Pat Diehl is a gardener and organizer at the Leopold Park Community
Garden in Madison. 

Originally from California, she shares fond memories of
picking beans with her family, learning to garden, and starting school
gardens in Oakland. She also speaks of her love for the restorative power of
gardening.

Pat Diehl (English): Rooted In Land, Preserving Through Generations

WORT’s World View longtime collective members Marc Becker and Norman Stockwell spoke with independent journalist Amelia Rayno, who is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rayno talks about her transformation from print journalist at the Minneapolis Star Tribune to independent journalist, following her curiosity about humans and their condition and writing about it all. 

Since late 2022 she’s been living in Argentina, teasing out the reality of the Argentine condition with herself in the midst of it. 

She has created an online documentary series, “Dark Legacy,” about the history of U.S. involvement in Argentina and our government's role in precipitating the country's current financial crisis.

Amelia Rayno on Argentina

Two Saturdays ago, Noble Knight Games, a Fitchburg game store, hosted an unusual tournament. 

The tournament pitted Star War fans against each other in a tabletop game. 

The winner gets a chance to compete in Adepticon - the world convention of table top games - in Schaumburg, Illinois later this spring.

Photo courtesy of Charlie Belawski and WORT News

Fitchburg Game Store Hosts Star Wars Tournament

An assortment of interviews and live music clips from Golden Fest in Queens NY, May 11, 2024, by WORT FM Madison WI "Global Revolutions" host Dan Talmo

Golden Fest Interviews

Easily buy this album here: 
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/make-way-for-mother-mallard-50-years-of-music-2

David Borden : RMI piano & Minimoog D
David Yearsley : Roland Juno 60 & Minimoog D
Blaise Bryski : Juno 106 & Moog Voyager

MOTHER MALLARD / DAVID BORDEN "TCSOC, pt 1" from "Make Way For Mother Mallard"

Last week a Wisconsin state legislature study committee held their first meeting to look at the University of Wisconsin school system. The committee will meet over the next few months before publishing their findings later this year.

Here to discuss the committee's work is Representative Alex Joers, a democrat from Middleton who is serving on the committee, and Professor Neil Kraus, who works at UW-River Falls and has written a book about neoliberalism in higher ed.

In their discussion of the new committee, they touch on the way students and staff have been excluded from serving on the committee, how the rhetorics of austerity persist despite a large state budget surplus, and how the findings of the committee are likely to be skewed under the current Republican leadership in the legislature.

Image courtesy of Brian Standing / WORT News Department

Rep. Alex Joers and Prof. Neil Kraus on the shortcomings of the new committee on higher education

Chali Pittman, News Director at WORT, joined Thursday 8 O'Clock Buzz host Tony Castañeda from the Republican National Convention for a recap of the Wednesday's events and speakers. The day's focus on foreign policy and immigration culminated with the appearance of Trump's VP pick Senator JD Vance (OH) who was, until recently, a vocal critic of Trump.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler joins Chali and Tony for the second half of the show, sharing his perspective on the GOP's new "pro-labor" position, their softened language on abortion, and promise of mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants. 

WORT's live daily coverage from the GOP convention is made possible through a collaboration with Milwaukee's Riverwest Ratio WXRW-LP, WBAI in New York and Pacifica Radio. For more information, check out We Decide: Live Coverage of the 2024 Election.

Photo credit: Sara Gabler

Live From Milwaukee, It's the GOP Convention!

This project is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org.

Photo by Liam Beran/Isthmus.

Democracy Day Special: Tracking Competition and Dialogue in Assembly District 51

The Wisconsin Legislature held its first floor sessions since the deadly shooting last weekend in Minnesota. 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle condemned political violence – but stayed close-lipped on whether security at the state Capitol will be tightened. 

Image courtesy: Chali Pittman / WORT News.

Wisconsin lawmakers close-lipped on security after deadly shooting

Can filmmakers make a good pandemic film five years after the globe-changing year of 2020?  The recently released Eddington makes an attempt, but focuses on a hyper local experience with a fictional small town in New Mexico. Written and directed by the critically-acclaimed Ari Aster, the movie stars Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal who face off in a mayor’s race with the backdrop of summer 2020. The film contains a jumble of topical references: debates about public health and personal freedom. Social justice in the shockwave of the George Floyd murder; hyper online media attacks and conspiracy theories; and satirical action of illegal activity for political gain. On the Buzz to talk about Eddington is Jeff Smith, a professor specializing in cinema studies in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Jeff offered his thoughts on pandemic-themed films and how they can perhaps become engines of empathy. You can listen to a full version of our conversation on wortfm.org where you’ll also find a full list of each movie we mentioned. We started our conversation chatting about films that take on matters of a global pandemic. 




Here's a list of all films mentioned in the full-length conversation: 


Edditington - 2025
Don’t Look Up -  2021
Outbreak - 1995
World War Z - 2013
Truman Show - 1998
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Multiple films) - 1956, 1978, 1993, 2007
28 Days Later (Multiple Films) - 2002, 2007, 2025
The Killer Inside of Me
Population 1280
Contagion - 2012
Host - 2020
Unfriended - 2014
We’re all going to the state fair - 2021 (Credit to Sarah Mae Fleming, a film PhD student at University of Wisconsin, who recommended this film to Jeff). 








Can a Pandemic Movie be an engine for empathy? With Jeff Smith for 8 O' Clock Buzz (Full Lenth)

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We provide an outlet for communication, education, free expression, entertainment, training and access for the purpose of sharing music, information, news, and cultural experiences, and strive to give people underrepresented elsewhere in traditional media a voice. 

NOTE: Most of the content posted at this time are news stories or talk shows. 

MUSICIANS:  We NEVER look on our SoundCloud for music submissions, so it's not a very efficient way to contact us. Please go to www.wortfm.org and click on Music --> Music Submissions for our submission info and guidelines. Thanks and we look forward to hearing your music!

Can a Pandemic Movie be an engine for empathy? With Jeff Smith for 8 O' Clock Buzz (Full Lenth)

WORT 89.9FM Madison

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