
Transcript
Reporter Henry Redman on PFAS Progress, Gas Prices & The Big Arch Buzz(Hour 1)
Nite Lite with Pete Schwaba and Greg Bach · Tue Mar 3, 2026
Pete
Schwabba and Greg Bach.
All in the same sentence.
Hey, welcome to Nightlight.
Everybody happy Tuesday.
It is great to have you here with us as we talk about all the things in life, well, some of the things in life that make us happy and some of the things that we just need to discuss.
Yeah.
And we've got both of them on the agenda tonight.
Sitting across from me in a manner of speaking is the awesomely talented Greg Bach.
Hey, buddy.
Good evening, everyone.
Good evening, Peter.
How are you doing today?
How was your day?
It was crazy.
It was I was all over the place It was one of those days where I had so much to do like house wise chore wise that kind
of
stuff But you know every day's a good day Greg, that's my outlook especially yeah when I have Walmart radio and It's on in the store and they play tunes I haven't heard in 30 years Gotcha, and then they say take Walmart radio with you and I wondered to myself as anybody ever do that
Does anyone take Walmart radio with you?
Does anybody listen to it outside of Walmart?
And it's not terrible.
It's not like it was bad.
It's just like who would do that?
Huge fans of Walmart.
I like this stuff that like you're like just walking around all day long just looking at the ground going yeah, what do such a thing who would do that?
And I get if look if there's a good tune on
And
you want
to keep it going?
You don't
want to
stand in loiter by the door.
So maybe you pull out your smartphone, put the song on, and you keep it rolling.
But I don't know, man.
It was just weird.
I wonder if anyone's ever done that.
Or just
listen
to it at home.
I didn't realize there was such thing as Walmart radio.
Yeah.
That's interesting to me.
It's like it's own street, like another streaming service?
Right.
And soon they'll be charging you for it.
Yeah.
Walmart radio plus.
It's like prime, just with like, you know, less, you know.
Exactly.
Um, Hey, this is nightlight with Peach Wabba and Greg Bach and we are very happy to have you with us.
We got a lot of fun planned for tonight.
So hopefully we help you wind down your day in a very relaxed, um, atmosphere, I guess.
Like the
candles.
Yeah.
Like the incense.
Oh, you
know what?
Yeah.
Candles would add some nice ambience.
Ambience?
What is?
You know what?
I love kids.
I love to calm down.
I love to just put some scoffs over the lamps and get some ambience.
Get some ambience up in
here.
When I can't sleep at night, I take ambience.
It gives me weird
dreams.
Every once in a while, I slip into Moe from The Simpsons at the ambience, Homer.
So that's what I was going for anyway.
Uh, Hey, we got a fun show, Greg.
We
got a great guest tonight.
Yes, we do.
We have from the Wisconsin examiner, uh, Henry Redmond's going to be here talking about an article he wrote regarding good news out of Madison, bipartisan legislation, but like we'll check, we'll check out some of the, the catches in there regarding PFAS led a PFAS mitigation legislation.
Some bills went through to help with PFAS and before the show.
Pete, you said that that's a big deal in Marionette.
So it is.
Yeah.
Well, it's a big deal
everywhere.
But
yeah, for
sure up here in the Northeast Wisconsin.
Yeah, definitely.
And then in the second hour, we'll be welcoming standup comedian Kristen Toomey from Chicago.
From Chicago.
She probably says ambiance too.
Chicago.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So she'll be coming on talking about, she's got a show coming up this weekend at a place called Q's.
I get that actually.
Correct here.
I got a I got a I got a message from the owner today They said like it's pronounced cues cues bar and river deck in prairie du sac So we're talking more about that today on the show and then we'll be talking about we'll be talking about you know Just okay, you know cutting up having fun discussing our question of the day Pete by the way, what is our question of the day?
Dom go for it
Oh, it's
so busy dancing.
I forgot.
Okay, here we go.
How do you feel about cold cuts?
What is your favorite?
It is, ladies and gentlemen, National Cold Cuts Day.
It is
the
All-American meal.
It is.
It's a wedding.
Funeral first can you mean you name it cold cut platter is always good stuff
Yes, I if I heard if I had like let's say let's say if I had 10 grand for every time I heard will there be cold cuts there I'd have about maybe a hundred grand.
I've probably heard that 10 times in my life My rider says I am to have a cold cut platter
Have you ever seen that like when they you know you did stand up Greg like sometimes you go to
the
green room and they have like a They have like a cult if it's like a special show to have like
a
cold-cut platter I remember is that the ice house once and they had cheese on there too and the cheese like starts to sweat It gets that weird film on it.
You know when it's been sitting out too long.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's shiny.
It's shiny Especially when they're like little little square cheese cuts.
It's like and you're like you're like I can
I'm not gonna die if I eat that, I'll still eat that, so I still eat it.
Like the corners start to curl up,
because they get
hard, and then you get sweat on the cheese.
Dami, you still with us?
How you doing, buddy?
Dom Lee, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm not doing too bad.
I'm excited for the question of the night.
I have a juicy answer, so I'm ready to go.
Oh my
god.
You
hear that?
I have a delicious answer,
so
we'll keep everybody in suspenders for just a little bit here.
I think.
I think mine is pretty simple.
I don't know.
I mean, I'm ardent in my belief in this, but we'll talk more about that in the second hour.
Maybe even find out what Kristen Toomey's favorite cold cut is.
I like to ask every guest a question tonight.
It's just a nice icebreaker, Greg.
And I like
how you said your ardent and your cold cut choice.
You got
me very
excited to do this.
But you can let us know throughout the course of the show, folks, at 855-752-4842-8555, 75 Civic.
You can also text us on the app.
Or if you're watching the radio on YouTube, Facebook, or X Twitter, you can drop us a stream comment.
Tom, is Facebook back up?
Did you get ahold of Zuckerberg?
Mark Zuckerberg told me that it should be good.
But
he said,
don't quote him.
He was at one of his jujitsu lessons, probably.
He's beating up the air while jet skiing.
So be part of the fun, folks.
And you can let us know whatever you're thinking on any topic
we
discuss here at Nightlight.
We actually have a call from Greg in Waukesha on his favorite call.
I know, Greg in Waukesha.
Love it.
Good evening, Greg.
How are you doing?
Hey, buddy.
Hello, Pete.
Hello, Greg Bach.
My last call into your show, Pete, was BGB before Greg Bach.
Um, so we're gonna call that the bgb era of the show.
Um, fair enough.
I like it.
Um, not to be confused with a bg era, but, uh, anyway, um, you know, this was a hard one and I'm honestly, um, still not sold on this answer, but, um, I'll have to go with turkey.
Um, even though I much prefer turkey, like warm,
like let's talk Thanksgiving turkey, like turkey as a cold cut is still good.
So we're going to go with that.
It's a safe one.
And yeah, that's what we'll go with.
All right, Greg.
Well, here's the best part is you can change your mind anytime you want.
And I'm going to say this, Greg, if you change your mind.
any time you call and let us know.
I don't care what we're talking
about.
Is Greg still there?
I think he's gone.
Greg, here's what I want you to know, Greg.
Listen to the show and see, I have a feeling Turkey's going to be number one, but we'll tally all that when we get there.
But I think Greg's answer is going to turn out to be very popular.
Thank you for the call,
Greg.
Yeah, absolutely.
We asked the hard questions.
We break stories.
Exactly.
Breaking news here.
Greg from Waukesha says his favorite cold cut is turkey.
Changes mind possibly.
And nobody could dispute that.
Like, we can't get sued for that.
I don't believe that his favorite cold cut is turkey.
I'm taking you to court.
It's just not that kind of story.
This is
slander, my good man.
Slander!
Hey, should we get to our three big
things?
I think we should get to our three things.
Dominic.
Holy gasoline Batman.
Oh my goodness.
Have you guys been seeing the prices go up?
What about like Pete?
Have you seen
the prices going up by your place?
You know what to be honest?
I just don't need gas right now But I got a text from my sister earlier who said gas went up 50 cents a gallon overnight in Marinette Which means in maybe Milwaukee or Madison you might be looking at a buck 75 cents I don't know but I'm that's kind of I should have filled up because I knew this was coming right because of the war
Well, we should have, I mean, yeah, you should have known there was a war coming, Pete.
You should have known.
I should
have filled
up
last
Friday.
The AP is reporting the price of a gallon of gas spiked overnight in the US and drivers overseas are filling up tanks.
I will say this, I've got quite a few gas stations by my house.
And this time, maybe even this weekend, the regular, or I would say before the bombings in Iran, it was like,
three, 30 something, three, 40 something.
I passed a quick trip today on the way here.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
249,
not
three, uh, 249 today, passing the quick trip.
It was 2.99 a gallon.
It's almost three bucks.
And that was, yeah.
Yeah, is, uh, are you guys seeing that?
Let us know eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five civic.
And, uh, it says here in this article, they talked to one person named Anne.
She said she paid $15 more than usual to fill up her tank at a gas station in Jackson, Mississippi today versus the previous week.
I mean, we're going to be seeing.
gas, gas prices go up because of the cost of oil.
And this is going to have a knock on effect, this big old incursion in Iran.
But that is like the big thing I saw today driving in was the price of gas.
I mean, I actually had to like, look twice be like, I'm looking at, am I looking at the right?
Is this the diesel price?
Nope.
It's the unleaded price 2.99 a gallon.
Yeah, it's weird.
I don't really pay attention to gas prices that much I have to be honest like I notice when they're low and I try to fill up then but they're never going back to what they were 20 30 40 years ago It's just they're always gonna be high.
So I this is a concern because if you have a 20 gallon tank I have an old Toyota Land Cruiser with like that that's gonna cost me the same with the The social media user another
10
or 15 bucks just to fill it up once.
Yeah,
that adds up over here
Well, and the other thing too to take in consideration is you think about how much gas prices were even 10 years ago.
They were still in the $2, $3, you know, this hovering between, you know, the low twos into the mid threes to maybe even four, like that's where we've been sitting for a very long time.
Plus when the price of oil, so like people always talk about, I want lower gas prices.
Well,
Okay, that's fine.
We all do that's of course a very good cost to cut but when we lower gas prices That's because the cost of oils gone down which means they're drilling less which means people could possibly be losing their jobs like there's a knock-on effect to low gas prices and So when we say we want lower gas prices, we have to look at what that actually means for this country and what it means for our exporting around the world as well
Yeah, it's kind of weird because I remember when Biden was president and he got blamed for gas prices, then Trump got blamed for gas prices.
Based on everything I've read, it really isn't up to the president.
No,
it's
not.
But this war is affecting it, so you could argue that for sure.
Well, one thing we said, and maybe we'll get him back on the show one of these days, but his name is Mr. Global Matt Randolph.
He talked about the fact that it's not about who's sitting in the White House in the moment.
It's about...
who was sitting in the White House when they struck certain deals, which would cause gas prices to go up or go down.
That's what you need to be looking at.
Not just like, Oh, it's his fault because it's his fault cause he's there or yay, he's in the office.
So therefore the gas price, it's not how it works ever, but no one ever listens to that.
No one ever like it's, they don't, they don't, you know, presidents don't cause the gas prices to go up or down.
They don't set grocery prices, but we've seen to always blame or give credit to them in the, in this case.
So.
I think I would be intimidated meeting someone named Mr. Global.
I gotta be honest.
I'm excited to meet him, but I'm just like Mr. Northeast Wisconsin.
That's a big discrepancy there, Greg, but I can't wait to have this guy on the show.
All right, this is Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
You've got Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
We're coming right back with our next two big things.
Welcome back Time to kick loose cut loose Footloose.
I don't know.
Hey, this is nightlight with peach wamba and Greg Bach and Dom Lee work in the board crushing it with the tunes as usual It is great to have you here tonight.
Our question of the night is how do you feel about cold cuts?
What is your favorite cut?
We'll read your text throughout the show, but let us know be part of the fun.
It's always more fun when you guys
participate.
I'm very excited to share my answer later.
And I think it's going to be groundbreaking.
But right now, Greg, we've still got a couple of big things.
Let's be honest.
Yes.
Yes.
We have another big story.
This is one.
Okay, so I worked in my daughter's school part time a few years ago.
And I just loved it.
I worked in an intervention room where kids would come in after they got in fights or swore at the teacher or whatever.
And it was
my job to kind of de-escalate and calm them down and tell them they couldn't have their cell phones because this became a rule here in Marinette in the schools.
And
this is a
big thing right now.
I read this on NPR.
They're trying for a cell phone ban.
Now here in Marinette, we did it a few years ago and it was unbelievable when kids got out at recess, how much they actually played again and interacted again.
And some would try to sneak their cell phones.
In fact, there was one moment in the cafeteria where there was like an Amber alert or something.
And we heard all these buzzing phones.
They weren't supposed to have their phones.
Gotcha!
Gotcha!
Exactly.
So I do think I'm all in favor of it.
And the Republicans supposedly want a bell to bell ban.
Yeah.
And some Democrats are with them.
But some are saying, well, they should be able to check it at lunch for emergencies or home situations.
So I've gone back and forth on this one because I understand all of the arguments except for no ban whatsoever.
I don't think kids should have phones in the classroom period at all.
And people will say, what about emergencies?
I'm like, well, if parents need to get a hold of their kids and I don't want to be sitting here going all back in my day, but your parents just called the office, they called you to the office, you would get the call and that was it, or they'd bring you a note and that was it.
Like you didn't have to have a cell phone then.
And there's also the argument of like, what happens if there's something, you know, someone invades the school or something.
It's like, I understand that as well, but
sure.
then make, if, if we can come up with a whole industry that bulletproofs our kids' schools, we can come up with an industry that allows kids to be reachable, not like, you know, there, there, there should be other ways of doing this.
