A Public Affair

In April of this year La Crosse, Wisconsin elected its first Black, gay mayor. Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey joins host Ali Muldrow to talk about his journey to becoming Mayor and what he hopes to achieve while in office.

Mayor Washington-Spivey got his start working in public schools and shares what it was like to work in education during COVID. His background working with youth has influenced his approach to politics, saying that he understands why young people want to see change and see it quickly. He predicts more young people running for office in the next few years, and that’s because there are plenty of young people ready for leadership. 

Something that Mayor Washington-Spivey is working towards is making La Crosse more forward-thinking. That includes creating a stronger narrative about La Crosse’s identity, from its natural beauty to city life. He’s also working to educate the public about how city governance works. 

They also discuss the political landscape of Wisconsin and how Mayor Washington-Spivey grew to feel welcome in La Crosse. Muldrow says that running for an office that a Black or queer person has never held before, means running against a history that says, “you don’t belong.” Mayor Washington-Spivey describes his constituents who tell him how important it is for them to see a gay Black man running for, and being elected to, office. For that reason, he says it feels like he represents something bigger than himself. 

Shaundel Washington-Spivey served on the La Crosse School Board before being elected as Mayor. He is a member of Tony Evers’s Advisory Council on Equity and Inclusion, serves on multiple boards and advisory committees throughout the region, and is the Executive Director of Black Leaders Acquiring Collective Knowledge (B.L.A.C.K) which offers youth and community support programs.

Featured image: remix by Sara Gabler/WORT.

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Last week, Trump signed a bill to cut over $1.1 billion dollars of federal funding to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB). The cuts were presented as attacks on NPR and WPR stations, but community radio stations are being painfully impacted by the cuts as well. Joining our show today is Jessie Dick, station manager for WXPR in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, Karl Halbeck, the manager of WOJB community radio on the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe reservation, and Nathan Moore, manager of WTJU in Virginia, and a board member of the National Federation of Community Broadcasting. 

The conversation centered around the importance of community radio for local communities. When a station covers local topics and invites local participation, it creates a sense of belonging and in the community, and in return the community cares deeply about it. In rural areas like the Northwoods of Wisconsin, community members without internet access rely on the radio for important information.

The guests addressed the importance of keeping community radio a space where everyone can participate in important conversations, even if a lack of funding would be an opportunity to operate without government censorship. We also heard from callers asking about how the funding cuts affect music licensing, online streaming and the cultural and political impacts of the federal cuts.

WORT will lose $113,000 in funding in the next year. Local radio stations depend on community support. If you are interested in helping, you can support your local radio station or adopt a radio station.

Jessie Dick joined WXPR in 2003 and has worn many hats over the years—including Marketing Director, Development Director, and Volunteer Coordinator—before being named CEO/General Manager in 2018. She’s proud to lead a station that’s deeply rooted in the Northwoods and powered by a passionate team of staff and volunteers. Jessie believes local public radio is essential for building informed, connected, and resilient communities, and she’s especially grateful for the listeners and supporters who make that work possible. 

Karl Halbeck is the general Manager of WOJB Woodland Community Radio on the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa reservation, the first Native American station east of the Mississippi River. WOJB serves a 100 mile radius around Hayward with National Public Radio programming, local programs, educational programs, community wide radio shows, school closings, and a myriad of other essential community programs.

Nathan Moore: Since 2011, he has worked as the General Manager at WTJU 91.1 FM at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He launched and serves as staff advisor for UVA’s student-run station WXTJ 100.1 FM. He has also launched the community podcast network Virginia Audio Collective and the nonprofit organization Virginia College Radio Alliance

Featured image: Courtesy of Indra Projects via Unsplash

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On today’s two-part show, we get updates on issues facing the Indigenous peoples of India and Kashmir. Host Esty Dinur is joined by advocates Lokita Singha and Apekshita Varshney to talk about the violence being done to the Adivasi people and their mineral rich lands and by anthropologist Ather Zia who discusses the state of colonialism in Kashmir.

The Adivasi people make up about two-thirds of the population of Bastar, India. They are one of the most ancient tribal populations and they follow communitarian and sustainable practices, says Singha. They live in a highlands region covered in forests, and these mineral-rich lands are coveted by corporations and the state. Increasingly, the state is using militarized intervention to help mining companies make inroads in this region. Those who resist are being repressed, arbitrarily detained, and the state is also enacting sexual violence or killing Adivasis. Varshney says it’s important to build international awareness to pressure the Indian government to stop these acts of violence. 

