A Public Affair

Douglas Haynes, Ali Muldrow, Carousel Bayrd, Allen Ruff, & Esty Dinur
  • 4.9 (14)
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  • Updated Semiweekly

Listener Sponsored Community Radio in Madison, WI

  1. 23m ago

    Hormones Are Having A Strange Moment

    The federal government–from the Justice Department to the FDA–is spending a lot of money on banning gender affirming care for trans youth. And though there is no state mandated ban, providers have stopped offering gender affirming care in Wisconsin. At the same time, Republican leaders like Pete Hegeseth are pro-hormone therapy when it comes to giving cisgender people hormones. On today’s show, host Dana Pellebon takes on the state of hormone therapy with journalist Orion Rummler and two local advocates, Skye-Gia and Venus of OutReach.  In Rummler’s latest article for The 19th, they write that the Trump administration is aligned with science when it comes to giving estrogen to cisgender women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. But the administration also mischaracterizes why this is important, saying that estrogen makes women docile and less likely to get divorced. Then there’s Pete Hegeseth who is obsessed with testing cisgender men in the military for low testosterone. That’s on top of broad cuts to Medicaid that disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ folks and new regulations that limit how states are able to provide HIV services.  Venus says that they’ve noticed more people stressed out by the shrinking options for trans healthcare, but people are organizing and planning. Community care shouldn’t have to go underground, and Venus wants to see a new system, not simply a reformed one shaped by electoral politics.  Skye-Gia is frustrated by the failure of many Democrats to speak up about trans rights. It was only three years ago that Governor Evers vetoed a bill that would have banned gender affirming care for people under 18. But campaign promises won’t change a broken system. Skye-Gia Garcia is a community organizer who currently holds a position at OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center working with unhoused youth. Orion Rummler covers LGBTQ+ health for The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom. They have covered this beat from Capitol Hill, the White House, inside the Supreme Court, and in states across the country.  Venus is a Black 24-year-old transexual artist, dancer, and visionary, and is also a rapid rehousing navigator for EverStrong, helping young adults obtain and maintain stable housing. Featured image of a hypodermic needle. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Hormones Are Having A Strange Moment appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

  2. 1d ago

    Term Limits are Popular, But What Would They Actually Do?

    There are term limits on the President of the United States, but why aren’t similar conditions placed on Congress? On today’s show, guest host Douglas Alexander has a friendly debate about the likelihood and efficacy of congressional term limits with scholar Anthony Fowler.  Congressional term limits are generally popular with US voters across the political spectrum, but Fowler says that if you look closely at the studies and academic literature, there isn’t a lot of evidence that term limits would be good or effective. In democratic elections, voters are able to choose their favorite candidate, and whoever is in office has an incentive to get reelected. Fowler argues that term limits would make these two aspects of electoral politics less effective.  One argument for term limits is that they would restrict politicians’ likelihood of pandering to voters, says Fowler. Instead of term limits, Fowler recommends other kinds of reform, like changing the nature of legislative jobs so that more competent people will run for them. But Alexander asks, would imposing term limits make it possible for more diverse candidates to run for office to begin with? Fowler tracks political polarization and studies electoral incentives within political institutions. He works on the web series, the Democracy Reform Primer Series in which scholars break down issues like congressional term limits, filibuster reform, the electoral college, and more.  Anthony Fowler is the Sydney A. Stein, Jr. Professor in the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. His research applies econometric methods for causal inference to questions in political science, with particular emphasis on elections and political representation. Specific interests include unequal political participation, electoral accountability, political polarization, and the credibility of empirical research. He is the director of the Center for Effective Government, an editor-in-chief of the Quarterly Journal of Political Science, an author of Thinking Clearly with Data, and a host of Not Another Politics Podcast. Featured image of the House of Congress chamber from 2011 via Flickr. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Term Limits are Popular, But What Would They Actually Do? appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