So Pete, you're in favor of the bell to bell band.
I don't know.
I feel like now it's sort of like putting the toothpaste back in the tube.
I don't
know that you
can totally do that, but I'm totally for it.
And maybe, like you said, Greg, I mean, call, if there's an emergency, call the school, bring the kid down to the office.
It's not difficult.
But
I do think, you know, if they want to like check it at noon at lunch, I guess I'm okay with that.
But, you know, I don't know.
I have trouble staying off my phone, to be honest with you.
I do too.
I mean, I'm very much so I'm looking at my phone right now.
It's like, look at me, Greg.
Look at me right now.
Touch my buttons.
Okay.
All right.
But I think that, I think that, uh, you know, you start with, start, yeah, start there.
Start with, you know, you, you have to put your phone in your locker.
You can check your phone at lunch and then you can take your phone when you're gone.
You get, you get, you get it like that one time, but also you can't just be dragging it around the hallways while you're at lunch too.
It's like, I, I, I do believe there is
some.
I think there are benefits to them not being on their phone all the time.
I
agree.
Personally.
And and I know there are people out there who say I'm wrong, but, you know, they can set up like
little smoking areas for phones.
Like go in this room if you want to be on your phone for five minutes and then put the phone back and leave.
I
don't know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Or go in there and smoke, you know, kids.
Whoa, Pete.
Pete.
They're just cigarettes.
Great.
Come
on.
My goodness.
Okay.
All right.
Well then on that, let's go to the last new story of the evening.
Speaking of health.
So this is, this is a follow-up from what we talked about last week for my handy tip.
We were talking about the big arch, which is a sandwich that the McDonald's claims is all the best of their burgers in one burger.
And it seems that the CEO now has made a video showing how
Good it is.
In a video featuring a man who looks like he's never looked at a McDonald's burger, let alone eaten one.
He showed it off and he really tried hard to make it look good.
And the internet is having a field day with his response to what is the big arch.
Yeah, his name is the McDonald's CEO Chris Kempzinski I think is his name and he tried the burger and he referred to it as he goes This is a delicious product Something like that like and then he took a bite and then he's commenting on it.
He's got food in his teeth It was just a weird video on every level.
Yeah, and the internet's now roasting it for this because like also the thing is When you watch the video plugging the product from like last week it is what looks like a burger in a commercial is
big and is it's huge and you know you're like oh my gosh how am I gonna eat this in one bite but he's eating this burger that looks like nothing more than like a smashed up burger it looks terrible and it has like all these different like at one point I think he's about to he's about to take a bite and he goes oh yeah fried onions like oh no thank you no no no no no no no this doesn't look good at all
it's got it's got twice okay it's got two quarter pounder
Patties on it three
so far.
It's a double quarter pounder with cheese
right and three pieces of cheese and then the fried onions which are pretty caloric as well Yeah, and I he was sort of bragging about it like this is the birdie and he took it out of the box He goes it's very heavy like this has nothing to do with like they just want
to appeal to your lowest, like, hey,
you can
get a lot of food and a lot of bite.
McDonald's does not have salads anymore.
So they have completely just kind of given up on, this is nothing healthy.
And this video kind of confirmed it.
Do you know what I love in my burgers, Pete?
Heft.
I like to have to use two hands.
I want a burger that TSA makes me throw up because it weighs too much for my bag.
Well, the CEO likes it.
It must be delicious.
Yeah.
He looks very convincing, very convincing that he actually eats McDonald's ever.
Show me the focus groups.
That's what I want to see.
All right, folks, we're going to break for the news here, and then Henry Redmond will be here.
He is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin Examiner, and he is here to talk about new PFAS legislation.
There's some cooperation.
We'll hear what Henry has to say.
Coming up on hour two, very funny comedian, Kristen Toomey.
You've got it all right here on Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach on the Civic Media Network.
Welcome back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
My name is Greg Bach across the table for me in a way, in a manner of speaking, is Mr. Pete Schwabba.
We are here on the Civic Media Network.
You can always give a call or text at the number is same 855-752-4842-855-75 Civic leave a comment on that live stream.
We are currently streaming on Facebook, YouTube and the platform.
We still call Twitter still ahead after the six o'clock news.
We have a comedian, Kristen Toomey stopping by to talk about all the good stuff comedy in Chicago, her shows coming up this weekend.
And just, you know, maybe her hot takes on cold cuts because it is.
national cold cut day.
And our question of the evening is, how do you feel about cold cuts?
Call our texts eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five civic.
Now Pete.
Cold cuts are funny.
It's just a fun thing to say.
Oh, there are cold cuts.
Like you mean like, like, Oh, was it, was it a bad party?
It wasn't great, but there were cold cuts.
Awesome.
Exactly.
Which, which allows me to bring on our first guest of the evening.
He is a staff writer at the Wisconsin examiner and a man with cold cut opinions.
Henry Redman is here this evening.
Good evening.
Henry.
How are you doing tonight?
Hey, Henry.
Nope.
Can you hear
us?
Did you freeze?
Oh,
there we are.
Henry are there.
I'm here now.
Wonderful.
We did it.
Technology.
Good evening, sir.
How are you this evening?
I'm good.
How are you doing quite well now?
We will leave the cold cut Discussions for a little bit.
I want to kick right into this article that you wrote actually came out last came out late last month regarding PFAS legislation This has been a long time coming and for the for the uninformed.
Can you please give a brief review overview of?
this legislation as well as just the money that we received as a state for PFAS mitigation.
Yeah, so in the 2023 to 25 state budget, the governor and the Republicans in the legislature agreed to set aside $125 million in a trust fund to spend on PFAS mitigation, cleaning up people's private wells, providing grants to local governments to
You know redo municipal water systems, but all they did in the budget was set aside the money Yeah, and then we're planning to come back later with a separate piece of legislation to create all those programs last legislative session they tried to come up with a bill to do that and After initially starting off with hopes of compromise that kind of died Mostly over a disagreement over
how much immunity to grant certain types of people.
Republicans wanted to protect what they call innocent landowners.
Democrats and environmental groups did not.
Evers vetoed a bill the legislature passed this time around tweaking the dial a little bit.
They managed to get it through the assembly with the support of the DNR and the governor.
So now it is just waiting passage in the Senate.
when they meet to wrap up their work for the session later this month.
And really quick follow-up to that you mentioned, that phrase right there, the magic, I feel like that's the magic phrase that has been kept from happening for so long, is that where...
Some folks said, yes, there are innocent folks out there who should be protected, who should not be bankrupted.
But the definition of what innocent landowners actually meant, where some people were just meaning, they don't want these big corporations to have to pay for them, for the lands they've polluted.
And it's gone back and forth.
And this money has been sitting in your article says for over 30 months.
Yeah.
And it's, you know, the, if you look, compare the language in the bill that is moving now and the one from before, it's not huge changes.
Essentially, it's sort of which industries are going to be wrapped into that definition.
In a lot of places, you have farmers who accepted what are called municipal biosolids from local dumps to spread on their fields to use as fertilizer.
Those weren't being tested for PFAS, but PFAS is all over the place.
when they spread on that field then that is you know running off and some amount into the groundwater and local streams causing you know contamination and the big question especially for the republican authors is has been how do we protect those people who were doing these activities that the state the dnr specifically gave the okay to through their permits yeah
How do you determine?
I mean, this is bipartisan legislation, but it was the Republicans that were holding up for the reasons you just mentioned.
But how intricate is that when it comes to the legislation that who is being protected and who is not?
I understand that there are some people that are innocent, but also, you know, what we've dealt with here in Northeast Wisconsin, it was kind of a slap on the wrist.
I
think he froze again.
Wouldn't it be funny if he was just doing that
if he was just thinking right now Henry if you can hear us.
Can you call the phone number?
Because you are frozen right now Okay, he's frozen.
Yeah We'll get him back.
That's that's kind of what they were dealing with up here.
Do we have them?
Yes, there he is.
Okay.
There we are.
Okay, great.
Okay.
Yeah, so I was saying Basically last time around it was too broad
this time around, the business lobby was got some manufacturers in commerce and the sort of state paper industry lobby were on opposition basically because the paper industry was going to be left out.
Interesting.
Yeah.
That was, that was the question I had for you because in this article, that's that paragraph really stuck out to me because it says, you know, the Republicans narrowed the definition of innocent landowners.
And I mean, this.
is the best version of compromise because as you said this was proposed in the 2023-2025 biennium budget and it's just sat there but like I guess I have to imagine for some folks that this has to be better than nothing.
I don't know if it's the best version of it but at least it's moving forward and money can be spent.
Is there any talk about where it lands in the Senate right now?
I think they're confident it's going to get through the Senate.
Eric Wimberger, the senator from sort of the Green Bay area has been, you know, like the lead negotiator on all of this.
I don't I don't think that the Republican leaders in the Senate are going to let Wimberger spend, you know, almost three years working on this just to like leave him high and dry when he's finally going to get it over the line, especially in an election year.
Yeah.
I mean, he has been one of like in this article, he's very outspoken about getting this done and that he wants to get it like through the finish line.
He also has a very odd statement, even a broken squirrel can find a clock twice a day.
I don't know what that means, but you know what?
I bet you it provides lots of laughs in the cloakroom.
Everyone loves that line.
We were
laughing about it in the press section of the assembly when we got it that night.
It's funny.
Like he, he's like,
serious guy.
He's not one of the legislators who are often joking around or being kind of quippy, but
apparently he's
so happy about getting this through that he's going to let it loose.
Our guest is Henry Redman.
He is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin Examiner.
We're talking about PFAS, namely an article he just wrote for the examiner.
Okay, so Wisconsin, as I understand it, just
made its standards complicit with the federal ones, where it's four parts per trillion in PFAS drinking water, four parts per trillion is acceptable.
Ideally, it's no parts per trillion.
But what were they previously here in Wisconsin?
And I would like to think the area I live in is raising the bar a little bit, like make the feds come to us.
You know what I mean?
Like what is this legislation?
Will that affect that that much?
No, I mean, in a lot of cases, especially with water law, the state kind of has to just follow what the EPA is going to set.
So if the EPA makes it more stringent, the state is pretty quickly going to have to align itself with that standard.
Really, on the standards especially for largely rural Wisconsin, the issue is that
for every Wisconsinite who gets their water from a private well, there isn't a standard.
There are not groundwater standards for PFAS in the state, which is the problem for places like the Tanistella up near Rhinelander or French Island near La Crosse, where basically these whole communities are on private wells and they're having to get outside water trucked in to have a water cooler in their house for washing the dishes and brushing their teeth.
And French Island just got a bunch of money too from the federal government.
And they, apart from this 125 million, if I'm not mistaken, it was, they're part of like, they are part of like an $80 million program that will help basically get them off of bottled water, correct?
I
believe so.
I don't know all the details about the, you know, money there, but yeah, that I think is right.
Okay.
Henry.
Okay.
So 125 million, you know, this has been going on for decades.
Is that enough?
Or is it just kind of like, well, that's what you're getting.
Make it work with the cleanup.
I mean, and I don't expect you to be an expert on the financial figures, but what's your take on that?
Well, I mean, from the start, they've been saying, this is our first bite at the apple.
And, you know, part of it is, you know, you get these programs up and running, then you can always infuse more funds the next budget cycle or whatever.
But the
program infrastructure getting going is the hard part.
Yeah, I mean, I guess like, you know, the budget process is what it is.
But from the beginning, they said, this is not going to be enough.
We're going to have to come back for another bite at the apple.
You know, even like that's Republicans, Democrats, everybody.
And you know, there's really no idea how much it's going to ultimately end up costing, you know, this
Since the scale of the problem isn't even fully understood part of the bill that you know is waiting to be passed in the Senate includes expanded testing capability So, you know We're still spending money to figure out how much money will ultimately need to be spent
Well, and the other thing too, and I you know, I doubt there was any talk about this in the legislature because you know, they are basically, you know days away from being done for the year but
with, you know, the money that was received was from the Biden administration, if I'm not mistaken.
And I don't know how much more money will be there for the current administration.
And when you talk about EPA standards changing, how we will equip ourselves for whatever's coming down the way from the federal government, because I can imagine that it might be the first bite of the apple, but it could possibly be the last bite too, depending on what they decide they do and do not want to fund over the next how many years.
Right.
I mean, who knows how like.
what the budget surplus that we have right now is going to look like the next time we're going through the budget process.
What kind of support is even going to exist from the federal government that is retreating from a lot of these environmental issues?
So I mean, that's a valid question.
I just think right now nobody really knows.
And it does help.
That money, $125 million, they set aside
you know, two years ago, it's been sitting in an account growing.
It's actually more than 130 now, just collecting interest.
So, you
know, part of it is like, you know, that's a big amount of money collecting interest in this trust fund that, you know, we'll get some ticks up just from existing in a bank account somewhere.
I hope the PFAS aren't growing faster than the interest on the money.
Well, that's, I mean, that's, that's, that's a question I have for another time just because this has, you know, no one's proposed it, but you know, going the way of Minnesota where we just outlaw PFAS and clean it up.
And this doesn't be, this is not a problem anymore, but that's for another day down the road.
We're going to continue our discussion though with Henry Redmond.
He is a staff writer at the Wisconsin examiner.
We were talking about his article about hurrah, hurray.
Finally, there is PFAS mitigation bills, hopefully going through the Senate and then signed into law and people will get some relief.
getting their water cleaned up.
We'll talk more about that with Henry as well as his hot takes on cold cuts.
Boom.
National cold cut day here.
Don't go anywhere.
You were listening to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Mach on the Civic Media Network.
Stay tuned.
Stay close.
Welcome back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
You are listening to us on the Civic Media Network.
My name is Greg Bach.
Across the way, in a matter of speaking, is Pete Schwabba.
