WORT News and Public Affairs
349 episodes listed below
Madison news with Wisconsin consequences.
WORT Local News brings a newsroom rhythm to Madison and statewide Wisconsin stories. Its episodes move quickly through headlines, then linger on the hearings, lawsuits, elections, agencies, and people behind them.
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WORT Local News is a Madison-based local news program with a steady eye on Wisconsin civic life. It favors substance over performance. A typical episode begins with a brisk run of headlines from the WORT studios on Bedford Street, then follows the stories into hearings, lawsuits, public agencies, campaigns, and neighborhood consequences. The result is practical radio news for people who want to know what happened and why it matters nearby. State politics is a constant presence. So are schools, courts, elections, utilities, immigration enforcement, veteran services, housing, transportation, and severe weather. The show tracks the Wisconsin Supreme Court not as an abstract institution, but through races, spending, candidate margins, election rules, and the cases likely to follow. It treats public school funding the same way. Referendums, revenue caps, lawsuits, special education costs, and local district strain become parts of one civic story rather than scattered items. The reporting is often procedural, in a useful way. Bills are signed or vetoed. Lawsuits are filed. Committees respond or stay silent. Agencies consolidate services. University regents meet behind closed doors. Energy companies delay coal plant retirements while data center growth changes demand projections. That attention to process gives the show its value. It does not need theatrical urgency to make the stakes clear. When stories turn emotional, the feeling usually comes from residents, organizers, or officials speaking at length. The program is also comfortable with Wisconsin specificity: Madison, Milwaukee, Dodge County, Jefferson County, Oak Creek, Mount Pleasant, Port Washington, and the statewide institutions that connect them. It is not polished into distance. It sounds close to the place it covers, with rotating newsroom voices and field segments that keep the emphasis on information rather than personality. Listeners looking for quick national takes may find it too local and procedural. Listeners trying to follow how decisions actually move through Wisconsin will find a clear, grounded record of the week.
Made for: For Madison-area listeners and Wisconsin politics followers who want local reporting with practical context. It also suits people tracking schools, courts, elections, public agencies, energy policy, and civic organizing.
What sets it apart: Its strength is procedural patience: hearings, filings, budgets, agency actions, and local voices are treated as the center of the story. The show connects statewide politics to lived effects without inflating the drama.
Breaking news and feature stories straight from the WORT News team’s underground lair in Madison, Wisconsin. New episodes every Monday through Thursday at 7:30 PM. Also available live on 89.9 FM from 6:00-7:00 PM and online anytime at WORTFM.org.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
WORT Local News connects Madison's headlines to the officials, institutions and policy choices shaping daily life across the city and Dane County.
WORT Local News turns Madison's civic machinery into an evening newscast with real texture. Rotating pairs of hosts move from Wisconsin headlines into interviews and reported features, keeping statewide politics tied to decisions involving Dane County, the city and UW-Madison.
Madison's ballot, budget, weather alert, and neighborhood argument arrive before you can ask what City Hall missed.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Madison local-news hour built around severe weather, storm warnings, and Wisconsin civic reporting, with room for extended conversation.
This Madison local-news hour centers severe weather, the state emergency in Wisconsin, flood warnings, tornado reports, and a state Supreme Court campaign.
A practical local-news hour moving from jobs and schools to courts.
WORT's Monday local-news hour keeps its focus close to home, moving from a bipartisan push to look at big farm equipment manufacturers after CNH layoffs in Racine to the Wisconsin Supreme Court's unanimous ruling that Miranda warnings are required before K-12 school questioning.
A plainspoken Madison news hour that connects statewide polling with student government in a clear civic frame.
The segment moves cleanly from statewide polling into a campus discussion about ASM, with Daily Cardinal college news editor Zoe Elwood helping outline how the student government is set up and what it handles.
A brisk Madison roundup that treats voting, protests, and county politics as part of the same civic weather.
The hour keeps a steady Madison focus: Wisconsin Democratic fundraising, in-person absentee voting for the April 7 elections, No Kings protest plans, and an interview grounded in data centers, water, energy costs, and public safety.
Madison civic reporting that ties climate, zoning, and county growth to everyday governance.
WORT Local News treats Madison as a city where state politics ends up in budgets, zoning, and everyday work. The coverage moves from the Wisconsin-joined climate lawsuit to Governor Tony Evers signing 12 bills and vetoing 15 others, then into county growth, data centers, and the…
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WORT Local News opens from the studios on Bedford Street with a brisk headline rundown.
