Supper clubs are a Wisconsin staple. Whether it’s the overflowing relish tray at Tornado Steakhouse or the American cheese-laden hash browns at Toby’s, supper clubs have always brought cozy vibes and enormous portions to the Madison culinary scene. But what makes a place a true supper club? And who gets to claim the title of best supper club in Madison? Molly Stentz speaks with Cap Times food editor Lindsay Christians about the best of this distinctively Wisconsin dining tradition. 🍽️ Join us e...
Oct 26, 2023•22 min
Congress ain’t working so well right now. The House of Representatives is without a speaker for the longest time in U.S. history. We’re weeks away from the government shutting down. All while the U.S. is playing a major role in the war in Gaza . And there’s still a war in Ukraine. Mark Pocan is the Madison area’s representative in Congress. Dylan Brogan caught up with him from his office in D.C. to learn what all these crises mean for us. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail a...
Oct 25, 2023•23 min
The Madison area has seen strong economic growth this year. Construction cranes abound. Housing prices have soared. Unemployment is low. We’re the fastest growing part of the state. You might think we’d be sitting pretty when it comes to city services. But according to Madison Finance Director Dave Schmiedicke , things are tighter than you’d think. City expenses are going up faster than the city’s ability to raise money. The last of the federal COVID aid is helping plug some budget holes for 202...
Oct 24, 2023•20 min
Madison has its fair share of poltergeists, lingering spirits, and maybe even a few lake monsters. You just need to know where to look. Bianca Martin learns more about Madison’s scary side with Lisa Van Buskirk and Mike Huberty from Madison Ghost Walks. Mentioned on the show: 🎃 Downtown Madison Family Halloween — Wednesday, Oct. 25 👻 Warner Park Community Recreation Center Family Fun Night — Friday, Oct. 27...
Oct 23, 2023•23 min
The City Cast team is here to round up the news of the week. Dylan Brogan, Molly Stentz and Hayley Sperling recap how the Madison Public Market may get built after all. We also discuss how raises for thousands of university employees are the latest cudgel in the fight between the state legislature and UW. Plus, sometimes you just need to cry in public. And if you’ve got a Madison-themed Halloween costume in the works, we need to hear about it! Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madiso...
Oct 20, 2023•26 min
According to UW-Madison professor Jennifer Gaddis , most kids don’t eat school lunch in Madison. She studies school lunch programs across the country, including ours. It’s a problem because kids need healthy food to grow and learn. But Madison schools don’t have the kitchens, staff or money to make fresh meals from scratch every day. And last year, complaints piled in about the food. How did school lunches get so bad? How do we make them better? Dylan Brogan sits down with Jennifer to learn what...
Oct 19, 2023•22 min
The first school choice program in Wisconsin was created more than thirty years ago - and it’s been fought over ever since. If you’d rather send your kid to a private school than your local public school, and you have a low income, the state will pay for it. It started out as an experimental pilot program and now pays for more than 50,000 private school students. A new lawsuit by Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad claims it’s unconstitutional because it’s depriving public schools of pu...
Oct 18, 2023•24 min
Madison journalist Bill Lueders learned first-hand what happens to dogs who attack. His dog Stella was attacked by a neighborhood pit bull left to roam. What followed was an investigation by the public health department that, months later, is still open. What Bill learned is that public health will investigate, but there are no easy answers. Meanwhile, the dog can attack again. Dylan Brogan gets the story from Bill Lueders. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 ...
Oct 17, 2023•22 min
Madison started the CARES, or Community Alternative Response Emergency Services, program in 2021 after a wave of protests and a series of deaths. Paramedics and crisis workers now respond to non-violent 911 calls in Madison, rather than police officers. Two years and thousands of calls later, the program seems to be working. But it’s not staffed on nights and weekends and it’s only available within city limits. It could become 24/7 and serve the Madison suburbs under proposals before the Madison...
Oct 16, 2023•22 min
The City Cast team is here to round up the news of the week. Dylan Brogan, Molly Stentz and Hayley Sperling talk about Madison schools gaining more kids this year, the UW system’s sudden rebrand, and how Madison residents are dealing with the war in the Middle East after a week of escalating conflict. Mentioned on the show: 🎒 Madison schools see surprise enrollment increase [Cap Times] 🏫 The University of Wisconsin System rebrands as the ' Universities of Wisconsin ' [Milwaukee Journal Sentine...