And in Madison is Mr. Dom Lee.
If you want to be part of the conversation, 855-752-4842, 855-755-CIVIC.
You can leave a comment on the livestream.
We are currently streaming on Facebook, YouTube and the platform we still call Twitter.
Today is internet or it's, I don't know, it's national cold cuts day.
It's not international.
I don't know how the globe celebrates it, but today is national cold cuts day.
Just domestic.
Just domestic.
You're right.
Domestic cold cuts only.
Let us know your favorite cold cuts.
If you don't like them at all, that's fine too.
Any answer is a fine answer.
It's your opinion.
We are talking to Henry Redmond from the Wisconsin Examiner discussing his story about the Wisconsin assembly passing PFAS mitigation.
legislation after so many years of going back and forth on this.
And we're coming to the end of the legislative session, Henry, it is they're going on a long, it's a short work year over a year after the biennium budget.
Is there anything besides this that you're seeing coming through in these last few days that have like big things happening?
Is it seemed pretty standard issue going normal towards the end of it?
Or is there anything interesting to report as they are closing up shop for the rest of the year?
Yeah, well, there's this ongoing back-and-forth between the governor and Republicans over this kind of joint Public schools funding property tax relief compromise.
They're trying to find Yet to be seen if they're gonna reach a deal if they do the assembly is gonna have to come back in a special or extraordinary session and then otherwise there's been this fight going on the whole session over
reauthorizing the Knowles Nelson stewardship program, which has funded public lands acquisition all across the state for about 40 years now, and it is set to expire this summer unless they reauthorize it.
The assembly has passed a bill.
Lots of people have problems with that bill.
It got pulled off the schedule in the Senate last month, so that's really up in the air.
kind of the big thing I've been watching as this legislature wraps up.
I just want to, this is kind of for both of you guys, you know, there's, there's, you know, like, are you confident when they test local drinking water that are being transparent with the results?
Just to go back to the PFAS thing for a minute.
And, you know, they're saying use certified specialized filters.
How effective are the filters?
Like I've heard
You know contradictory information on those two you don't know what you know You can't drink out of aluminum because I can give you Alzheimer's like where you supposed to get your water seriously I
mean
I can't speak for anybody else, but like I live on, I live in southeastern Wisconsin and, and along the shorelines here, we're seeing Milwaukee, especially cause back in the nineties, they had cryptosporidium.
But
we're seeing has an excellent filtration system.
Kenosha has an X. So for me personally, I just sort of trusted me like I feel fine.
I'm not, I'm not hurting nothing's, nothing's turning colors.
So I kind of just trust my government.
I know that sounds weird, but I trust my government be doing the work and something changes.
They'll let me know.
But yeah, I mean, that's as far as, I mean,
yeah
yeah those municipal systems are you know under so many requirements from both the state and the feds um and you know you know madison even which has had a PFAS problem you know painted managed it i think unless you're getting a private well or you know you're in wasa which has spent millions of dollars you know currently installing there
mitigation system.
I think, you know, the tap water is largely fine.
Okay.
I'm
glad
to hear
that.
I honestly, I just, I just don't know.
You don't
know.
Well, I mean, you can also, you can also call your municipality and ask them about the water filtration systems they have in place.
And I don't think that personally, I don't feel like they have a reason to lie to you.
I mean, they're going to be upfront.
If there's a PFAS problem, they're upfront and they're telling you now.
But I
would
say if you have questions, call the municipality and say, what is the processes?
What do we do to make sure the water is safe and go from there?
Now I got to worry about the lead pipes too, though, Greg.
Well, yeah, you should always worry about the lead pipes.
You shouldn't start worrying about them now, but we are talking to Henry, Henry Redmond from the Wisconsin examiner about his article.
I think this is, I think this is good news.
It is compromised.
It is bipartisan about taking care of the PFAS mitigation bills that go in that went through the assembly are awaiting the Senate and then we'll be on the governor's desk.
Now we were talking about this earlier.
You said you had opinions on coal cuts, Henry.
Go.
Okay, so on a sandwich, I want like a spicy salami, crisp it up like bacon and then put it on like a panini.
If we're just eating cold cut straight, there's a local butcher in my neighborhood, meet people here in Madison that makes a lamb salami, like kind of Euro mix that is funky and definitely not for everybody, but I'm a big fan.
I think salami and bacon.
I'm just worried you're not getting enough sodium there.
You might want to add some salt to that.
Yeah, I'm kind
of with you.
It's not both on a sandwich.
The salami crisps up like bacon.
OK.
Because salami is one of the only ones I can really tolerate.
I can't eat bologna anymore.
Turkey's OK, but salami, there's something about salami mustard and maybe a slice of cheddar cheese.
It'll take you home every day.
OK, wow.
See,
I'm
just.
Henry,
would
he kill you to write an article about cold cuts?
I mean, I'm writing about ag pretty regularly.
It's not that far of a leap to get to processed beef.
Well, we will have this article in our show notes, as well as a link to all of Henry's work at the Wisconsin Examiner.
And heck, Dom, while you're in it, throw in Meet the People.
Meet People.
Is it called Meet the People?
Yeah.
Meet People.
I'm going to be in Madison next month, so I definitely going to hit that up.
That is for darn sure.
Henry, thank you so much for being here tonight.
We appreciate your time and your thoughts on the story.
Great.
Thanks for having me.
Thanks, Henry.
When we come back, we are going to be talking about the question of the day.
What is your favorite cold cuts in celebration of national cold cuts day, as well as a great conversation with a comedian, Kristen Toomey, all in the second hour after the news.
Don't go anywhere.
You're listening to nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach on the civic media network.
Dom is in Madison.
Thank you so much, folks.
Don't go anywhere.
Stay tuned.
Stay close.
Trying
to make sense of the world.
You've got nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
Call our toll-free number now.
Headlines, culture, and real conversation.
And
now, our feature presentation.
Here's Pete and Greg.
Pete and Greg, fun show.
Should we?
Is that better than I don't know the Pete and Greg Fun Show?
Does that have any that resonate?
They're not going to make new graphics at this point.
Welcome back.
We had a lot of fun.
Our number one talking to our new friend, Henry Redmond, who is a Wisconsin examiner reporter talking about PFAS that is all available in our number one in podcast form.
If you go
to
civicmedia.us, you can also hear Greg and I talking a little bit about cold cuts.
Talking to Dom about this and that.
Dom, we're doing a pretty good job of including you.
Would you say that's
accurate?
Yeah, you definitely are.
I feel involved.
I'm always excited to be on this show.
I always have the hype.
Just checking
in with
you.
So the check did clear.
Good
to know.
Good to know.
Lots of fun coming up this hour to comedian Kristen Toomey will be here the very funny Kristen Toomey
Yes, I
will say Greg one of my best friends is comedian Mike Toomey They're both Chicagoans no relation as I understand it and I just became familiar recently with Kristen Toomey's comedy stylings and she is hilarious
If there was another one with the same last name we wouldn't be too many move three me right be like
No
three me, John three me.
I love that.
That's a three tiered show right there.
Headliner.
Yeah.
Opener.
So we, we did that.
What else did we do, Greg?
We did the question of the night.
We had a little, our big three things.
It's all available folks.
If
you want to catch the
first hour.
So go
to
second media.us.
Our Dom, I think it's time we got to reintroduce our question of the night.
Well, it is National Cold Cut Day and it's about time.
So how do you feel about cold cuts and what is your favorite if you have one?
Do you feel about cold
cut
meats?
Yeah, the cured meats.
It's a whole family.
I Listen, I I'm gonna be honest.
I put on social media.
No cold cuts.
I don't ever have to eat them I don't think they're particularly healthy.
Not that I'm a picture of health, but I do
I love a good, if it's made in the right deli with some good Italian seasoning or dressing
or something, I
love a good cold cut sandwich, but I never make it at home.
I never make a sandwich like that at home.
Oh, what about you, Greg?
I don't
know.
I don't, okay.
So I don't make a lot of sandwiches at home anymore, but when I did, I would always, it would use, it would usually be a turkey or a nice slice of London broil, which is as a cold cut.
We don't, we just, I feel like people sleep on.
That's not a cold cut, is it?
It's not.
It's a piece of shaved meat.
I mean, it looks like every other piece of shaved.
Yeah, a piece of London broil with a slice of Munster.
Oh my goodness gracious.
I also grew up every single day in school.
Monday through Friday, I always had a bologna sandwich.
So I'm adept at the, but now for me, I would say because I don't partake in cold cuts a lot,
I always gravitate towards a good pastrami.
Mmm, yes.
I love a pastrami.
I do too.
I will say, like I say, cold cuts kind of gross me out.
But if you heat it up like an Italian beef sandwich, forget
about it.
I
love it.
Pastrami, a good Reuben sandwich.
It's the cold, because I'm with you like when I was growing up.
I had a bologna sandwich and at some point I just looked at it and I went, that's really gross.
And I
don't know when that happened.
But hey, Dom, do we have that clip?
To me, okay, at first I want to preface this by saying the word bologna is funny.
Because it's not spelled the way it sounds.
It's bologna.
Bologna.
So one of my funniest TV characters singing about bologna.
Here you go, Dom.
My bologna has a first name.
It's a Joe M. E. R. My bologna has a second name.
It's a Joe M. E.
R. That's
it.
He's so stupid.
What's funny is that I grew up with the bologna sandwiches, you know, the packaged bologna.
You got the grocery store, but it wasn't until last year when I went to Memphis, Tennessee.
And I had a bologna sandwich barbecue, like Tennessee style.
And it was,
it
was like nearly an inch thick bologna.
It was just, it was amazing.
And I wanted to eat like, and they were, they were not cheap.
And I was like, I ate it.
And I said, I want another one right now.
It was so, so.
So good, uh, Bridget listening right now texting in, uh, saying turkey breast with Mayo and veggies.
Okay.
Oh
yeah.
I could roll with that.
I like that.
I like that a lot.
Uh, Stacy Sue Johnson says shaved hard salami.
That, that just doesn't, it sounds horrible.
Hey, Stacy, live your life.
I
know you enjoyed that.
I shouldn't say that.
I think initially.
I think mustard is the savior of cold cuts, because that's what I used to have on bologna.
And to me, the mustard was such a pungent taste
that I could
muscle down the bologna.
But like I said, hard salami or salami.
It's got the little white specks in it that's basically fat, right?
So that I was kind of like, but like I said, you put a piece of cheddar cheese or some mustard on that.
It's outstanding.
JB Thompson on the stream says, is there a national day for everything?
Yes.
Yep.
He says cold cut platter was the predecessor to pizza for company award parties.
Thank you for all that.
Thank you for all that you do.
Pete's been working here for 35 years.
Here's a watch and a sandwich
Crackers
crack is ham.
Oh crack is ham.
That's a that's like that's a that's a high-end type of ham It's like boar's head.
Crack is ham.
I don't think I know that It's a it's a label.
Yeah, okay.
We have we have some calls on the line, too We got Ali in the Northwoods Ali good to hear from you friend.
What would say you about the question of the night?
He stole my answer.
I was gonna sing you the Oscar Mayer song.
Please do.
Come on, Ollie.
You can still sing it.
My baloney has a first name.
It's B-O-L-G-N-A.
My baloney has a second name.
It's O-S-E-A-R.
Yeah.
Oh, thank
you, Ollie.
We did that.
That was much better than Homer Simpson, Ollie.
Very well done.
Thank you so much, Ollie.
We appreciate it.
Thank you so much for calling in.
There are some, there are some on here in the list.
So like olive loaf is considered a cold cut liverwurst.
I cannot do the worst.
Sorry.
I grew
up with like the pimento loaf.
What is appealing about that?
What was going on in the board room?
We've got a really gross meat here.
Let's put something even grosser to take away the attention from the gross foundation of the sandwich.
Guys, we have a problem here.
We have a ton of ham laying around, and not the good ham either.
It's shiny, sweaty ham.
And we have about 32 pounds of olives.
Green pimento stuffed olives.
What do we do?
And then one guy in the back goes, get ready to start printing money.
Blender.
Yeah.
Dave on the stream says, hard salami or pastrami.
Yeah, those are probably my two, too.
That's a good choice,
Dave.
I love it.
But what's also on this list?
I'm going to look, I'm going to look it up right now while we take another call.
Cindy from Appleton is on the line.
Cindy, what say you about cold cuts?
Well, I usually turn mine into a hot cut because I make a ham and cheese grilled, you know, grilled ham and
cheese.
There
you go.
That's the best thing to do to a cut that is cold.
Cook it.
Make it hot.
Make it a hot cut.
I like it good.
Henry was talking about it before.
I love a good panini.
Like there's something about a panini is super, super delicious.
One of the things that is listed, cause I looked it up on the Googles and it said, thank you so much by the way, Cindy for
calling.
I really appreciate
hearing from you.
Types of common cold cuts is also head cheese.
Oh, that's really gross, which.
Do you know what head cheese is, Dom?
By the look on your face, you don't.
No, I was just gonna ask, what is head cheese?
Would you like a definition of what head cheese is, my friend?
Yes, give it to me.
Do you have a bucket?
Yeah, yeah around you
or a big bag
Yeah, something like that or just in your hand or in or into your thrifted sweatshirt Just don't puke on the board.
This is this is a definition by the googles head cheese is a terrine of meat jelly made from flesh of a calf's or pig's head set in aspic and is not a dairy cheese
Somehow what you just described is not as gross as the word head cheese.
Yeah, I don't know
Turin, aspic, jelly.
No, thank you.
But it's a cold
cut.
Yeah,
it's a cold cut.
Mike Desitel on social media says, I'm normally just a belogna guy, but I'll never turn down the Kato Salami.
You can keep your olive loaf.
That's where he draws the line.
Tim Baker says, head cheese in all caps.
