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Microtones

Our newsletter-first column brings you the notes between the notes.

A partly distorted map of Dane County districts that are numbered and named as well as primarily designated by squiggly red and black lines. A background image filter is a dark grey color that obscures many of the district numbers, towns, cities, and route names.

Don’t shrink the Common Council and County Board

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March 6, 2026

Madison needs more representation, not less.

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Photo of a large, boxy, multi-family housing complex at a street corner. It's painted in shades of white and grey. Each unit has thin, elongated sets of windows. The traffic intersection at a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) stop can be seen in the foreground.
Starter homes? No, we need starter apartments
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February 27, 2026

As homeownership continues to be out of reach for too many Madisonians, we should build more owner-occupied, multi-family housing.

Daytime photo of the outdoor food pantry and bench on Few Street around the corner from the Social Justice Center in Madison. The wooden bench sits in the foreground at an angle with a small plaque on the back that reads "Rest, my brothers and sisters, from your friend, Dr. Dave Deci Madison Street Medicine 2017-2023." Behind it is a larger wooden cabinet with two sets of doors and glass panels that contains only a few canned goods on the shelving inside. The rightmost door is open.
Madison needs a wake-up call
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February 13, 2026

The longer we pretend this City is a progressive haven, the more people will be harmed.

A simple image collage that is split in a vertical orientation. The left image shows a poster light box for Luc Besson's "Dracula" that features the AMC logo in white text on a red-bar background at the top. The surrounding wall is painted a golden-brown color. The right image shows the poster for Brett Ratner's "Melania" in a similar light box. The wall surrounding the poster is painted black.
Stop spotlighting new films by known abusers
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February 6, 2026

Madison boasts a dynamic movie culture, yet still needs programmers and community voices to facilitate change.

The members of Crush Scene and two-thirds of Holly And The Nice Lions all stand on a vineyard path at The Vines in Sauk City, WI. From left to right: Holly Trasti, Travis Pashek, Rachael Guertin, Janet Kolterman, Tasha Spencer, and Madalyn Rowell. Guertin and Pashek have their backs turned to the camera, admiring the sweeping view. The remaining subjects are all pointing directly at the camera and smiling.
Achieving a broader focus through music photojournalism in 2025
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January 30, 2026

The fourth installment of our live music photo essay series centers a more personal vantage point.

The Spine Stealers' Kate Ruland (left) and Emma O'Shea (right) are shown in their Madison studio, standing next to a carefully-curated postcard collection that's housed in a wood stand.
Madison’s musical odds and ends of 2025
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January 16, 2026

A meditation on the past year's musical margins.

A protest during a winter night. The photo shows a couple dozen protestors bundled in heavy coats. Many hold white signs that read "Power To The People Not To Big Tech" in black lettering. A few others on the right address the resistance against AI and support of Wisconsin families. The boxy Discovery World Science and Technology Museum appears behind them to the right, illuminated in red and green above its sign.
Opting out of the tech-backed AI inevitability narrative
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December 12, 2025

As data centers set their sights on harvesting Wisconsin's human and natural resources, refusal and resistance starts locally.

A photograph shows a medium close-up of different sizes of two t-shirt designs hanging on a clothing rack. The leftmost one is "Blade Runner" and the rightmost one is "The Thing." The "Blade Runner" tee prominently features Deckard's face (Harrison Ford) as well as text from the film in yellow and white, while "The Thing" tee includes small portraits of the cast arranged in two long rows with blue text and the iconic alien monster design rendered in black and white.
Movie tee envy
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December 5, 2025

Pondering a shirt collection, and stumbling upon Cosmic Cabin, which has the goods—at least niche ones for cinephiles.

The exterior of Harmony Bar & Grill on the corner of Dunning Street and Atwood Avenue in Madison, WI. The building has gray siding, a yellow marquee sign with a central yellow sign. Muted green accents and a classic brick facade surrounds the gray paneling. A street sign is visible, and the road around the venue is empty.
Tone Madison Presents: MAMA New Artist Listening Room
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November 21, 2025

Join us on Saturday, November 29, at Harmony Bar & Grill for a night of live music from emerging Madison artists.

A close-up of a basketball hoop at Windom Way Park in Madison, WI. The hoop takes up the center of the image. The sky is blue and the sun is positioned behind the backboard, providing a glow that helps illuminate the image. The rim is rusty and the net is metal chainlink. The backboard's an aged off-white with fading paint splatter. In the bottom left corner of the image, some treetops are visible, but out of focus.
Basketball is back, but it never really left
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November 7, 2025

Madison's basketball courts are reflective of endurance, persistence, and Wisconsinites' growing embrace of the sport.