Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is one of the world's great musicians and his “Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra” is probably going to go down as a masterpiece of 21st-century music. The Madison Symphony Orchestra featured it in its weekend…
The root cause of much of what troubles this nation can be summed up in one explanation: Donald Trump is a sore loser. The January 6, 2020 insurrection took place primarily because Trump could not do what every other losing…
Leave it to Donald Trump Jr. to explain why Jesus was a failure: He wasn’t tough enough.
The entire Democratic Party seems ready to bludgeon West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who, Sunday, said he won't support President Biden's “Build Back Better” program. I tend to think Manchin did the Democrats a favor. I personally support the Biden…
Senator Ron Johnson now recommends people use mouthwash to curb the spread of Covid-19. Do you think our senior senator might be sending out whacky ideas as a call for help?
MADISON, Wis. -- Christmas really doesn't return to the Madison arts scene until the Madison Symphony Orchestra offers its annual Christmas extravaganza. Which means, of course, that Christmas didn't really happen last year as we were all shut down for…
Michael Gableman has done nothing but embarrass the state. Which, come to think of it, is pretty much what he did when he sat on the Supreme Court, too.
The political right in America has a new hero, vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse, who traveled to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Ill. a year ago to engage in racial protests and ended up killing two men, one armed with an…
MADISON, Wis. -- Have we honest-to-God now reached a point in Wisconsin where we fear graduate students are too innocent to be exposed to the idea that white privilege might affect how things work? Apparently, we are. Wisconsin Assembly Speaker…
Cellist Thomas Mesa was introduced to Madison in 2019 when Overture Concert Organ curator Greg Zelek asked him to share an organ concert. It was a great night as the Julliard buddies combined incredible music with playful banter that made…
MADISON, Wis. -- The email come-on in my mailbox this morning offered me a cheery “Merry Trumpmas” and encouraged me to purchase “Let’s God Brandon” wrapping paper to help my Christmas presents stand out in a crowd. As it turns…
Madison Opera’s weekend performances of “Lucia Di Lammermoor” are the best I have experienced in more than 40 years of attending the opera. Everything worked. The singing was superb. The lighting was magnificent. The stage direction kept the show moving…
Sometimes I wonder if anyone other than President Biden and a few legislators still have faith in the democratic process.
As I read through the program notes for the weekend Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts, it struck me that the commentaries J. Michael Allsen writes for each performance are almost as much a part of the enjoyment as the concerts themselves.
When I learned that billionaire Jeff Bezos was planning to shoot Captain Kirk into space, I thought it was one of the dumbest publicity stunts of the year. William Shatner, the star of the original Star Trek television series, is…
MADISON, Wis. -- This is an actual quote from the man Wisconsin has hired to investigate claims of fraud in the last election: “Most people, myself included, do not have a comprehensive understanding, or even any understanding, of how elections…
One of the nicest things about the Madison Symphony Orchestra is that it is pretty easy to feel among friends when one attends a concert.
In case you were wondering what your state legislators have been up to, this week they're considering telling schools they can't teach students about racism. It's part of a nationwide Republican effort to link schools to something called “Critical Race…
MADISON, Wis. -- It's pretty much official that the American withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years was “botched.” Virtually every newspaper account, television account, and pundit account use “botched” as a prefix for the withdrawal. To be honest, the scenes…
We talk about the Jan. 6 attack on our nation’s Capitol as if it was “over.” It’s not.
This is what I read from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on the front page of this morning’s paper: “It was an honor to be invited to travel by private plane with President Trump and top staff to attend his rally in Alabama.”
The easy answer is “no.” I think the more accurate answer is that the assessment depends on what we mean by “worth.”
Wisconsin was once such a good state.
The House of Representatives has begun its hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection at the nation’s Capitol and Republicans in Congress have found their villain: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