  3. 4d ago

    From the Archives: WORT Coverage of 9/11

    Today marks the 25th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. On the show, Norman Stockwell of The Progressive remembers September 11, 2001 by discussing how WORT covered the breaking news on the day of and in the weeks following the attacks.  We hear clips from the WORT archive, including the moment on the 8 O’clock Buzz when news of the attacks broke into Eugene Parks and Stanley Woodard’s broadcast. We also hear Zoltán Grossman speaking with Robert Fisk, author of Night of Power: The Betrayal of the Middle East, and an interview with Arjun Makhijani. We also listen to local peace demonstrators saying “our grief is not a call for war,” and take calls from listeners who share their memories of 9/11.   Finally, we hear a clip from Democracy Now’s Juan Gonzalez speaking of the toxic air conditions, which he laid out in his book, Fallout: The Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Collapse. This week, The Progressive published a Palestinian’s perspective on 9/11.  A big thanks to WORT’s Archiving committee for digitizing the clips for today’s show. Featured image of a view of lower Manhattan a month before 9/11 via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post From the Archives: WORT Coverage of 9/11 appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

  4. 4d ago

    What’s So Christian About Tupperware?

    On today’s show producer Sara Gabler gets personal about white Christian womanhood with scholar Kristin Kobes Du Mez. Her new book, Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made will be published next week. Live Laugh Love offers a genealogy of modern Christianity that doesn’t center male theologians. Instead Du Mez highlights the lives of powerful female leaders whose popular books and blogs helped teach white Christian women to submit to their husbands and protect their sexual purity. Women like Hannah Whitall Smith who wrote The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life in 1875 and Helen Andelin who wrote Fascinating Womanhood in 1963 are the forebears of the influencer @ballerinafarm and figures like Erika Kirk. There was always a darker side to their happy, fascinating lives. Many of these women were subjected to abuse and were silenced when they spoke up about it. Even a leader as powerful as Beth Moore was ostracized for speaking out against the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) embrace of Donald Trump and for the SBC’s silence on Trump’s history of abuse of women.  White Christian women can be both victims of an unforgiving culture and perpetrators of that culture. For everyday women, their choice of an ideal of love and happiness over freedom and equality keeps them trapped. It can be hard to exit that world because the Christian culture industry is all encompassing: from ideologically coded candles to spandex leggings. In this world, MLMs reign as the perfect tool of white Christian nationalism because they replicate the same hierarchical structures of the church. What’s Christian about Tupperware? The gospel of free enterprise.  They also discuss the women who have tried to change the system from the inside, like Sarah Bessey, Rachel Held Evans, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Latasha Morrison, and many others. Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a New York Times bestselling author and Professor of History at Calvin University. She is a Senior Democracy Fellow with the Public Religion Research Institute. Her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Religion News Service, and Christianity Today, and has been interviewed on NPR, CBS, and the BBC, among other outlets. Her most recent books include Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (2020) and Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made (September 2026). Featured image of the cover of Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post What’s So Christian About Tupperware? appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

  5. 6d ago

    Public Art Responds to Police Violence

    On today’s show, host Ali Muldrow speaks with Karin Wolf about the power of local art and how the city of Madison has responded to police violence with public art projects. Wolf was instrumental to the Downtown Street Art and Mural Project following the police execution of George Floyed in 2020. She invited people who were impacted by racialized violence to create murals on the boarded up windows of State Street businesses. She says the project “unleashed a valve” of creative responses that transformed despair into empowerment. The project was careful to avoid “art washing” anti-Black violence, to decenter whiteness, and to foreground the talents of artists of color in Madison.  Ultimately, that project was temporary. But as people continue to grapple with the police murder of Corey Ruiz, there’s a renewed conversation about the possibility of a permanent memorial at Willy and Baldwin Streets. The occupation of Willy and Baldwin streets underscored the inequity of resources in Madison, prompting Muldrow and Wolf to problematize the need for both public art and public housing. They also discuss the need to counterpose the pain of police brutality with art reflecting Black life, self-determination, and joy.  Wolf describes the challenges of creating public art projects, especially when it requires working with complex bureaucracy and planning projects that represent the breadth of the city. And she highlights a new initiative called the Teejop Community Art Project. Karin Wolf is the Arts & Culture Administrator for the City of Madison. She has a background in arts project management, research, writing, and educational programs. She manages arts grants, gallery spaces, art collections, and public art projects. Featured image of the George Floyed mural displayed at the intersection of Willy and Baldwin Streets courtesy of Sara Gabler/WORT. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Public Art Responds to Police Violence appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

