A Public Affair

Douglas Haynes, Ali Muldrow, Carousel Bayrd, Allen Ruff, & Esty Dinur
  • 4.9 (13)
  • NEWS
  • UPDATED DAILY

Listener Sponsored Community Radio in Madison, WI

  1. 13H AGO

    If The AI Says Its Sentient, Don’t Listen

    AI is on the top of people’s minds here in Wisconsin, where hyperscale data centers are altering the physical environment and the power grid. But on today’s show, WORT’s News Director Nate Carlin focuses on the emotional damage caused by AI use with Etienne Brisson, the CEO of the Human Line Project, the world’s first nonprofit dedicated to documenting and addressing AI-induced psychological harm. The Human Line Project collects stories from people whose use of AI led to what’s called “AI psychosis,” partners with research institutions to study the phenomena, and provides support for folks to process their experiences. Brisson discusses the trends he’s seen, like folks coming to believe that their chatbot is sentient or a god. No one is truly invulnerable to this because our brains are wired to give emotion–to anthropomorphize–what we can’t understand. The moral of the story for Brisson is that you can’t trust AI: it’s built to predict and say what you want to hear. Instead, we all have to practice critical thinking. They also discuss how AI is related to other problems in modern life like loneliness and echo chambers, and what AI companies are doing in response to AI psychosis. In October 2025, OpenAI revealed that 560,000 users were discussing manic or psychotic ideas weekly on their platform, ChatGPT, and more and more doctors are reporting patients with symptoms of AI psychosis. If you have a friend or family member who has developed an unhealthy relationship with AI, Brisson says the best approach is to listen, empathize, agree, and partner up (LEAP).  Featured image of an AI chatbot via Pexels. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post If The AI Says Its Sentient, Don’t Listen appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    54 min

  2. 1D AGO

    What If Children’s Wellbeing Were Our North Star?

    Latin American families choose to migrate to the US for a better life, but they face arduous journeys and too often stigma, violence, and separation from their children when they arrive in the US. On today’s show, host Ali Muldrow is in conversation with Dr. Gabrielle Oliveira about her new book, Now We Are Here: Family Migration, Children’s Education, and Dreams for a Better Life.  Oliveira’s book shows how education is these families’ “currency of love”—the reason they uproot their lives and risk dangerous crossings, detention, family separation—and now the terror of ICE crackdowns.  Now We Are Here focuses on family separation at the US-Mexico border, but Oliveira says these families are worried anew, this time about being detained by ICE rather than deported at the border.  She says that current immigration policy is designed to discourage people from entering the US by destabilizing the family unit. There was a time when even some Republicans opposed cruel immigration policies, but Oliveira observes that now there’s “an appetite to become more restricted,” following Steven Miler’s vision of the country. Even during the first Trump presidency the narrative that immigrants were hardworking, productive members of society could be heard, but that message has now dissolved. Instead, Oliveira says that we need to see the wellbeing of children as our north star. If we acknowledged that the bond between parent and child should not be broken, could we have immigration policies that honor that? They also talk about the experience of immigrant children in the education system, how adults can better listen to children, and the ripple effects of family separation.  Gabrielle Oliveira is Jorge Paulo Lemann Associate Professor of Education and Brazil Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Featured image of the cover of Now We Are Here: Family Migration, Children’s Education, and Dreams for a Better Life. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post What If Children’s Wellbeing Were Our North Star? appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    55 min

  3. 2D AGO

    No Healthcare Without Immigrants

    Healthcare in the US depends on immigrant doctors, but these physicians face a paradox: they’re celebrated as essential but are subjected to intense scrutiny and bias. On today’s show, host Dana Pellebon is in conversation with historian Dr. Eram Alam, about the history of migrant physicians and how they fill roles in rural areas neglected by American-born doctors.  They talk about Alam’s book, The Care of Foreigners: How Immigrant Physicians Changed US Healthcare, which is available from Johns Hopkins University Press. She says the only universal experiences in this world are birth, death, and illness. But people’s experiences of these events are conditioned by their wealth, location, and race. In her book, she uncovers how race influences migrant doctors’ clinical interactions. Alam studied the wave of South Asian physicians from India and Pakistan and later waves of Filipino and Nigerian doctors. These physicians were recruited to work in the US following the Hart-Celler Act of 1965, a time of Cold War fear and a desire by the US to create strong political ties. But when these doctors arrived, their expertise and knowledge was met with skepticism. Many of these elite doctors also faced a kind of shell-shock when they were placed in rural communities that didn’t look like the vision of America they were sold.  They also discuss the chaotic immigration policies coming from the Trump administration and the looming physician shortages that will result from places like Nigeria being put on a banned country list. The Trump administration’s rules on HB1 visas–which now cost $100,000–will make it unattainable for rural hospitals to sponsor foreign-born physicians, leading to downstream effects that Alam says will be born by people who are already vulnerable.  Eram Alam is an associate professor in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University. She specializes in the history of medicine, with a particular emphasis on globalization, race, migration, and health during the twentieth century. Featured image of the cover of The Care of Foreigners: How Immigrant Physicians Changed US Healthcare.  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post No Healthcare Without Immigrants appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    53 min

