City Cast Madison

More than 60 authors, from the nationally famous to the locally beloved (and sometimes both!), are speaking in Madison next week. It’s Madison’s largest celebration of books, and it’s free. This year, most events are in person and take place at the Madison Public Library, at UW Madison and at venues across the city. We speak with Jane Rotonda, the new book fest director, about why you should be there. 📚 The Wisconsin Book Festival runs from October 19 - 22. Get details about all events. See the whole schedule at a glance.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a giant among us and it lives at the Overture Center for the Arts. It’s a 30-ton pipe organ. It cost more than two million dollars, contains more than 4,000 pipes and is used in performances ranging from Latin Jazz to Bach to collaborations with the UW-Madison Wind Ensemble.The man who knows it best is Greg Zelek, the principal organist for the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He’s the curator of the Overture Concert Organ, and he oversees all of the orchestra’s organ programming. If you caught Greg’s performance last Friday, you’ll want to learn more about why he’s so moved by organ music. Learn about the rest of this season’s organ concerts. Thanks to listener Dee for suggesting this episode. This episode originally aired on August 1, 2023.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The City Cast team is here to round up the news of the week. And this week’s theme is executive power. Dylan Brogan and Molly Stentz reflect on Dane County Executive Joe Parisi’s legacy. After more than a dozen years at the helm of Wisconsin’s second largest county, he’s announced he’ll retire in May. And we examine the attempt to impeach the head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Meagan Wolfe. Read more: 🗳️ Dane County Executive Joe Parisi to retire next year, setting up a special election [Wisconsin State Journal]🏛️ Impeach Wisconsin's top election official, top Senate Republican tells Robin Vos [Wisconsin State Journal]🤔 PolitiFact: Impeachment articles against Meagan Wolfe riddled with false and misleading claims [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]⚕️ Tone Madison and Madison Minutes win a LION Local Journalism Award for Dobbs series [Tone Madison]Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nature’s Bakery, an iconic Madison institution, has closed. The ovens went quiet, the brick building on Willy Street has been sold, the workers who owned the business have left. First opened in 1970, the bakery was known for its whole grain breads, handmade granola, natural ingredients and co-operative business model. The business weathered a half-century of change in Madison, but quietly shuttered in September. Tessa Echeverria was a worker-owner of the business for eight years and is now on its Board of Directors. Tessa came back to help lay the company to rest and tells us what happened.🍞 Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers.Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve narrowly avoided a shutdown of the federal government, after Congress passed new funding through mid-November. Meanwhile, the legislating goes on. In DC, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin has been focused on health care. She’s been trying to fund the new national suicide hotline, attempting to get the federal government to collect data on sexual orientation, and pushing for help for childcare providers.We caught up with Senator Baldwin in late September. Read more: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline [SAMHSA]Most States Have Yet to Permanently Fund 988. Call Centers Want Certainty. [KFF Health News]LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act [Senator Baldwin]Childcare Stabilization Act [Senator Baldwin]Also mentioned on the show:See if you’re registered to vote [WI Elections Commission]What City Trees Do and Who Cares For Them [City Cast Madison]Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Librarians are worried. The American Library Association has been compiling data about censorship in libraries for the past 20 years and says attempts to ban books are at an all time high.Dane County Library Service director Tracy Herold has seen it happen here. Today’s challenges look less like a demand for an outright ban from a single group, and more like anonymous social media chatter stirring up controversy about a library, its staff and its books.So this week, Dane County libraries are holding Banned Book Con, a series of events honoring the right to read and celebrating the free exchange of ideas. You can meet one of the country’s most banned authors in Madison this Thursday. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Illinois, Michigan, and recently Minnesota have all legalized recreational cannabis. Efforts to do so in Wisconsin have gone nowhere in the state Legislature. Even so, Madison is seeing an increasing number of stores selling CBD, Delta-8 THC, and other legal cannabinoids — some of which produce the same euphoric high as the recreational weed that’s illegal in our state.We spoke with Alan Robinson, cannabis activist and co-founder of Herbal Aspects, to help us understand this confusing state of affairs.Also mentioned on the show:🪴 2nd Annual Plants as Psychoactives and Medicines workshop on Oct. 4. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

City Cast Madison’s Dylan Brogan and Bianca Martin round up the news this week. UW-Madison says it’s continuing diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives but is letting a student group do the talking. And Madison names a new accessible playground after the late activist Jeff Erlanger. Also mentioned on the show:📚 Panel Discussion: Intellectual Freedom in the Face of CensorshipWanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final installment of how to make the most of fall in southern Wisconsin, Cap Times Food Editor Lindsay Christians shares her reporting on local apple orchards. She provides her picks for where to get apples for pies, where to pick-your-own, and which varieties you gotta try. Who knew you could pickle apples?!Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers.Apple orchards mentioned on the show:🍏 Alpine Ridge Orchard 5610 Alpine Road, Brooklyn🍏 Appleberry Farm8079 Maurer Road, Cross Plains🍏 Door Creek Orchard3252 Vilas Road, Cottage Grove🍏 Eplegaarden2227 Fitchburg Road, Fitchburg🍏 Munchkey Apples175 Drammen Valley Road, Mount Horeb🍏 Lapacek’s OrchardN1959 Kroncke Road, Poynette🍏 Ski-Hi Fruit FarmE11219A Ski Hi Road, BarabooAlso:🧀 Cheese Fair Off the Square is Sept. 30, 8 am - 1:45 pm, at East Washington Avenue and South Pinckney Street.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s day two of our three-part series on how to make the most of fall in southern Wisconsin. On Tuesday’s episode, we gave you recommendations for majestic fall drives. On Thursday, we’ll give you the scoop on local apple orchards you can visit around Madison. But today, we’re getting lost. We’re catching up with Angie Treinen, co-owner and maze designer of Treinen Farm. The Treinen Farm Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch is a 200-acre farm in Lodi, Wisconsin. It’s a third-generation farm famous for its intricate corn mazes. They’ve also got pumpkins, goats, horses, and walking trails to enjoy at the farm. Mentioned on the show:☕️ Natural Infusions: Herbal Tea Blend Workshop with Qwantese Winters 💉 Participant in UW Health's Lyme disease vaccine trial by emailing info@clinicaltrials.wisc.edu. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We’re also on Instagram! Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Madison? Check out our options for podcast ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices