2023 Sessions
Getting Food to Rural Wisconsin: Using Innovation, Technology & Collaboration
Monday, September 18th, 11:00 AM
Aimee Davis, Patti Habeck, Adrian Jones, Michelle Orge
One in 14 people in Wisconsin is food insecure, with rural communities struggling at a higher rate. Join Alliant Energy, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin and UW Health for a discussion on new and collaborative solutions to provide more choice, access, and fresh food to those in need in rural communities. Learn how these innovative techniques could be applied to other challenges facing those communities as well.
Second Chances at Success: From Incarceration to Graduation and Beyond
Sept. 18, 7:00 p.m.
Molly Lasagna, Keyimani Alford, Ruben Anthony, Peter Moreno, Jonathan Stenger, Shannon Ross
Reinstatement of Pell grant eligibility for incarcerated learners in 2023 is a significant step forward in equitable access to higher education. It also increases the urgency for improving quality and coherence of postsecondary education pathways and the need for wide, welcoming transitions to campus, degree completion and into meaningful employment. Further, these must be coordinated across fragmented systems spanning state agencies, prisons, nonprofits and colleges. This session will offer perspectives of leaders from across sectors with a focus on two questions: (1) What role can community-based organizations play in strengthening supports for individuals reentering their communities, and (2) What reforms are most urgent as the field of higher education in prison heads towards Pell reinstatement? Reception precedes the session at 6 p.m.
Free speech at UW-Madison: 175 years of sifting and winnowing
Sept. 19, 7:00 p.m.
David Maraniss, Jennifer Mnookin, Paul Soglin, Daniel Tokaji
The University of Wisconsin has been on the bleeding edge of debates about free speech for almost all of its 175 years. Hear an all-star panel including the university’s chancellor and law school dean plus the city’s longtime mayor (and a former campus protester) talk with Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss about the past and the future of freedom of expression.
What We Throw Away: How Trash is changing and what that means
Sept. 20, 1:00 p.m.
Allison Garfield, Sujata Gautam, Bryan Johnson, Lorenza Zebell
Hear a panel of experts talk about Madison and Dane County efforts to use technological advances to reduce landfill usage and create a new economy around waste. Session inspired by Forward Theater’s current production of “The Garbologists.” Cap Times members and VIP ticketholders will receive discounts to see the play.
One-on-One with Keith Ellison
Sept. 20, 7:00 p.m.
John Nichols, Keith Ellison
Join John Nichols of the Cap Times in a conversation with Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general, about criminal justice reform, racial equity and the struggle to achieve justice for all. It was Ellison who, after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, took over the case and led a prosecution team that brought Derek Chauvin to justice. Now in his second term as Minnesota’s attorney general, this is one of only a handful of appearances Ellison is making for extended discussions of one of the most closely watched trials in American history and of the steps that must be taken to reform policin.
What Can I do to Combat Climate Change?
Sept. 21, 1:00 p.m.
Natalie Yahr, Cristina Carvajal, Stephen Cavill, Susan Millar, Maria Redmond
Hear a panel of Wisconsin-based experts and activists explore ways to combat climate change in your own communities, including how to take advantage of new federal tax breaks for clean energy initiatives.
Living with the news: A conversation with Judy Woodruff and Al Hunt
Sept. 21, 7:00 p.m.
David Maraniss, Al Hunt, Judy Woodruff
2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the landmark federal legislation that (among many other things) paved the way for tremendous growth in women’s athletics at all levels across the country. Hear a top-flight panel of writers, researchers, athletes and sports administrators talk about how that’s come about and what comes next.
Beyond Burnout: The Emotional Health of Wisconsin’s Health Care Workforce
Sept. 22, 1:00 p.m.
Ana Hooker, Janel Heinrich, Caren Lewis, Ken Loving
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, health care workers faced critical levels of burnout. But the past few years have been especially challenging. Those who put themselves at risk to help their communities during a years-long public health crisis are struggling more than ever with heavy workloads, staffing shortages, lagging technology and other factors — all of which can impact the quality of service to patients. Hear what local health care leaders are doing to take better care of those who deliver our care.
One-on-one with Bernie Sanders
Sept. 22, 7:00 p.m.
John Nichols, Bernie Sanders
Join Cap Times associate editor John Nichols for a fascinating discussion with Bernie Sanders, the iconic Vermont senator whose outspoken leadership on progressive ideals made him a formidable candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020.
Making Wisconsin a 21st century laboratory of democracy
Sept. 23, 1:20 p.m.
John Nichols, Francesca Hong, Kristina Shelton
A century ago, Wisconsin was known as America’s “laboratory of democracy.” The state was a source of innovative ideas that inspired the legislative accomplishments of the Progressive Era and the New Deal. Hong and Shelton, two of the most dynamic and outspoken members of the current legislature, believe it is time for Wisconsin to retake its place as a generator of ideas and social progress. They’ll discuss their ideas — including their sweeping Economic Justice Bill of Rights — with Capital Times associate editor John Nichols.
Inside the Biden administration with Anita Dunn and Bob Bauer
Sept. 23, 2:40 p.m.
Dan Balz, Bob Bauer, Anita Dunn
Anita Dunn and Bob Bauer have been at the epicenter of the Obama and Biden presidencies. His expertise is the law; hers is political strategy. Across Washington, D.C., they are regarded as among the best at what they do — and what they’ve done for decades — to help prominent Democrats. Now they’ll join Dan Balz, chief correspondent for the Washington Post, for a conversation about the Biden campaign and the fight for democracy in 2024.
The Life and Lessons of MLK: A conversation biographer Jonathan Eig
Sept. 23, 4:00 p.m.
David Maraniss, Jonathan Eig
The brilliant biographer Jonathan Eig talks about how and why he chose to undertake a new study of Martin Luther King and the illuminating fresh material he uncovered along the way, resulting in the most complete ever portrait of the iconic civil rights leader.
Profile in Courage
Sept. 23, 7:00 p.m.
David Maraniss, Patrick Marley, Adam Kinzinger
Join Washington Post journalists David Maraniss and Patrick Marley for a conversation with former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois — one of only two Republicans on the January 6th Committee — who stood against his own party in pursuit of accountability for the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. They’ll discuss the 2024 political landscape and the future of democracy, as well as Kinzinger’s forthcoming book “Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country.”