Isthmus - Madison news & culture since 1976
@isthmusmadison.bsky.social
1.6K followers 280 following 110 posts
Informing and engaging active Madisonians with in-depth and independent community journalism.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
Madison's Forward Theater Company opens its season with a simple, powerful production. "This is the story of a friendship. Of how I got a new job. A story of love and balance and time. And the smallest of chances."

isthmus.com/arts/stage/f...
Forward Theater launches its 17th season with the powerful ‘Primary Trust’
Connection is key in the inventive yet simple story
isthmus.com
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
Korte says she takes full responsibility for the story’s “multiple factual inaccuracies,” including a made-up source, which she attributes to the use of a company-installed AI program on her work computer. But she says there is more to the story.

isthmus.com/news/news/wi...
Wisconsin State Journal reporter fired for AI misuse speaks out
Fired from the Wisconsin State Journal after filing a story riddled with errors, reporter Audrey Korte shares her side of the story.
isthmus.com
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
Miller's book depicts a Madison that’s long gone, a small town looking for community, where the field hosted contests between teams from Gardner Bakery and Borden Dairy, as well as the city’s high schools.

isthmus.com/arts/books/m...
Madison’s ballpark, Breese Stevens Field
A new book delves deep into the history of Breese Stevens Field.
isthmus.com
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
According to Dodds, a main goal of the Public Tech Media Lab will be to teach journalists how to use open source technologies to create their own AI systems that align with their values and needs.

More from Judith Davidoff: isthmus.com/opinion/from...
Journalism in the age of AI
A new UW-Madison lab aims to help newsrooms develop in-house artificial intelligence tools that reflect their own values and needs.
isthmus.com
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
Council VP MGR Govindarajan says he does not support the additional funding and might also consider further cuts. “I definitely would not want to give them the funding that they're requesting at the moment, because I don't know what they're doing with that funding.”

isthmus.com/news/news/ma...
Madison’s independent police monitor ignores records requests, city attorney intervention
The Office of the Independent Monitor, created to be a check on the Madison Police Department, has failed to fulfill records requests from Isthmus and ghosted the City Attorney’s Office as well.
isthmus.com
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
Steven Walters looks back at the 2018 Democratic #WISGOV primary for indications of what might happen in 2026:
isthmus.com/news/news/20...
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
Madison artist Emily Balsley says she hopes that Brewers fans “see themselves” in the t-shirt she designed for the team.
The first 10,000 fans in the gate at AmFam Field Tuesday night will get one.
More from Linda Falkenstein: isthmus.com/arts/sports/...
Fan favorite
Madison artist Emily Balsley’s design is featured on Milwaukee Brewers promo T-shirt
isthmus.com
Reposted by Isthmus - Madison news & culture since 1976
liamberan.bsky.social
Madison rents went up 47% over the last five years, according to a recent report. But, in a promising sign for renters, vacancy rates in Dane County are the highest they've been in more than 5 years, and rent growth is slowing.

@isthmusmadison.bsky.social

isthmus.com/news/news/ma...
Madison rents up 47% over the last five years
Vacancy rates are increasing and rent increases have slowed, a promising sign for renters in Madison. But monthly rents are still pricing out many residents.
isthmus.com
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
Median rents for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in Madison have increased by 47% since 2020, according to a July 29 study by Apartment List, which found the city’s median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,488.

Story by @liamberan.bsky.social:

isthmus.com/news/news/ma...
Madison rents up 47% over the last five years
Vacancy rates are increasing and rent increases have slowed, a promising sign for renters in Madison. But monthly rents are still pricing out many residents.
isthmus.com
Reposted by Isthmus - Madison news & culture since 1976
liamberan.bsky.social
Madisonians are very excited that local artist Emily Balsley designed the Aug. 12 Brewers t-shirt.

10,000 shirts will be given away. There’s a bus (yes, a bus) of fans, friends and family heading to Milwaukee. Linda Falkenstein has the latest @isthmusmadison.bsky.social

isthmus.com/arts/sports/...
Fan favorite
Madison artist Emily Balsley’s design is featured on Milwaukee Brewers promo T-shirt
isthmus.com
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
The country’s leader in medical software appears to have an outsize impact in Madison's romance arena. People Isthmus interviewed for this article say there is nothing necessarily bad about dating Epic employees, but it is unavoidable.

Story by @liamberan.bsky.social:

isthmus.com/news/cover-s...
Epic employees flood Madison’s dating scene
Epic employees dominate online dating apps like Tinder, Hinge and Bumble, Madison residents say. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just is.
isthmus.com
Reposted by Isthmus - Madison news & culture since 1976
jtspartz.bsky.social
Democracy is crumbling to a fascist wanna-be dictatorial regime 🔥🔥🔥🔥 but then the local alt-news paper spotlights your band’s second EP in two years. 🤠 Thanks, @isthmusmadison.bsky.social!
Reposted by Isthmus - Madison news & culture since 1976
Reposted by Isthmus - Madison news & culture since 1976
liamberan.bsky.social
Among young people in Madison, it’s a near-refrain: “The pool of dating is Epic.”

For @isthmusmadison.bsky.social’s August cover, I investigated “that one IT company’s” massive growth and the effect it’s had on dating life in Madison. Read below:

isthmus.com/news/cover-s...
Epic employees flood Madison’s dating scene
Epic employees dominate online dating apps like Tinder, Hinge and Bumble, Madison residents say. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just is.
isthmus.com
Reposted by Isthmus - Madison news & culture since 1976
liamberan.bsky.social
UW-Madison has spent more on lobbying the federal government since President Donald Trump took office again than in all of 2024 — including retaining a high-profile firm with clients like Columbia University and UPenn.

@isthmusmadison.bsky.social

isthmus.com/news/news/un...
Under Trump, UW-Madison federal lobbying spending already higher than 2024
UW-Madison has already spent $474,000 on federal lobbying in 2025.
isthmus.com
Reposted by Isthmus - Madison news & culture since 1976
sector67.bsky.social
The growing "made at Sector67" flotilla made the @isthmusmadison.bsky.social cover :-)
isthmusmadison.bsky.social
"Framing resistance to housing reform as concern for 'public trust' or 'zoning protections' reflects a longstanding rhetorical tradition in Madison — one that dresses exclusion in the language of procedural integrity."
From an opinion piece by Justice Castaneda:
isthmus.com/opinion/opin...
Why Madison’s housing gatekeepers are getting uncomfortable
The argument that neighborhood preservation is a civic virtue treats structural exclusion as an unfortunate but immovable byproduct of planning. That narrative deserves scrutiny.
isthmus.com