New Cap On State Spending, Milwaukee Theater On Los Angeles Race Riots, History Of Autism

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Governor Scott Walker set a new limit on state spending which could have significant impact on the bills already being considered. We discuss with WPR’s Capital Bureau Chief. The first diagnosed case of autism occurred nearly 75 years ago, but our knowledge and understanding of the condition is still evolving today. An author shares the history of autism, and how that history affects our world today. We also get the story behind a Milwaukee theater performance on the Los Angeles Riots.

Featured in this Show

  • Milwaukee Theater Tackles Race, Class Issue With New Play

    Next Act Theater in Milwaukee is taking on current issues of race and class by reminding audiences of the racially charged moment in the 1990s following the acquittal in the trial of Los Angeles police officers involved in the beating of Rodney King.

    Actor Marti Gobel said the production, “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” is based on 37 of the 300 interviews in Los Angeles by Anna Deavere Smith following the race riots that occurred after the trial.

    “The actors, myself and five others, we have divided those roles up — paying no attention to gender, race, age — often times we are playing toward type. But the play is the verbatim words of those interviews that were taken; so it’s been a fascinating journey wading through a lot of aspects of the character development and the play itself,” said Gobel.

    Actor Andrew Perez said the production is less necessarily about the story of the events themselves and a lot more about how it affected people on very personal and very social level.

    “The question of ‘what is the story that we’re telling’ is kind of up to the listener and the viewer to determine for themselves what exactly the take away is, since the stories are so unique and so personal,” said Perez.

    Gobel said it’s important to realize that when there’s a riot of this nature, often people take the events as a beginning of a problem, when in fact it’s an aftershock of a series of events.

    “When you look at the Rodney King riots, that actually started back in the ‘60s … As I relate this to Milwaukee, I’m curious. We’ve had a lot of events particularly in the area that have led to a sort of social simmering, and there will be an end — there will be an aftershock,” she said.

    Gobel said the key to avoiding that aftershock is getting to know the people in their community, regardless of if they are different from you.

    Perez agrees and said that in some ways political correctness has sanitized how people communicate with each other, and “Twilight” brings to the forefront that communication on these issues is needed and hasn’t been dealt with going all the way back to the civil rights era and beyond.

    “If we’re able to start that conversation up in a really honest way, then maybe we can avoid that aftershock and that explosion resulting from that type of simmering,” he said.

    Next Act’s production of “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” will run through Feb. 21.

  • Gov. Walker Sets $20 Million Limit On New Spending

    After 3 we’ll look at Governor Walker’s call to cap new spending for the year at $20 million. WPR’s Capital Bureau chief joins us to discuss the implications the cap could have on bills being considered in the legislature.
  • Next Act Theater Tackles Race With New Play

    Milwaukee’s Next Act Theater tackles the issue of race in their new production of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deavere Smith. The play centers on individual reactions to the verdicts in the Rodney King beating trial.

  • A Story Of Autism

    Nearly seventy-five years ago, a boy in Mississippi became the first child to be diagnosed with autism. Decades later, our guest takes a comprehensive look at how we perceive autism as a society and how people with the disorder have struggled to be understood and treated with dignity.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • KP Whaley Producer
  • Veronica Rueckert Producer
  • Marti Gobel Guest
  • Andrew Perez Guest
  • Shawn Johnson Guest
  • John Donvan Guest

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