The news media’s credibility crisis

Cap Times Investigative Reporter Katelyn Ferral sat down with three journalism leaders and researchers to discuss what news outlets should do stay credible in an age of “alternative facts.”

The First Amendment, government authority and nuclear weapons

In 1979, The Progressive magazine gained national attention as the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. government seeking to prevent the magazine from publishing the “secret” of the hydrogen bomb, though all the information was already publicly available. Bill Lueders, editor of The Progr…

What Trump has wrought and what 2020 could bring

This year's Cap Times Idea Fest included a meditation on the state of the union -- not with a speech delivered by the president, but with a conversation among an all-star roster of Washington Post journalists.

How does Madison not become Seattle?

Seattle, while booming, has also become a cautionary tale for cities like Madison: Even as its economy thrives, it's suffering from rocketing housing prices and rates of homelessness.

How can theater become more inclusive?

What happens when predominantly white, non-disabled theater companies try to diversify the stories they tell and artists they work with? What are the considerations for directors and actors? What are the challenges, rewards and potential pitfalls when theaters make deliberate moves to tell a wider …

Is there a political center?

Conventional wisdom has it that American politics is increasingly driven by extremists on either end of the spectrum. But is that true?

A new take on criminal justice reform

John Nichols talks with two federal judges about their perspective on what decarceration could look like in Wisconsin.

Will health care supercharge Madison's economy?

Thanks to companies like Epic Systems and a bevy of other startups, Madison is gaining a reputation as a hub of health care information technology.

One-on-one with Ron Johnson

In 2017, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson visited the first-ever Cap Times Idea Fest in 2017 for a one-on-one that heavily focused on foreign affairs and immigration policy. In 2019, Johnson made his return to the fest for round two.

The next chapter for youth justice in Wisconsin

Enacted in 2018, Act 185 forces the eventual closure of Wisconsin’s troubled Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth prisons, to be replaced by smaller county-run facilities to promote a closer-to-home model. On this episode, a talk on that transformation with youth justice advocates.