  6. 6d ago

    Study Shows Bail Risk Assessments Don’t Work

    If you need a marriage license or adoption papers, you’ll have to engage with the legal system. But not everyone has a choice of when and how the law intrudes in their lives. On today’s show, host Dana Pellebon tackles the criminal legal system with scholar Jim Greiner, whose lab recently released a study of Dane County’s bail risk assessment tool. Greiner and the Access to Justice Lab use evidence-based methods to determine if criminal legal system processes are effective at accomplishing their goals. Dane County commissioned them to study their public safety assessment (PSA) tool that is used by judges to decide whether to release someone with or without posting bail based on their likelihood of missing their court date or committing another crime. Their randomized study found that the risk assessment did nothing: racial disparities and outcomes were neither better nor worse. Greiner says he was surprised by the findings, but that they were replicated in other counties around the country. The results show that bail itself doesn’t deter or prevent misbehavior. And the evaluation tool wasn’t any better than the judge’s personal assessments at determining who was high- or low-risk. Greiner studies how the legal system interacts with people who can’t afford to hire lawyers. When it comes to the criminal legal system, many question whether it’s accomplishing its goals at all. But Greiner says that the answer depends on what goals you have in mind. If you believe the system is meant to be retributive, then it’s possible to conclude that incarceration is its own end. And Greiner says few studies show that the carceral system works well for anything other than retributive goals. They also discuss the need for long-term supportive services, bail practices in Illinois, community courts in St. Louis, and how text messaging systems are very effective at reminding people to make their court dates. Jim Greiner is the Honorable S. William Green Professor of Public Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches courses on civil procedure, expert witnesses, and voting regulation. He is the founder and Faculty Director of the Access to Justice Lab, which implements randomized field experiments to find out what works for individuals and families who cannot afford to hire lawyers in both the civil and the criminal justice systems. Before coming to HLS in 2007, Jim practiced law for six years (three for the U.S. Department of Justice, three for the law firm of Jenner & Block), followed by a Ph.D. in statistics at Harvard University. His work has been published in a variety of venues including the Science, the Harvard Law Review, the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Featured image of the Dane County Courthouse via Brian Standing/WORT. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Study Shows Bail Risk Assessments Don’t Work appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

