A Public Affair

Earlier this year, Reverend Dr. Carmen Porco announced his retirement after 50 years working in low-income housing. Over his expansive career, he has served as CEO of Housing Ministries of American Baptists in Wisconsin, Executive Director of HUD Housing for American Baptist Homes of the Midwest, and President of Porco Consulting. He ran several low-income housing centers and founded educational centers in Madison and Milwaukee and developed the Wisconsin Anti-Poverty Model, an innovation in low-income housing that allows residents to live with dignity and hope for a better future.

Today the Reverend joins host Christina Lieffring to discuss what he has learned over his decades of professional experience. They explore how affordable housing has fallen short and what Porco believes is needed to address the inequity in housing and beyond.

Photo by chris robert on Unsplash

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During this A Public Affair-Madison Book Beat crossover episode, host Andrew Thomas and producer Jade Iseri-Ramos bring you a 2-hour jazz on vinyl special. The show kicks off at Lola’s Hi/Lo Lounge with interviews with Strictly Discs’ general manager and new record buyer Evan Woodward and owner Rick Stoner who offer insight on modern day vinyl buying and the vinyl revival that began in the 2010s.

We then turn to a conversation with Eastman School of Music musicologist Darren Mueller about his recent book, At the Vanguard of Vinyl: A Cultural History of the Long-Playing Record in Jazz. It explores how the jazz industry’s adoption of new recording and playback technology influenced the working conditions and artistic possibilities of musicians in the 1950s. Mueller tells us about innovations of the time and the lasting impact of the record labels.

Finally, we turn to two Wisconsin-based musicians and educators, Hanah Jon Taylor and Jamie Breiwick, to discuss the state of contemporary improvisational music. Both Taylor and Breiwick push back on the use of jazz as a term to describe their music and explain why they favor terms like Black American music, free improvised music, or simply just music. We begin with Taylor, the owner of Cafe CODA, who tells us about performing, teaching, and owning a listening room and performance space in Madison. We wrap up the show with Breiwick, who discusses sharing music with younger generations. 

[Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions: “Country Butter” by Clamshell, “Kamilah” by Sunflower, “Kid Codi” by Skittle, “Gin Boheme” by Vermouth]

Photo by Ocramnaig_o1 on Unsplash

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President-elect Trump says he hasn’t read Project 2025, but several of the picks for his administration wrote parts of the document. That includes his nomination for chair of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr. Carr, who has served as a member of the FCC since 2017, wrote the portion of Project 2025 that addresses the FCC.

On today’s show, host Esty Dinur talks with WORT’s News, Talk, and Public Affair Director Chali Pittman about the broad scope of Project 2025 broadly. They dive deep in how the agenda could impact broadcasting and WORT’s future.

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The United States incarcerates more people than any other independent democracy in the world. The Prison Policy Initiative, a Massachusetts-based advocacy and research organization, has recently released it’s top 12 reports form 2024. On today’s show, spokesperson Wanda Bertram joins host Allen Ruff to discuss this, the most incarcerated nation and what is sending and keeping people in prisons.

Image by Tung Lam from Pixabay

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On today’s holiday special, cohosts Richelle Wilson and Nate Carlin chat with Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece about their favorite movies from the year, trends in film, and what the 2024 blockbusters say about our culture today.

[Films mentioned on the show today include: : Oddity, I Saw the TV Glow, Late Night with the Devil, Heretic, The Substance, Challengers, Conclave, Wicked: Part I, Inside Out 2, Moana 2, The Wild Robot, Memoir of a Snail, Flow, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Gladiator II, Mean Girls, Emilia Pérez, Hundreds of Beavers, Bad River, Joker: Folie à Deux, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Good One, A Real Pain.]

Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece is associate professor and director of film studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Photo by Krists Luhaers on Unsplash

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On today’s show, host Yuri Rashkin speaks with Mark Pomar, a distinguished expert on US-Russia relations. They discuss the evolution of US public diplomacy, particularly in countering authoritarian regimes like Russia, and the challenges posed by Putin’s unpredictable behavior and the Ukraine war. Pomar highlights the importance of Voice of America (VOA) in providing balanced, factual news globally, despite budget cuts and potential changes under the incoming Trump administration. He emphasizes the need for media independence and the importance of international broadcasting in an era dominated by social media and disinformation.

Pomar is a frequent guest on Rashkin Report.

Image by Robert Jones from Pixabay

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Due to ongoing fighting in the country, Sudan is experiencing the world’s worst displacement crisis and record levels of hunger. The war has pushed the country to the brink of collapse, and there is no end in sight. Escalating tensions have forced millions of families to flee their homes and has killed thousands. Outbreaks of measles and cholera continue to devastate Sudan’s population, and humanitarian aid has been curtailed by fighting, leaving most in dyer need.

Nisrin Elamin joins host Esty Dinur to explain what lead to the ongoing war and what people are facing now. Elamin is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, African Studies Program at University of Toronto. She offers analysis of the war and insight on how the Sudanese people are managing. 

Elamin’s recent work includes a piece in Hammer & Hope and a Sudan issue of MERIP. Other resources mentioned in today’s show include Sudan Tribune, Radio Dabanga, BS on Blast, Goodby Julia (2023), and River Spirit. 

Photo by Yusuf Yassir on Unsplash

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Between the 2000 U.S. Census and the 2020 Census, the number of people who checked the box for Native American or Alaska Native more than doubled. The increase can largely be attributed to self-identification and the fluidity of identity. However, only a fraction of those who identify as native are formally enrolled as a member of a federally-recognized Tribe. Today’s guest, Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz recently published book explores history of tribal enrollment and how sometimes-arbitrary rules impact people’s everyday lives. 

Lowry Schuettpelz joins host Christina Lieffring to speak The Indian Card: Who Gets to Be Native in America. They discuss Native American identity, the history of tribal enrollment, blood quantum, and the personal stories that are explored in the book. 

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Following Monday’s shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, we grapple with happened, our role as community members in the media, and where we go next. Host Sara Gabler begins the show with Representative Mark Pocan. Pocan led a moment of silence in honor of the victims on the House floor on Tuesday. He tells WORT that the issue of gun violence must be addressed with policy change.

Gabler then speaks with WORT News Director Chali Pittman and reporter Christine Driscoll on what we know so far about the shooting and the shooter. They press the importance of reporting accurate information and respecting the privacy of the victims. We also hear audio from press conferences and the vigil held on Tuesday night. WORT’s ongoing reporting can be found here.

Finally, David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database, joins the show to discuss this shooting in context of the 323 school shootings that have happened so far this year. Reidman discusses what the data tells us about these tragedies, the importance of recognizing warning signs, and policies needed to prevent future school shootings.

The City of Madison has complied a list of recourses for those impacted by the shooting as well as the broader community.

Photo by Erik Schwerdtfeger for WORT News

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More than 835,000 people have qualified and received DACA status–the 2012 Obama-era policy that protects young people from deportation. A survey from the Center for American Progress reports that more than 90% of DACA recipients are currently employed, and approximately 30% are first-time homeowners. Nearly all have graduate high school. However, right now, DACA recipients are in limbo, while we await a decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is likely that the fate of DACA will be determined by the Supreme Court.

Today’s guest himself, is in that limbo. On today’s show, Rafael A. Martinez joins host Karma Chávez to discuss his new book Illegalized: Undocumented Youth Movements in the United States.  Martinez, who is an Assistant Professor of Southwest Borderlands in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (CISA) at Arizona State University, was undocumented and is now a DACA recipient. Illegalized highlights a youth-led phase of the immigrant rights movement from the turn of the millennium to now and how different organizing methods have played out in recent decades.

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