Today’s episode is a rebroadcast from October 24, 2016. Patty is joined in the studio by Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction, to talk about big data. O’Neil argues that algorithms perpetuate inequality through their influence on advertising, jobs, education, voting, and democracy at large. Cathy O’Neil is a mathematician who has worked as […]
Enbridge v. Dane County Advances to Wisconsin Supreme Court
The Enbridge Corporation’s Line 61 carries 560,000 barrels of tar sands oil a day from Superior, Wisconsin to Pontiac Illinois. In 2015, the Canada-based Enbridge sought to triple the capacity of Line 61, which would require upgrades to pumping stations throughout Wisconsin, the last of which sits within Dane County. Responding to concerns about the […]
Breeding a Tastier Tomato
The Seed to Kitchen Collaborative tries to take the “farm-to-table” concept a step further. It’s one thing to match organic farmers with local restaurants. It’s another thing though, to give local chefs an opportunity to talk to growers and breeders about what makes for a tasty and culinarily useful vegetable. Closing that feedback loop has […]
Next on the Climate Change Hit List: The Internet.
Twenty five years ago, burying communications lines under road rights of way seemed like a great way to keep those increasingly crucial utilities protected from the elements. But as the climate has changed and sea levels continue to rise, many of those seemingly impregnable tunnels may soon fill up with seawater. That’s a huge potential […]
You’re Welcome!
This week on Mel & Floyd: A Big Thank You to the listener/voters who made Mel & Floyd and WORT 89.9 the Madison Favorites in their respective categories again this year; the latest state obesity ratings [we’re #21!]; VW discontinues the beetle; Martian storms settling down & the space elevator may soon be going up.
Gender Confetti!!! Open WORT’s Underground Stage on Sunday
Those who attend the 41st Annual Willy Street Fair on Sunday, September 16th will have the opportunity to experience Madison’s (soon-to-be-not-so-)best-kept secret as the local “cute queer punk” duo Gender Confetti!!! opens WORT’s Underground Stage lineup at 12:00 PM. Composed of Elyse Clouthier (she/her and they/them pronouns) and Sylvia Johnson (they/them), Gender Confetti!!! are poised […]