In the second half of the show, Zia discusses the ongoing colonialism in Kashmir, following a deadly attack on tourists earlier this year. Zia says that in this disputed region, colonialism never ended, and that though Kashmiris have experienced some autonomy from India, they have still been seeking their own self-determination since 1947. In 2019, India eliminated much of the territorial sovereignty that existed in Kashmir and now Zia says the region is experiencing “settler colonialism on steroids.” The region is being heaviliy militarized, the environment is being destryed, and those writers who speak out are being suppressed. Zia asks, “What kind of colonial modernity have we accepted as democracy?”

Lotika Singha is a founder-member of International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India), a collective of diasporic Indians from across the globe. InSAF India advocates for collective academic freedoms and building global solidarities with Indian and  international peoples’ movements for radical social, economic and ecological justice.

Apekshita Varshney is a campaigner with Ekō, a global corporate accountability organization.

Ather Zia is a political anthropologist, poet, short fiction writer, and columnist. She is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Gender Studies program at the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. Ather is the author of Resisting Disappearances: Military Occupation and Women’s Activism in Kashmir. In addition, Ather is the founder and editor of Kashmir Lit and co-founder of the Critical Kashmir Studies Collective, an interdisciplinary network of scholars focused on the Kashmir region and is the co-editor of Cultural Anthropology.

Featured image of Adivasi women dancing via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

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The new detention center in the Florida Everglades is called “Alligator Alcatraz.” Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis worked with the federal government to create the tent-based camp that can hold a projected 3,000 detained migrants at the price tag of $450 million a year. Today, host Allen Ruff is joined by journalist Joan Walsh to talk about her recent piece in The Nation, “The Abominable Sadism of Alligator Auschwitz,” in which she draws the comparison between the new camp and the Holocaust. 

The goal of “Alligator Alcatraz” is not just confinement but suffering, says Walsh. This cruelty is embedded in the Trump administration from Kristi Noem who poses like a dominatrix in front of detained men to Stephen Miller who lurks behind the scenes to get his “ruthless” ideals put into action. 

The “Alligator Alcatraz” camp is being built near an airstrip that DeSantis says will be used to increase deportations to other counties, thereby taking a playbook from the War on Terror when people were removed with no trace. Walsh’s current reporting focuses on nannies who are staying home because they’re afraid of getting picked up by ICE. There’s reason for folks to be afraid as masked agents make arrests with no accountability. 

We also hear from callers who raise issues of racism fueling ICE raids and abductions and callers who ask what happens to people once they’re taken by ICE. With the passing of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” ICE has become the number one law enforcement agency in the country.  

Joan Walsh is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation, a co-producer of The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show, and the author of What’s the Matter With White People? Finding Our Way in the Next America. Her new book (with Nick Hanauer and Donald Cohen) is Corporate Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power and Wealth In America. Walsh is an alumna of UW-Madison and was the Campus Editor at the Daily Cardinal.

Featured image of an ICE agent in uniform from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

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Today, host Ali Muldrow is joined by comedian Andrew Wegleitner to talk about how comedy is more important than ever. Wegleitner has been doing stand up for 15 years and got his start right here in Madison, WI. He’s coming back to town to record his debut comedy special on August 3 at the Bur Oak as part of Madison Comedy Week.

Wegleitner talks about how he got his start in comedy, doing stand up at The Pub and Comedy on State. He says that Madison has a very welcoming scene for new comedians. Nevertheless it’s challenging to get a room of people to laugh and to make a living doing it. Wegleitner says that comedy needs risk taking and edge, even if it’s not overtly controversial. But these days the news can feel just as much like satire as it is our reality.

They also discuss the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on the heels of Colbert’s critique of Trump and the merger between Paramount and Skydance. There may be a worry that comedy will be tamed and contained by this political moment, but Wegleitner says that comedy offers us a chance to critique those in power. 

