8 O'Clock Buzz Brian Standing, Haywood Simmons & Michelle Naff, Jan Miyasaki, Tony Castaneda, & Jonathan Zarov

The “Mills Folly Microcinema” at Madison’s Arts and Literature Laboratory, now in its sixth year, seeks to push the envelope of the moving image with a docket of experimental cinema and collaborations.  James Kreul, who is an old friend of the Monday Buzz, curates the program, and joined the Monday Buzz to tell us about the next Mills Folly presentation, Outer-Inner: Live Music, Live Video.

Outer-Inner will pair live music with analog video reacting in real time to the musical performance. Video artists Ryan Lansing and Peter Charles Allen, who are among the performers, came into the WORT studios to describe their work. The performance will also include musicians Def Sonic, Niels Jorgensen and Seth Klekamp.

This live music and video collaboration takes place April 24th at 7:00 p.m. at the Arts and Literature Laboratory.

One week later, on May first, Mills Folly will present Project Projection, a showcase of experimental short films by thirteen local filmmakers. Project Projection, which runs several times each year, provides a venue for Madison area video artists to display their work.

Image courtesy of Mills Folly Microcinema.

Web production by Nicholas Wootton.

 

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Back before desktop publishing and the internet, if you wanted to get your radical counterculture message out, you had to use scissors, paste from a jar, and frequent visits to photocopy shops to produce your own magazine, or “zine.”  Madison’s annual “Print and Resist” Zinefest celebrates the DIY, analog printed word.  This year’s event takes place at Madison’s Central Library on April 27th from 11 to 4.  

Several contributing artists to this year’s Zinefest told us about their work on the Monday Buzz. Julie Sabo, who came in to WORT studios, is an illustrator and zinester. Joining the Buzz by phone were designer, artist and poet Mike Ward, and also comic artist Beth Hetland. 

Carlee Latimer, Bubbler Program Administrator for the Madison Public Library, also joined us in the studio.

The 2024 Madison Print and Resist Zine fest takes place on Saturday, April 27 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Madison Central Library.  For more information, visit the events page of the Madison Public Library website. 

Poster courtesy of the Madison Print and Resist Zinefest website.

Web production by Nicholas Wootton

 

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Since 1979, Labor Notes and the Troublemakers Union has brought grassroots labor activists together to exchange organizing notes, tactics, success stories and lessons learned.  The 2024 Labor Notes conference is just wrapping up in Chicago and featured presentations from activists in the United Auto Workers, the Writer’s Guild, Independent Union of Audi Mexico Workers, the Italian Federation of Metalworkers and many others. 

Two Madison-area labor activists who attended the Chicago conference, Joanna Frasch and Barbara Smith, called in to WORT studios to fill us in on the event. 

Joanna Frasch is the at-large Executive Board Member for AFSCME Local 1. Barbara Smith is a member of the American Federation of Teachers Local 4848. 

Photo courtesy of Labor Notes.

Web production by Nicholas Wootton.

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Record Store Day is an annual celebration of the culture of the independently owned record store.  It’s typically held on one Saturday in April to allow artists, fans and independent stores around the world to gather and spread the word about the special place these stores hold in our communities.  DJ el Serpentine, Sal Serio, joins the 8 O’Clock Buzz to discuss events in the Madison area for this observance.  Because this year’s bash is this Saturday, April 20, it will coincide with the annual celebration of the counter-culture’s rally for diversity and acceptance.  Peace out.

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Election workers and administrators are at the frontline of defending democracy by ensuring free and fair elections.  But increasingly their job descriptions include threat analysis, reporting harassment, and methods to de-escalate potential violence.  This has all come about due to increased threats to election officials since the 2020 presidential election, and the false claims of illegal voting by right wing agitators.  Scott McDonell, Dane County Clerk, joins the Thursday edition of the 8 O’Clock Buzz to discuss the upswing in election worker turnover and preparations for the 2024 elections.  He also speaks to the increased security afforded Meagan Wolfe, Administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, after she was specifically named in false accusations by Don Trump in his continued tirade against those at the forefront of providing our democratic rights.  Is it possible the Framers of the Constitution would have had second thoughts about freedom of speech if they knew Dishonest Don was coming?

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Each year at tax time, the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies produces a tax receipt that shows where your 2023 income taxes went. Co-author, Lindsay Koshgarian gives some oversight to how your tax dollars are spent: average taxpayer gave $5100 to U.S. militarism and only $10.84 to renewal energy programs; $112 to foreign militaries vs $58 to diplomacy. More details in the report.

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