  7. Sep 4

    Line 5 Is a Rolling Disaster

    On today’s show, host Esty Dinur takes up the topic of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, again, in response to the recent spill on August 25. We’re joined by journalist River Akemann, lawyer Evan Feinauer, and we hear a written statement from Gracie Waukechon of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (reproduced below).  Video journalist and Unicorn Riot contributor River Akemann was arrested on August 24, 2026, the day before the major spill, while documenting construction on a dry bed crossing on another section of the pipeline. Akeman noticed protected fish species near the site and was documenting the unauthorized logging with a group of other water protectors when they were arrested. Akemann says that Enbridge has a nondisclosure agreement with Ashland law enforcement, meaning that “police aren’t looking out for the local community’s best interest, they’re doing the bidding of a corporation.” The August 25 spill released around 1.3 million gallons of natural gas liquids, more than any other spill in Wisconsin history. While much of the gas evaporated, Evan Feinauer says that doesn’t mean it disappeared. Feinauer is a staff attorney for Clean Wisconsin and focuses on protecting Wisconsin’s waters. He does this by supporting Clean Wisconsin’s policy experts and lobbyists at the Capitol, and by litigating in state court. Feinauer says that much of the information about the spill is being provided by Enbridge because the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources hasn’t been to the site yet due to the level of contaminants in the air. He describes the complex matrix of DNR and other state laws that govern waterways and pipelines. Because the spill took place at a valve project site, not technically part of the Line 5 reroute, there may not have been an official monitoring the construction. Clean Wisconsin is challenging the Line 5 reroute project.  Statement from Gracie Waukechon:  Boozhoo my relatives, As I prepare for rice camp this week, my heart is broken for all the beings put at risk from the recent actions in Northern Wisconsin. Line 5, the pipeline that transports over 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas from Superior to Ontario each day, is currently trespassing on a sovereign nation, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.  In 2023, Judge William Conley ruled that Enbridge had three years to either decommission Line 5, or reroute the line. Enbridge went with the latter plan. It has now been three years of appeal and protest from tribal nations, environmentalists, oceanographers, geologists, and concerned citizens from all corners of Turtle Island, from Montreal to Minnesota. Now, the reroute is over halfway complete, but at what cost? So far, there have been four reported frack-outs on the Line 5 reroute, releasing gallons of drilling fluid into the ecosystem. On August 25th, a subcontractor’s semi truck rolled, striking the pipeline and causing a gas leak near Saxon in Iron County. According to WPR, this released an estimated 31,000 barrels of natural gas, including propane, butane, and benzene into the atmosphere. These are highly flammable gases, and long term exposure of benzene, a carcinogen, is known to cause cancer. Nearby homes have been evacuated, and many nearby residents have gone without power, in an attempt to lower the risk of explosion. Let’s call this what it is: environmental destruction that was 100% preventable. None of these incidents are surprising. Countless legal and environmental groups, concerned citizens, and tribal nations have sounded the alarm for years that these events would occur should the reroute happen. But these warnings went unheeded, and so here we stand today, with toxins in the atmosphere and drilling fluid at our feet.  Time and time again, the profit of extractive companies are prioritized over the safety and concern of citizens who rely on this land. We need to change that. I urge everyone who relies on the Great Lakes to continue to sound the alarm. Show up, speak out, protect the Bad River and Lake Superior watershed. Now is the time to urge decision makers, like the Department of Natural Resources, to revoke the permits for the Line 5 reroute. We are all in this fight together. The accidents, leaks, and frack-outs off-reservation will impact everyone in Northern Wisconsin. But now is not the time to lose hope. Please remember that every single one of us is an extension of this Earth. We are from the Earth itself. Our ancestors are buried here, our children will be raised here. Will we leave a safe, sustainable world for them? Each one of us- whether we are an environmental activist or a decision maker for Big Oil, will one day return to Mother Earth. We must ask ourselves, what will she say to us upon our return? Gracie Waukechon is an environmental activist, community organizer, and tribal member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and is a Menominee Descendant. She resides in Northeastern Wisconsin. Featured image from the Wisconsin DNR. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Line 5 Is a Rolling Disaster appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

