Mornings with Pat Kreitlow

Leave it to a master narcissist to fire board members from the Kennedy Center, appoint new members who would vote to make him their chairman—and then name himself as the host of this year’s Kennedy Center Honors. We’ll have details on this latest blow to American culture and the arts. Also: Cherita Booker reviews some […]

Guests: Cherita Booker, Melissa Baldauff

Thu Aug 14, 2025

44:02

Wisconsin was the first state in the country to use President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act as a way to put money back in people’s pockets for projects that made their homes more energy efficient. Two years later, it has paid out millions in rebates. We’ll talk to Melissa Baldauff about the program’s success, compared […]

Guests: Earl Ingram, Melissa Baldauff

Wed Aug 13, 2025

44:02

Naturally, the headline writers have to be brief and leave out context: “Evers vetoes portable benefits for delivery drivers.” The real story is how the governor vetoed the ongoing imbalance between how corporations treat their workers—and abuse the loophole of “gig workers,” “independent contractors,” and “part-timers.” We’ll talk to former state Rep. Dana Wachs about […]

Guest: Dana Wachs

Wed Aug 13, 2025

44:02

Taylor Swift has mastered the art of album anticipation and has created another P.R. juggernaut with her next release, “The Life of a Showgirl.” It got us wondering what other albums were highly anticipated over the years, from the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” to Nirvana’s “Nevermind.” What was your version of “shut up and take my […]

Guest: Melissa Kaye

Wed Aug 13, 2025

44:02

We’ll talk to Dan Shafer of The Recombobulation Area — less about politics this time and more about what he’s seeing in his hometown as Milwaukee takes stock of the damage from massive flash flooding over the weekend. And we’ll check in with Chad Holmes of our Civic Media station in Wausau about the stories […]

Guests: Chad Holmes, Dan Shafer

Tue Aug 12, 2025

44:02

The fall session of the Wisconsin Legislature features bills that lawmakers had hoped might make it to the new state budget, but now have to pass on their own merits. One would allow Wisconsin farmers to have paying campers without having to obtain a campground license. We’ll talk to Hans Breitenmoser and Sheila Everhart about […]

Guests: Dan Hagen, Hans Breitenmoser, Jeff Rennicke, Sheila Everhart

Tue Aug 12, 2025

44:02

Washington, DC is coming under federal, perhaps even military control, because the president is claiming, falsely, that crime is out of control. (It’s far from perfect, but it’s not at its worst.) The irony is that DC’s most violent crime actually occurred on January 6, 2021 and its mastermind is now the one in charge […]

Tue Aug 12, 2025

44:02

Every profession needs a good national organization dedicated to best practices, ongoing education, and a little morale boosting. For state lawmakers, that’s the role of the National Conference of State Legislators. We’ll talk to Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) about this year’s convention discussions — and the difference between a group like NCSL vs. similar […]

Guest: Jodi Emerson

Mon Aug 11, 2025

44:02

For many, it’s little more than a lost freighter at the bottom of Lake Superior, but author and former legislator Tom Nelson sees the Edmund Fitzgerald as perhaps the most apt metaphor of the late 20th century — an economy that put shareholder profits ahead of workers’ prosperity, and empty populist promises from candidates in […]

Guest: Tom Nelson

Mon Aug 11, 2025

44:02

It was creepy when he said it and not too surprising that President Trump broke his promise to be the “fertilization president” and labeled himself the “Father of IVF.” We’ll ask Dr. Kristin Lyerly about reports the White House has no intention of fulfilling Trump’s campaign promise that “the government is going to pay for […]

Guest: Dr. Kristin Lyerly

Mon Aug 11, 2025

44:02