8 O'Clock Buzz

Brian Standing, Haywood Simmons & Michelle Naff, Jan Miyasaki, Tony Castaneda, & Jonathan Zarov
  • 4.0 (2)
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  • Updated Daily

Listener Sponsored Community Radio in Madison, WI

  1. 5h ago

    Field to Frock Festival Returns for 2026

    WORT 89.9FM Madison · Field to Frock Festival Returns for 2026 Jessica Becker (left) and Leslie Schroeder (right) outside the WORT studios. (Photo by Jessica Becker) When the Strait of Hormuz shut down during the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, global textile prices skyrocketed, illustrating once again how dependent our economies are on global trade.  An alternative to such global dependence may be to “think local” and work to substitute locally-produced products for those shipped from across the world.  That’s exactly the idea behind the Midwest Linen Revival, and the 2026 edition of the Field to Frock Festival, taking place June 23 to June 28 in and around Madison.  Leslie Schroeder, founder of Midwest Linen Revival and Jessica Becker, Director of Communications, Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on June 22, 2026. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Field to Frock Festival Returns for 2026 appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    10 min

  2. 6h ago

    Bloodsuckers: Ecology and Public Health of Ticks

    WORT 89.9FM Madison · Bloodsuckers: Ecology and Public Health of Ticks Johnny Uelmen (Photo courtesy University of Wisconsin) Eight-legged, bloodsucking vampires swarm over your gardens, forests and fields, biting onto your neck to reproduce, bringing disease and in some cases, death.  That’s not the tagline for a new horror flick – that’s a description of the lifestyle of the arachnid order Ixodida, better known as ticks.  As spring and summer in Wisconsin get warmer and wetter, ticks have adapted by emerging earlier and staying later, resulting in booming populations and increases in tick-borne diseases such as Lyme’s Disease and anaplasmosis.  So, what makes ticks tick?  And what do those trends mean for human health?  Johnny Uelmen heads up the Disease Ecology Lab at the Department of Population Health Sciences of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Featured image: Deer tick (Photo courtesy Wisconsin Department of Health Services) Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Bloodsuckers: Ecology and Public Health of Ticks appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    13 min

  3. 6h ago

    The Data on Remote Work: Productive but Lonely

    WORT 89.9FM Madison · The Data on Remote Work: Productive but Lonely Emma Harrington (Photo courtesy University of Virginia) The global COVID-19 pandemic wrought a variety of social and economic changes.  Some, like social distancing, were temporary.  Other changes remained in place long after the most acute crisis subsided.  According to U.S. Census data, prior to the pandemic, people who worked from home accounted for about 3% of the working population.  After peaking at 20% during the height of the omicron COVID outbreak, that percentage has stabilized at about 17% of employees – some 27 million people work partially or entirely from home.  The issue has become a point of contention in labor relations, with many managers seeking to institute “back-to-the-office” policies, with resistance from labor organizations and individual employees.  Much has been made of the productivity of at-home workers, but less attention has been paid to the isolation of workers working from home.  Emma Harrington is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Virginia.  Her new book “In Person: How Working Together Fuels Creativity, Productivity, and Growth” will come out in October from Crown Currency Press.  Emma Harrington joined the Monday Buzz– remotely – by phone, on June 22, 2026. Featured image: Working from Home animation (Image by Aapriano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons) Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post The Data on Remote Work: Productive but Lonely appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    12 min

  4. Jun 15

    “Edward IV” Brings Elizabethan Drama to the Playground

    WORT 89.9FM Madison · “Edward IV” Brings Elizabethan Drama to the Playground Sarah Z. Johnson (photo courtesy Linked In) Kia Karlen (photo courtesy Madison Children’s Museum) For every kid who’s ever run around a playground pretending to be a pirate getting in swordfights, Madison Shakespeare Company and Madison Children’s Museum have the play for you.  This month, MSC will mount a production of “Edward IV” by Elizabethan playwright Thomas Heywood, performing on the Madison Children’s Museum’s elaborate wonderground playground.  Kia Karlen, co-CEO of the Madison Children’s Museum and Sarah Z. Johnson from Madison Shakespeare Company joined Monday Buzz host on June 15, 2026. Featured image: Wonderground playground (photo courtesy Madison Children’s Museum). Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post “Edward IV” Brings Elizabethan Drama to the Playground appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    11 min

  5. Jun 15

    Purchase With Purpose Offers Tips for Avoiding Big Tech

    WORT 89.9FM Madison · Purchase With Purpose Offers Tips for Avoiding Big Tech Kyle Bradley (photo courtesy LinkedIn) Media activist, professor and author Bob McChesney used to say that if you’re getting something for free on the internet, then you’re the product.  Data harvesting cookies, bots, apps, devices, AI chatbots  – even kitchen appliances – spy on you 24 hours a day, reporting their findings back to the corporations such as Google, Apple, Meta and X.  These little bits of spyware are so pervasive that even the most vigilant privacy advocates have trouble avoiding them altogether.  Kyle Bradley has spent his career writing about data-driven tech and artificial intelligence, and is the director of Purchase With Purpose.  He joined the Monday 8 O’Clock Buzz on June 15, 2026. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Purchase With Purpose Offers Tips for Avoiding Big Tech appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    11 min