  8. Sep 3

    25 Years After 9/11, You Still Can’t Trade Freedom For Security

    On today’s show we welcome Allen Ruff back to the host seat for a special remembrance of September 11. Next Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Though a quarter century has passed, the endlessly played horrific events are etched in the popular memory of the nation. To reflect on the events of 9/11, Ruff speaks with Martín Espada, award winning poet and friend of WORT.  Espada reads from his 9/11 poem, “Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100,” that focuses on the food service workers who died that day, many of them undocumented immigrants. Espada says they were invisible in life and in death, inspiring him to write this poem. He analyzes the fallout from the attacks, saying that the ensuing “War on Terror” has trickled down to the present as seen in the rhetoric of Donald Trump and his MAGA crowd. The lesson he learned is that “you can’t trade freedom for security.”  Nevertheless, the War on Terror has given the political right a vocabulary and opened the door to a stronger executive branch, the consequences of which we’re seeing in full force now. Espada says that fighting an abstraction like “terror” has only compounded the reality of endless war.  They also discuss the rise of xenophobia in the US and the dehumanization of immigrants. Espada also reads from two new poems, “The Ballad of a Cuban Salsa Band” and “Shame.” Martín Espada is the author of more than twenty books as a poet, editor, essayist, and translator. A former tenant lawyer in the Greater Boston area’s Latino community, he received a BA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1981 and a JD from Northeastern University in 1985. Espada previously appeared on A Public Affair to talk about his latest volume of poetry, Jailbreak of Sparrows. Featured image of a light tribute to the Twin Towers from 2005 via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post 25 Years After 9/11, You Still Can’t Trade Freedom For Security appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

  9. Sep 2

    What Society Owes Black Students, with Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings

    Last year there were no female Black students taking college-credit calculus in MMSD. Host Ali Muldrow says that gatekeeping opportunities like this at the high school level is a way to gatekeep future professional opportunities. So it’s fitting that on the first day of the school term, Muldrow hosts a Black to School special with scholar, Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings. They discuss racial disparities in education and how society can take responsibility.  While educators and analysts often attribute the racial disparities in education to the “achievement gap” between white students and students of color, Dr. Ladson-Billings prefers to use the term “education debt.” The former term puts the onus on individual children, their families, and even teachers whereas, the latter term signals what society owes Black children. She says that our society owes a debt to Black children and should provide reparations in the form of free healthcare and college education.  Dr. Ladson-Billings is a proponent of an asset-based approach to teaching that centers students’ capacities, talents, and culturally-specific experiences. This approach counters the idea that Black students need remediation. They also discuss testing for literacy and math, racial representation of educators, and how Black children are routinely criminalized at school. Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings is Professor Emerita and former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor in Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a scholar of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, and Hip Hop Pedagogies. Featured image of a middle school history class via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post What Society Owes Black Students, with Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

  10. Sep 1

    When Mental Illness Intersects with the Justice System

    Over 23,000 people are incarcerated in Wisconsin’s prisons, a record number reports Wisconsin Public Radio. For those who are in jail or prison, accessing necessary mental health services is too often out of reach. Three in five people do not receive the mental health treatment they need while they are in state and federal prisons, according to NAMI. To address the mental illness and the justice system, on today’s show, host Dana Pellebon speaks with Linda Ketcham. Ketcham works at JustDane to support people who are newly released from jail and prison. JustDane offers peer support, traditional case management, employment and skills training, eviction prevention, and more. They also mentor kids whose parents are impacted by incarceration. No matter a person’s conviction, they still deserve the opportunity to heal and grow, says Ketcham. She adds that she has come to see that the criminal justice system isn’t broken, but operating exactly as it was intended.  They discuss the public discourse following the police killing of Corey Ruiz, namely how little empathy some people have toward people with histories of incarceration, especially knowing how difficult it is to come out of prison after years of incarceration;   If you are struggling, you can contact the 988 crisis line, 211 line run by the United Way of Dane County, or reach out to the Dane County Behavioral Resource Center.  Linda Ketcham is the Executive Director at JustDane. She is in recovery and has been working in human services for over 40 years. Linda has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in criminal justice and was a certified addiction counselor for 15 years in Illinois before moving to Wisconsin. Featured image of a door with light shining behind it via Anton Winaryo.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post When Mental Illness Intersects with the Justice System appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

Listener Sponsored Community Radio in Madison, WI

Information

  • Creator
    Douglas Haynes, Ali Muldrow, Carousel Bayrd, Allen Ruff, & Esty Dinur
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Back Porch Broadcasting, Inc.
  • Show Website
    A Public Affair

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