BILL LUEDER'S: MADISON'S WATCHDOG

Guest: Bill Lueders, News Editor, Isthmus; Author; Project Leader, Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

What does it mean to be a journalist? For the past 25 years, Bill Lueders has been News Editor of Isthmus, and the paper has reflected his tenacious quality of getting to the bottom of the story.

Examples of Bill's award-winning work are documented in his revealing book, "Watchdog: 25 Years of Muckraking and Rabblerousing," a collection of the "Best of Bill Lueders" opinion columns, longer investigative stories, and other more personal writings.

In addition to sharing highlights from some of the stories in his book, Bill talks about his career, "tips" on what makes an investigative journalist, and his new role with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Bill is leaving Isthmus and joining the Center to head a new project, Maplight.org, where he will be working to tell the stories about the impact of money on politics. A tailor-made role for a top Watchdog!

RENOWNED HISTORY PROFESSOR, JEREMI SURI, TO LEAVE UW-MADISON FOR TEXAS

Just meeting Jeremi Suri is a joyful experience. His engaging personality is infectious and goes way beyond the UW-Madison classroom. For the past ten years, Jeremi has served as the prestigious E. Gordon Fox professor of history at UW-Madison. He has authored award-winning books including Henry Kissinger and the American Century, and has another book, The Past and future of American Politics at Home and Abroad, due out in mid-September. But what has endeared him to the Greater Madison community are his accessibility and eagerness to spread the word that we can look back to history to better inform us today on public and foreign policy decisions. And he has done this in language that we can understand.

Now Professor Suri is leaving Wisconsin - heading to the University of Texas at Austin where he will become the Mack Brown Chair of Global Leadership, a position that involves working in Texas' history department, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

Why Jeremi Suri is leaving, his concern over the priority of education as a whole in Wisconsin and the uncertainty hovering over the UW - Madison, and his forecast on some of the foreign policy issues we're facing today are all part of this stimulating discussion.

RESILIENCE RESEARCH CENTER BREAKS GROUND

Guests: Kate Stalker, Project Manager

Cora White, Neighborhood Advocate

The Center for Resilient Cities, a Madison and Milwaukee-based nonprofit whose mission is to help urban citizens and governments create healthy, economically attractive, sustainable environments, just broke ground on one of their largest projects. The Resilience Research Center will turn a four-acre site on Madison's South Side just off the Beltline at Badger and Rimrock Roads into an innovative and vibrant hub where multi-generations will learn and thrive. The first phase, planned to open in the fall of 2011, will house a project-based charter school (Badger Rock Middle School), a neighborhood center and commercial kitchen. The Center will also house neighborhood-focused businesses, an MG&E Energy Services Center and several acres of hear-round urban agriculture.

This visionary concept in building sustainable communities will offer hands-on learning centered around food production, healthy eating and living, energy and water use, and breathing new life into distressed neighborhoods. Researchers from UW-Madison and Milwaukee and Edgewood College have signed on to study the Center's innovative programming and its impact on this multicultural, multi-generational neighborhood. Kate Stalker and Cora White describe how this Center of Tomorrow has become a reality today.

For more information, go to www.resilientcities.org

I LOVE YOU...WHO ARE YOU?

Guest: Patti Kerr, writer, caregiver and author

After a professional career as a writer, Patti Kerr's life took an unexpected turn when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She spent the next six years helping her father care for her mother. Realizing the unique challenges of caregiving, Patti put on her writer's hat soon after her mother's death and interviewed other children and grandchildren who had cared for a parent with Alzheimer's.

In 2010, "I Love You, Who Are You?: Loving and Caring for a Parent with Alzheimer's" was released. In the book, Patti Kerr shares wisdom she gained as well as that of the caregivers and professionals she interviewed. "The book will guide them from initial diagnosis to the end of the journey," says Kerr. Patti Kerr shares some of her insights on this radio program.

For more information, visit www.pattikerr.com or email kerr.patti@yahoo.com.

THE 2011 AMERICAN RED CROSS REAL HEROES

Guests: Molly Kelly, Special Events Manager - American Red Cross, Badger Chapter
Caden Collins - Youth Good Samaritan
Judy Braham - From the Heart Hero

Each year, the Badger Chapter of the American Red Cross honors several people and a corporation for their individual acts of demonstrating that - YES, one person CAN make a difference. This year is no exception. Molly Kelly, Special Events Manager of the Badger Chapter brings the 2011 Real Heroes to life, describing the heroism of Joyce Phillips, the Adult Good Samaritan, who saved a man's life; Bill Troxel, Community Hero, who provided 155 families with Thanksgiving dinner; Dr. Elizabeth Pritts and Dr David Olive, Health Care Heroes, who went to Haiti to provide medical care, and Ho-Chunk Gaming - Wisconsin Dells, Corporate Real Hero, who completely funded a Disaster Shelter Trailer.

Caden Collins, Youth Good Samaritan, tells his story of how he wanted to help the children in Haiti when he heard they were without toys because they fell through cracks in the earth. At age six, he took his concern to his Pastor, and the adults listened. Caden's Fund for the Children of Haiti raised $8000 for toys and playground equipment.

Judy Braham, From the Heart Hero, began donating blood in 1985. In 1990, learning she was a great candidate for removing platelets from the blood, Judy has donated life-saving platelets over 400 times and has donated bone marrow for a patient with leukemia.