That's very important.
Disgusting.
Dick on social media says, my baloney is the first name.
It's O-S-E-A-R, my baloney is second name, M-A-Y-E-R, or I love to eat it every, he just kind of typed the song.
Where he gets sued by the Oscar Meyer company, I'm just gonna get sued for copyright infringement.
What do you feel, okay, so this to me, I know it's a cold cut and you know, but to me it's one of the fanciest of cold cuts and that is a prosciutto.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, that's less
gross for some reason.
I
don't know why wrapped around a piece of string cheese.
You
know, I put string cheese right up there with baloney.
I'm not a fan.
I'm I'm sorry.
What?
What did you just what
especially when people eat it like when they just put it in their mouth like it's a hot dog and take a bite I Understand
the things that upset you are so weird.
I mean you're upset by people eating cheese So okay, so okay, let me get this right mr. Individualist you want everyone to eat string cheese the way you eat it I
don't want to see people eating string cheese ideally, but if they have to do it That's what I prefer and I don't think I'm asking too much
in a purse so so that
Maybe maybe we get a senior senior producer Tucker says boo string cheese all the way.
Thank you Tucker I'm glad you at least have some taste and brains in this operation my goodness everyone's against me so do you so do you so it's just Okay, I'm on this now.
Okay, so string cheese.
What's your so you don't like string cheese?
You don't like the people who eat string cheese You don't like kids dogs.
You like dogs too just not puppies.
I like
dogs.
I do not like puppies I got no use for puppies or kids
Wow
Daniel Wheeler on the social media says much like happy Gilmore.
I enjoy the cold cut combo from Subway Sean Boy says Gabba ghoul soprano style.
Oh, he went he does a town he makes it ethnic see what he did there
Capicola, I always feel like I'm saying Capicola wrong and I'm insulting Italian But is it because it just did Capicola?
It doesn't sound like it should be said like that
That is true It is actually said like that because I was I worked at Jimmy John's and that's what they all they said They said use Capicola, so I know it is Capicola
Jimmy John's is our is our barometer for Italian interpretation of culture and food
You're Italian too Dom and you're deferring to Jimmy John.
I just I worked there for so long
Scott on social media says my wife's comments on my clothing styles are the best cold cuts.
Okay.
Oh boy Ian on social media says the spicy taste of a cold
Give me tar blade in the guts of me enemies.
Yeah.
Okay.
Actually a nice lean corned beef.
Oh, I forgot about corned beef.
Yeah, corned
beef is always good.
He says
every cardiologist within 10 miles of me looks up suddenly when I bite into it and says there is a disturbance in the force.
He had to work Star Wars into it.
You had me Ian and then you lost me with the Star Wars.
String cheese, kittens, puppies and Star
Wars.
Look, if I had a nickel for every time I sat in a movie theater watching Star Wars and someone was eating string cheese, the wrong way.
I'd be a rich man.
So there you go.
We got some... Oh, Richard says balona, baloney, balogna.
Not
the chicken turkey Frankenstein version.
I'm so confused by that.
Okay.
All right, well...
when we come back, the fantastic Kristen Toomey will be here talking
about comedy.
Comedy Chicago.
Her show's coming up this weekend, but don't go anywhere.
Stick around.
You are listening to Night Light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach here on the Civic Media Network.
Stay tuned and stay close.
Welcome back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
My name is Greg Bach across the table for me in a manner of speaking.
is Mr. Peach Waba, and we are here for you on the Civic Media Network.
We got Dom Lee in Madison on the ones and twos, and you can be part of the conversation.
Call or text the number is 855-752-4842-855-75.
Civic, leave a comment on the live stream.
We're currently streaming on Facebook, YouTube, and the platform.
We still call Twitter.
Very happy to have you here tonight.
You can also lodge a thought question complaint about cold cuts.
Pete has many on regarding cold cuts, especially don't get him started on string cheese.
apparently, because that's a thing.
But it
just be part of something else.
Did she ban a cracker or something?
Cheese on its own.
I had blue cheese today on a salad.
It was great.
I wouldn't take a fistful of blue cheese and muscle it down,
though.
All right.
Really?
OK.
I'm just, I just, this is a whole new, whole new facet, a whole new side.
Like, like you are like, you just look at, you look at plain old cheese by itself and you're like, get off my property.
Yeah.
Not a fan.
All right.
Well, maybe you'll be a fan of our next guest.
She is a comedian from Chicago.
She's appearing this Saturday at Q's bar and river deck in Prairie du Sac at eight PM.
Please welcome to the show.
Chicago's very own, Kristen Toomey.
Good evening, Kristen.
How are you this evening?
Hello, fellas.
How are you?
You guys were giving me the meat sweats with all
that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I shouldn't be.
Talking either.
I had tacos for lunch and I'm so full.
But I'm like, you know, a pastrami is really delicious.
You said
you, you said you ate a Chipotle.
What's your Chipotle order, Kristen?
Well, today I got a veggie bowl.
But normally I get the chicken bowl, but I feel like they're weird with the chicken lately.
What do you mean?
You know, you used to get like one scary piece.
And now I feel like the bowls are like 90% the scary pieces.
And so I just went full veggie with the black bean today.
Have you gotten their vegan meat option?
I can't remember the name of it.
It's possible.
It's very delicious.
I've had
it
many, many times.
No
scary pieces.
No scary pieces.
Maybe I'll check it out.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There is nothing worse when you bite into a piece of chicken grizzle that it's kind of like the chicken having a last laugh.
It's
so horrible.
It is the worst feeling.
I'm sure there's worse feelings, but yeah, I'm with you totally.
The veggie all the way, baby.
Nope, that's the worst feeling.
Pete Schwab has said it right here.
There are no worse feelings than biting into some chicken and being thoroughly inconvenienced.
They used to do that in Gitmo.
Here, eat
this.
Yeah, exactly.
Kristen, it's great to have you here.
Tell us about this show.
You got this great show coming up in Prairie to Sack at Cube Bar in Riverdeck, March 7th, as Greg mentioned.
What will that be like for people?
Do you have a couple of comics going up in front of you?
Have you worked there before?
I think I have Jim McHugh and Des Maloney.
Oh, Des Maloney, sure.
Maloney, yeah.
Lil' Cutie, I think he played like Doug Stanhope in a movie, didn't he?
Something like that?
He did.
It was funny because I played a club owner in that movie.
Did
you?
And I used to be a comedian, so I got to take out all my aggression on every club owner I ever did not like.
That's who I based the character on.
But Des plays the lead role.
Well, Stan Hope, I guess, is the lead role.
Dez played his kid and I was only on the set for like a day, but they were both great.
And Dez is a good guy and Stan Hope was really funny.
So
great.
Yeah.
So he's on the show and then me, you know, I'll be closing it out.
And I have never been to Q's bar.
So I'm excited to head up that way and see how it goes.
How long have you now?
How long have you been doing stand up?
Cause I mean, you, I got to know you through the Chicago scene.
long time ago, but I believe you were doing it before I was.
How long have you been doing stand up now?
Uh, I'm going on seven 18 years almost.
Okay.
All
right.
Yeah.
Um, you know, just keeping busy.
And this year I had a special come out.
It's on Apple TV.
It's called shriller.
Yeah.
Um, people can watch that.
It's on, um, comedy dynamics and yeah, it's been going, you know, keeping busy.
Yeah.
Have you worked, you work Wisconsin frequently or have you been here several times?
Uh, I work Wisconsin pretty often.
Um, I was just up in West Bend and, you know, I'll do like Kenosha or Madison.
Um, but yeah, I love, I love Wisconsin.
I feel like I get a great response from the rooms I do and, you know, Oh my gosh.
So I was booked at this.
Brewery and Kenosha on that Bears Packers game, you know.
Yeah.
Wow.
And I thought no one's going to be at this show.
And I pull up and it says it's closed for a private event and there's people in there.
So I'm thinking, oh, wow, people showed up.
I walk in and I noticed there's poster boards with pictures of this person all over it.
And then I start to notice that people are crying and that there's a projector.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, this is a funeral.
And I'm thinking, where am I going to go up?
What am I going to open with?
And I don't see any other comedian.
So I go up to the owner and I said, you know, when does the comedy show start?
And he looked at me like, are you insane?
This is clearly a funeral.
And I got the wrong day.
Oh, I just showed up at this person's funeral and asked, what time do I go up?
And the fact that I was going to do it is the problem.
That's dedication.
That's the way too long where I'm like, what do I open with, you know?
Well, I will say this, if you're having a funeral or a wake or a memorial service in a in a brewery, I say you are right to go up and say, hey,
And maybe you weren't booked, but you could even be like, hey, I'll do 15 for you.
Get everyone laughing.
I was thinking this person must have really loved comedy, my
goodness.
That's so great.
And I would have been like, I would have been too embarrassed to say I got the date wrong.
I would have said, well, John was a very good friend of mine, went
up and kneeled down instead of prayer
and bailed, you know?
Uh, we're going to talk more with Kristen to me on the other side of the break, but don't go anywhere.
Uh, we are here on the civic media network.
You are listening to night light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
That's us.
Dom is a mess.
And if you want to give a call or text 8557 5248 4 2 8557 5 civically the comment on the live stream, let us know about your favorite cold cut.
We're still taking information.
It's okay till taking opinions on it too.
I mean, Pete's got a lot of hard opinions on these foods, but forget it.
Yeah, he's over or if you have a
question for Kristen.
Let
us know.
Yes, of course, of course if you want her to play your funeral She's That's a possibility, but don't go anywhere you listen in nightlight with Pete Schwab and Greg Bach here on the Civic Meeting Network Stay tuned stay close
Welcome back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach here on the Civic Media Network.
My name is Greg Bach and across the table from me in a manner of speaking is Pete Schwabba and we are here for you until 7pm and you can always be part of the conversation.
855-752-4842-855-757.
Leave a comment on the live stream.
You can always get a hold of us on Facebook, YouTube or the platform.
We still call Twitter.
Still time to register your thoughts on cold cuts.
National cold cuts day.
What are your ideas?
Your likes, dislikes.
your very weird beliefs on string cheese.
Let us know.
I'd love to hear from you.
And also you can also send a question to our guest.
Comedian Kristen Toomey is here today.
Tonight, she is our second guest this evening.
She will be performing at Q's Bar and River Deck in Prairie du Sac this Saturday at 8 p.m.
I have been told though, via the live stream, if you want to get tickets, get them now because as of today, there are merely four seats remaining of this 80 seat venue.
Anticipation for the show is building.
So like basically it's like a sellout in my opinion.
Like your four seats away from a sellout, Kristen.
Wonderful.
You know, maybe we could sit and lap up.
I don't know.
Sit on someone's lap.
There
you go.
There you go.
That's almost like Zaney's, like an 80 seat venue.
That's intimate.
Do you like that, Kristen?
Like when you're doing comedy, if it's on an outdoor festival or something, do you like a more intimate setting?
Yeah, I do.
I think as long as it's not too intimate,
like
nobody's there.
Like in your living room,
yeah.
One time I was doing a club in Peoria and only one person showed up.
And
so
I just sat in the lobby and talked to her for 45 minutes.
That was my whole set.
But that was like 10 years ago.
But yeah, I prefer small, like 80, 100, maybe 200, even up to three.
It's nice.
You can still kind of connect with people.
But, you know, doing the big rooms and that's fun every once in a while just for the thrill of it and like the, you know, experience hearing that big
laugh.
I prefer, you know, anywhere from 50 to 200 is probably the sweet spot.
Yeah.
Do you Pete brought up outdoor festival or something?
What does your heart say to you?
Look, what happens inside your brain when someone says, Oh, the show is outdoors.
Oh, no.
Yeah.
Or, or you're opening for a band.
Oh, I've done that.
It's so hard.
Yeah.
No, I've done that indoors, even
Opening for a band is really hard, but outdoors.
I remember I did oddball festival years
ago and
they put me on the stage in the parking lot People are just walking by into the venue and me and it was like big J. O'Gerson and you know a couple other comedians on this Parking lot stage and people are just like glancing over the laughs are just going into the ether and yeah pretty
It toughens you up.
It's like running underwater.
If you can get anything in that situation, it's great.
Do you work the road a lot?
I remember in the 90s, you could work all year and not leave Chicago.
And that was one of the perks to being there, but then nobody ever sees you outside of Chicago.
Where do you travel to and where are your favorite cities to work if you have one?
Well, I do love Chicago.
I always feel like I can trust the audience here so much on new material.
And, but I love the Midwest.
I mean, I really, I do all the Midwest rooms and enjoy that.
I love Canada.
Winnipeg, I was just there doing rumors, which is a fantastic club.
And I really like Canadians.
I have a little kink for Canadian men.
I love them.
Very attractive.
So I love a Canadian man.
And, yeah, but I'll go anywhere.
That's the thing, anywhere.
Just perform in new places all the time.
I don't mean to belabor the Canadian man thing, but like, is there, what is it about the Canadian man?
Is it the educated Canadian man, the guy in the Canadian Rockies?
What kind of, because I remember I work Canada, and I like all Canadians.
Yeah, me too.
I like the women too.
But I think,
There's just something about their humor that I appreciate and they're kind, but not weak, you know?
Like, this
is a strength.
And I think, obviously I'm generalizing, but just in my head, I think they're kind of rugged and resourceful in a way that's attractive.
And I think the way this, their country is set up, it's just more like compassionate in some ways that I find attractive.
Hmm great answer.
Yeah, that's a great I you know when it comes to like the hierarchy of the funniest people I always find that like New Zealanders Australians the English Canadians people from there like a lot of folks from African countries their humor is just so There's such a dry nest to their humor their jokes come out of nowhere And you're just like oh that was really funny and you said that without even like thinking about it.
