William Freeman was a 15-year-old in the the early nineteenth century who was convicted of a crime he insisted he didn’t commit. He was sentenced to five years of hard labor in Auburn prison in New York State. He, and the rest of the prisoners, worked without pay, and when Freeman challenged the system, it had violent repercussions.

In her latest book Freeman’s Challenge: The Murder that Shook America’s Original Prison for Profit, Robin Bernstein uses Freeman’s story to lay out the twisted history of anti-Black racism in the prison for profit industry. Robin joins host Ali Muldrow to talk about the book and the way the North invented profit-driven prison labor.

Dr. Robin Bernstein is the Dillon Professor of American History and Professor of African and African American Studies and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University. She is the author of Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights, which won five awards. Her latest book is Freeman’s Challenge: The Murder That Shook America’s Original Prison for Profit (University of Chicago Press, May 2024).

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Today, we kick off the first of our candidate interviews for Dane County Executive. The seat that longtime Executive Joe Parisi recently retired from in the middle of his term. Four candidates will face off in the August primary, and Dana Pellebon’s name will be the first on the ballot. Pellebon joins WORT News Director Chali Pittman to discuss her priorities for the county and highlight some of the biggest issues facing Dane County–including housing access, criminal justice reform, and county funding.

Dana Pellebon is the executive director of the Rape Crisis Center and formerly headed up housing and operations at Porchlight. Until this spring, she served as a Dane County Board Supervisor, representing much of Fitchburg for District 33. A theater professional for decades, Pellebon has directed, acted and produced many works and participated in theater groups across Madison. 

Photo by Chali Pittman for WORT

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With the 2024 Madison Jazz Fest is in full swing, A Public Affair host welcomes some Madison locals to talk about two jazz legends with Wisconsin ties. First we talk with Dean Robbins about his new children’s book The Fastest Drummer: Clap Your Hands for Viola Smith! The book, which is illustrated by Susanna Chapman, offers a fun and bright biography of Smith, who started her nearly 100-year-long career at the age of 13 and is recognized as one of the few female professional drummers of the early twentieth century.

Then, Douglas is joined in studio by two folks behind the new documentary film String Theory: The Richard Davis Method. Artistic Director of the Richard Davis Foundation for Youth Bassists (RDYB) Peter Dominguez and RDYB Executive Director Catherine Harris join the program to talk about Richard Davis’s work, legacy, and impact on their own lives. The film is showing at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursday June 13th, 2024 at 7pm for free as part of the Jazz Fest.

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

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On today’s special pledge drive show, Esty Dinur talks with historian Lauren Benton on her new book They Called It Peace: Worlds of Imperial Violence. The book is a historical account of how imperialism has redefined war and peace. She joins Esty to talk about the ongoing impact of imperial violence on indigenous peoples worldwide and the unequal nature of truces and ceasefires.

Lauren Benton is the Barton M. Biggs Professor of History at Yale University and recipient of the Toynbee Prize for significant contributions to global history. Her books include A Search for Sovereignty: Law and Geography in European Empires, 1400–1900 and (with Lisa Ford) Rage for Order: The British Empire and the Origins of International Law, 1800–1850.

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On today’s pledge drive special, host Allen Ruff welcomes back listener-favorite Mouin Rabbani to help us understand the current state of the war in Israel-Palestine. They discuss the International Criminal Court’s warrant for arrest against Netanyahu, question Israel’s willingness to end the war, and highlight US involvement.

Mouin Rabbani is a researcher, analyst, and commentator specializing in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the contemporary Middle East. He is the Co-Editor of Jadaliyya.

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Sunday, June 16th is Father’s Day. It is also open day for Madison’s very own top level softball team! For the first time, the Madison Night Mares will take the field at Warner Park. On today’s special edition of A Public Affair host Ali Muldrow is joined in the studio by Marketing and Operations Manager Savanna Rainey and player Rylee Rogers. 

They shine a light on what fans can expect from the team and talk about the importance of coaching, role models, and supportive families.

Rylee Rogers (left) is from Belmont, Wisconsin. She is a freshman outfielder and catcher at Madison College.

Savanna Rainey (right) is the Marketing and Operations Manager for the Madison Night Mares. She is a former catcher from Verona who went on to play at UW-Madison and Howard University.

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Last spring, Madison received its first F-35 despite years of community resistance. The Air National Guard has eight that are currently stationed at Truax air field. That number is slated to more than double in the next year. For those of us living in the Madison area, especially on the Northside, the deafening sound of the fighter jets now interrupt life on a daily bases–often many times a day.