  4. 3D AGO

    The Farm Bill Rides Again!

    On April 30, the US House of Representatives passed its version of the Farm Bill. If it makes it through the Senate, it will be the first comprehensive farm bill since 2018. On today’s show, host Douglas Haynes is joined by journalist Lisa Held to talk about what’s in the farm bill, the controversy it sparked, and what it could mean for the US food system. A farm bill is an omnibus bill that dictates how the government spends money on food and agriculture and determines what crops are grown, who has access to food, and so much more. Held says that it matters to everyone, because everyone eats. The biggest item in the farm bill is SNAP, which makes up 75% of the bill. Other big cuts to to commodity supports (like payments to row-crop farmers growing corn, soy, or wheat), crop insurance, and conservation.  Held says that SNAP benefits are at the heart of the farm bill. It’s the nation’s largest food aid program, serving 48 million people who receive about $6/day per household. The Trump administration has already made cuts to SNAP benefits by expanding work requirements, eliminating benefits for refugees, and more. States are saying that their budgets can’t fill in the gaps created by federal cuts.  They also discuss the removal of the “pesticide immunity shield” from the current version, the downsizing of USDA county offices, the first ever state farm bill in Pennsylvania, and the MAHA movement’s influence on food policy. Held says that Washington insiders aren’t confident that the Senate version of the farm bill will pass, leaving Congress to work on piecemeal appropriations to keep many food and agriculture programs running.  Lisa Held is the senior staff reporter and contributing editor at Civil Eats, where she leads daily news coverage of federal food and agriculture policy and regularly reports on-the-ground feature stories on the American food system. Since 2015, she has reported on food and agriculture with an eye toward sustainability, equality, and health, and her stories have appeared in publications including The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Mother Jones. She is based in Baltimore. Featured image of a tractor spraying a field with pesticide via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post The Farm Bill Rides Again! appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    53 min

  5. 6D AGO

    You Can Learn a Lot of Things from the Flowers

    Combining scientific study with lived experience, David George Haskell’s latest book, How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature’s Revolutionaries, tells the story of the adaptability and cooperative nature of flowering plants. He joins host Esty Dinur to discuss how flowers are not only pretty but powerful. Around 200 million years ago when flowering plants emerged, they changed the ecology of the world, shaping human agriculture and whole dynasties of creatures like bees and butterflies. Haskell describes how flowers learned to build attractive structures to gain diligent pollinators and how they reinvented botanical motherhood. Primarily, they transformed the world through cooperation with insects, grazing animals, fungi, bacteria, and other plants. When they struggled, they reached out to others. Now, flowering plants face new struggles from climate change and all its effects.  They also discuss the mosaic of plants and non-human life in the Driftless, the importance of soil, seagrass meadows in the ocean, and how nectar is nature’s drug cocktail. Haskell also connects plants’ struggles against erosion, land conservation, pollution, etc. with human struggles for liberation and civil rights. At the end of the day, humans can learn how to cultivate symbiosis, not exploitation, from flowering plants.  David George Haskell is a writer and biologist acclaimed for his lyrical explorations of the living world. His most recent book, How Flowers Made our World, explores the creative powers of flowering plants. Haskell is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Featured image of the cover of How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature’s Revolutionaries. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post You Can Learn a Lot of Things from the Flowers appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    55 min