It just
came out of your system, whereas I'm sitting here like, be the funniest person, be the funniest, and never the funniest person ever, but they're just funny by default.
Yeah, you know, it's funny because I was just helping with the standup class at DePaul University last
night
with the students there.
And as a high school dropout, I always get a kick out of walking in there with a little smirk that I'm helping the professor.
But anyway, you know, I was trying to tell the students like,
every comedian or every comic has a rhythm and I notice like to your point other um and it's like finding your own rhythm and other cultures their comedy has different rhythms and if you listen to it you can hear like Australia they'll have like different pauses and um the laughs come in different spots you know
and
it's
all over the world so it's really interesting and yeah I think I have a an ear for the Canadian one
Yeah.
Our guest is Kristen Toomey, folks.
You can see her at Q's Bar in Riverdeck, March 7th in Prairie de Sac, Wisconsin Showtime is at 8 p.m.
There were four seats available about seven minutes ago.
I don't
know if
they're still available, but move fast, people.
You can check out her comedy special, Kristen Toomey Shriller on Apple TV, and it looks like a few other platforms as well.
Who makes you laugh, Kristen?
Like, when you're flipping around the dial at night and a comedian comes on, who would you not turn off?
I would, well, there's quite a few.
And I'm one of the few comedians that actually probably watches comedy still.
Even
after all these years, I still really need it sometimes and I admire it and respect it.
But I would say Cat Williams is always somebody that makes me laugh.
I'm always, I'm just in awe of this guy, Chris Fleming.
I don't know if you've heard
of him.
He's a newer comedian, but you got to look him up.
He just had a special come out on HBO a couple days ago.
It's doing fantastic.
But I saw him on my birthday in a small room at Lincoln Lodge last year when he was running his hour the night before he taped it.
And he's just so brilliant.
And so he is definitely somebody that you should look out for and check
out.
Who in outside of comedy are the people you go to for the funniest world?
Like, you know, is it parents?
Is it kids?
Is it, you know, friends?
Like I find that making my family laugh so hard is like the best thing for me.
Like it's I love making an audience laugh, but making my family laugh I'm like, oh, I think I might I might be funny because they're laughing and I'm not even trying right now.
Yeah, I mean, I'll make a lady at the grocery store laugh.
I love to laugh.
That's how I connect with people.
I really feel close to somebody.
If I'm laughing with them, that's
really
my favorite thing in life.
So, but the best, you know, I'm lucky.
I grew up with a lot of very funny people in my friend group in high school, very talented artists that were very funny creatives.
And, you know, so that my kids are very funny.
Both of them have unique sense of humor, a little bit different than mine, but I appreciate them.
Very quick-witted.
And yeah, my parents both are funny in their own way.
My mom insists that she's funny.
I don't know that
she.
I'm funny, dammit.
She's very
cinematic, I
want to
say.
She's a very dramatic kind of person.
And my dad is funny,
though.
Yeah.
There's nothing better than funny kids.
Funny kids are like, it's kind of a bonus.
Like you're not expecting your kids to make you laugh so much, so I totally agree with you there.
Let me just give this.
Is it easier for women now to work the road?
Because I remember in the 90s, I always felt like, oh my god, I would not want to be a woman sharing a condo with other guy comics because
I don't want to generalize either, but some of them were just pigs.
And I remember club owners saying like, well, I'm going to put you in a hotel because sometimes the guys might want to walk around and they're all together.
That was a direct quote from a club owner.
So they had to put, now she was probably better off in a hotel, but it's just like, what on earth has it gotten any better?
Yeah.
Well, I mean, the condos are probably like pretty much gone now.
Okay.
I think everybody's doing Airbnbs or
or hotel rooms.
And I think it's better in that way.
Like I don't have to worry about, although I have shared Airbnb with strange features and they've been wonderful, the men, you know, it's like they were great.
But yeah, I think it is a little bit better than I don't know what those women went through.
I don't know how they did that.
But yeah, I think it's also a little scary to travel alone as a woman.
just in general you know you have your head
on
a swivel and I have like my parents I check in with and people I check in with if I'm alone and and I do prefer like a hotel for safety reasons and things like that but most of the time I'm hanging out with the comics and I feel like comics nowadays I feel safe around them I don't feel I never feel like I'm in an awkward
situation and, you know, it helps to be sober.
I'm a sober person.
So
I'm not,
you know, hanging out after and making a mess.
And so that helps.
Yeah.
There's, there is something to be said to about just like, you're done with the show.
You've shaken all the hands.
You've said good night.
And then you're like, I'm going back to the hotel room.
And it's like, it's like,
10 o'clock 11 o'clock at night.
You're like, I'm going to bed now.
This
is going to be great.
I can't
wait.
I've got like a skincare routine.
Yeah.
My pajamas at 11 o'clock
and I'm
not, you know, I'm listening to music and playing solitaire in the bed and I'm not out doing anything.
You know, maybe I'll get a Snickers bar if I'm feeling like really wild.
So who did you grow up watching Kristen?
Like, was there a moment and a twofold question?
Who was your idol when you were younger when it came to comedy, not your family, an actual comedian?
And when was that moment that you knew I can do this?
Well, you know, my idol growing up was Lucille Ball, obviously, you know, I was, I was a, I was home a lot sick as a kid, you know, and so I would just watch her all day.
And I think it really got in there in almost like a cable guy kind of way.
And then I remember
Sneaking into see Paula Poundstone Community College eight years old and that was the first time I'd seen anybody do stand-up and
I
watched from the catwalk in the theater and she was doing crowd work and I I thought she had planted those people I didn't know how she was doing it was so brilliant and I mean if you go back and watch her and crowd work was amazing and I guess and I Was just blown away by that
And, but as far as like me thinking when, when I could do it, I mean, I was a very shy person and performing was very like, I would get very nervous and shy and I wouldn't audition for things.
So that was, this is earned, this confidence is earned over these years, but, you know, I'm still not sure if I could do it some days.
So I don't know when I clicked.
I don't know.
I just keep doing it regardless how I feel about it.
Yeah.
Well, if you live in the Prairie DuSac area and you act right now, you can see Kristen this Saturday at Q's Bar and River Deck in Prairie DuSac this Saturday at 8 p.m.
Get your tickets before they're gone.
They're almost gone.
Kristen Toomey, thank you so much for being here tonight.
We really appreciate you and love talking to
you.
Thank you guys so much.
And this is great.
I can't wait to watch this all the time now.
I love you.
Please.
Put it on your credits.
All right.
Thanks, Kristen.
All right.
When we come back, a handy tip from Pete and Greg.
Don't go anywhere.
You're listening to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach here on the Civic Media Radio Network, Dom Lee in Madison.
Stay tuned.
Stay close.
Get lucky.
Welcome
back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
My name is Greg Bach.
Across the table, in a manner of speaking, is Mr. Pete Schwabba.
We have Dom Lee in Madison on the Ones and Twos.
And we're happy that you are joining us this evening.
We're almost out of here, but don't go anywhere.
There's still more programming ahead.
Great stuff here on Civic Media.
If you ever want to catch up, go to civicmedia.us slash shows.
Find your favorite show like Nightlight with Pete Schwab and Greg Bach.
You can download episodes, take them with you wherever you go.
You can also download the Civic Media app.
It's app, absolutely free.
And you can listen to shows, talk, you can listen to music programs, you can
call, text, leave a voice note.
You can participate in text to win contests.
You can get your news there.
It's all right there on the Civic Media app.
Tons of ways to stay in touch with what's going on with our network, and we appreciate you being here.
Any last comments on cold cuts, 855-752-4842, 855-75 Civic.
You can also get us on Facebook, YouTube, and the platform we still call Twitter to get us your cold cut thoughts.
on National Cold Cut Day, Pete.
You said you had some more, you had some more messages to talk about?
There are a couple of social media responses we didn't get to.
Bill says, I don't eat no meat.
Okay.
Not happy about the double negative, but he's health conscious.
That's good.
And then Vicki Svakina, just...
Just put a puke emoji.
Just
Vicki is fine.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Really?
Cold cuts get a puke emoji?
That's not.
She's got a puke emoji.
Listen, people feel strongly about stuff.
I'm not.
I guess so.
And
I'm not here to judge.
OK.
You look at a piece of turkey and you're like, Bulk?
I don't understand it.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know if people think of turkey, though.
That could be part of the problem.
Because I don't typically like cold cuts, but I think a turkey might.
Who doesn't love a turkey sandwich?
I mean, exactly.
Smoked, roasted, chicken breast, chicken loaf?
No.
Nope, nope, nope, nope.
Anything with
loaf in it?
Anything with loaf in it?
Wait, you
like the loaf in
the name?
No, I don't.
Oh, yeah, same.
I like meatloaf.
I like meatloaf if it's made well, but I don't like, but like chicken loaf or...
Olive
loaf.
Olive loaf.
It's funny.
It's really, we know what's really funny about olive loaf
is the
fact that, no, well, true, true.
Nothing is funny about olive loaf.
But you think it would be called ham loaf because ham is the majority of the product.
Like when you look at, like you think, I think ham and the pimento olives are part of it.
They're almost like, you know, I
don't want to say
sweetener.
So why do we call it olive loaf instead of ham loaf?
It's just, it's awful all the way around.
Yeah.
I have no idea.
Disgusting.
Maybe that's a deal breaker for some people.
But on top of that though,
We need another two hours.
Okay.
Um, to discuss the
loaf,
I
enjoy
ham.
I enjoy ham.
I enjoy green olives.
If you put them together, I don't think you're my friend.
So
that
just,
yeah.
Dami, you taking notes?
I'm writing all of this down.
We're going to get a meat expert in soon.
So, well, I'm, I'm ready.
I'm ready.
From Jimmy John's.
From Jimmy John's.
Get your cold cuts.
He has to lean off camera to take a bite of this olive loaf sandwich.
Not to feel the wrath of Greg.
Oh, it's, it's
olive loaf brown swagger on a, on a, on a soggy piece of rye.
That's awful.
All right.
With that in mind, let's bring it down.
Let's not bring it down.
Let's bring it to a close with a handy tip from Pete and Greg.
So we were talking about this over the live stream before during the break during the secret
show
and we were talking about Presence we were talking about puzzles and then we started talking about buying presents and Pete you said that you're bad at giving gifts
the worst
Dom you said you kind of were shaking your head too.
I'm thinking that maybe this is my tip.
This is my tip and it just all it does is require Not know it's just being aware
when someone you like or love, spouse, partner, parent, sibling, simply says something like, Hey, I like this thing.
Oh, this thing.
Oh, this was like, like I was in a bookstore with my wife in Madison and she saw a great Gatsby puzzle.
And she just said, Oh, this is really cool.
I just wrote it down and took a picture and I bought it for her for Christmas.
And I, those are my favorite prizes.
I don't like, my wife does not require.
Like she's not, she's not a jewelry person.
She doesn't expect a car with a bow on it.
But what I like to do is I like to give her those presents where it's the thing of when she sees it, she remembers it from months before that.
And I just, and I, I will admit, I do take a moment like, yeah, I'm best husband ever.
But those are the moments that are amazing.
Like you can buy them something that's very expensive.
But if you get them something they mentioned six months ago and you just say, yeah, you mentioned it.
So I thought, I thought, I thought that you should have it.
That is.
Awesome.
So that's my tip.
Be aware for present giving.
It
shows
you're paying attention.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think it's very, very...
Here's the thing.
I do get my wife a car typically every Christmas.
Wow.
But I don't go for the brand new fully loaded pickup.
I got her a 78 Chevette last year.
Nice.
Well...
It's still a car.
Wow.
Technically speaking, it is a car.
You cannot get around that piece of information.
It is a car.
It has four wheels and a motor.
And I believe once your wife said back in 1981, I'd love a 71 Chevette.
I catalogued it.
See that?
Exactly.
You remember the puzzle.
I remember what she said 30 years ago.
And I think that puts me in another category.
I try to do my best.
I'm not a very good gift getter.
I typically, you know,
I'm in awe of people that do like you, like what you just said, Greg.
That's fantastic.
But everyone can do it.
It's easy.
It's easy.
Also, here's the experiences.
You can get them a gift.
You can buy them a buying, buying gift.
That's fine.
But if you say to them, hey, we're going to do a thing and here are three things we're going to do, those are fun too.
I like that.
See, I want time from people that I love the most.
I just spend time with me.
Let's hang out.
Let's make a memory.
I don't care.
I don't want more stuff.
I do not want more stuff.
Unless it's expensive
and I love those two tips just for a gift-giving and for making time and making memories love it and that is the
tip of the day.
All right
Nailed
it
All right.
On behalf of Pete, I would like to thank Dominic.
I would like to thank Tucker.
I would like to thank traffic and engineering for all of your work.
Without you, we talk into non-operational microphones.
Everyone who called or texted, everyone who sent a comment on the live stream.
Thank you so much for being on the show.
We appreciate it.
Without you, there's no us.
By the way, tomorrow we're talking to August Lamb.
He's a writer and activist who will be talking about how to live without a computer or a smartphone in the Midwest and talking to Susan Kerns, the executive director of Milwaukee film, the chat movies.
the latest news from the Milwaukee film events and showing.
So all that tomorrow.
But don't go anywhere.
Still more programming ahead.
We'll be back with Night Light with Pete Schwab and Greg Bach on Wednesday.
Have a great night, folks.
Stay tuned.
Stay close.
Good night, Wisconsin.
From Washington to Hollywood and right back to Wisconsin, it's Night Light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
Connecting the dots on the stories shaping our world with smart takes, sharp humor, and plenty of personality.
You know, I really expected more professional behavior from you.
It's news and culture without the noise.
Yeah, come on!
Here's Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
Dude!
Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach?
All in the same sentence.
What?
Hey, welcome to Night Light.
