8 O'Clock Buzz

An hour-long interview with the recipients of the 2022 Change-Maker Awards from Community Shares of Wisconsin. The recipients include Dana Pellebon from the LGBTQ+ Community Center, Phyllis Greenberger, Lead Advocacy Specialist from Disability Rights, and Elisabeth Lambert from the ACLU of Wisconsin. These activists have worked to protect the rights of LGBTQ+, the disabled, child victims of bias in education. The celebration of these and other community activists is open to in-person or on-line on September 22, 2022 from 5-7 PM at Union South. Register here.

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

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Omar Sosa Talks Music Food And Soul

Born in Madison’s Sister City, Camagüey, Cuba, Omar Sosa began his career studying percussion at the Escuela Nacional de Musica and then touring with his first band, Tributo.  Starting in the 1990’s, Sosa began trotting around the globe, living in Quito, Palma de Mallorca, and San Francisco before finally settling down in Barcelona.  He’s released a remarkable 30 albums since then, recording with a wide variety of jazz, Afro-Cuban and Latin artists, garnering seven Grammy nominations and a lifetime achievement award from the Smithsonian Institute.  On Wednesday, September 21, Omar Sosa brings his new Quarteto Americanos to Madison’s Overture Center for a concert at the Capitol Theater.  Omar Sosa spoke with Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on September 12, 2022.

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

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Minor League Baseball Wins A Union

In the winter of 2022, 38-year old starting pitcher Max Scherzer – a 3-time Cy Young Award winner, and a sure-fire future Hall of Famer – signed a contract with the New York Mets that paid him $43 million a year.  That’s the highest annual salary in baseball history.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the baseball career ladder, young players starting out try to get by on as little as $4,800 a year.  For years, baseball has treated minor leaguers more like indentured servants than skilled professional athletes.  That may be beginning to change.  In July of 2022 Major League Baseball settled a lawsuit that paid $185 million to 23,000 minor league players.  Now, the Major League Baseball Players Association, the majors’ baseball union, has announced that it has succeeded in its minor league union drive, and will start collective bargaining with baseball owners on behalf of minor league players.  Simon Rosenblum-Larson is a righthanded pitcher who pitched three seasons for Harvard University, and two seasons for the amateur Madison Mallards.  In 2018, he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays and has spent three seasons in Tampa Bay’s minor league system.  He is also the co-founder of More Than Baseball, an international nonprofit seeking to better the lives of minor league baseball players.

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

WORT 89.9FM Madison · US Life Expectancy Drops For Second Year In A Row

Average life expectancy for a U.S. resident is now 76.1 years, down from 77 years in 2020, and 79 years in 2019.  That’s according to the latest Vital Statistics release from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics.  That decline – a four percent drop over three years – marks the largest drop in 100 years.  The situation is even worse if you look at non-white populations:  Native Americans, for example, now have a life expectancy of only 65.2 years – the same as it was in 1940.  The U.S. now ranks 46th out of 193 countries in total life expectancy.  How does this happen in a country with the largest economy in the world?  Michal Engelman is the Training Director of the Center for Demography of Health and Aging at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

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

Mark your calendar for September 22 at 5pm, that’s when the 2022 Community Shares of Wisconsin “Change-Makers” award ceremony will be held. Today, Jan talks with the “Collaboration Award Winner” recipients, which include Alison Werner from the Wisconsin River Alliance, Hannah Mortensen of the Wisconsin Environmental Health Network, and Tony Wilkin Gibart of Midwest Environmental Advocates. These three groups, along with Citizens for a Clean Wausau, Clean Water Advocates of NE WI worked together against the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, who were trying to undermine the DNR’s “Spills Law”, which requires companies who are responsible for hazardous spills to clean those spills.

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

WORT 89.9FM Madison · International Solidarity In Action

For thirty years, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, or UE, and the Frente Auténtico de Trabajo, or FAT, have collaborated across the U.S. – Mexican border. During that time, the two unions have rung up organizing victories in Mexico City, Milwaukee and North Carolina, taking on transnational corporations such as General Electric and Honeywell. Robin Alexander is the former Director of International Affairs for UE, and author of the book “International Solidarity in Action.”

 

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

The Jubilee USA Network works on the debt, tax, transparency and trade policies that impact our lives, communities and world. Jubilee’s Executive Director, Eric Lecompte, talks with Jan Miyasaki about the broad community-wide effects of Biden’s student debt cancellation.

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

In his recent article in Inequality.org, “Weaponizing Charity to Advance a Political Agenda“, Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good for the Institute for Policy Studies, Chuck Collins talks about how the wealthy are gaming the charity system to avoid paying taxes on income or reducing capital gains by donating money or, in the case of the $1.6 billion donation of Barre Seid, an entire corporation to a “charity fund”, much of which will never be given to charities.

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

Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Stan Woodard, Dipo Faloyin, senior editor at Vice, and author of the much anticipated  “Africa Is Not a Country” joins us from England to talk about African history and the lies and omissions we’ve been subject to for years.

More information on Dipo and Africa Is Not a Country: https://www.dipofaloyin.com or [email protected] 

And follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dipofaloyin 

Dipo is coming to New York, Chicago and DC for the next 6 weeks on a book tour.

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

Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Stan Woodard, award-winning children’s author Glenda Armand joins us to talk about her newest work, “Black-Eyed Peas and Hog Head Cheese,” the African American experience, and a career entertaining and educating children.

More on Glenda’s books and her career: https://glenda-armand.com/ 

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

Provided Photo

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