How radical is Madison?

Matt Rothschild, publisher of The Progressive, assesses Madison's reputation as a hotbed of radicalism in his appraisal of History and the New Left: Madison, Wisconsin, 1950-1970, edited by Paul Buhle. "The campus is no longer aboil and the history department is no longer the lure for leftists that it once was. And yet a distinctively Madison radicalism persists." He mentions the city's food co-ops, A Room of One's Own, WORT radio, a visible gay and lesbian community, and myriad activist groups, saying that, in a sense, "radicalism has spread wide its roots in the hospitable soil that Madison has always had to offer." Buhle goes on to edit and write many more books, including last year's Comics in Wisconsin: A People's History of American Empire (with Howard Zinn and Mike Konopacki); and, with Harvey Pekar, The Beats: A Graphic History. Rothschild remains at The Progressive's helm.