Oct 13, 2023•24 min
Seven Acre Dairy is many things - a cafe, a restaurant, a hotel, a butter plant. But if you talk to founder Nic Mink, it’s also a place for restoration. He renovated a shuttered old butter plant in Paoli, Wisconsin, a small community about twenty minutes from downtown Madison. It’s drawing neighbors near and far to enjoy locally-made butter, soft serve ice cream and a farm-to-table restaurant. It sits along the banks of the Sugar River, nestled among a savanna with oak trees older than the state...
Oct 12, 2023•19 min
More than 60 authors, from the nationally famous to the locally beloved (and sometimes both!), are speaking in Madison next week. It’s Madison’s largest celebration of books, and it’s free. This year, most events are in person and take place at the Madison Public Library, at UW Madison and at venues across the city. We speak with Jane Rotonda, the new book fest director, about why you should be there. 📚 The Wisconsin Book Festival runs from October 19 - 22. Get details about all events . See th...
Oct 11, 2023•23 min
There’s a giant among us and it lives at the Overture Center for the Arts. It’s a 30-ton pipe organ. It cost more than two million dollars, contains more than 4,000 pipes and is used in performances ranging from Latin Jazz to Bach to collaborations with the UW-Madison Wind Ensemble. The man who knows it best is Greg Zelek , the principal organist for the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He’s the curator of the Overture Concert Organ, and he oversees all of the orchestra’s organ programming. If you ca...
Oct 10, 2023•20 min
The City Cast team is here to round up the news of the week. And this week’s theme is executive power. Dylan Brogan and Molly Stentz reflect on Dane County Executive Joe Parisi’s legacy. After more than a dozen years at the helm of Wisconsin’s second largest county, he’s announced he’ll retire in May. And we examine the attempt to impeach the head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Meagan Wolfe. Read more: 🗳️ Dane County Executive Joe Parisi to retire next year , setting up a special electi...
Oct 06, 2023•21 min
Nature’s Bakery, an iconic Madison institution, has closed. The ovens went quiet, the brick building on Willy Street has been sold, the workers who owned the business have left. First opened in 1970, the bakery was known for its whole grain breads, handmade granola, natural ingredients and co-operative business model. The business weathered a half-century of change in Madison, but quietly shuttered in September. Tessa Echeverria was a worker-owner of the business for eight years and is now on it...
Oct 05, 2023•21 min
We’ve narrowly avoided a shutdown of the federal government, after Congress passed new funding through mid-November. Meanwhile, the legislating goes on. In DC, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin has been focused on health care. She’s been trying to fund the new national suicide hotline, attempting to get the federal government to collect data on sexual orientation, and pushing for help for childcare providers. We caught up with Senator Baldwin in late September. Read more: 988 Suicide &...
Oct 04, 2023•19 min
Librarians are worried. The American Library Association has been compiling data about censorship in libraries for the past 20 years and says attempts to ban books are at an all time high. Dane County Library Service director Tracy Herold has seen it happen here. Today’s challenges look less like a demand for an outright ban from a single group, and more like anonymous social media chatter stirring up controversy about a library, its staff and its books. So this week, Dane County libraries are h...
Oct 03, 2023•18 min
Illinois, Michigan, and recently Minnesota have all legalized recreational cannabis. Efforts to do so in Wisconsin have gone nowhere in the state Legislature. Even so, Madison is seeing an increasing number of stores selling CBD, Delta-8 THC, and other legal cannabinoids — some of which produce the same euphoric high as the recreational weed that’s illegal in our state. We spoke with Alan Robinson, cannabis activist and co-founder of Herbal Aspects, to help us understand this confusing state of ...
Oct 02, 2023•19 min
City Cast Madison’s Dylan Brogan and Bianca Martin round up the news this week. UW-Madison says it’s continuing diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives but is letting a student group do the talking. And Madison names a new accessible playground after the late activist Jeff Erlanger. Also mentioned on the show: 📚 Panel Discussion: Intellectual Freedom in the Face of Censorship Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm . We’re also on In...
Sep 29, 2023•14 min
In the final installment of how to make the most of fall in southern Wisconsin, Cap Times Food Editor Lindsay Christians shares her reporting on local apple orchards. She provides her picks for where to get apples for pies, where to pick-your-own, and which varieties you gotta try. Who knew you could pickle apples?! Join us every Thursday as we explore Madison's food culture, from the brewers and bakers to the chefs and cheesemakers. Apple orchards mentioned on the show: 🍏 Alpine Ridge Orchard ...
Sep 28, 2023•25 min
It’s day two of our three-part series on how to make the most of fall in southern Wisconsin. On Tuesday’s episode, we gave you recommendations for majestic fall drives. On Thursday, we’ll give you the scoop on local apple orchards you can visit around Madison. But today, we’re getting lost. We’re catching up with Angie Treinen, co-owner and maze designer of Treinen Farm. The Treinen Farm Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch is a 200-acre farm in Lodi, Wisconsin. It’s a third-generation farm famous for it...
