Two historical events for transgender rights in Madison have or will happen before the end of pride month. First, at the beginning of June, the trans flag was raised for the very first time at the Madison Municipal Building. Then, the City Council is set to declare Madison a sanctuary city tonight. Today’s guest is Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford, who is Madison’s first out trans alder. She joins Ali Muldrow to talk about challenges of the job so far, door knocking as an openly trans person, and supporting families of young queer people.

Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford is the Alder for Madison’s District 15.  She is a stand-up comedian and the owner of Lady Laughs Comedy–an award-winning comedy school.

 

Photo by Katie Rainbow 🏳️‍🌈 on Unsplash with an image by David Mark from Pixabay

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As sea levels rise, shorelines recede, and islands shrink and disappear, atlas are going to have to reflect the new reality. In her new book Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean, Dr. Christina Gerhardt weaves together essays, maps, and poetry to put islands in the center of the conversation.

She joins us on A Public Affair to talk about the book and real impact of a warming planet on islanders. Dr. Gerhardt will be at A Room of One’s Own on Sunday, June 25th at 5pm. More tour dates can be found here: https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/62186/join-christina-gerhardt-for-the-sea-change-book-tour/

The poem “Rise: From One Island to Another” by Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner and Aka Niviâna was used in today’s program with permission from 350.org

Christina Gerhardt is Associate Professor at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and former Barron Professor of Environment and the Humanities at Princeton University. Her environmental journalism has been published by Grist.org, The Nation, The Progressive, and the Washington Monthly.

Photo by Hoodh Ahmed on Unsplash

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In his book, Drug Cartels Do Not Exist: Narcotrafficking in US and Mexican Culture, Oswaldo Zavala argues terms like “drug cartel” that we use to describe drug traffickers were deceitfully created by politicians, corporations, and the military. He says they are the true criminals.

Oswaldo joins us on A Public Affair to explain his perspective.

Oswaldo Zavala is a Professor of Latin American Literature and Culture at The College of Staten Island, Department of World Languages and Literatures and The Graduate Center, Ph.D. Program in Latin American, Iberian and Latino Cultures, City University of New York.

Photo by Filip Gielda on Unsplash

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Beginning in March and increasing in intensity this month, vast parts of Canada have been scorched by a record-setting series of wildfires. With the worst fire season in Canadian history still raging, parts of eleven provinces and territories have been burnt as large “megafires” continue in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. So how do we understand what’s occurring? How do we get beyond simplistic mainstream narratives that set some generalized “humanity” against nature, that disappear the links between such catastrophic fires and the dominant social system?

Welsh eco-socialist Ian Rappel joins host Allen Ruff to discuss his perspectives on the root causes of what increasingly is becoming “a world on fire.” Ian writes more on the issue for International Socialism.

Ian Rappel is an eco-socialist activist, critical geographer and conservation ecologist. He has been working and campaigning in environmental conservation for three decades. He has managed over 100 nature reserves in the UK and helped lead victorious campaigns against proposed motorway (highway) schemes. He is now working for the UK’s Real Farming Trust – an organisation promoting agroecology and food sovereignty.

Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash

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” These things are probably going to be a little more common in the future, so we need to have some kind of safeguards built into the way we house ourselves, the way that we deal with transportation, the way we do all sorts of other things, that can take account of not only this event, but other events that are beginning to show up with a little bit greater regularity.”

That is Professor Jonathan Martin discussing the dangerous air quality lingering on the US east coast and parts of the Midwest due to wildfires in Canada. He joins host Carousel Bayrd to explain what is happening and why.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s air quality forecast was referenced in this broadcast and can be found here.

Jonathan Martin is a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UW-Madison. Author or co-author of more than 40 scientific publications, including the leading undergraduate textbook on atmospheric dynamics, “Mid-Latitude Atmospheric Dynamics: A First Course”

Photo by Ahmer Kalam on Unsplash

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It takes the average Latina, 12 extra months to earn what the average White, non-Hispanic man earns. That is because Latinas are only paid .55 cents to the dollar of what white men make. The Madison based group, Midwest Mujeres, is hosting an event to change that narrative through storytelling! Joining Ali Muldrow to talk about it are storytellers and organizers Robbi Domiguez and Araceli Esparza.

