Wort 89'9 FM Madison 2025

Back in the 1930s and 40s when surfers in southern California first put wheels on wooden boards, there was no thought of skateboarding becoming a commercially-profitable sport, let alone an Olympic sport. On today’s show, guest host Andrew Thomas speaks with Joshua Heter and Josef Thomas Simpson about their edited collection, Skateboarding and Philosophy: Essays Concerning the Life of the Grind, and how the sport gets us to think philosophically about what we do with our bodies in space.

Featured image of the cover of Skateboarding and Philosophy: Essays Concerning the Life of the Grind.

The Life of the Grind

This week on Mel & Floyd: Mel’s [triumphant?] return!; Wit removal surgery yet to come; Events [and a coming of age story] in Scotland; Lobbying for a Nobel Peace Prize; Recognizing Palestine; Collecting Putin’s WHAT?; And other random topics; Notice something missing?  For the complete Mel and Floyd Experience, buy the CD “The Very Best of James Brown” and play it on your Hi-Fi while listening to this podcast!  Or listen live at 89.9 FM or wortfm.org/listen-live/ every Friday from 1 to 2 PM Central Time.

Photo courtesy Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

The Most Dangerous Thing You Can Do

On today’s show, we hear from journalist Nyki Duda who draws a line from anti-immigrant movements of the 1920s to the present. Her recent articles include “My Family Was Almost ‘Repatriated’ to Mexico in the 1930s. I See It Happening Again” and an account of how Chicago fights for its sanctuary city status. 

Featured image of strike leader addressing a crowd of steel workers in Gary, Indiana in 1919 via the Library of Congress.

Repatriation is Just Deportation Dressed Up

Jordy Loeb joins the 8 O’Clock Buzz to preview the 60th Orton Park Festival with music, food, and community celebration.

Orton Park Festival

This week on Mel & Floyd: Honeybee naming conventions; Measles is coming back; No more Department of Defense?; A submarine parade; Denmark to stop taxing coffee, chocolate & books;. Economics explicated; A pungent recommendation from Trotsky; Smart phone addiction in South Korea; Let’s all do magnets!; And other random topics; Notice something missing?  For the complete Mel and Floyd Experience, buy the CD “The Very Best of James Brown” and play it on your Hi-Fi while listening to this podcast!  Or listen live at 89.9 FM or wortfm.org/listen-live/ every Friday from 1 to 2 PM Central Time.

Photo courtesy Visit Greenland on Unsplash

The Green(land) New Deal

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

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