What’s Nu? June 2024 | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

What’s Nu? June 2024

Partnership launches The Talk 

A new five-episode podcast titled “The Talk” features conversations between nine Jewish and African American teens from Madison area high schools. 

The show is a production of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, a nonprofit working to connect and empower faith communities, and 100 Black Men of Madison, a nonprofit that aims to empower African Americans through educational and economic opportunities. 

Topics range from food, clothing, music, education and faith traditions to comparing notes about racism and antisemitism. 

“Interacting with people my age from different walks of life, religions and cultures the way we did in ‘The Talk’ was a unique and fun experience,” said high school sophomore Sidney Moore. “This podcast was an amazing intersectionality opportunity for the students of Madison,” said senior Bennie Wixon-Keller. 

“The Talk” podcast can be found on Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube. It is available now. Rabbi Bonnie Margulis is executive director of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice. 

Habush Habush and Rottier case nets $22 million 

A civil case arising from an explosion that burned more than 70% of a worker’s body during a renovation of Camp Randall Stadium at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has settled while in Dane County Circuit Court for $22 million, according to the personal injury law firm Habush Habush & Rottier. 

The explosion occurred in April 2022 when an employee of the project’s general contractor lit a propane torch while Jeremy Rose, an employee of a subcontractor, was applying flammable material to the floor of a mechanical room, according to a news release. The attorney for Rose, Daniel Rottier of Habush Habush & Rottier, alleged that the general contractor failed to follow industry safety standards by not requiring that a “hot work permit” be obtained before using the open flame torch. 

“For over 50 years the construction industry and insurance companies have recommended the use of hot work permits to increase worker safety,” Rottier said in a statement. “There is a cost in human life and dollars in taking shortcuts when it comes to protecting workers.”  

The jury trial in the case was scheduled to begin in March 2024. The settlement was reached ten days before the trial was to start. 

Moffic wins humanitarian award 

Dr. Steven Moffic, has been named the twelfth recipient of the Abraham L. Halpern, MD Humanitarian Award of the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Moffic received the award at the 2024 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, where he lectured on the 2024 Humanitarian Forum. 

Chronicle wins silver award 

Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle Editor Rob Golub won silver for a 2023 Excellence in Journalism award, for news. 

At the awards banquet at Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel on May 3, James Bennet, a former New York Times editorial page editor and current senior editor for The Economist, spoke from the podium on the state of journalism and talked about Golub’s winning story. 

Excellence in Journalism awards are granted annually by the Milwaukee Press Club. The gold award in the news category went to Kelly Meyerhofer and Rory Linnane of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, for La Crosse chancellor fired for appearing in porn.” The bronze award was granted to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel staff piece. 

Golub’s silver award for news was for his coverage of professional basketball player Meyers Leonard’s meeting with people from Jewish Milwaukee, years after an antisemitic slur that he has repeatedly apologized for. In his speech, Bennet lamented the current state of journalism, seeing it as depleted and flawed, but praised Wisconsin local journalism. He cited several stories from the contest, including Golub’s story, which he noted for providing relevant details.