Madsplainers

As Madison voters cast their ballots for the Nov. 3 election, they're being asked to decide whether to increase local property taxes to provide additional funding for the city's schools. Madsplainers hosts Abby Becker and Natalie Yahr wanted to better understand how these kinds of questions end up on the ballot, what the district says it would do with these new funds, and who's arguing for and against the measure, so they asked K-12 education reporter Scott Girard to break it down. 

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Black student athletes, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and beyond, have long demanded more seats at the table within a college athletics system that uniquely depends on them for success and survival. Now, amidst growing national concern over racism, UW students and athletic staff are pushing the university to take concrete steps to support Black athletes and reduce disparities. This week on the podcast, Cap Times higher education reporter Yvonne Kim explains what they're calling for — and what the university is offering in response.

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Caught in a polarizing national environment and located in one of the nation’s COVID-19 hotspots, Wisconsin organizers and campaigns are taking different approaches to reaching voters in this key swing state. Cap Times political reporter Briana Reilly shares what she's learned by following them throughout "battleground Wisconsin."

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It's been a year since Madison had a permanent police chief, and as police killings and the ensuing protests have prompted growing numbers of people to question the role of police in their communities, it's certainly an unusual moment to be filling the vacancy. Cap Times local government reporter Abigail Becker has spent the last few months listening to what community members, officers and activists say they'd like to see in the city's next top cop. This week on the podcast, she shares what she heard — and how new oversight measures and growing calls for changes to policing might change the job.

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Across the nation and in Wisconsin, the militia movement is flourishing, fueled by outrage over stay-at-home orders, mask mandates and public unrest. In increasing numbers, armed militia members and vigilantes have inserted themselves into highly charged confrontations between protesters and police, with sometimes violent consequences. When Kyle Rittenhouse brought an assault rifle to a Kenosha racial justice protest in August and killed two protesters, the U.S. glimpsed the danger. This week on the podcast, Cap Times reporter Steve Elbow explains what we know about this growing movement — and what it could mean for the November election.

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Virtual school hasn't been easy for anyone, but for students with disabilities, it's posed some extra challenges. Those students often depend on school for therapy and other specialized services that can't easily move online, and their parents have had to figure out not only how to tutor their children but how to administer physical or occupational therapy. On this week's show, Cap Times K-12 education reporter Scott Girard explains how families and Madison schools are working to get these students the education they deserve, pandemic or not. 

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Earlier this summer, an incident in Monona made headlines when a neighbor called police on a Black man for being “suspicious,” when, as he explained at gunpoint, in handcuffs, he had permission to be in the house. Incidents like these are unfortunately all too common. With police killings in the news this summer, much attention has been focused on reforming police departments and changing police officers’ attitudes, and with less attention paid to the role individuals and their biases play in calling the police. This week on the podcast, Natalie explains the pervasive phenomenon called “profiling by proxy” and how police officers and neighborhoods in Madison are dealing with it. 

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Across the country, Black communities are pleading with police to treat them with respect, while police are pleading with Black communities to trust them. In Madison, where the police department has earned national recognition for its approach to community policing, Black youth still feel conflicted about the role of police, and recent local and national incidents have only added to the mistrust. Metro reporter Nicholas Garton looks at the years-long efforts to repair those relationships, and why the task is getting harder by the day. 

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As UW-Madison students head back to school this week with a mix of in-person and online classes, lots of eyes are on students’ physical health. The university has mandated coronavirus testing for students living in dorms and has been posting the number of tests and virus cases they detect online. But as Cap Times intern Sophie Bolich found, the pandemic is also taxing students' mental health and straining colleges' already over-burdened counseling services. This week on the podcast, Sophie explains how students and colleges are trying to adapt to continued uncertainty. 

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National attention has been focused on Wisconsin since Sunday evening, when Kenosha police shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. In the days since, protesters have filled the streets of Kenosha and Madison calling yet again for an end to police violence against Black Americans. This week on the podcast, we hear from Cap Times local government reporter and Madsplainers co-host Abigail Becker, who’s been tracking local efforts to hold police accountable since 2016. Her latest cover story examines two measures that could finally take effect in Madison — and what those measures can and can’t do. 

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