Sunday, Sept. 6th represented the last scheduled day of broadcast for "Forward Forum," an award-winning progressive talk and public affairs show which began broadcasting in January of 2005. An active search is now underway for a new home for the broadcast. Please watch this space for developments.
In the meantime, Forward Forum host John Quinlan will continue his two decade-long commitment as a volunteer broadcast at WORT-FM, 89.9 FM, Madison's nationally-renowned listener-sponsored station. This includes serving as a guest host, and will result in his producing some special projects.
That new tradition begins on Monday, Sept. 7th, at 6:30pm, when he will host and produce a special Labor Day edition of "In Our Backyard," focusing on Immigrants Workers and Immigrants Rights developments along the US-Mexican border. This special is made possible, in large part, to the reporting and activism of Leila Pine and Craig McComb, a Madison couple who live part of the year in Tucson.
Also, although there will be a slight delay, archived versions of our August 30th and Sept. 6th Forward Forum shows (see below) will be available shortly.
If you're on Facebook, please see this "Facebook Friends of Forward Forum" page for information on how you can help us make the case that will bring Forward Forum back on the air. If you're not on Facebook, please drop me a line at ForwardForum@aol.com , and I'll be glad to send you some simple instructions on how you can sign onto a petition, or write a quick note of support, toward those same ends.
Thanks to all who have offered their support to this program over the years, and in recent days. More on the evolving mission of Forward Forum as events warrant....
Monday, September 7, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton on Innovative Approaches to Wisconsin's Economy; SCFL's Jim Cavanaugh; Guest Co-Host Lisa Subeck
On the Sept. 3, 2009 edition of Forward Forum:
At the top of the show, Jim Cavanaugh, president of the South Central Federation of Labor, joins us with a preview of Monday's Labor Day activities, and his observations regarding the state of the labor movement in today's world. See www.scfl.org .
More than 20 people representing 11 union affiliates (AFSCME, BAC, CWA, IBEW, IRON, IUPAT, OPCMIA, SCFL, SEIU, SMWIA, UA) rallied outside a Madison, Wisconsin gas station last year to draw attention to the Bush policies that created $4 a gallon gas. (Pictured third from right is guest Jim Cavanaugh.)
Then, in an interview I recorded on Friday, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton joins us for a wide-ranging interview that focuses on innovative ways to build Wisconsin's economy. Beginning with her cogent analysis about why Wisconsin's workforce is viewed as having many special strengths by employers worldwide, she also describes that potential for Wisconsin's leadership in the realm of the green revolution, specifically for biofuels and energy conservation. She then explains how Wisconsin's "creative economy," -- one that thrives in an atmosphere of diversity and a commitment to supporting the arts-- is exactly the kind of environment sought by entrepreneurs and high-tech industries seeking a new home. Lastly, she explains the need for Wisconsin to tackle the problems associated with maltreatment of mental illness as underlying the economic costs behind our growing prison population. All this and much more about her philosophy of government, business and community, from the woman who could very well be our state's next governor.
Lieutenant Gov. Lawton (center) is pictured with actors Lou Diamond Phillips and Billy Burke in Milwaukee for the filming of the pilot episode of "The Watch."
Read this essay by WTDY's John "Sly" Sylvester who believes that Barbara Lawton should be Wisconsin's next governor.
Guest host Lisa Subeck has been both an avid listener and frequent guest on the show, and it's an honor to have her join us as guest host this week. Well-known as a political commentator and activist on behalf of homeless people and others facing difficult times due to poverty and discrimination in Madison, Lisa's newest role is an advocate for reproductive rights, in her role as executive director of NARAL (the National Abortion Rights and Action League). Lisa is also an avid film and popular media buff, and aspires one day to host her own talk show, so it will be fun to share the air with her on Sunday.This week's show takes on a bittersweet quality. After five years on the air, half on our current station, it's our last Forward Forum on WTDY, at least for a few months. At a station in an industry that's in transition and distress due to the economic downturn, we were told that the decision was made to make room for football on Sunday afternoons. Kind words were exchanged about the quality of the show, and the door may be open to the Forward Forum's return early next year, following the football season. Regardless, we've risen from the ashes before, and we hope to rise again.
If the show has made a difference for you, I'd love to hear from you. Especially if you'd like to see the show continue in some form, please write to us at ForwardForum@
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