Madison Book Beat host David Ahrens sits down for an interview with Tana Elias, who has more than three decades of experience within the MPL and is a year into her position as Madison Public Library Director.

Each year, the Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice, a network of more than 85 organizations in Wisconsin working for peace, justice and sustainability, holds a Spring Assembly. This year's will be a virtual event over Zoom, on five consecutive nights, March 24-28, consisting of an hour-long set of presentations from 7-8:00PM each night. The evenings' presentations will cover, coalition and community building, immigration in Palestine, protecting our rights, environmental justice, and anti-war speakers. Presentations will be live and recorded for later viewing. Register at their website.

Dominic Ledesma, Board President of Nuestro Mundo, and Joshua Forehand, Principal of Nuestro Mundo Community School talk with Jan about the 4K-5th grade English-Spanish immersion school, a part of the Madison Metropolitan School District. This full-curriculum school starts students in 4K as 10% English / 90% Spanish, and increases the percentage of English by 10% each year. Ledesma and Forehand discuss the student selection process, school curriculum standards, and the application process to the school.

For 25 years, Faith in Place has worked toward justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion by coaching Green Teams of all faiths to create lasting change, fighting for those most impacted by environmental injustice. Their most recent project, a community forestry program designed to mediate heat islands in cities, has been cut off due to the Trump administration freezing funding projects from the Inflation Reduction Act. President/CEO, Brian Sauder, talks about their recent joining a lawsuit organized by EarthJustice to release these funds to allow projects to continue.

Sean Burke, a freelance marketing specialist, made an unsuccessful bid last year for Dane County Board of Supervisors.

He’s now challenging incumbent northside alder Sabrina Madison for her seat on the city council. Theirs is the most contentious race this spring.

Burke tells our News Producer Faye Parks that the city and county need to work together to solve the housing crisis.

Image courtesy: Sean Burke.

Forecast from Wednesday, 3-19-25 by WORT 89.9FM Madison

Forecast from Wednesday, 3-19-25 by WORT 89.9FM Madison

WomensHealthUnderRFK-JR by WORT 89.9FM Madison

Anthony Nino Amato has decades of experience in state and city government.

After a term on the Madison city council and an unsuccessful run for mayor in the 1970s, Amato served under two Wisconsin governors and five Madison mayors.

Amato ran for city council again in 2023, but lost to the current District 9 Alder Nikki Conklin.

Living in a different district this spring, Amato is challenging incumbent District 19 Alder John Guequierre.

Amato sat down with WORT News Producer Faye Parks to reintroduce himself ahead of Election Day.

Image courtesy: Nino Amato.

On today’s show, host Christina Lieffring, news and politics editor at Tone Madison, speaks with Mike German about his new book, Policing White Supremacy. German is a former FBI agent who worked undercover in white supremacist and militia groups and his book documents the threat that violent far-right groups pose to the public and how the FBI ignores that threat.

Featured image: remix of the cover of Policing White Supremacy by Sara Gabler/WORT.