Before beginning my graduate program in Seattle, I worked for Madison, Wisconsin’s community radio station WORT-FM as an assistant producer and host for the live radio show A Public Affair. I also reported on local Madison events.
"A Public Affair is WORT's daily hour-long talk program. It aims to engage listeners in a conversation on social, cultural, and political issues of importance. The guests range from local activists and scholars to notable national and international figures."
Reporting Sample
Breakin’ the Law
Listen to this report from the 2013 Breakin' the Law breakdancing festival in Madison, WI. The festival was started by students at University of Wisconsin Madison as a means to protest local laws which discriminated against hip hop performers. The event drew break dancers from around the world.
A Public Affair Live Shows
On Tuesday March 26th, 2013 I interviewed farmer, author and professor Philip Ackerman-Leist about creating local, sustainable and secure food systems.
On Monday April 22nd, I spoke with author Jared Diamond about the lessons we can learn from traditional societies.
In his book, “The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?” Diamond compares the modern industrialized world with that of traditional societies. Modern life has brought with it centralized government, industrialization, globalization and technological innovation, but as the world’s progressed, perhaps we’ve lost something along the way.
Diamond asserts that “We shouldn’t romanticize traditional societies, but we also shouldn’t condemn them as brutes and barbarians.”
On Wednesday August 15th, 2012, I discussed the resurgence of religious intolerance in the United States and Europe and the fear which incites it. I talked with Martha Nussbaum, professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago.
On Tuesday February 5th, 2013 I brought WORT listeners stories of people trying to find solutions to the difficult problems the Democratic Republic of Congo faces. I spoke with JD Stier from the Enough Project. JD is the Raise Hope for Congo Campaign Manager. He has advised and co-founded numerous organizations with missions focused on improving the lives of those living in Congo.
On Tuesday March 12th, 2013 I talked with Dr. Michael Dorsey about the Obama administration's environmental policy. Dr. Michael Dorsey is a visiting fellow and professor of environmental studies at Wesleyan University’s College of the Environment. From April 2007 until November 2008 Dr. Dorsey was a member of Senator Barack Obama’s energy and environment Presidential campaign team.
On Tuesday March 26th, 2013 I discussed reproductive politics with historian Rickie Solinger. Solinger has written a number of books on the subject of reproductive rights including, “Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Race before Roe V. Wade” and “Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion and Welfare in the US.” At the time of the interview, Solinger had come out with a new book, “Reproductive Politics, What Everyone Needs to Know.”
On Tuesday April 30th, 2013 I discussed the efficacy of foreign aid and the best strategies for developing nations. The guest for the first half of the hour was Duncan Green, author of the book “From Poverty to Power.” Green is Oxfam Great Britain’s Senior Strategic Adviser. He was Oxfam’s Head of Research from 2004-12. “From Poverty to Power” contains the accumulated knowledge of 25 years spent researching and writing about reducing poverty and combating injustice. During the second half of the hour I continued the discussion of foreign development strategies with University of Wisconsin Professor of Political Science and expert on African Politics Scott Straus.
On Tuesday April 9th, 2013 I discussed the conflict on the Korean peninsula with experts Hyun Lee and Christine Hong. For the first half of the hour I spoke with Hyun Lee. She is a member of the Working Group on Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific as well as the National Campaign to End the Korean War. She also co-hosts Asia Pacific Forum, a weekly radio show on culture and politics of Asia and the Asian diaspora. During the second half of the program I spoke with Christine Hong, professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
On Tuesday February 12th, 2013, I discussed violence against women and gender equality in South Asia. My guest for the hour to discuss violence against women as well as efforts to create gender equality in South Asia was Elora Chowdhury, associate professor of women’s studies at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Elora is also author of the book “Transnationalism Reversed: Women Organizing against Gendered Violence in Bangladesh.”
On Friday November 16th, 2012 I brought listeners a show about how our economic system is contributing to environmental degradation. I spoke with longtime environmental activist Chris Williams, professor of physics and chemistry at Pace University and author of “Ecology and Socialism.” During the hour I discussed the Eco-socialist movement with Professor Williams, a movement which pushes for a revolution not only within our economic and social structure, but also in the way we perceive the natural world. It urges the reader to shift away from a resource-oriented approach to one which acknowledges the intrinsic worth of nature in and of itself.
On Tuesday, September 11th, 2012, I tackled the important issue of climate change and how it was being discussed by the Republicans and Democrats during the 2012 election season. The guest for the first half of the program was Daphne Wysham, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and founder of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network. She has worked on research and advocacy regarding climate change, human rights, fossil fuels, international finance, carbon markets and sustainable economies. Later on in the program Anjuli spoke with retired professor and conservation specialist Richard Steiner.
On Tuesday October 23rd, 2012 I spent the hour exploring the experience of taking antidepressants, medication which has greatly altered our generation’s perception of depression and mental illness. My guest for the hour was Katherine Sharpe, author of the book “Coming of Age on Zoloft: How Antidepressants Cheered Us Up, Let Us Down, and Changed Who We Are.” She has a master’s degree in literature from Cornell University and her writings have appeared in the Washington Post, The Village Voice, Scientific American Mind, and a number of other publications.
On Tuesday January 22nd, 2013, I discussed a crisis with far reaching consequences, a crisis that despite its extraordinarily high casualty rate is often neglected in the media. An immense country full of resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been at the heart of a conflict encompassing many African countries. The Second Congo War propelled the country into a humanitarian crisis which has claimed millions of lives and the conflict persists today. The guest for the hour was Maurice Carney, Executive Director of the Friends of the Congo. He is an independent entrepreneur and human rights activist who has fought with the Congolese for fifteen years in their struggle for human dignity and control of their country. He has worked as a research analyst at the nation’s leading Black think tank, The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and has worked with Reverend Jesse Jackson while he was Special Envoy to Africa.
On Tuesday February 26th, 2013, I hosted this Pledge Drive edition of A Public Affair. During the hour, I brought listeners the harrowing story of memoirist Martha Long’s childhood. It took decades for Martha to bring herself to look back at the girl she was growing up in 1950’s Dublin. But that girl was, as Martha writes, “waiting for her chance to burst back into life and give voice to the pain she endured.” Her story has poured out in several volumes, each a best seller in Ireland and England. They discussed the first book in the series, “Ma, he sold me for a few Cigarettes.” The story tells the heartbreaking reality of a girl trying to survive in seemingly impossible conditions. The daughter of a teenage mother in the slums of Dublin, Martha used her humor, wit and courage to get her through neglect and abuse, both at home and in society.