Everybody happy Tuesday.
It is great to have you here with us as we talk about all the things in life, well, some of the things in life that make us happy and some of the things that we just need to discuss.
Yeah.
And we've got both of them on the agenda tonight.
Sitting across from me in a manner of speaking is the awesomely talented Greg Bach.
Hey, buddy.
Good evening, everyone.
Good evening, Peter.
How are you doing today?
How was your day?
It was crazy.
It was I was all over the place It was one of those days where I had so much to do like house wise chore wise that kind
of
stuff But you know every day's a good day Greg, that's my outlook especially yeah when I have Walmart radio and What it's on in the store and they play tunes I haven't heard in 30 years Gotcha, and then they say take Walmart radio with you and I wondered to myself is anybody ever do that
Does anyone take Walmart radio with you?
Does
anybody listen to it outside of Walmart?
And it's not terrible.
It's not like it was bad.
It's just like who would do that
Huge fans of Walmart I like this stuff that like you're like you're just walking around all day long just looking at the ground going
yeah,
what do such a thing who would do that
and I get if look if there's a good tune on
And
you want to
keep it going?
You don't
want to
stand in loiter by the door.
So maybe you pull it, you know, pull out your smartphone, put the song on and you keep it, keep it rolling.
But I don't know, man.
It was just weird.
I wonder if anyone's ever done that.
Or just
listen
to it at home.
I didn't realize there was such thing as Walmart radio.
Yeah, that's interesting to me.
It's like its own street, like another, another streaming service.
And soon they'll be charging you for it.
Yeah.
Walmart radio plus.
Right.
It's like prime just with like, you know, less, you know.
Exactly.
Um, Hey, this is nightlight with Peach Wabba and Greg Bach.
And we are very happy to have you with us.
We got a lot of fun planned for tonight.
So hopefully we help you wind down your day in a very relaxed, um, atmosphere, I guess.
Like
the candles.
Like
the incense.
Oh, you
know what?
Candles would add some nice ambience.
Ambience?
What is?
You know what?
I love kids.
I love to calm down.
I love to just put some scoffs over the lamps and get some ambience.
Get some ambience up in the
air.
When I can't sleep at night, I take ambience.
It gives me weird
dreams.
Every once in a while, I slip into Moe from The Simpsons at the ambience, Homer.
So that's what I was going for.
Anyway.
Hey, we got a fun show, Greg.
We
got a great guest tonight.
Yes, we do.
We have from the Wisconsin examiner, Henry Redmond is going to be here talking about an article he wrote regarding good news out of Madison, bipartisan legislation, but like we'll check, we'll check out some of the catches in there regarding PFAS legislation, PFAS mitigation legislation.
Some bills went through to help with PFAS and before the show.
Pete, you said that that's a big deal in Marionette.
So it is.
Yeah.
Well, it's a big deal
everywhere.
But
yeah, for
sure up here in the Northeast Wisconsin.
Yeah, definitely.
And then in the second hour, we'll be welcoming standup comedian Kristen Toomey from Chicago.
From Chicago.
She probably says ambiance too.
Chicago.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So she'll be coming on talking about, she's got a show coming up this weekend at a place called Cues.
I get that actually.
Correct here.
I gotta I gotta I got a message from the owner today They said like it's pronounced cues cues bar and river deck in prairie du sac
So
we're talking more about that today on the show and then we'll be talking about we'll be talking about you know Just okay, you know cutting up having fun discussing our question of the day Pete by the way, what is our question of the day?
Dom, go for it.
Let's talk about the question.
Okay, question.
Question.
Question.
Pregunta.
Question.
Pregunta.
Question.
Okay,
I have
a
question.
Questions.
This question.
Domanda.
Question.
Question.
Questions.
Oh, so busy dancing, I forgot.
Okay, here we go.
How do you feel about cold cuts?
What is your favorite?
It is, ladies and gentlemen, national.
Cold cuts day.
It is
the
all-american meal.
It is.
It's a, it's a, you know, wedding, funeral, first Kenyumian, you name it.
Cold cut platter is always good stuff.
Yes.
If I heard, if I had like, let's say, let's say if I had 10 grand for every time I heard, will there be cold cuts there?
I'd have about maybe a hundred grand.
I've probably heard that 10 times in my life.
I'll take that kind of money.
My writer says I am to have a cold cut platter Have you ever seen that like when they you know you did stand up Greg like sometimes you go to the green room and they have like a They have like a cold if it's like a special show they have like
a cold
cut platter I remember is it the ice house once and they had cheese on there too and the cheese like starts to sweat It gets that weird film on it.
You know when it's been sitting out too long.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's shiny.
It's shiny
Especially when they're like little little square cheese cuts.
It's like and you're like you're like, oh, I can If I eat that still eat that so I still eat it
Like the the corners start to curl up because they are and then you get sweat on the cheese Dummy is still with us.
How you doing buddy Dom Lee ladies and gentlemen
not doing too bad.
I'm I'm excited for the question of the night I have a I have a juicy answer.
So I'm ready to
go
I have a delicious answer.
We'll keep everybody in suspenders for just a little bit here.
I
think mine is pretty simple.
I don't know.
I'm ardent in my belief in this, but we'll talk more about that in the second hour.
Maybe even find out what Kristen Toomey's favorite cold cut is.
I like to ask every guest a question tonight.
It's just a nice icebreaker, Greg.
And I like
how you said your ardent and your cold cut choice.
You got me
very
excited to do this.
But you can let us know throughout the course of the show, folks, at 855-752-4842-8555, 75 Civic.
You can also text us on the app.
Or if you're watching the radio on YouTube, Facebook, or X Twitter, you can drop us a stream comment.
Tom, is Facebook back up?
Did you get ahold of Zuckerberg?
Mark Zuckerberg told me that it should be good.
But he said, don't quote him.
He
was at one of his jujitsu lessons, probably.
He
was beating up the air while jet skiing.
So be part of the fun, folks.
And you can let us know whatever you're thinking on any topic
we
discuss here at
Nightlight.
We actually have a call from Greg in Waukesha on his favorite call.
I know, Greg in Waukesha.
Love it.
Good evening, Greg.
How are you doing?
Hey, buddy.
Hello, Pete.
Hello, Greg Bach.
My last call into your show, Pete, was BGB before Greg Bach.
Um, so we're going to call that the bgb era of the show.
Um, fair enough.
I like it.
Um, not to be confused with a bg era, but, uh, anyway, um, you know, this was a hard one and I'm honestly, um,
still
not sold on this answer, but, um, I'll have to go with turkey.
Um, even though I much prefer turkey, like warm,
like let's talk Thanksgiving turkey, like turkey as a cold cut is still good.
So we're going to go with that.
It's a safe one.
And yeah, that's what we'll go with.
All right, Greg.
Well, here's the best part is you can change your mind anytime you want.
And I'm going to say this, Greg, if you change your mind.
any time you call and let us know.
I don't care what we're talking
about.
Is Greg still there?
I think he's gone.
All right,
Greg, here's what I want you to know, Greg.
Listen to the show and see, I have a feeling Turkey's going to be number one, but we'll tally all that when we get there.
But I think Greg's answer is going to turn out to be very popular.
Thank you for the call,
Greg.
Yeah, absolutely.
We asked the hard questions.
We break stories.
Exactly.
Breaking news here.
Greg from Waukesha says his favorite cold cut is turkey.
Changes mind possibly.
And nobody could dispute that.
Like we can't get sued
for that.
I don't believe that his favorite cold cut is turkey.
I'm taking you to court.
It's just not that kind of story.
This is slander, my good man.
Slander!
Hey, should we get to our three big things?
I think we should get to our three things.
Dominic.
The first big story.
Holy gasoline Batman.
Oh my goodness.
Have you guys been seeing the prices go up?
What about like
Pete?
Have you seen the prices going up by your place?
You know what to be honest?
I just don't need gas right now But I got a text from my sister earlier who said gas went up 50 cents a gallon overnight in Marinette Which means in maybe Milwaukee or Madison you might be looking at a buck 75 cents I don't know but I'm that's kind of I should have filled up because I knew this was coming right because of the war
Well, we should have, I mean, yeah, you should have known there was a war coming, Pete.
You should have known.
You should have filled up last Friday.
The AP is reporting the price of a gallon of gas spiked overnight in the US and drivers overseas are filling up tanks.
I will say this, I've got quite a few gas stations by my house.
And this time, maybe even this weekend, the regular, or I would say before the bombings in Iran, it was like,
three, 30 something, three, 40 something.
I passed a quick trip today on the way here.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
249,
not
three, 249.
Today, passing the quick trip, it was 299 a gallon.
It's almost three bucks.
And that was, yeah.
Yeah.
Is, uh, are you guys seeing that?
Let us know eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five civic.
And, uh, it says here in this article, they talked to one person named Anne.
She said she paid $15 more than usual to fill up her tank at a gas station in Jackson, Mississippi today versus the previous week.
I mean, we're going to be seeing.
gas, gas prices go up because of the cost of oil.
And this is going to have a knock on effect this big old incursion in Iran.
But that is like the big thing I saw today driving in was the price of gas.
I mean, I actually had to like, look twice be like, I'm looking at, am I looking at the right?
Is this the diesel price?
Nope.
It's the unleaded price 2.99 a gallon.
Yeah, it's weird.
I don't really pay attention to gas prices that much I have to be honest like I notice when they're low and I try to fill up then but they're never going back to what they were 20 30 40 years ago It's just they're always gonna be high.
So I this is a concern because if you have a 20 gallon tank I have an old Toyota Land Cruiser with like that that's gonna cost me the same with the The social media user another
10
or 15 bucks just to fill it up once.
Yeah,
that adds up over here
Well, and the other thing too to take in consideration is you think about how much gas prices were even 10 years ago.
They were still in the $2, $3, you know, this hovering between, you know, the low twos into the mid threes to maybe even four, like that's where we've been sitting for a very long time.
Plus when the price of oil, so like people always talk about, I want lower gas prices.
Well,
Okay, that's fine.
We all do that's of course a very good cost to cut but when we lower gas prices That's because the cost of oil has gone down which means they're drilling less which means people could possibly be losing their jobs like there's a knock on effect too low gas prices and So when we say we want lower gas prices, we have to look at what that actually means for this country and what it means for our exporting around the world as well
Yeah, it's kind of weird because I remember when Biden was president and he got blamed for gas prices, then Trump got blamed for gas prices.
Based on everything I've read, it really isn't up to the president.
No, it's not.
But this war is affecting it, so you could argue that for sure.
Well, one thing we said, and maybe we'll get him back on the show one of these days, but his name is Mr. Global Matt Randolph.
He talked about the fact that it's not about who's sitting in the White House in the moment.
It's about...
who was sitting in the White House when they struck certain deals, which would cause gas prices to go up or go down.
That's what you need to be looking at.
Not just like, Oh, it's his fault because it's his fault because he's there or yay, he's in the office.
So therefore the gas price, it's not how it works ever, but no one ever listens to that.
No one ever, like it's, they don't, they don't, you know, presidents don't cause the gas prices to go up or down.
They don't set grocery prices, but we'd seem to always blame or give credit to them in this case.
So.
I think I would be intimidated meeting someone named Mr. Global.
I gotta be honest.
I'm excited to meet him, but I'm just like Mr. Northeast Wisconsin.
That's a big discrepancy there, Greg, but I can't wait to have this guy on the show.
All right, this is Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
You've got Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
We're coming right back with our next two big things.
Nothing bad.
Time to kick loose.
Cut loose?
Foot loose?
I don't know.
Hey, this is Nightlight with Peach Wamba and Greg Bach and Don Lee working the board, crushing it with the tunes as usual.
It is great to have you here tonight.
Our question of the night is, how do you feel about cold cuts?
What is your favorite cut?
We'll read your texts throughout the show, but let us know.
Be part of the fun.
It's always more fun when you guys
participate.
I'm very excited to share my answer later and I think it's going to be groundbreaking.
But right now, Greg, we've still got a couple of big things.
Let's be honest.
Yes.
Yes.
We have another big story.
The second big story.
This is one.
Okay, so I worked in my daughter's school part time a few years ago and I just loved it.
I worked in an intervention room where kids would come in after they got in fights or swore at the teacher or whatever and it was
my job to kind of de-escalate and calm them down and tell them they couldn't have their cell phones because this became a rule here in Marinette in the schools.
And
this is a
big thing right now.
I read this on NPR.
They're trying for a cell phone ban.
Now here in Marinette, we did it a few years ago and it was unbelievable when kids got out at recess, how much they actually played again and interacted again.
And some would try to sneak their cell phones.
In fact, there was one moment in the cafeteria where there was like an Amber alert or something.
And we heard all these buzzing phones.
They weren't supposed to have their phones.
Gotcha!
Gotcha!
Yeah,
exactly.
So I do think I'm all in favor of it.
And the Republicans supposedly want a bell to bell ban.
Yeah.
And some Democrats are with them.
But some are saying, well, they should be able to check it at lunch for emergencies or home situations.
You
know, so I've been gone.
I've gone back and forth on this one because I understand all of the arguments except for like no ban whatsoever.
I don't think kids should have should have phones in the classroom period at all.
And people will say, what about emergencies?
I'm like, well, if parents need to go to hold their kids and I'm, I don't want to be sitting here going all back in my day, but your parents just called the office.
They called you to the office.
You would get the call and that was it, or they'd bring you a note and that was it.
Like you didn't have to have a cell phone then.
And there's also the argument of like, what happens if there's something, you know, someone invades the school or something?
It's like, I understand that as well, but
sure.
then make, if, if we can come up with a whole industry that bulletproofs our kids' schools, we can come up with an industry that allows kids to be reachable, not like, you know, there, there, there should be other ways of doing this.
