activism Archives - WORT 89.9 FM

Contact Information

Music Director: Sybil Augustine – musicdirector@wortfm.org (for music submissions, charts and tracking, promotional exchanges for music events and following up on volunteer applications or other requests. Please include specifics in your subject line, such as “Hiphop Music Submission” etc, )

Music Assistant: Aaron Scholz – musicass@wortfm.org (for record donations and sales, promos recording volunteers, etc.)

Music Calendars: Submit your events online here or send by email to calendar@wortfm.org

How do I get my music played on WORT?

We accept submissions in most genres and styles of music, focusing on noncommercial, out-of-the-mainstream, independent releases (check out our playlists and music charts for more information.) It may take up to a few weeks for us to review and process your submission so we appreciate your patience, and feel free to contact us to follow up. Please send your music, indicating any tracks with language that needs to be aired after 10 pm and including a one-sheet description and any biographical and tour information, to WORT Music Director, 118 S. Bedford St, Madison, WI 53703 and/or to musicdirector@wortfm.org.

We do accept digital files on .wav or mp3, but currently we still prefer CDs to digital submissions because it’s the quickest way to get it into the hands of our programmers and onto the airwaves, though we have a growing digital library. Digital submissions should be .wav or other lossless files, or high quality mp3s [128-320 kbps.]

You can follow up or “track” your submissions by email, or call 608-256-2001 on Wednesdays between 1-4 pm CST to ask if we received it, has it been reviewed, has it been added to our library, and what kind of airplay it’s getting—e.g. light, medium, heavy or charting. Thanks and we look forward to hearing your music!

WORT Music Playlists

What was that song I heard? Who was the artist, what is the album title, where can I get it? Where can I find the entire playlist for a show?

Click on the Playlists button to bring up a calendar where you can choose any date to find the playlists for that day. If you can’t find the right playlist or the song you’re looking for, your best bet is to call the station the next time that program’s on and ask the host yourself. If that’s not possible we may be able to help you, but please have as much information as possible at hand when you contact us, such as: approximate day and time the music was played, what type or genre of music it was, who hosted the show and any other information you remember about the selection and we’ll do our best to track it down.

Once you figure it out, there’s a “Buy It!” link next to each track in online playlists that leads you to a place where you can buy songs and albums, and by doing it that way a small portion of each purchase goes to support WORT.

Highlighting UW–Madison’s First Wave Scholarship Program

January 22, 2020 by A Public Affair

For today’s show, Ali highlights the work of Sofia Snow, a community leader, writer, and performing artist who was recently named the director of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) at UW–Madison. Sofia, herself a graduate of OMAI’s First Wave hip-hop scholarship program, discusses her path from the East Coast to Madison, her extensive […]

Thanksgiving Day Fireside Chat with Will Williams

November 28, 2019 by A Public Affair

It’s Thanksgiving, which on A Public Affair means Will Williams joins us in studio. Will is a Vietnam veteran and activist with Veterans for Peace. He talks with host Allen Ruff about activism, military, Native struggles, President Trump, F-35 fighter jets, and white nationalists.

How We Win: A Conversation with George Lakey

October 31, 2019 by A Public Affair

For today’s episode, guest host Yuri Rashkin is joined in the studio by lifelong activist and scholar George Lakey to discuss insights from his decades of organizing and his latest book, How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning. They talk about Lakey’s early days in the civil rights movement, his first arrest, […]

Feast of the Feminine

October 9, 2019 by WORT 89.9FM

Feast of the Feminine is a collaboration between artist Kel Mur and chefs Francesca Hong and Autumn Fearing. This is a seasonal, locally sourced menu representing the main nutritional components of menstruation: protein, iron, calcium, phosphate, chloride, sodium, and nitrogen. This event overlaps the concept of the body cycle with the cycle of the harvest […]

Wisconsin Poets on Social Justice

October 16, 2019 by A Public Affair

With the Wisconsin Book Festival in full swing this week, we continue our series of author interviews. Ali talks to current Madison Poet Laureate Oscar Mireles and 2015–16 Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser, both of whom contributed to the anthology Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice. They discuss their work as educators, activists, […]

Rebroadcast: Poetry and Identity with Danez Smith

October 9, 2019 by A Public Affair

Today’s episode is a rebroadcast from January 16, 2019. Ali is joined in the studio by Danez Smith, a Black, Queer writer and performer from St. Paul. They spend the hour discussing the intersections of poetry and identity, art and activism, and what it means to share and heal through literary expression. Danez also reads […]

Now Playing

Contact Information

How do I get my music played on WORT?

WORT Music Playlists

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Rubio’s Quill Pen

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Responding to Gov. Tony Evers’ 2020 State of the State Address

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Dane County DA Defends Record, Elected Seat

Would New State Funding Formula Help Or Hurt Ailing UW System?

Highlighting UW–Madison’s First Wave Scholarship Program

Thanksgiving Day Fireside Chat with Will Williams

How We Win: A Conversation with George Lakey

Rebroadcast: Poetry and Identity with Danez Smith