council debate.

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

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Homeless in Wisconsin

On any given night, there are 4,000 homeless in the State which isn’t just an issue for the larger metropolitan areas. Those dealing with homelessness can be found in every corner of the State, both rural and urban. Mike Basford, director of the State of Wisconsin Interagency Council on Homelessness, speaks with Tony Castañeda of the Thursday Morning 8 O’Clock Buzz about efforts to address this pressing issue. Mike points out there has been recent progress, including the governor’s budget proposal to increase funding to record highs, but the number one issue is finding affordable housing and the obstacles complicating a solution to this problem.

Image by Leo Fontes from Pixabay

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Discovery and creativity for youth of all ages: this is what you can expect at the Badgerland Remake Learning Days, April 21-29 (plus other days). Kathe Crowley Conn talks about the live and on-demand activities throughout the week, with special activity days on April 21 at the “Wonderground” at the Madison Children’s Museum and April 22 at the Beloit Public Library. Visit the site for a full schedule of events and activities.

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The House of Representatives just passed bill H.R.1, the “Lower Energy Costs Act” — dubbed the “Polluters over People Act” by Ariel Moger, Government and Political Affairs Director at Friends of the Earth. The act “greases the wheels for dirty energy” and guts environmental protections, and while it has promised to “dead in the water” for an up vote by the Senate and President, Moger says that we must be vigilant for parts of the bill to be attached to “must pass” legislation.

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Mursel Sabir, founder and Director of Afghans Empowered and SWANA Region relief agencies, talks about the current need for families in the Daikundi Province, Afghanistan. Using the Aseel app, donors can direct donations types of aid, including food, fuel, and other necessities, and can purchase locally produced products to help these families.

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Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Tara Wilhelmi and 1neofmani (Breyon Sommerville),  technologist and social impact developer working  on economic equity and workplace innovation Alnisa Allgood is on the line to talk about her story and her work, helping people create good in the community.

Follow Collaboration for Good on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Collab4Good/.  More information on Social Good Accelerator and to apply at https://socialgoodmadison.org/ or call call Alnisa at 608-241-3616.

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 · The Art Of Improvisational Cartography

If you look at old maps, with their ornate borders and fanciful depictions of sea monsters in unexplored territory, you’ll soon recognize the truth of the saying that cartography is as much art as it is science.  Even today, when geographic information systems and wayfinding apps have replaced hand-drawn coastlines with digital pixels, the decisions about how to depict a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional, spherical world have as much to do with aesthetics as they do with objective truth.  So, fine, cartography is an art, but is it a performance art?  Our next guest seeks to prove that it is.  Eric Theise works as a filmmaker, performance artist and geospatial software engineer.  His new performance, “A Synesthete’s Atlas” premiered in Lisbon in 2022 and comes to Madison’s Arts and Literature Laboratory on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Dark Money Real Estate Group Doesn’t Represent All

As reported on WORT on March 21, the Realtors Association of Southern Wisconsin has dropped some serious money – $170,000 in total – on spring races for the Madison Common Council.  State law prohibits outside groups from coordinating with declared candidates, so the flyers and advertising campaigns came as a surprise to many of the council candidates.  The real estate group has flexed its spending muscle in local campaigns before, often in support of conservative candidates.  But that philosophy does not represent all those in the real estate industry.  Troy Thiel is CEO of the Thiel Team realty group, a founder of Real Estate Professionals for a Better Wisconsin, and until recently, a member of the Government Affairs committee of the Realtors Association of South Central Wisconsin.

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Child Labor On The Rise In Wisconsin

On February 16, Kieler, Wisconsin – based Packers Sanitation Services paid a one point five million dollar fine to U.S. Department of Labor for violating federal child labor law.  The meat packing cleaning company illegally employed over 100 minors as young as 13, across 8 states, to use caustic chemicals and clean dangerous meat cutting equipment.  Packers Sanitation is only one of many companies across the nation trying to fill vacancies with child labor.  State and federal regulatory agencies report a sharp increase in child labor law violations since 2018.  Kate McCoy is the Program Supervisor for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Occupational Health and Safety Surveillance Program.

“Supported by Child Labor” cartoon by W.A. Rogers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

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