This episode covers ongoing political developments in Wisconsin, including a lawsuit over public school funding and a teachers union's gubernatorial endorsement.
This local news episode covers Wisconsin's budget surplus plans including property tax relief and school funding, plus an ICE detention case involving an Islamic community leader.
This local news podcast covers Wisconsin headlines including a poll on data center regulation, an immigration lawsuit, AI-powered election texts supporting a Supreme Court candidate, and deepfake phone calls in New Hampshire.
This episode covers Wisconsin news including Governor Tony Evers signing a new election law to speed up certification and vetoing a bill about voter complaints, along with school funding referendums.
A local news episode reporting on Wisconsin spring election results, including a liberal Supreme Court victory and low voter turnout.
A local news episode covering a federal judge's ruling, a university board meeting, and a new grant program for homeless veterans.
A local news broadcast covering headlines about VA consolidation affecting Wisconsin veterans and the delayed retirement of coal units at a Wisconsin power plant.
A local news broadcast covering headlines about a kidnapped Wisconsin journalist, Senator Baldwin's call for investigation into soldier care, and a political donation story.
A local news episode covering a lawsuit over Wisconsin's congressional maps, Supreme Court candidate fundraising, and absentee voting trends.
WORT opens its Monday local news round up from Bedford Street.
This local news podcast covers Wisconsin headlines including voter trust in election accuracy, a rescheduled Supreme Court candidate debate, and a campaign fund theft case involving a state senator's daughter.
WORT opens its local news hour with headline coverage out of Madison.
The hour opens from the WORT studios on Bedford Street in downtown Madison.
WORT Local News opens with a brisk headline run from the Bedford Street studios.
A local news episode covering headlines about a sovereignty dispute, Medicaid expansion, and breast cancer screening legislation in Wisconsin.
A local news broadcast covering headlines about an ICE raid, Wisconsin population trends, and a bill on data center transparency.
This episode covers Wisconsin local news, including the SAVE Act voter registration bill and the reauthorization of the Warren Knowles Gaylord Nelson Stewardship Program.
A local news episode covering Wisconsin state politics, including a property tax deal dispute and a pipeline rerouting approval.
This episode covers Wisconsin state politics, including a bill on SNAP data sharing and a proposed income tax credit amid budget surplus negotiations.
A local news episode covering Wisconsin state budget negotiations, a gubernatorial veto controversy, and a lawsuit over uncounted absentee ballots in Madison.
A local news episode covering Wisconsin's denied disaster relief appeal, a lawsuit over uncounted absentee ballots, and a Supreme Court case on minority grants.
A local news episode covering Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin's opposition to the SAVE Act and a PSC hearing on data center energy rates.
A local news episode covering a constitutional amendment proposal and a controversy over educator workshop costs in Wisconsin.
A local news episode covering Wisconsin political headlines, including Senator Ron Johnson's break with Trump on election nationalization and a dispute over absentee voting in Madison.
A local news episode covering a drop in health insurance enrollment in Wisconsin, a judge's conviction appeal, and other regional headlines.
This local news segment covers Wisconsin political fundraising, a criminal conviction, and media coverage updates, though the title suggests a focus on Madison protests in solidarity with the Iranian people that isn't addressed in the transcript.
A local news broadcast covering Wisconsin headlines including voter eligibility proposals and an AI-generated campaign ad controversy.
A local news episode covering headlines about Senator Baldwin's call for DHS secretary resignation, city preparedness for ICE, and Trump's endorsement of Tom Tiffany for governor.
A local news episode covering Wisconsin headlines, including a controversial shooting by federal agents and a lawsuit against Homeland Security.
A local news episode covering Monday headlines including a border patrol shooting, political reactions, and state budget negotiations in Wisconsin.
This local news episode covers Madison's celebration of new affordable homes and discusses a lawsuit over uncounted absentee ballots, state constitutional amendments, and related political developments in Wisconsin.
A Dane County judge dismissed a lawsuit against a local animal rights group, while also covering immigration enforcement preparations and federal workforce reductions in Wisconsin.
This news podcast covers Wisconsin political headlines including campaign fundraising reports for gubernatorial candidates and discussions about ICE activity and immigration policies.