365 Amplified

365 Amplified

From Madison365, weekly discussion of the news for and from Wisconsin's communities of color and allies.

Episodes

March 20, 2026 53 mins

It's the season finale! (Not really.) Rob and Omar preview the sixth annual Most Influential Native American Leaders list, then discuss Hydrate IV Bar, a new hydration therapy franchise opening in Madison. St. Paul Mayor Mee Moua visits Madison as the Hmong community marks the 50th anniversary of the Hmong American diaspora. The guys dig into a Wisco...

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Today, Rob talks through a few news items before welcoming Lorenzo Santos, a Navy vet and Racine County emergency management director running for Congress in Wisconsin's First Congressional District.

Links:

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March 6, 2026 46 mins

On this week's 365 Amplified, Omar and Rob talk through the new initiatives of Improve Your Tomorrow, a program targetted at students of color in Madison that we first reported on a few weeks ago which has now expanded into Verona and which will host an information session next week. Then, they go over the latest polling on the race for Wisconsin governor.

Next up, Tony Castañeda joins to talk about his run for State Assembly, his ...

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Hosts: Rob Chappell, Stephanie Díaz de León, Omar Waheed

Dee Star's big moment: Three major milestones for Dee Star, host of the OuttaDeeBox podcast: February 3 has been declared Dee Star Day in Sun Prairie; the Out of Dee Box podcast will be the first podcast enshrine...

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This week's episode of 365 Amplified features two in-depth conversations centered on Wisconsin politics and community response to homelessness, plus local nonprofit and business updates.

Rob Chappell opens with a look at a bankruptcy case involving a nonprofit donation platform that reportedly owes millions of dollars to organi...

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February 6, 2026 55 mins

This week, we have the (more or less) final update on the proposed harm reduction center on Madison's East Side. Turns out, the organization recommended to get $2.4 million to run it listed a bunch of partnerships and collaborations with organziations that never agreed to be partners or collaborate -- a fact we exclusively reported this week. The Board of Health ultimately rejected the contract. On the podcast today, we go through ...

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January 30, 2026 49 mins

On the podcast this week, we have:

  • An update on the harm reduction clinic proposed for Madison's East Side, as the org that won the contract seemed to say they're pulling out of the project but then said they're not
  • Our thoughts on the murder of Alex Pretti and a rundown of Wisconsin gun laws
  • An interview with State Assembly candidate Juliana Bennett
  • Rob's experience with an AI massage robot, which is a thing he never expected...
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January 23, 2026 53 mins

On this week's episode, the team talks through two in-progress stories. First, a bankrupt donation platform owes almost $408,000 to more than 50 nonprofits in Wisconsin. Then, Dane County Executive Melissa Agard has announced a comprehesive review of the County's contracting promise, and we consider why and what that means. Next up, Improve Your Tomorrow has started a Wisconsin chapter to capture students with potential and facing ...

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January 16, 2026 37 mins

On this week's 365 Amplified, we have yet another Sun Prairie schools update, where the former West High School principal now faces charges of failure to report child abuse -- including in a case not previously known. Plus, the Forward Madison Academy was in Minneapolis for a match last weekend, and immigration authorities grabbed the mother of one of the players. The club and soccer community have rallied to the player's aid while...

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January 9, 2026 97 mins

It's a long one today -- we've been off for a couple weeks and have a lot to catch up on!

First, Omar talks through a few highlights of the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr Day celebrations and activities around Madison.

Then, Rob has an update from Sun Prairie, where the school district released the results of the investigation into the dean of students who was arrested on 16 charges of child pornography and exploitation in July, a...

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This week on 365 Amplified, Rob Chappell, Omar Waheed, and Stephanie Díaz de León dig into Wisconsin's latest school district report cards and ask a hard question: who actually benefits from how schools are graded? The conversation explores racial achievement gaps, how DPI weights "economically disadvantaged" students, ...

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December 12, 2025 71 mins

As promised after last week's grammar discussion, Rob talks through the etymology of the word "sincere" and Omar coins a new slang term. All that only after:

  • We get updates on stories we've been following in the Sun Prairie Area School District and the Dane County Department of Human Services.'
  • We look ahead to the CEOs of Tomorrow "Pitch and Launch" event this weekend
  • We note a few local elected officials who announced this w...
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December 5, 2025 33 mins

In this week's episode of 365 Amplified, the team dives into a busy stretch of community events, local politics, sports news, and a thoughtful conversation with the leaders of the Urban League of Greater Madison Young Professionals.

Highlights

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On the podcast today, Rob talks through a few news items before chatting with Rodney Rave, who's running for Congress in Wisconsin's Third Congressional District, which covers most of Western Wisconsin. A former Ho-Chunk Nation legislator, Rave could become the first Indigenous person to represent the state in Washington.

Today's episode is brought to you by Steinhafels.

Support local nonprofit news at Madison365.org/donate. All do...

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Rob's flying solo today, with a few news updates: a new Congressional candidate in western Wisconsin, an effort to support a beloved local musician who collapsed on stage after a heart attack last week, a recap of Madison College's first-ever trip to the national junior college men's soccer tournament, and a review of "Planets as Stars," the poetry-driven performance we previewed on the podcast last week.

Then, he talks to Kynala P...

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November 14, 2025 71 mins

On the podcast today, Rob, Stephanie and Omar talk through some local news, including a summit of Milwaukee social justice nonprofits, a snow removal apprenticeship program and the Madison College soccer team's first-ever trip to the national tournament. Then, poet and performer Gina Cornejo joins the show to preview her new production at Theatre LILA, "Planets as Stars," opening this weekend. Then, we have an update on Channel 300...

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This week, News 3 Now published an erroneous news story about Madison-based nonprofit Urban Triage, and Madison365 was the only outlet to correct the record. On the podcast today, Rob, Nicholas and Omar talk through how that went down and what it means for the larger landscape of journalism and media. Plus, this weekend, Midwest Mujeres is hosting its fifth annual "Yo Quiero Dinero" storytelling event, so founder Araceli Ezparza a...

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October 31, 2025 44 mins

Hosts: Rob Chappell, Stephanie Díaz de León, Omar Waheed
Guest: Prenicia Clifton

 Episode Overview

This week, the team covers the end of SNAP benefits and its impact on Wisconsin families and small business...

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October 24, 2025 53 mins

Hosts: Rob Chappell, Stephanie Díaz de León, and Omar Waheed
Guest: Nate Buescher, UW–Madison freshman and star of Disney Channel's Electric Bloom
Runtime: 53:38

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