In light of this reality, host Sara Gabler chats with documentary film maker Karen Akins about her film The Quietest Year and the impact of sound on communities. Retired Air Force colonel and anti-F-35 activist Rosanne Greco, who is featured in the documentary, also joins the show to talk about resistance against the fighter jets.

This week, there are two more listening sessions for community members as part of “Madison F35 Community Connection.” They will be held at 6pm on Thursday, June 6th and 9:30am on Saturday, June 8th. You can learn more here.

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Maria Cleaveland, one of today’s guests, says “coffee is often touched by nine separate hands before you consume the product.” From the people who grew, picked, milled, prepared for export, exported, imported, roasted, sold, and finally brewed, so much tenuous labor happens before the first sip.

Inspired by Anne Connor’s recent article “Climate Solutions for the Future of Coffee” for Civil Eats, host Douglas Haynes speaks with a panel of guests about sustainability challenges as well as gender inequalities facing the coffee supply chain. Maria Cleaveland, Blanca Castro, and Amaris Gutierrez-Ray explain all the complexities that go into your morning cup of coffee.

Former A Public Affair producer Richelle Wilson also joins the show to help fundraise!

About our guests:

Maria Cleaveland is a food & beverage and hospitality professional with business development, strategic planning, finance and operations expertise. A veteran of the early specialty coffee scene, she has built wholesale and licensing businesses at Starbucks, Peet’s & Equator Coffees. Notably, Cleaveland managed Starbucks’ initial expansion into US airports and brings an entrepreneurial spirit to every project. Currently she is advising BrewBird, a venture backed startup reinventing the “single- serve” coffee for the 21st century and serves as Sales Director for the Americas at Urnex Brands, the global leader in specialized cleaning for the coffee sector. In her roles, Maria advances sales with technical acumen while advancing gender equity in her volunteer leadership positions. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the US Women in Coffee, a chapter of the International Women’s Coffee Association (IWCA) and serves on the Leadership Council of the Coffee Technicians Guild.

Amaris Gutierrez-Ray is the VP of Coffee for Joe Coffee Company, a roaster and wholesaler in New York City that owns and operates 25 cafes in the 5 boroughs. She is also the founder of the Women in Coffee Project, and is a member of the US Chapter of the IWCA. A lover of stories and the people that tell them, she has always been interested in the culture and communities of the world in coffee. Both inside and outside the workplace, she’s focused on gender, equity, and positively shifting the human patterns that shape our world.

Blanca María Castro has 16 years within the coffee sector in marketing and trade. Blanca started as Marketing Coordinator for the National Coffee Association of Guatemala. As volunteer, supported IWCA Global projects in Central America and later as Coffee Consultant for the International Trade Center, supporting and forming IWCA Chapters in East Africa. These experiences strengthen her coffee awareness more. Fluent in English, French, German and Spanish, counts with a strong network and experience on public relationships, administration and communications, enabling her to identify needs and solutions to approach the coffee market. In 2016 signed contract with IWCA as first formal staff member, coordinating and guiding IWCA Chapter’s programs and projects as Chapter Relations Manager. Last September, when IWCA celebrated its 20thAnniversary, Blanca was appointed Executive Director of this non-profit organization, leading a new staff team of 4 members serving 34 IWCA Chapters in coffee producing and consuming countries… and counting!

Image provided by Blanca María Castro of a recent grafting competition

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On today’s two part, A Public Affair, host Esty Dinur is first joined by Robert Schoville who is best known in Madison as the founder of the Brazilian percussion group, The Handphibians. Robert has spent the last five years living on the Aegean coast of Turkey with his family. He joins us in the studio to talk with Esty about life under the current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the role of the country in the Middle East, and much more. 

Then, textile artist Laila Hasan joins us by phone. For many years she has brought women textile artists together to develop shared sales opportunities for their hand made items. Many of the artist now the sole economic support for their families. She talks with Esty about her art making as well as the current situation in the West Bank.

Laila will be presenting and selling art in Madison on June 9th from 1:30-3:30 at Madison friends meeting house:  (1704 Roberts Court).  There will be snacks. Learn more here. 

Image “Turkey, Fairy chimneys, Natural landscape” by flaviospugna from Pixabay

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In a recent Truthout article, Stephen Zunes writes that the U.S.’s continued military aid to Israel violates both the Section 6201 of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act and the 1999 Leahy Amendment. “The Biden administration refuses to abide by these laws and neither Congress nor the courts have been willing to enforce them,” he says. Zunes joins host Allen Ruff to discuss his latest piece and the global response to the war happening in Gaza.

Dr. Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he served as founding director of the program in Middle Eastern Studies. He is currently serving as 2024 Torgny Segerstedt Visiting Research Professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Image of International Court of Justice in La Hague, Netherlands by Victor R. Ruiz. Used under the Creative Commons License.

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