Sep 27, 2023•21 min
Happy fall! Welcome back to cool nights, crisp air, leaves crunching under our feet, bonfires and well, pumpkin everything. We’re all in. Welcome to the first in a 3-part series on fall getaways. Today, we’re sharing some of our favorite drives for catching exquisite fall colors. On Wednesday, we’ll give you a sneak peek behind-the-scenes at our absolute favorite local corn maze. And Thursday, we’ll roundup the best local apple orchards to visit around Madison. Today, travel writer Kevin Revolin...
Sep 26, 2023•22 min
When Rudi the pet pig was threatened with eviction, he became a cause célèbre. Friends, neighbors and local journalists rallied to his side. Pet pigs were not legal in Madison, yet he’d lived here for more than a year without incident. Until someone complained. But now, pigs are legal. The Madison City Council has changed the law to allow Madison residents to own pet pigs, with some limitations. Rudi’s owner Paula Niedenthal tells us what happened – and what it says about Madison that he was sav...
Sep 25, 2023•16 min
The City Cast Madison team is here to round up the week’s news. Bianca Martin, Dylan Brogan and Molly Stentz recap the highlights: Planned Parenthood has resumed abortion services in Madison and Milwaukee, the Brewers want the public to pay $600 million to spruce up their stadium, and there’s a bipartisan bill to let voters rank their political choices. Read more: ⚕️ Planned Parenthood Resumes Abortion Services in Wisconsin [PPWI] ⚾ Taxpayers could spend $600 million on American Family Field. Br...
Sep 22, 2023•22 min
Like many of us, Lauren Rudersdorf is busy. Between her day job at Edible Madison magazine, raising a toddler, and writing several food blogs, she doesn’t have as much time to cook as she used to. But she’s here to show you that you CAN do it. She shares her food prep hacks for cooking and eating well at home – and some delicious seasonal recipes for fall. Find Lauren’s writing: The Leek and the Carrot Locally Grown by Lauren Rudersdorf Edible Madison Lauren’s Favorite Early Fall Recipes: 🥣 Cab...
Sep 21, 2023•24 min
The Madison Public Market has been a dream for decades. Three mayors have tried. With a proposed opening in 2025, it’s now the closest it’s ever been to becoming reality. The city plans to remodel its former Fleet Service building on 200 N. First Street and turn it into a business incubator and mall for food-related businesses. It’s a mix of a food court, a shopping center, and a community event space. They’ve secured the space, hired architects and have building designs in hand. They’ve spent y...
Sep 20, 2023•22 min
A new documentary explores the life of legendary drummer Clyde Stubblefield, often called the most sampled drummer in history. Stubblefield was best known as James Brown’s drummer, and came up with iconic backbeats that changed the course of music. But he wasn’t credited or compensated for his musical innovation and faced mounting medical debts later in life. He was a celebrated musician in Madison, where he lived and gigged for decades. Bianca Martin speaks with filmmaker Trevor Banks about why...
Sep 19, 2023•23 min
Madison is known as a Tree City for its efforts to care for urban trees. Keeping a diverse mix of healthy trees in the city requires constantly planting new ones every year as well as maintaining those planted years ago. City trees in Madison have to be able to withstand freezing winters, sidewalk salt, power lines above, concrete all around, and the occasional car crashing into them. Not to mention insect pests like Emerald Ash Borer. For all trees put up with in our urban environment, the bene...
Sep 18, 2023•26 min
The City Cast team is here to round up the news of the week. Bianca Martin and Molly Stentz recap the Madison school bus driver shortage, take a sneak peek of the Madison Public Market, and the discuss the latest in the ongoing tug-of-war between the Wisconsin Supreme Court and state lawmakers over political maps. And thanks for voting us Madison’s Best Podcast !! 💖 Read more: Madison schools' bus provider 30 drivers short , has 16 in training [The Cap Times] Check out the Madison Public Market...
Sep 15, 2023•24 min
Qwantese Winters is many things: doula, artist, agriculturist, TV host. When she’s not hosting “ Let’s Grow Stuff ” on PBS Wisconsin, she’s teaching people all over Madison how to grow and use herbs and vegetables in hands-on workshops… at the library! She’s the Madison Public Library’s Naturalist in Residence for September. With DIY workshops on making digestive bitters and herbal teas, among other things, she’s teaching many ways that food – and a connection to nature – can be healing. 🌱 Join...
Sep 14, 2023•26 min
