In response to a caller request in January, today’s show focuses on issues that older adults face in Dane County. According to the Dane County Area Agency on Aging, the number of folks 65 years and older is forecast to grow by more than 30,000 in the next fifteen years. Statewide, the senior population is growing rapidly, especially in urban areas. Yet the number of licensed nursing beds and teh available workforce for nursing homes is declining.

To talk about these issues, we’re joined by two guests, Jodie Castaneda and Addie Costello. They talk about issues like transportation, isolation, changes to local funding and Medicare, and the racial and ethnic inequalities in our area.

Featured image courtesy of Sara Gabler/WORT.

About fifty people braved the bitter cold temperatures today for a “Not My President’s Day” protest outside the state Capitol.

The grassroots demonstration joins the Fifty-Fifty-One movement, which stands for “Fifty states. Fifty protests. One movement.” At least sixteen other states and Washington D.C. hosted similar protests today, reports Newsweek.

Back in Madison, protesters fended off -13 degree weather with many layers of warm clothing and passed out hand warmers. Their breath formed a cloud as they chanted protest slogans.

WORT reporter Eliot Hughes was there.

Forecast from Monday, 2-17-25 by WORT 89.9FM Madison

The US Senate has so far confirmed sixteen of Trump's cabinet picks, with still a handful more to go. How have the Senators from Wisconsin voted so far? WORT reporter Maria Segura has the spreadsheet.

In an effort to reduce tooth decay, municipalities across the United States have been treating their public water systems with fluoride since the 1940s.

But fluoridated water has its opponents – including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And nearly 80 Wisconsin municipalities have moved to discontinue fluoride treatments, the most recent vote happening at the start of this month in the village of DeForest.

So how much fluoride is safe? And just how much does it reduce the risk of tooth decay?

Paula Tran, the administrator for the state’s Division of Public Health, answers these and other questions with WORT’s Greg Michaud, on this edition of Water Stories.

Today, February 17, is the anniversary of the day in 1992 that graduate students at Yale went on strike. The Graduate Employees and Student Organization (GESO) represented one thousand three hundred of Yale’s twenty two hundred graduate students. On the first day of the strike, thirty five hundred picketers closed down the campus; classes were canceled, library hours were curtailed, and dining halls closed. They joined two unions to demand recognition and a fair grievance procedure.

(Image courtesy: Sage Ross on Flickr)

Hosts Rebecca Kemble and Brenda Konkel are back to preview the week of February 17, 2025, which is also the week of the spring primary election. We have a tip for how to find the newest proposed legislation in Legistar, and received our first listener question... or did we?

U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the leaders of the world's oldest and largest democracies, met recently.

These two showmen-turned-heads-of-state got together at the White House in Washington, D.C. and representing their countries, talked seriously about common concerns.

They discussed trade and tariffs, security, arms sales, AI and energy production, then adjourned for a quick press conference.

Gil Halsted and Amitabh Pal have followed their careers, movements and campaigns over time and talk about the history of the two politicians and their partnership.

Photo: Sahaj Patel, unsplash

Researchers race against the clock to save valuable federal data before it disappears into thin air. Computational biologist and self described data nerd Niema Moshiri tells us his technique.

University of Wisconsin nurses gathered at the Madison Capital to give opening statements before the Wisconsin State Supreme Court to defend their right to union membership.

Image courtesy: Greg Geboski