Andrew Wegleitner (10,000 Laughs Festival, Twin Cities Funniest Person finalist) has worked with numerous legendary comics including Louie Anderson, Mary Mack, and Todd Glass. He’s headlined prominent clubs in the Midwest and Colorado such as Sisyphus, The Cellar- Fargo, and Loonees Comedy Corner. He’s performed at such reputable theaters as Dudley Riggs, Paradise Center for the Arts, and The Orpheum in Hancock, MI.  He runs a production company, Co-Dependent Comedy, which regularly headlines some of the best talent in Denver, and his show is a perennial staple of Madison Comedy Week.

Featured image: a photo of Andrew Wegleitner.

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On today’s show, guest host Dana Pellebon breaks down a piece of legislation called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act with two immigration experts, Cecilia Gillhouse and Huma Ahsan. The SAVE Act would require that voters provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. The purpose of this law is to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting and eliminate voter fraud.

It is already against the law for non-citizens to vote in federal and state elections and voter fraud is rare. These facts lead our guests to discuss the ideological reasons why the GOP is putting forward the SAVE Act and how it would impact voting rights across the country. There are already steep penalties for non-authorized immigrants  who vote, including being barred from becoming a permanent resident and potential deportation, says Ahsan. 

The SAVE Act would create challenges for people who are qualified to vote but who would run into trouble providing the new required documentation. If passed, the SAVE Act would require voters to present “citizenship documentation” in the form of a birth certificate or certificate of naturalization. People who were born in other countries may have trouble returning to their countries of origin to get a birth certificate for a host of reasons, says Gillhouse, from the threat of political violence to financial burdens. The SAVE Act also poses challenges for trans folk, people who change their names when they get married, folks who are born in rural communities who may not have a birth certificate, adopted children, survivors of sexual abuse, and others.

Ahsan says that it can take years to get a copy of one’s certificate of naturalization because of the backlog in the system. The SAVE Act would provide no funds to make this process easier. The SAVE Act has passed in the House and is poised to be voted on in the Senate. 

Attorney Huma Ahsan is the founder of Madison Immigration Law. Her professional career spans general immigration law, representation of minority groups, and judicial experience. Born to immigrant parents and as a first-generation Indian American, Attorney Ahsan witnessed firsthand the effects of US immigration policies. 

Cecilia Gillhouse is an immigrant from Argentina and is the owner and Chief Operating Officer of MMG Law. She has two decades of experience providing services to victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse, working with the community and providing resources to Latino families in the state, formerly directing a statewide domestic violence organization and serving on several different boards of directors for an assortment of non-profit organizations serving victims and underrepresented populations.  

Featured image of a certificate of naturalization via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). 

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“No tragedy is too great to shrug away now,” amidst our “every growing tolerance for calamity and violence,” writes Omar El Akkad in his new New York Times bestseller, One Day, Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This. On today’s show, El Akkad joins host Douglas Haynes to talk about his new memoir, which weaves the personal essay with cultural critique in order to grapple with the US’s support of Israel’s slaughter and starvation of civilians in Gaza.

The purpose of literature is to bear witness, says El Akkad, especially at a time when the world wants to turn away from the genocide in Gaza. El Akkad says that there’s no version of his new book that could sidestep his own complicity in this violence. But witness is the “tamest” possible thing, says El Akkad, in light of the anger he’s seen in response to his book, and that for him, “genocide is an absolute line.”

El Akkad takes an urgent look at the ways the media and government use language to turn people away from human suffering. He shares his frustration at Western liberal values and institutions, including the media. He describes speaking to journalists who feel limited by their outlets’ policies on language related to genocide and says that we’ve inherited a “shadow vocabulary” from the Iraq War, terms like “detainees” and “asymmetrical warfare.” Standing behind the supposed value of “neutrality” has done irreparable damage to the state of journalism, says El Akkad.

They also discuss how to imagine a better world and find ways to foster solidarity and resistance. El Akkad says that boycotts and joy are actions that the state doesn’t have a monopoly on. 

Omar El Akkad is a journalist and author of the award-winning novels American War and What Strange Paradise. One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is his first book of nonfiction. 

Featured image: cover of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.

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On today’s show, guest host Grant Foster interviews Tom Lynch, the recently retired Director of Transportation for the City of Madison. They take a deep dive into transportation policies like Vision Zero, the history of Madison’s transportation department, and what could come next for the BRT line. 