The American Red Cross Badger/South Central Wisconsin Chapter serves 13 counties plus Whitewater and South Beloit, IL.

THE POSITIVE TRUTH ABOUT PLANNED PARENTHOOD

Guests: Meg Robertson, Nurse Practitioner and lead clinician
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin

Tanya Atkinson, Executive Director
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin

For almost a century in the U.S. and 75 years in Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood has been the leading sexual and reproductive health care provider and advocate. One in five women in the U.S. has visited a Planned Parenthood center. Every year, Planned Parenthood affiliates provide: contraception to nearly 2.5 million patients; more than 1.1 million pregnancy tests; nearly one million Pap tests, identifying about 93,000 women at risk of developing cervical cancer; 830,000 breast exams; nearly 4 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV; more than 1.5 million emergency contraception kits, and education and school-based programs to nearly 1.2 million people. In addition, Planned Parenthood provides prenatal care, immunizations, high blood pressure, anemia and diabetes screenings, counsels people about smoking cessation and obesity, and connects them to other primary-care providers and social services.

These services are now at risk as Congress and our State Legislature contemplate cutting federal and state funding for Planned Parenthood. This radio program discusses the multiple health services provided and the five myths about Planned Parenthood including the role and separation of abortion from the totality of care provided.

More information can be found at www.ppwi.org.

PARKINSON DISEASE: BUILDING AWARENESS, TAKING ACTION

Guests: Paul Nausieda, M.D., neurologist, Regional Parkinson Disease Center, Aurora Sinai Medical Center, Milwaukee
Jay Blankenship, M.S.W., Executive Director, Wisconsin Parkinson Association
Thomas Fritsch, Ph.D., Director, Parkinson Research Institute

Parkinson Disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects a part of the brain responsible for controlling and coordinating movement. There is no known cause. The primary symptoms are resting tremor, slowness of movement, stiffness and a loss of balance. Wisconsin has one of the highest prevalence rates in the country for Parkinson Disease. Diagnosing the disease is difficult as there is no test, and many people go undiagnosed and untreated - their lives becoming increasingly physically limiting. Treatments are available today to alleviate the symptoms and help patients regain most of their activities. That is why awareness of the subtleties of the disease and screenings are so critical.

Providing a correct diagnosis or referral, giving the best treatment available, supporting a family caregiver, encouraging a patient to participate in a support group or exercise program, or educating others to recognize the symptoms of Parkinson's are actions necessary to give everyone with Parkinson Disease the opportunity to lead a full and healthy life.

For more information, listen to the program below and contact the WPA at (800) 972-5455 or go to www.wiparkinson.org.

FORWARD LYMPHOMA

Guests: Ron Skoronski, diagnosed with lymphoma in 2007
Brad Kahl, MD, Hematologist, Director of The UW Lymphoma Service
UW Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center

Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system categorized in two different forms: Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's. There are over 40 kinds of lymphoma, and there is much to learn about this elusive cancer which affects over 544,000 people in the United States. Ron Skoronski was diagnosed with this cancer in 2007 and teamed up with UW hematologist, Dr. Brad Kahl, to accelerate the fight against lymphoma and to find cures. Ron personally donated $1 million to establish the Forward Lymphoma Fund.

On this program, Ron Skoronski tells his personal journey from that shocking moment when he was told he has lymphoma. Dr. Brad Kahl highlights the advances being made by the Lymphoma Research Team at the UW Carbone Cancer Center and the additional research project made possible by the Forward Lymphoma Fund.

For more information, go to www.forwardlymphoma.org

HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THE UNINSURED: The Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP)

Guest: Amie Goldman, CEO, Wisconsin HIRSP Authority

Over 525,000 non-elderly Wisconsin residents are without health insurance. Most of these people have been denied insurance due to pre-existing medical conditions or have lost their employer-sponsored coverage.

The Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan was created in 1979 to help insure these Wisconsin residents who were not able to obtain insurance. Now the HIRSP Authority has received $73 million from the federal government as part of Health Care Reform to expand affordable and comprehensive coverage to Wisconsin residents who are currently uninsured because of a pre-existing medical condition or not eligible for employer-sponsored coverage.

There are several plans to choose from, priced according to age and the deductible you choose. The full coverage includes prescription drugs, medical tests, preventive care and hospitalization. If you are currently uninsured or know someone who is, contact the HIRSP Authority. Professional are available to help determine eligibility and which is the best plan for you.

You can check eligibility and access application materials at www.HIRSP.org, or call 1-800-828-4777.

HEALTH CARE REFORM VS. THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

Guest: Wendell Potter, author DEADLY SPIN (An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans)

In 2009, Wendell Potter made national headlines when he testified before a Senate panel on health care reform. This was after he walked away as head of corporate communications for CIGNA because he could no longer abide the routine practices of the insurance industry. In his book, Deadly Spin, he describes from an insider's perspective how insurance companies manipulate consumers and politicians to protect their profits.

As a former journalist and investigative reporter and now Senior Fellow on Health Care at the Center for Media and Democracy, Wendell Potter discusses on this program - the history of health care, the health insurance industry and their campaign of disinformation, and how this impacts health care reform.

Follow Wendell Potter at WendellPotter.com