A Public Affair is WORT’s daily hour-long talk program. It aims to engage listeners in a conversation on social, cultural, and political issues of importance. The guests range from local activists and scholars to notable national and international figures.
Listeners may call in to join the conversation and ask questions of the guests. Callers are asked to pose a question relevant to the subject at hand and refrain from calling more than once per week.
Host Schedule
- Monday Archive
- John Quinlan
- Tuesday Archive
- OPEN
- Wednesday Archive
- Karma Chavez and Tim Hansel
- Thursday Archive
- Allen Ruff
- Friday Archive
- Esty Dinur
Studio Call-in Phone #: (608) 256-2001
Toll-free Line: (866) 899-WORT
For booking questions, please contact Molly Stentz at (608) 256-2001 or newsflash@wort-fm.org
On Tuesday March 26th, host Anjuli Brekke interviewed farmer, author and professor Philip Ackerman-Leist about creating local, sustainable and secure food systems.
On Monday April 1st, John Quinlan previewed the performance this Thursday (April 4th) of a one man play–We Belong to the Land–based on the life of world-renowned Palestinian peacemaker, Elias Chacour. 
On Friday March 29th, host Esty Dinur presented listeners with a split show. For the first half of the hour she interviewed Jacqui Dunne and Bernard Lietaer about their book, “Rethinking Money: How New Currencies Turn Scarcity into Prosperity.” During the second half of the program Esty Dinur interviewed members of the Truth Tour of Lakota Grandmothers.
On Thursday March 28th, host Allen Ruff interviewed author and scholar Paul Buhle about his latest release, the newly revised edition of the book “Marxism in the United States: A History of the American Left.”
On Wednesday March 27th, Tim Hansel hosted a show about the Proposition 8 and Defense of Marriage Act regarding gay marriage that have reached the Supreme Court. Tim spoke with Katie Belanger, the Executive Director of Fair Wisconsin, about how these cases will impact citizens locally. He also spoke with Thalia Zepatos from the national advocacy group Freedom to Marry about the national impact of these court cases.
On Tuesday March 26th, host Anjuli Brekke discussed reproductive politics with historian Rickie Solinger.
John Quinlan interviewed the candidates for the Dane County Circuit Court: Attorney Rhonda Lanford and Judge Rebecca St. John. The election is Tuesday, April 2nd.
On Friday March 22nd, host Esty Dinur interviewed Doug Henwood on Cyprus, the Eurozone and the global economy. Henwood hosts Behind the News, a weekly radio show covering economics and politics on KPFA, Berkeley, that is rebroadcast on several other stations across the U.S., and has a worldwide audience via its Internet archive. His is also author of the book Wall Street.
On Thursday March 21st, Rebecca Kemble subbing for Allen Ruff hosted a split show. During the first half of the hour she spoke with Isthmus journalist Bruce Murphy about his cover story, ” The Powerful Pat Roggensack, Ed Fallone faces long odds in ousting a key member of the Supreme Court’s conservative bloc.” During the second half of the show Rebecca spoke with Steve Horn, a writer for The Progressive Magazine, about his article, “Free Market Champion to Take Over as UW-Madison Chancellor.”
On Wednesday March 20th, host Karma Chavez interviewed a panel of guests on the importance of bilingual education. She spoke with Rhea Vedro, a Duel Language Immersion Parent Liason at MMSD, Ananda Mirilli, a local parent and Siliva Romeo Johnson, from Nuestro Mundo School.