"A Great Day to be Black." Center for Black Excellence and Culture is open!
365 Amplified
This week: The Center for Black Excellence and Culture officially opens its doors, the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness calls for funding after proving its "Saving Our Babies" model works, Urban Triage gets into the hemp business, we remember the founder of Shabazz City High School, and Rally Madison puts together an advisory board for its players. Plus, Dr. Alex Gee's full grand opening speech, and we debate how many hats is too many hats. Stories discussed: — The three-story, 37,000-square-foot building on Madison's South Side held its grand opening Wednesday, featuring...
info_outline
Strikes, Stories, and Bookstores with Jeff Oloizia
365 Amplified
It's May Day, and the 365 Amplified crew digs into A Day Without Immigrants, the general strike organized by Voces de la Frontera, and why the day's meaning extends far beyond any single administration. Plus: the Madison school district moves to rename Cesar Chavez Elementary, the Center for Black Excellence and Culture prepares for its grand opening, a Middleton Mandarin teacher earns a 21-state teaching honor, and NFL offensive lineman James Daniels talks about opening a Black-owned bookstore in Sun Prairie. Then, Jeff Oloizia — former New York Times editor and Madison magazine writer —...
info_outline
"Now That It Works, They Want to Kill It." Aeiramique Glass on the PCOB controversy
365 Amplified
Madison's Common Council has new leadership — and new tensions. Sabrina Madison and Carmella Glenn make history as the first two Black women to serve as council president and vice president. Meanwhile, a proposed ordinance amendment targeting the Police Civilian Oversight Board sparks a firestorm. Interim Independent Police Monitor Aeiramique Glass joins us to break down what's really behind the push to rein in the office she's finally gotten up and running — and why she says the resistance started the moment oversight actually started working. Plus: an update on the CAYA Clinic AI...
info_outline
Who's Building Out the Public Market — And Who's Paying?
365 Amplified
This week on 365 Amplified, Rob takes Stephanie and Omar inside the still-under-construction Madison Public Market. After 20 years, $25 million in investment, and a string of missed opening dates, Rob visited the building and found art on the walls but no vendors ready to serve. The team digs into a key question: if the market calls itself "mission driven," why are small vendors — many of them Black and brown entrepreneurs — being required to pay for their own build-outs, and why can't they choose their own contractors? Rob shares what he learned from vendors, a UW urban development...
info_outline
What does Chris Taylor's win mean for the midterms?
365 Amplified
This week, the team talks through the spring election results, some surprising, some with broader implications. Then, after a few other news updates, Rob sits down with Alejandro Verdin, who ran the State Supreme Court campaign of Justice Janet Protasiewicz, whose 2023 win flipped the court from a conservative to liberal majority. Verdin has some thoughts about what Chris Taylor's win, and the larger-than-expected margin of victory, means for Wisconsin, for the two parties, and the 2026 midterm elections. Finally, the roundtable question: what did you rage quit, then quietly come back to?...
info_outline
Four Generations, One Million Dollars
365 Amplified
It's the season finale! (Not really.) Rob and Omar preview the sixth annual Most Influential Native American Leaders list, then discuss Hydrate IV Bar, a new hydration therapy franchise opening in Madison. St. Paul Mayor Mee Moua visits Madison as the Hmong community marks the 50th anniversary of the Hmong American diaspora. The guys dig into a Wisconsin Watch investigation on data center job claims, celebrate Middleton teens behind Meals Matter earning national recognition, and discuss the fallout from Cesar Chavez allegations. Then, Diane Endres-Ballweg joins to talk 100 years of Endres...
info_outline
"Stand up. Be a man." A talk with Congressional candidate Lorenzo Santos
365 Amplified
Today, Rob talks through a few news items before welcoming Lorenzo Santos, a Navy vet and Racine County emergency management director running for Congress in Wisconsin's First Congressional District. Links:
info_outline
"Some of my best friends are dead"
365 Amplified
On this week's 365 Amplified, Omar and Rob talk through the new initiatives of Improve Your Tomorrow, a program targetted at students of color in Madison that we first reported on a few weeks ago which has now expanded into Verona and which will host an information session next week. Then, they go over the latest polling on the race for Wisconsin governor. Next up, Tony Castañeda joins to talk about his run for State Assembly, his long history in leftist politics and social justice, and what he brings to the race as a musician. Finally, a bit about the upcoming Forward Madison season. Read...
info_outline
Podcast history, hip-hop ed, local budget woes
365 Amplified
Hosts: Rob Chappell, Stephanie Díaz de León, Omar Waheed Dee Star's big moment: Three major milestones for Dee Star, host of the OuttaDeeBox podcast: February 3 has been declared Dee Star Day in Sun Prairie; the Out of Dee Box podcast will be the first podcast enshrined at the Wisconsin History Museum and the Sun Prairie Historical Society; and he's receiving a legislative citation for community impact. Omar caught up with him about what it all means. Hip-hop in the classroom: Omar visited Kennedy Elementary to check out a hip-hop artist residency featuring Lex, a clean hip-hop artist,...
info_outline
Stay Gold: the local kid making his Broadway debut in The Outsiders
365 Amplified
This week, Rob, Stephanie, and Omar dig into the ICE detention of Noel Quintana, co-owner of Madison's beloved Señor Machete's restaurant — and what his family is facing as they fight for his return. Plus: results from Tuesday's local primaries, including a Mount Horeb village board race where the top three candidates were separated by just two votes. Then Rob sits down with Caleb Mathura, a Verona High School graduate who is making his Broadway debut next month playing Johnny Cade in The Outsiders. And the crew answers the big question: if you were a weather pattern, which...
info_outlineIt's a long one today -- we've been off for a couple weeks and have a lot to catch up on!
First, Omar talks through a few highlights of the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr Day celebrations and activities around Madison.
Then, Rob has an update from Sun Prairie, where the school district released the results of the investigation into the dean of students who was arrested on 16 charges of child pornography and exploitation in July, and how district administrators responded. We learned that allegations started six months earlier than previously known, and that the first student who made them was suspended for doing so.
Next up, a harm reduction drop-in center proposed for the East Side has prompted pushback and stirred controversy due to a potential conflict of interest, a questionable proposal process and some potential cultural competency issues. We have the full rundown.
Then, Green Bay Police posted a photo of their new recruits, one of whom had a tattoo representing an extremist militia movement. We have some thoughts.
And before the break, an alert listener flagged a Cap Times column for us called "When we were a happier country," which prompts us to ask: happier for whom?
Then, we talk to Quentin Riser and Quinlan Riser, twin brothers -- one a professor of child development, one a financial adviser -- who have published a children's book on personal finance, hoping to get parents talking with their kids about money early.
And finally, as promised at the end of last year, our top albums of 2025!