So Pete, you're in favor of the bell to bell band.
I don't know.
I feel like now it's sort of like putting the toothpaste back in the tube.
I don't know
that
you
can totally do that, but I'm totally for it.
And maybe, like you said, Greg, if there's an emergency, call the school, bring the kid down to the office.
It's not difficult.
But
I do think if they want to check it at noon, at lunch, I guess I'm okay with that.
But I don't know.
I have trouble staying off my phone, to be honest with you.
I do too.
I mean, I'm very much so I'm looking at my phone right now.
It's like, look at me, Greg.
Look at me right now, but my buttons.
Okay.
All right.
But I think that, I think that, uh, you know, you start with, start, yeah, start there, start with, you know, you, you have to put your phone in your locker.
You can check your phone at lunch and then you can take your phone when you're gone.
You get, you get, you get it like that one time, but also you can't just be dragging it around.
the hallways while you're at lunch, too.
It's like, I do believe there is some, I think there are benefits to them not being on their phone all the time.
I
agree.
Personally.
And I know there are people out there who say I'm wrong, but you know.
They can set up like
little smoking areas for phones.
Like go in this room if you want to be on your phone for five minutes and then put the phone back and leave.
I
don't know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Or go in there and smoke, you know, kids.
Whoa,
Pete.
Pete.
They're just cigarettes, Greg.
Come on.
My goodness.
Okay.
All right.
Well, then on that, let's go to the last new story of the evening.
Speaking of health, the third big story.
So this is, this is a follow up from what we talked about last week for my handy tip.
We were talking about the big arch, which is a sandwich that, uh, the McDonald's claims is all the best of their burgers in one burger.
And it seems that the CEO now has made a video, uh, showing how
Good it is In a video featuring a man who looks like he's never looked at a McDonald's burger let alone eaten one He showed it off and he really tried hard to make it look good and the internet is having a field day with his response to what is the big arch
Yeah, his name is the McDonald's CEO Chris Kempzinski I think is his name and he tried the burger and he referred to it as he goes This is a delicious product
something like that.
And then he took a bite, and then he's commenting on it.
He's got food in his teeth.
It was just a weird video on every level.
Yeah, and the internet's now roasting him for this, because also the thing is, when you watch the video plugging the product from last week, it is what looks like a burger in a commercial.
It is big and it's huge.
And you're like, oh my gosh, how am I going to eat this in one bite?
But he's eating this burger that looks like nothing more than a smashed up burger.
It looks terrible.
And
it has
like all these different, like at one point, I think he's about to, he's about to take a bite and he goes, oh yeah, fried onions.
I'm like, no, no, thank you.
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.
This doesn't look good at all.
It's got, it's got twice.
Okay.
It's got two quarter pounder patties on it.
So far it's a double quarter pounder with cheese.
Right.
And three pieces of cheese and then the fried onions, which are pretty caloric as well.
And I, he was sort of bragging about it.
Like this is the, and he took it out of the box.
He goes, it's very heavy.
Like, this has nothing to do with it.
They just want to appeal to your lowest, like, hey,
you can
get a lot of food and a lot of bite.
McDonald's does not have salads anymore.
So they have completely just kind of given up on, this is nothing healthy.
And this video kind of confirmed it.
Do you know what I love in my burgers, Pete?
Heft.
I like to have to use two hands.
I want a burger that TSA makes me throw up because it weighs too much for my bag.
Well, the CEO likes it.
It must be delicious.
Yeah, he looks
very convincing, very convincing that he actually eats McDonald's ever.
Show me the focus groups.
That's what I want to see.
All right, folks, we're going to break for the news here, and then Henry Redmond will be here.
He is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin Examiner, and he's here to talk about new PFAS legislation.
There's some cooperation.
We'll hear what Henry has to say.
Coming up on hour two, very funny comedian, Kristen Toomey.
You've got it all right here on Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach on the Civic Media Network.
Welcome back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
My name is Greg Bach across the table for me in a way, in a manner of speaking, is Mr. Pete Schwabba.
We are here on the Civic Media Network.
You can always give a call or text the number is same, 855-752-4842-855-75 Civic, leave a comment on that live stream.
We are currently streaming on Facebook, YouTube and the platform.
We still call Twitter still ahead after the six o'clock news.
We have a comedian, Kristen Toomey, stopping by to talk about all the good stuff comedy in Chicago, her shows coming up this weekend.
And just, you know, maybe her hot takes on cold cuts because it is.
national cold cut day.
And our question of the evening is, how do you feel about cold cuts?
Call her text, eight, five, five, seven, five, two, four, eight, four, two, eight, five, five, seven, five civic.
Now Pete, cold cuts
are
funny.
It's just a fun thing to say.
Oh, there are cold cuts.
Like you mean like, like, Oh, was it, was it a bad party?
It wasn't great, but there were cold cuts.
Awesome.
Exactly.
Which, which allows me to bring on our first guest of the evening.
He is a staff writer at the Wisconsin examiner and a man with cold cut opinions.
Henry Redman is here this evening.
Good evening.
Henry.
How are you doing tonight?
Hey, Henry.
Nope.
Can you hear us?
Did you freeze?
Oh, there
we go.
Henry are there.
I'm here now.
Wonderful.
We did it.
Technology.
Good evening, sir.
How are you this evening?
I'm good.
How are you doing quite well now?
We will leave the cold cut Discussions for a little bit.
I want to kick right into this article that you wrote actually came out last came out late last month regarding PFAS legislation This has been a long time coming and for the for the uninformed.
Can you please give a brief review overview of?
This legislation as well as just the money that we received as a state for PFAS mitigation
Yeah, so in the 2023 to 25 state budget The governor and the Republicans in the legislature agreed to set aside 125 million dollars in a trust fund to spend on PFAS mitigation cleaning up people's private wells providing grants to local governments to
You know redo municipal water systems, but all they did in the budget was set aside the money Yeah, and then we're planning to come back later with a separate piece of legislation to create all those programs last legislative session they tried to come up with a bill to do that and After initially starting off with hopes of compromise that kind of died Mostly over a disagreement over
how much immunity to grant certain types of people.
Republicans wanted to protect what they call innocent landowners.
Democrats and environmental groups did not.
Evers vetoed a bill the legislature passed this time around tweaking the dial a little bit.
They managed to get it through the assembly with the support of the DNR and the governor.
So now it is just waiting passage in the Senate.
when they meet to wrap up their work for the session
later this month.
Some folks said, yes, there are innocent folks out there who should be protected, who should not be bankrupted.
But the definition of what innocent landowners actually meant, where some people were just meaning, they don't want these big corporations to have to pay for them, for the lands they've polluted.
And it's gone back and forth.
And this money has been sitting in your article says for over 30 months.
Yeah.
And it's, you know, the, if you look, compare the language in the bill that is moving now and the one from before, it's.
not huge changes.
Essentially it's sort of which industries are going to be wrapped into that definition.
In a lot of places you have farmers who accepted sort of what are called municipal biosolids from like local dumps to spread on their fields to use as fertilizer.
Those weren't being tested for PFAS but
you know, PFAS is all over the place.
So when they spread on that field, then that is, you know, running off and some amount into the groundwater and local streams causing, you know, contamination.
And the big question, especially for the Republican authors is, has been, how do we protect those people who were doing these activities that the state, the DNR specifically gave the okay to through their permits?
Yeah.
How do you determine, I mean, this is bipartisan legislation, but it was Republicans that were holding up for the reasons you just mentioned, but how intricate is that when it comes to the legislation that who is being protected and who is not?
I understand that there are some people that are innocent, but also, you know, we, what we've dealt with here in Northeast Wisconsin, it was kind of slap on the wrist.
Ben.
Uh-oh.
I think he froze again.
Wouldn't it be funny if he was just doing that
if he was just thinking right now Henry if you can hear us.
Can you call the phone number?
Because you are frozen right now Okay frozen.
Yeah Okay, we'll get him back.
That's that's kind of what they were dealing with up here.
Do we have them?
Yes, there he is.
Okay.
There we are.
Okay, great.
Okay.
Yeah, so I was saying Basically last time around it was too broad
this time around, the business lobby was got some manufacturers in commerce and the sort of state paper industry lobby were on opposition basically because the paper industry was going to be left out.
Interesting.
Yeah.
That was, that was the question I had for you because in this article, that's that paragraph really stuck out to me because it says, you know, the Republicans narrowed the definition of innocent landowners.
And I mean, this.
is the best version of compromise because as you said this was proposed in the 2023-2025 biennium budget and it's just sat there but like I guess I have to imagine for some folks that this has to be better than nothing.
I don't know if it's the best version of it but at least it's moving forward and money can be spent.
Is there any talk about where it lands in the Senate right now?
I think they're confident it's going to get through the Senate.
Eric Wimberger, the senator from sort of the Green Bay area has been, you know, like the lead negotiator on all of this.
I don't I don't think that the Republican leaders in the Senate are going to let Wimberger spend, you know, almost three years working on this just to like leave him high and dry when he's finally going to get it over the line, especially in an election year.
Yeah.
He, I mean, he has been one of like in this article, he's very outspoken about getting this done and that he wants to get it like through the finish line.
He also has a very odd statement.
Even a broken squirrel can find a clock twice a day.
I don't know what that means, but you know what?
I bet you provides lots of laughs in the cloakroom.
Everyone loves that line.
We were
laughing about it in the press section of the assembly when we got it that night.
It's funny.
Like he, he's like,
serious guy.
He's not one of the legislators who are often joking around or being kind of quippy, but apparently
he's
so happy about getting this through that he's going to let it loose.
Our guest is Henry Redman.
He is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin Examiner.
We're talking about PFAS, namely an article he just wrote for the examiner.
Okay, so Wisconsin, as I understand it, just
made its standards complicit with the federal ones, where it's four parts per trillion in PFAS drinking water, four parts per trillion is acceptable.
Ideally, it's no parts per trillion.
But what were they previously here in Wisconsin?
And I would like to think the area I live in is raising the bar a little bit, like make the feds come to us.
You know what I mean?
Like what is this legislation?
Will that affect that that much?
No, I mean, in a lot of cases, especially with water law, the state kind of has to just follow what the EPA is going to set.
So if the EPA makes it more stringent, the state is pretty quickly going to have to align itself with that standard.
Really, on the standards, especially for largely rural Wisconsin, the issue is that
for every Wisconsinite who has gets their water from a private well, there isn't a standard.
There are not groundwater standards for PFAS in the state, which is the problem for places like the town of Stella up near Rhinelander or French Island near La Crosse, where basically these whole communities are on private wells and they're having to get outside water trucked in to have a water cooler in their house for washing the dishes and brushing their teeth.
And French Island just got a bunch of money too from the federal government.
And they, apart from this 125 million, they, if I'm not mistaken, it was, they're part of like, they are part of like an $80 million program that will help basically get them off of bottled water, correct?
I
believe so.
I don't know all the details about the, you know, money there, but yeah, that I think is right.
Henry.
Okay.
So 125 million, you know, this has been going on for decades.
Is that enough?
Or is it just kind of like, well, that's what you're getting.
Make it work with the cleanup.
I mean, and I don't expect you to be an expert on the financial figures, but what's your take on that?
Well, I mean, from the start, they've been saying, this is our first bite at the apple.
And, you know, part of it is, you know, you get these programs up and running, then you can always infuse more funds the next budget cycle or whatever.
But.
The program infrastructure getting going is the hard part.
Yeah, I mean apparently I guess like you know the budget process is what it is, but from the beginning they Said this is not gonna be enough.
We're gonna have to come back for another bite at the apple, you know, even like that's Republicans Democrats everybody and You know, there's really no idea how much it's gonna ultimately end up costing
you know, this sense of the scale of the problem isn't even fully understood.
Part of the bill that, you know, is waiting to be passed in the Senate includes expanded testing capability.
So, you know, we're still spending money to figure out how much money will ultimately need to be spent.
Well, and the other thing too, and I, you know, I doubt there was any talk about this in the legislature because, you know, they are basically, you know, days away from being done for the year.
But
with, you know, the money that was received was from the Biden administration, if I'm not mistaken.
And I don't know how much more money will be there for the current administration.
And when you talk about EPA standards changing, how we will equip ourselves for whatever's coming down the way from the federal government, because I can imagine that it might be the first bite of the apple, but it could possibly be the last bite too, depending on what they decide they do and do not want to fund over the next how many years.
Right.
I mean, who knows how like.
what the budget surplus that we have right now is going to look like the next time we're going through the budget process.
What kind of support is even going to exist from the federal government that is retreating from a lot of these environmental issues?
So I mean, that's a valid question.
I just think right now nobody really knows.
And it does help.
That money, $125 million, they set aside
you know, two years ago, it's been sitting in an account growing.
It's actually more than 130 now, just collecting interest.
So, you
know, part of it is like, you know, that's a big amount of money collecting interest in this trust fund that, you know, will get some ticks up just from existing in a bank account somewhere.
I hope the PFAS aren't growing faster than the interest on the money.
Well, that's, I mean, that's, that's, that's a question I have for another time just because this has, you know, no one's proposed it, but, you know, going the way of Minnesota where we just outlaw PFAS and clean it up.
And this doesn't be, this is not a problem anymore, but that's for another day down the road.
We're going to continue our discussion though with Henry Redmond.
He is a staff writer at the Wisconsin examiner.
We were talking about his article about hurrah, hurray.
Finally, there is PFAS mitigation bills, hopefully going through the Senate and then signed into law and people will get some relief.
getting their water cleaned up.
We'll talk more about that with Henry as well as his hot takes on cold cuts.
Boom.
National cold cut day here.
Don't go anywhere.
You were listening to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Mach on the Civic Media Network.
Stay tuned.
Stay close.
Welcome back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
You are listening to us on the Civic Media Network.
