Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride on Leading Through 2020's Perfect Storm

Dennis McBride won his hometown mayoral race in April 2020 with nearly 60% of the vote. One month later, his world - and America's - exploded.

Over the next twelve months, the new mayor of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin navigated a pandemic, 98 days and nights of racial justice protests, a mass shooting at the local mall, and a high-stakes presidential election. For 40 nights, he and his wife barricaded themselves in their home while protesters chanted outside, flashed lasers through their windows, and threw trash on their lawn. He told his adult children there was a real possibility someone might take his life.

Five years later, Mayor McBride has written "A City on the Edge: Pandemic, Protest, and Polarization," a gripping firsthand account of leadership during America's most turbulent year in generations. He argues that Wauwatosa was "a microcosm of everything that was going on in America" and that we still haven't escaped the forces unleashed in 2020.

In this powerful conversation, Dr. Kristin Lyerly sits down with Mayor McBride to explore the impossible decisions leaders faced, the personal toll of public service, and whether there's a path forward for a deeply divided nation. As McBride says: "We only come out of things if we work hard to make good things happen, and we have to do that by reaching across the aisle to people that we don't normally agree with."

This is a story about courage, resilience, and what it takes to lead when everything is falling apart.

Follow Mayor Dennis McBride on Facebook @dennis.mcbride.737

Listen at CivicMedia.us or wherever you get your podcasts

Find “A City on the Edge: Pandemic, Protest, and Polarization” at Amazon, IU Press, and more