  6. MAY 14

    A Madison Space By and For the Black Community

    Last week, The Center for Black Excellence and Culture held its grand opening, and a crowd of around 1,500 people showed up to tour the space and celebrate. On today’s show, host Enjoyiana Nururdin speaks with Ms. Lilada Gee, the co-founder of the Center about the planning, implementation, and legacy of this space that is “by and for the Black community.” Gee says that there’s no space like the Center in Madison or in the world, as she heard from the consulting firm they worked with. Built in between two Trump presidencies, the Center represents the dedication of Black Madisonians to creating a legacy and honoring local Black history. Much of the early fundraising was done by the Black community, particularly Black women like Frances Huntly-Cooper, Kirbie Mack, and Kesha Bozeman. Gee says she’s proud that the Center will elevate “Black brilliance, innovation, and creativity.”  There are considerable racial disparities for Black Madisonians, which is why Gee and the other leaders of the Center wanted to create a space where people could find hope, make intergenerational connections, and honor the many ethnicities within the Black diaspora. Gee painted a mural for and designed the Black Women’s Wing. And she says that the center will be a place where the Black community can create their own legacies.  The Center will open to the public starting July 1, when folks can start participating in events and workshops. Lilada Gee is an artist, muralist, healer, preacher, author and international inspirational speaker and podcast host. Drawing upon her experiences as a survivor of both childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence, Lilada founded the non-profit organization—Defending Black Girlhood—that specializes in advocating for Black girls being safe in their homes, schools and communities to live, learn and be loved. Via her Black Woman Heal Collective, she has sparked an international healing movement throughout the African Diaspora that empowers Black women to create safe places for themselves and Black girls to heal. Lilada is a life-long Madison, Wisconsin resident and mother of two awesome adult children–Alexandra and Christian. Featured image of the exterior of The Center for Black Excellence and culture courtesy of Brian Standing/WORT. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post A Madison Space By and For the Black Community appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    51 min

  7. MAY 13

    Youth Poetry Anthology Destigmatizes Family Incarceration

    Young people are too often victims of our broken criminal justice system. 1 in 14 US children either has or has had a parent behind bars. Our friends at the PATHfinders and POPS Club are doing the vital work of supporting these youth, including publishing their poetry. Today host Ali Muldrow is in conversation with Victor Trillo Jr., Amy Friedman, and one of the youth poets, Darrione, about their 11th anthology, A Secret Chord: Poetry, Stories & Art. A Secret Chord features creative works by 60 teens impacted by incarceration, detention, and deportation. Darrione is one of those teens. She learned to see herself as a writer through the club and the mentorship of Victor. She says she’s come to see that her writing can connect with others and she plans to publish her own book one day. Darrione reads from her poem, “My Skin,” which is full of heartbreak and triumph in the tradition of Patricia Smith. They talk about how this anthology stands out from previous versions and how it centers music and visual art. Friedman says she’s constantly reminded of young people’s honesty and courage in their writing. And Trillo has committed himself to being the mentor that he didn’t have when he was young and his father was incarcerated. Victor Trillo Jr. is a founding team member of The PATHfinder Club and works as the Program Manager for The PATHfinder and POPS the Club, employing his deep understanding of the impact of incarceration on individuals, first as the son of a man who was in prison throughout Victor’s childhood, and later incarcerated himself. He is a powerful advocate for children of the incarcerated. Amy Friedman is an author, editor, and criminal justice activist, who founded POPS the Club in 2013, as an inclusive space for youth who have been stigmatized and silenced by their experiences with the criminal justice system. Having been previously married to a man who was in prison, Amy’s stepdaughters inspired her to find a way to support youth in ways that her girls never were.  Featured image of the cover of A Secret Chord: Poetry, Stories & Art. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Youth Poetry Anthology Destigmatizes Family Incarceration appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    54 min

