78 episodes

Confused about a local issue? Madsplainers to the rescue! We’re here to unpack the sometimes complicated issues affecting Madisonians.

Madsplainers The Capital Times

    • News
    • 4.8 • 17 Ratings

Confused about a local issue? Madsplainers to the rescue! We’re here to unpack the sometimes complicated issues affecting Madisonians.

    Presenting: "Reopening Sardine"

    Presenting: "Reopening Sardine"

    We wanted to share the first episode of an exciting new project from The Corner Table podcast that is co-hosted by Cap Times food editor Lindsay Christians and Cap times contributor Chris Lay.

    -------------

    When quarantine kicked in last spring, we refocused The Corner Table to examine and document effects the pandemic was having across so many facets of food service, cocktails, grocery stores, and local farmers markets.

    Now as we emerge, we’re getting ready to close the book on that dismal chapter. 

    We decided to take a deep dive into what it means to reopen a restaurant that’s been closed for over a year, and to illustrate that process we decided to focus on one of our shared favorite places in town: Sardine.

    For this first episode, we interviewed Sardine's co-owners John Gadau and Phillip Hurley about what it was like to shut down for over a year, their discussions with employees and the factors they weighed during the summer and fall. How were they feeling? What was the financial impact? Where are they now?

    In future episodes we’ll sit in on staff meetings and check in with kitchen staff and servers to find out what their COVID year was like. We’ll take you to Sardine on opening day, and we’ll be looking forward to what dining could look like as we emerge, slowly and as safely as we can, from this dining drought.

    We are extremely excited about this, so make sure you’re subscribed for all the future installments that will be coming out over the next several weeks.
    Support the show: https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=capitaltimes&campaign=7013i000000U67DAAS
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    • 39 min
    Is now the time to reopen Madison's schools?

    Is now the time to reopen Madison's schools?

    We're back! With epidemiologist and Madsplainers regular Malia Jones! If you listen to this podcast regularly, you’ve probably heard Malia talk about the pandemic before. Now, halfway through the school year, Madison's public schools again face the big decision: remain virtual or return some students for in-person learning in late January. As the mom of two school-age kids, Malia has, like so many of you, been living through the special hell that is virtual school, and we thought she'd be just the right person to talk us through what it means to be making this decision just as the first vaccines are rolling out in Wisconsin. 

     

     
    Support the show: https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=capitaltimes&campaign=7013i000000U67DAAS
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 38 min
    On the Cover: 'A fundamental right'

    On the Cover: 'A fundamental right'

    Listeners, we've got some news. We'll start with the bad: This is the last episode of the Madsplainers, at least for the time being, as Abby and Natalie shift gears to focus full-time on reporting. We've loved making this show, and we hope you've loved it too, and we hope to keep Madsplainin' the answers to your questions through our reporting. Now the good news: We got a favorite and frequent guest, Cap Times K-12 education reporter Scott Girard, to come back for one more interview. This week, he explains how and why Madison's public schools are overhauling the way they teach children to read, and why that's giving hope to some of the folks most concerned about the district's longstanding racial disparities. 
    Support the show: https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=capitaltimes&campaign=7013i000000U67DAAS
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 22 min
    On the Cover: Another way

    On the Cover: Another way

    When protests broke out across the country this summer in response to the police killing of George Floyd, some argued that the way the police responded to the protests only made things worse. This week on the podcast, reporter Clara Neupert explains what we know about how policing can change protests, and how Madison — at least at one point — offered what seemed like a better way. Clara is a reporting fellow with Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit investigative news outlet that lets outlets like the Cap Times publish its work for free. 
    Support the show: https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=capitaltimes&campaign=7013i000000U67DAAS
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 19 min
    On the Cover: How to survive a pandemic

    On the Cover: How to survive a pandemic

    The COVID pandemic has taken an especially fierce toll on Madison’s Latinos, who have disproportionate infection and hospitalization rates and fewer safety nets. But for every way this virus and its fallout have unevenly hit them, they've punched back, working together to protect themselves and keep their businesses afloat. This week on the podcast, reporter and Madsplainers co-host Natalie Yahr explains why Latinos have faced heightened risk, and how they're fighting back. 
    Support the show: https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=capitaltimes&campaign=7013i000000U67DAAS
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 19 min
    In a pandemic election, how do you ensure everyone can vote?

    In a pandemic election, how do you ensure everyone can vote?

    Across the country, local officials faced an extraordinary challenge this year: How to allow Americans to cast ballots in the November election without exacerbating the ongoing pandemic or overwhelming the postal system. That meant changing everything from how ballots were collected to how polling places worked. But in Madison, the record voter turnout and quick counting process suggest success. On this episode, Abby and Natalie talk with Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl and Jennifer Haar, a member of the city’s Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiatives' Core Team, which conducted an equity analysis of the April election, about what worked in November, what’s still left to fix, and what changes may stick post-pandemic.
    Support the show: https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=capitaltimes&campaign=7013i000000U67DAAS
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 25 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
17 Ratings

17 Ratings

km efffff ,

The local news coverage I've been looking for!

At a time when it is easier than ever to keep up with news from around the world, we can also feel oddly disconnected from what's happening down the street. Madsplainers is my antidote to that!

They explain all the local news that Madisonians need in a short, informative, and entertaining format. My only "complaint" is that I wish there were more episodes!

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