Lynch served as Madison’s Director of Transportation for several decades. He describes how his job was created in the 80s, but due to some city drama, the role was empty for 30 years. Before he retired, Lynch gave a presentation to the Madison Common Council about the history of Madison’s transportation system, from the bid to make Madison the state capital to the introduction of the automobile in Dane County. He also discusses the city’s need for parking spaces and how important it is for cities to provide multiple different modes of transportation for its population, including sidewalks and bike paths. They also discuss the relationship between transportation policy and the culture at large. 

Featured image of a Madison Metro bus via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Recent cuts in state and federal budgets are leaving local food banks and food assistance organizations concerned about accelerating food insecurity. On today’s show, guest host Jonathan Pollack speaks with local non-profit leaders Michelle Orge of Second Harvest, Jackie Anderson of Feeding Wisconsin, and Ellen Carlson of WayForward Resources about food insecurity in Southwest Wisconsin.

The guests describe an uptick in people accessing their services. There’s been a 13% rise in people considered food insecure in Southwest Wisconsin, says Orge. She describes how Second Harvest responded during COVID, a time when they needed so much more food than they could get access to. Even more recently, the rising housing costs in the Madison area are driving people to food banks, says Carlson, because “rent eats first.”

Cuts to food assistance programs in the federal budget are alarming to these organizations. Around 700,000 people in Wisconsin are poised to lose SNAP benefits, called the FoodShare program in Wisconsin. As people lose access to programs like this, they will have to rely more on food banks, says Anderson. Added to food insecurity are issues of childcare and the closure of rural hospitals. “Hunger makes everything harder,” says Orge. 

Feeding Wisconsin is the statewide association of Feeding America food banks, which source, warehouse, and provide food to hundreds of food pantries and other agencies across Wisconsin. WayForward Resources is an organization that creates food security and housing stability through action and advocacy in the Madison, Wisconsin area. Second Harvest of Southern Wisconsin, is a Feeding Wisconsin-affiliated food bank that serves a 16-county area across Southwest Wisconsin.

Jackie Anderson is the Executive Director of Feeding Wisconsin. She has worked in the non-profit sector for more than 25 years supporting communities and families by providing opportunities to improve overall health, support young people, and contribute to a stronger, more cohesive community for all.  

Ellen Carlson is the Executive Director of WayForward Resources. Ellen has worked at WayForward in a variety of positions since 2002 and has been Executive Director since 2017. Under her leadership, WayForward has tripled in size in an effort to meet the ever increasing demand for food supports and housing stability services.

Michelle Orge is the Executive Director of Second Harvest of Southern Wisconsin. 

Featured image of a food pantry box via USDA on Flickr. 

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Since Governor Evers signed off on the new state budget, childcare advocates have voiced alarm at the lack of support for childcare in the budget. Though the state budget allocated over $360 million to help address the childcare crisis, the organization Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed (WECAN) says that “we were asking for the bare minimum, and somehow we got less.” Less than one-third of the allocated funds will go directly to keep childcare providers operating, and this funding will only last for one year. 

This is a topic we’ve been following on this program, so on today’s show, we learn about how one state made an investment in universal childcare and changed its entire economy. In 1997 in the Canadian province of Quebec, lawmakers created a universal childcare system, charging only $7/day for up to 10 hours of care plus homemade, locally sourced meals, and so much more. Journalist Isabeau Doucet writes about this program and the overwhelmingly positive results of the universal childcare system in a recent article in The Guardian. 

Quebec’s universal childcare system helped balance the state’s budget and changed the lives of many of the lower-income families who get access to it by helping families get to work and be able to pay for housing, food, etc. That meant that families weren’t relying on other social services. The number of women and single parents in the workforce skyrocketed, and the child poverty rate in Quebec is now 44% lower than all the other provinces. Doucet says that the system more than pays for itself and is now being rolled out across Canada. 

Doucet says that in the US childcare isn’t treated as a public good but as a private matter for families to figure out on their own, and there are wide swaths of childcare deserts and high prices everywhere. Republicans in Wisconsin say we can’t afford to fund childcare. And though it was once a priority of the GOP to have a balanced budget, Doucet worries there are other ideological reasons keeping Republicans from getting behind universal childcare, namely their ideology of keeping women in the home and out of the workforce. 

Isabeau Doucet is a journalist and documentary producer based in the Bay Area.

Featured image: photo of a childcare center by Gautam Arora via Unsplash. 

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