  8. MAY 12

    Araceli Esparza on Finding your Authentic Voice in the Workplace

    On today’s show, host Dana Pellebon is in conversation with Araceli Esparza about her new book, Healing from Racial Discrimination! ¿Ahora Que? Now, What? Esparza says that freeing your voice is an action, but it takes healing to get there. She offers advice on how to address discrimination in the workplace when EEOC and HR offices too often protect the company instead of vulnerable employees. Esparza writes about how she turned to traditional Latin American healing methods like making altars and reports on the rituals she practiced in order to find healing and her authentic self. She also describes the sense of rejection she felt when her allies didn’t show up, and how exhausting it can be to be a woman of color in the nonprofit world. They also discuss what it means to stand up and end the silence about racial discrimination at a time when Latinx folks are being abducted by the Trump administration.  Araceli Esparza is a first-generation Chicana writer, speaker, and community organizer based in Madison, Wisconsin. She is the founder and Executive Director of Midwest Mujeres, a nonprofit focused on storytelling, leadership, and economic empowerment for Latina and Black women. Through her work, Araceli has helped hundreds of women use storytelling as a tool for healing, visibility, and professional growth. She is also a published poet, podcast host, and public speaker whose work explores identity, survival, womanhood, racial justice, and the power of community. Araceli is the author of the upcoming book I Don’t Have a Home to Go Back To: Seven Strategies for Navigating Healing from Homelessness as a Latina, a deeply personal and reflective work about resilience, belonging, and healing from generational hardship. Her work has been featured through Wisconsin community media, storytelling events, and leadership spaces across the Midwest. Araceli believes that when we tell the story that sets us free, we can help set others free too. Featured image of the cover of Healing from Racial Discrimination! ¿Ahora Que? Now, What? Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Araceli Esparza on Finding your Authentic Voice in the Workplace appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    55 min

  9. MAY 11

    The Good Problems Facing Olbrich Gardens

    Madison’s beloved Olbrich Botanical Gardens welcomed almost 400,000 visitors last year. However, it was designed to handle less than half of that amount. This year, the Gardens with the partnership of Madison’s Parks Division embarked on a master planning process to ensure the future of the Gardens including expanding its physical space as well as services. To talk about this process, Douglas Haynes hosts a roundtable discussion with Hilary Gerstein, Eric Knepp, and Tanya Zastrow. The Olbrich Botanical Gardens benefit humans and non-humans in the area alike through conservation projects, special events, and more. Zastrow talks about the rusty patch bumblebees, chipmunks, and Sherman the turkey who call the park home. The Gardens are managed through a public-private partnership, between the Olbrich Botanical Society and the City of Madison Parks division. Knepp describes the history of the Gardens, from the construction of the Bolz Conservatory in 1991 to the 2009 expansion across Starkweather Creek. He says that people choose the garden for its beauty and tranquility, but also its affordability. Zastrow discusses the master planning process that will be the “roadmap for the future” as the Gardens nears its 75th year. Gerstein describes the work of the Friends of Olbrich Park, who plan native plantings like a new bur oak and service berry tree to trash pick ups. The Friends group is trying to get information about the master plan into the hands of community members. On May 20, a final framework of the new master plan will be presented to the public. You can learn more here. Hilary Gerstein is Vice President of Friends of Olbrich Park. Eric Knepp is the City of Madison Parks Superintendent. He has worked at the City of Madison since 2006. Tanya Zastrow has worked as Executive Director of Olbrich Botanical Gardens since 2022. Featured image of the Bolz Conservatory at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens via Wikimedia Commons. Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post The Good Problems Facing Olbrich Gardens appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    55 min

  10. MAY 8

    Lessons from Minneapolis Anti-ICE Organizers

    Though Operation Metro Surge has officially ended, the Trump administration continues to abduct people from the Twin Cities. Three people were also taken from Madison this week, and Salah Sarsour, the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, was detained on April 3 and remains in ICE detention. In response, host Esty Dinur is in conversation with two organizers with Workers’ Solidary Circle–Kip Hedges and Cal Robinette–about the lessons other communities can learn from ICE resistance in the Twin Cities.   Reflecting on the last few months, Hedges says that they’ve achieved a “partial victory” against the Trump regime and its immigration policies. The victory is partial because racial profiling, police brutality, and the effects of living under occupation continue. Robinette says that the rapid response infrastructure is changing as the number of abductions decrease, but hyper-local organizing is still the focus of the resistance.  There is still work to do. Robinette describes the impending eviction crisis and how Minneapolis is attempting to build a $38 million “cop city” for training police and other first responders. They also discuss the role of labor unions like IBEW and teachers unions in organizing resistance.  Kip Hedges is a long time working class organizer, who worked for 30 years as a baggage handler for Delta Air Lines. He is a retired member of the Machinists Union and member of Workers’ Solidarity Circle and DSA. Cal Robinette is a member of the IBEW and helped get an anti ICE resolution passed in his local. He is also a member of Workers’ Solidarity Circle. Featured image from an anti-ice protest from January 2026 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).  Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here The post Lessons from Minneapolis Anti-ICE Organizers appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

    53 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
13 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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