  6. Jun 15

    Summer Programs Out of Reach for Many Parents

    WORT 89.9FM Madison · Summer Programs Out of Reach for Many Parents Randy Neve (photo courtesy Wisconsin Out of School Time Alliance) Jennifer Smith (photo courtesy Wisconsin Out of School Time Alliance) With school out for the year, working parents struggle to find a summer program to keep the kids busy, entertained and safe over the hot summer months.   A new survey by the Afterschool Alliance suggests that nearly half of all parents seeking summer programs fail to find an appropriate slot for their kids.  Wisconsin Out of School Time Alliance Network Lead Randy Neve and Program Coordinator Jennifer Smith joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on June 15, 2026. Featured graphic courtesy Afterschool Alliance. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Summer Programs Out of Reach for Many Parents appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    13 min

  7. Jun 10

    The Seeds You Sow – Remembering Michael Johnson

    Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Tara Wilhelmi, remembering community leader, father, “every child’s uncle,” and regular Tuesday Buzz guest Michael Johnson with words from hosts, guests, community friends, and listeners.  Michael died unexpected on Sunday, June 7th at age 50. More about his life and legacy from Robert Chappell at Madison365 and from former WORT News Director Chali Pittman in Isthmus. A few from the recent archives of Michael on the Tuesday Buzz: Promoting the Positivity in the Community  Are You in It for the Money, or in It for Community? Giving Everything of Yourself Supporting our Kids Futures! And more from the full archives: https://www.wortfm.org/tag/michael-johnson/ Music from today’s show: https://spinitron.com/WORT/pl/22552864/Tuesday-8-O-Clock-Buzz  Listen in Madison at 89.9FM or online anywhere at wortfm.org.  Support your community radio with a donation online at wortfm.org! Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post The Seeds You Sow – Remembering Michael Johnson appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    45 min

  8. Jun 8

    MeshCore Offers Resilient Decentralized Communication

    WORT 89.9FM Madison · In our modern society, we take the ability to reach into our pocket and instantly contact anyone in the world for granted.  But all those text messages, e-mails, social media posts and voice calls depend on a centralized, private network of cellular communication towers.  What would you do if that network ever goes down?  The Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club has been working on a project called MeshCore that provides a resilient, decentralized alternative texting technology that works over the public radio spectrum.  Jeff Fritsche, the 2026 Field Day Coordinator for Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club, and Chris Eade, one of the leads for the MeshCore project, joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on June 8, 2026. Pine Bluff MeshCore Repeater, linking western Dane County with Madison (Photo courtesy w9jz.org) Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post MeshCore Offers Resilient Decentralized Communication appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    11 min

  9. Jun 8

    Finding Home on Highway 14: Episode Eight

    WORT 89.9FM Madison · Finding Home on Highway 14: Episode Eight Nicole Gruter (photo courtesy Nicole Gruter) Once a month, we check in with the Monday Buzz’s roving reporter Nicole Gruter.  Nicole’s been tracing the route of historic U.S. Highway 14, one of the first U.S. Highways originally built in the 1920s.  On June 8, 2026, Nicole talked to Monday Buzz host Brian Standing about her visit to Tracy, Minnesota, population 2,079. (All photos by Nicole Gruter) Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Finding Home on Highway 14: Episode Eight appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    11 min

  10. Jun 8

    Trump’s Billion-Dollar Slush Fund Could Reappear

    WORT 89.9FM Madison · Trump’s Billion-Dollar Slush Fund Could Reappear Brendan Ballou (Photo courtesy Public Integrity Project) On June 1, Politico reported that, according to two anonymous White House sources, President Trump has backed down from a proposed 1.8 billion-dollar so-called “Anti-Weaponization” fund. Later that day, the Justice Department announced that it would abide by a court order halting the project. The fund – dubbed a “slush fund” by critics – would have paid for settlements in federal cases brought by the Justice Department under the Biden Administration.  The proposal drew sharp criticism, including from Republicans in Congress.  Among the potential recipients were people charged under federal law for the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots.  Brendan Ballou is the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Integrity Project, which brought a lawsuit against the Trump Administration on behalf of District of Columbia Police Officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges.  Brendan Ballou joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on June 8, 2026. Featured image: Seal of the U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. Government, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Trump’s Billion-Dollar Slush Fund Could Reappear appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    12 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Listener Sponsored Community Radio in Madison, WI

Information

  • Creator
    Brian Standing, Haywood Simmons & Michelle Naff, Jan Miyasaki, Tony Castaneda, & Jonathan Zarov
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Back Porch Broadcasting, Inc.
  • Show Website
    8 O'Clock Buzz

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