The storytelling event Yo Quiero Dinero will be this Friday at the MyArts building (1055 E. Mifflin St.) at 7 PM (doors at 6 PM).

Midwest Mujeres is a mentorship collective for multicultural women’s entrepreneurial or career growth. We focus on networking, mentoring, marketing, and helping women build their platforms to close the wage gap for all women

Araceli Esparza is the founder of Midwest Mujeres Inc. She helps Latinas tell their story and grow their speaking platform. In 2015 she was named Wisconsin’s Most Influential Latina. Araceli is also a diversity speaker, podcast host, poet, and consultant for libraries, historical sites, and nonprofit organizations. She actively supports diverse leaders in Black and Latina communities. 

Robbi Dominguez is an entrepreneur who is on a remarkable journey to make a meaningful impact while pursuing her passion and building a thriving business. Her new business is “Your Gym Bestie.” There Robbi is helping women transform their commitment to fitness.

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Earlier this week, the Atlanta City Council approved an addition $31 million dollars for the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. This was after more than 16 hours of public comments–most speakers voiced their opposition to the project. The complex, which is commonly known as Cop City, is 5-acre police and fire training facility under construction in DeKalb County’s South River Forest.  Notably, at the center of the training center, there will be mock-city for police to train in.

Joining us on A Public Affair to explain everything that led to the all-night city council meeting is George Childi. He covers politics, business and crime in Atlanta. His recent writing on Cop City include a recent Intercept Piece and on his substack at theatlantaobjective.substack.com

George Chidi is a columnist for decaturish.com. A former staff writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and former city councilman for the city of Pine Lake, Chidi also contributes commentary to Fox 5 Atlanta. 

Photo: Cop City by  Chad Davis. Originally posted on Flickr. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

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“The Philippines is under a new administration, but still the government’s case against de Lima hobbles along, a symbol of the country’s degradation from the Duterte years of violent populism and autocratic slide.” This is from Timothy McLaughlin’s recent piece in the Atlantic. He joins us to tell the story of Leila de Lima’s imprisonment and how it provides a look into risks critics, journalists, lawyers, and political opponents of Duterte are facing in the Philippines.

Timothy McLaughlin is a contributing writer for The Atlantic based in Singapore reporting primarily on politics, societal change and tech news in the region. His work has also appeared in The Washington Post, WIRED Magazine, Foreign Policy, The New Yorker, Prospect Magazine and numerous other international publications.

Image by Kris from Pixabay

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Sold in headshops and on the grey market, “spice” or K2 is a way to get high while avoiding showing up on a drug test. Whether or not they’re legal to sell or use is unclear. Today, sub host Chali Pittman is talking about the complicated world of synthetic drugs, and how a 1980s law called the Analogue Act has been used to lock up manufacturers operating in the open.

It’s a part of the law that begs the question – do you have a right to know that something is illegal before you’re arrested, charged, and sentenced?

Jordan S. Rubin joins us on his new book Bizarro: The Surreal Saga of America’s Secret War on Synthetic Drugs and the Florida Kingpins it Captured. It tells the story  of the unprecedented prosecution of Burton Ritchie and Ben Galecki, who were running a huge synthetic cannabinoid operation, but claim they didn’t know it was illegal.

Jordan S. Rubin is a journalist and former prosecutor for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where he was assigned to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. He writes MSNBC’s Deadline: Legal Blog and was previously a legal reporter for Bloomberg.

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On today’s show, Ali Muldrow is talking with the author of a new memoir that tells the story of a twenty-four-year-old who bought a one-way ticket from the midwest to Mexico. Sara Alvarado was that 24 year old, and she joins the show to talk about her recently released book Dreaming in Spanish: An Unexpected Love Story in Puerto Vallarta.

Sara Alvarado is an author, speaker, teacher, and co-conspirator. She works in real estate and racial justice. 

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