8 O'Clock Buzz

Today on the too Turnt Up Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Tara Wilhelmi and Antoine McNeail, talking up events going on in town this week!  In the first half, Kartez Rowel from Madison Black Chamber of Commerce and Nisa Carter, owner and operator of Sista’s Chicken and Fish join us to talk about this week’s Madison Black Restaurant Week.  In the second half, Jackie and Jacquesha Hunt join us to talk about the 5th annual Ju-Ju’s Block Party and Streetball tournament, and getting kids ready to go back to school with the 17th annual FOSTER Back to School Bash, both on Saturday at Penn Park.

More information on Black Restaurant Week, August 10-17 at Black-owned Restaurants around Madison at: https://mbrw.madisonblackchamber.com/

More information on the Ju-Ju’s 5th Annual Block Party and Streetball Tournament, and the 17th Annual Back to School Bash, August 16-17 at Penn Park: https://www.facebook.com/jujusblockparty/

Even more going on around town:

Music from today’s show: https://spinitron.com/WORT/pl/21070071/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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For much of its history, Western European philosophy has centered around the idea that human beings are ineffable souls trapped within an earthly body.  From Plato, to Christian theology, to the writings of Immanuel Kant and Renee Descartes, this idea of a separation between the spiritual, intellectual and physical has held sway across many centuries.  Many non-European cultures view the human experience differently, that the mind, soul and body are, in fact, all one.  Clinical psychologist and dancer Reenah Dixon seeks to demonstrate this unity through a series of belly dancing classes at the Arts and Literature Laboratory.  Reenah Dixon joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on August 11, 2025.

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On August 5, U.S.Health and Human Services Secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy, Jr. announced the elimination of five hundred million dollars of federal funding for research on messenger RNA vaccines.  In his statement, Kennedy claimed that mRNA vaccines do not effectively protect against upper respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19, and stated funds would be redirected toward vaccines that “remain effective even as viruses mutate.”  Aaron Hoskins is the Wasson Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His lab focuses on understanding the role of messenger RNA in human cells.  Hoskins joined the Monday 8 O’Clock Buzz on August 11, 2025.

Image of molecule of 5’mRNA cap analogue

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In 2022, the Guardian published a report showing that Wisconsin led the nation in murder rate for black women and girls, with 20 homicides per 100,000 residents.  Black women and girls living in Wisconsin face a murder risk five times higher than their counterparts in New York.  For the third legislative session in a row, Wisconsin Assembly District 78 representative Shelia Stubbs has introduced legislation (LRB-2995/1) to create a task force to study the issue. Two previous attempts to pass similar bills died in the state senate.  Representative Shelia Stubbs joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on August 11, 2025.

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The Great Taste of the Midwest beer festival is being held this Saturday, August 9th, at Olin Park in Madison.  This is the 38th year the event has been held which makes it the second oldest in the country.  Over 1,400 beers will be on tap but there is one small little twist of lime to the event this year.  A reinterpretation of the relevant Wisconsin alcohol bill requires expensive permitting for brewers not already permitted in the state, which has made it prohibitively expensive for some out-of-state brewers.  Organizers have overcome this issue by backfilling with in-state brewers and alternative breweries already permitted to sell in Wisconsin so there will be no decrease in the number of beers available to attendees.  Fred Swanson, brewery liaison for the event, joins Tony Castañeda to talk about all things foamy, and maybe how to score an elusive ticket.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unslash

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How best to address the issue of chronic homelessness is being debated again with the recent executive order coming from Washington.  This order requires enforcing prohibitions on urban camping and effectively criminalizing homelessness under the guise of keeping communities safe.  In terms of federal funding, the strategy of providing shelter, Housing First, with case work to address addiction and mental health issues, is being defunded with a new impetus on enforcement and institutionalizing offenders of vagrancy laws.  Michael Basford, Director of the Wisconsin Interagency Council on Homelessness, joins host Tony Castañeda to speak about the effectiveness of these strategies and how these new directives could impact our urban areas.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

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Today on the too Turnt Up Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Tara Wilhelmi and Antoine McNeail, Myra McNair, founder, owner, and executive director of Anesis Center for Marriage and Family Therapy joins us to talk about her story, what Anesis is, what they’re doing for the community, and the upcoming 2nd annual Anesis Multicultural Mental Health Conference.

More information on the conference, coming up August 21-22 at Monona Terrace in Madison: https://anesistherapycenter.com/conf25 

Going on around town:

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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First sailed in 1958 to protest nuclear weapon testing in the Pacific, the Golden Rule still sails for peace, disarmament, justice, and climate action. Project manager for the boat, Michelle KanoeLehua Marsonette, talks about their collaboration with Veterans for Peace to promote ending nuclear weapons and war. Marsonette discusses the project, volunteer involvement, parts of their 22,000 mile journey, and where their journey will take them next.

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Jessica Lanius and AJ Juarez stopped in at the Wednesday Buzz to talk about the grand opening of their multi-discipline art space, Art House 360, a collaborative project 3 years in the making. In an effort to show that art isn’t just for the wealthy, this converted schoolhouse will be home to six different resident companies, ranging from dance, theater, visual arts, classes, studio rentals, and more. The open house will be Thursday, August 14th, 2025, with ribbon cutting at 10AM and an open house following. For more info, visit their website.

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Inspired in part by Duty Free Shoppers and General Atlantic Partners leader Chuck Feeney, the reluctant billionaire who advocated “giving while living” and rigorously gave away over $8 billion in his lifetime, and trading his billionaire status for a modest and simpler life, the “Giving Pledge“, commitment by over 200 billionaires to donate much or all of their wealth to charity, celebrates 15 years this year. Bella DeVaan, Associate Director of Charity Reform at the Institute for Policy Studies, recently co-authored a report “Giving Pledge at 15“. In that report, the investigators tracked those donors, their wealth, and their donations to-date — finding that the increase in wealth far exceeded the donations by the subscribers. As an example, Zuckerberg’s wealth has increased by $174 billion in the past 15 years, but his donations total only $10B. Given the fact that charitable donations are tax-deductible and basically underwritten by taxpayers, the reports suggests that taxing the wealth of billionaires would be a better mechanism to solve some of the inequity.

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