My name is Greg Bach.
Across the way, in a matter of speaking, is Pete Schwabba.
And in Madison is Mr. Dom Lee.
If you want to be part of the conversation, 855-752-4842, 855-755-CIVIC.
You can leave a comment on the livestream.
We are currently streaming on Facebook, YouTube and the platform we still call Twitter.
Today is internet or it's, I don't know, it's national cold cuts day.
It's not international.
I don't know how the globe celebrates it, but today's national cold cuts day.
Just domestic.
Just domestic.
You're right.
Domestic cold cuts only.
Let us know your favorite cold cuts.
If you don't like them at all, that's fine too.
Any answer is a fine answer.
It's your opinion.
We are talking to Henry Redmond from the Wisconsin Examiner, discussing his story about the Wisconsin assembly passing PFAS mitigation.
legislation after so many years of going back and forth on this.
And we're coming to the end of the legislative session, Henry, it is, they're going on a long, it's a short work year, every year after the biennium budget.
Is there anything besides this that you're seeing coming through in these last few days that have like
Big things happening.
Is it seem pretty standard issue going normal towards the end of it?
Or is there anything interesting to report as they are closing up shop for the rest of the year?
Yeah, well, there's this ongoing back and forth between the governor and Republicans over this kind of joint public schools, funding, property tax, relief, compromise they're trying to find.
It's yet to be seen if they're going to reach a deal, if they do, the assembly is going to have to come back in a special or extraordinary session.
And then otherwise there's been this fight going on the whole session over reauthorizing the Knowles Nelson stewardship program, which has funded public lands acquisition all across the state for.
you know, about 40 years now and it is set to expire this summer unless they reauthorize it.
The assembly has passed a bill.
Lots of people have problems with that bill.
It, you know, got pulled off the schedule in the Senate last month, so that's really up in the air.
And really that's kind of the big thing I've been watching as the legislature wraps up.
I just want to this is kind of for both of you guys, you know, there's there's you know Like are you confident when they test local drinking water that are being transparent with the results just to go back to the PFAS thing for a minute and You know, they they're saying use certified specialized filters.
How effective are the filters like I've heard?
You know contradictory information on those two you don't know what you know You can't drink out of aluminum because I can give you Alzheimer's like where you supposed to get your water seriously
I mean, I can't speak for anybody else, but like I live on, I live in southeastern Wisconsin and, and along the shorelines here, but we're seeing Milwaukee, especially cause back in the nineties, they had cryptosporidium,
but
we're seeing has an excellent filtration system.
Kenosha has an X. So for me personally, I just sort of trusted me like I feel fine.
I'm not, I'm not hurting nothing's, nothing's turning colors.
So I kind of just trust my government.
I know that sounds weird, but I trust my government be doing the work and something changes that'll let me know.
But yeah, I mean, that's as far as, I mean,
Yeah.
Yeah, those municipal systems are, you know, under so many requirements from both the state and the feds.
And, you know, you know, Madison even, which has had a PFAS problem, you know, trained and managed it.
I think unless you're getting a private well, or, you know, you're in Wausau, which has spent millions of dollars, you know, currently installing there.
mitigation system.
I think, you know, the tap water is largely fine.
Okay.
I'm
glad
to
hear that.
I honestly,
I just, I just don't know.
You don't
know.
Well, I mean, you can also, you can also call your municipality and ask them about the water filtration systems they have in place.
And I don't think that personally, I don't feel like they have a reason to lie to you.
I mean,
They're going to be upfront.
If there's a PFAS problem, they're upfront and they're telling you now.
But I
would
say, if you have questions, call the municipality and say, what is the processes?
What do we do to make sure the water is safe and go from there?
Now I got to worry about the lead pipes, too, though, Greg.
Well, yeah, you should always worry about the lead pipes.
You shouldn't start worrying about them now.
But we are talking to Henry, Henry Redmond from the Wisconsin examiner about his article.
I think this is, I think this is good news.
It is compromised.
It is bipartisan about taking care of the PFAS mitigation bills that go in that went through the assembly are awaiting the Senate and then we'll be on the governor's desk.
Now we were talking about this earlier.
You said you had opinions on coal cuts, Henry.
Go.
Okay, so on a sandwich, I want like a spicy salami, crisp it up like bacon and then put it on like a panini.
If we're just eating cold cut straight, there's a local butcher in my neighborhood, meet people here in Madison that makes a lamb salami, like kind of Euro mix that is funky and definitely not for everybody, but I'm a big fan.
I think salami and bacon.
I'm just worried you're not getting enough sodium there.
You might want to add some salt to that.
Yeah, I'm
kind of with you.
It's not both on a sandwich.
The salami crisps up like
bacon.
OK.
Because salami is one of the only ones I can really tolerate.
I can't eat bologna anymore.
Turkey's OK, but yeah, salami, there's something about salami mustard and maybe a slice of cheddar cheese.
It'll take you home every day.
OK,
wow.
See, I'm just.
Henry, would
he kill you to write an article about cold cuts?
I mean, I'm writing about ag pretty regularly.
It's not that far of a leap to get to processed beef.
Well, we will have this article in our show notes, as well as a link to all of Henry's work at the Wisconsin Examiner.
And heck, Dan, while you're in it, throw in Meet the People.
Meet People.
Is it called Meet the People?
Yeah.
Meet People.
I'm going to be in Madison next month, so I'm definitely going to hit that up.
That is for darn sure.
Henry, thank you so much for being here tonight.
We appreciate your time and your thoughts on the story.
Great.
Thanks for having me.
Thanks, Henry.
When we come back, we are going to be talking about the question of the day.
What is your favorite cold cuts in celebration of national cold cuts day, as well as a great conversation with a comedian, Kristen Toomey, all in the second hour after the news.
Don't go anywhere.
You're listening to nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach on the civic media network.
Dom is in Madison.
Thank you so much, folks.
Don't go anywhere.
Stay tuned.
Stay close.
Trying to make sense of the world.
You've got nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
Call our toll-free number now.
Headlines, culture, and real conversation.
And
now, our feature presentation.
Here's Pete and Greg.
Pete and Greg, fun show.
Shall we?
Is that better than I don't know the Pete and Greg Fun Show?
Does that have any that resonate?
They're not going to make new graphics at this point.
Welcome back.
We had a lot of fun.
Our number one talking to our new friend, Henry Redmond, who is a Wisconsin examiner reporter talking about PFAS that is all available in our number one in podcast form.
If you go to civicmedia.us, you can also hear Greg and I talking a little bit about cold cuts.
I'm talking to Dom about this and that.
Dom, we're doing a pretty good job of including you.
Would you say that's
accurate?
Yeah, you definitely are.
I feel involved, and yeah, I'm excited to be.
I'm always excited to be on this show, all right?
I always have the hype.
Just checking
in with
you.
So the check did clear.
Good to know.
Good to know.
All right.
Correct.
Good to know.
Good to know.
Lots of fun coming up this hour, too.
Comedian Kristen Toomey will be here.
The very funny Kristen Toomey.
I will
say, Greg, one of my best friends is comedian Mike Toomey.
They're
both
Chicagoans.
No relation, as I understand it.
And I just became familiar recently with Kristen Toomey's comedy stylings, and she is hilarious.
If there was another one with the same last name, it wouldn't be too many, maybe three me, right?
It'd be like... Do you
still
understand?
No three me John three me I love that.
That's a three-tiered show right there headliner Yeah in the opener both so we we did that.
What else did we do Greg?
We did the question of the night We had a little our big three things.
It's all available folks if
you
want to catch the
first hour So go
to second
media dot us our Dom.
I think it's time.
We got to reintroduce our question of the night
Let's talk about the question.
Okay, question.
Question.
Question.
Pregunta.
Pregunta.
What a good question.
Okay, I have a question.
Questions.
This question.
Domanda.
Question.
Question.
Questions.
Well, it is National Cold Cut Day and it's about time.
So how do you feel about cold cuts and what is your favorite if you have one?
How do you feel about cold cut meats?
Yeah, the cured meats.
It's a whole family.
I listen I I'm gonna be honest I put on social media no cold cuts.
I don't ever have to eat them I don't think they're particularly healthy not that I'm a picture of health But I do I love a good if it's made in the right deli with some good Italian seasoning or dressing or
something I
love a good cold cut sandwich, but I never make it at home I never make a sandwich like that at home.
Oh, what about you Greg?
I don't know
Okay, so I don't make a lot of sandwiches at home anymore, but when I did, I would always, it would usually be a turkey or a nice slice of London broil, which is a cold cut.
I feel like people sleep on.
That's not a cold cut, is it?
It's not.
It's a piece of shaved meat.
I mean, it looks like every other piece of shaved.
Yeah, a piece of London broil with a slice of Munster.
Oh my goodness gracious.
I also grew up every single day in school, Monday through Friday.
I always had a bologna sandwich.
So I'm adept at the, but now for me, I would say because I don't partake in cold cuts a lot, I always gravitate towards a good pastrami.
Yes.
I love a pastrami.
I do too.
I will say like I say cold cuts kind of grows me out But if you heat it up like an Italian beef sandwich forget
about
love it pastrami a good Reuben sandwich
It's
it's the cult because I'm with you like when I was growing up.
I Had a bologna sandwich and at some point I just looked at it and I went that's really gross
and
I don't know when that happened But hey Dom do we have that clip that to me?
Okay?
First I want to preface this by saying the word bologna is funny
because it's not spelled the way it sounds
It's Balakana.
Balogna.
So, uh, one of my funniest, uh, TV characters, uh, singing about Baloney.
Here you go, Tom.
My Baloney has a first name.
It's a Joe M.E.R.
My Baloney has a second name.
It's a Joe M.E.R.
That's it.
He's so
stupid.
What's, what's funny is that, uh,
I grew up with the bologna sandwiches, you know, the package below you got the grocery
store,
but it wasn't until last year when I went to Memphis, Tennessee and I had a bologna sandwich barbecue, like Tennessee style.
And it was,
it
was like nearly an inch thick bologna.
It was.
It was amazing.
And I wanted to eat like, and they were, they were not cheap.
And I was like, I ate it.
And I said, I want another one right now.
It was so, so, so good.
Bridget listening right now texting in saying turkey breast with mayo and veggies.
Okay.
Oh yeah.
I could
roll with that.
I like that.
I like that a lot.
Stacy Sue Johnson says shaved hard salami.
That, that just doesn't, it sounds horrible.
Hey, Stacy, live your life.
I know.
You enjoy that.
I shouldn't say that.
I think initially, I think mustard is the savior of cold cuts because that's what I used to have on bologna.
And to me, the mustard was such a pungent taste that
I could
muscle down the bologna.
But
like I said, hard salami or salami
It's got the little white specks in it that's basically fat, right?
So that I was kind of like, but like I said, you put a piece of cheddar cheese or some mustard on that.
It's outstanding.
JB Thompson on the stream says, is there a national day for everything?
Yes.
He says cold cut platter was the predecessor to pizza for company award parties.
Thank you for all that.
Thank you for all that you do.
Enjoy the bologna sandwich.
That's horrible.
Pete's been working here for 35 years.
Here's a watch and a sandwich
Crackers
crack is ham.
Oh crack is ham.
That's a that's a that's a high-end type of ham.
It's like boar's head.
Crack is ham.
I don't think I know that It's a it's a label.
Yeah, okay.
We have we have some calls on the line, too We got Ali in the Northwoods Ali good to hear from you friend.
What what say you about the question of the night?
He stole my answer.
I was gonna sing you the Oscar Mayer song.
Please do.
Come
on, Ollie.
You can still sing it.
My baloney has a first name.
It's B-O-L-G-N-A.
My baloney has a second name.
It's O-S-E-A-R.
Yeah.
Oh, thank you, Ollie.
We
did
that.
That was much better than Homer Simpson, Ollie.
Very well done.
Thank you so much, Ollie.
We appreciate it.
Thank you so much for calling in.
There are some, there are some on here in the list.
So like olive loaf is considered a cold cut liverwurst.
I cannot do liverwurst.
Sorry.
Like the pimento loaf.
What is appealing about that?
What was going on in the board room?
We've got a really gross meat here.
Let's put something even grosser to take away the attention from the gross foundation of the sandwich.
Guys, we have a problem here.
We have a ton of ham laying around, and not the good ham either.
It's shiny, sweaty ham.
And we have about 32 pounds of olives.
Green pimento stuffed olives.
What do we do?
And then one guy in the back goes, get ready to start printing money.
Blender.
Yeah.
Dave on the stream says, hard salami or pastrami.
Yeah, those are probably my two, too.
That's a good choice, Dave.
I love it.
But what's also on this list?
I'm gonna look, I'm gonna look it up right now while we take another call.
Cindy from Appleton is on the line.
Cindy, what say you about cold cuts?
Well, I usually turn mine into a hot cut because I make a ham and cheese grilled, you know, grilled ham and cheese.
There you
go.
Dignatious.
That's the best thing to do to a cut that is cold.
Cook it.
Make it hot.
Make it a hot cut.
I like it good.
Henry was talking about it before I love a good panini.
You just like there's something about a panini is super super delicious One of the things that is listed because I looked it up on the Google's and it said thank you so much by the way Cindy for calling really appreciate hearing from you Types of common cold cuts is also head cheese.
Oh, that's really gross which
Do you know what head cheese is, Dom?
By the look on your face, you don't.
No, I was just gonna ask, what is head cheese?
Would you like a definition of what head cheese is, my friend?
Yes, give it to me.
Do you have a bucket?
Yeah, yeah around you or
a big bag
Yeah, something like that or just in your hand or in or into your thrifted sweatshirt just don't puke on the board This is this is a definition by the googles head cheese is a terrine of meat jelly made from flesh of a calf's or pig's head Set an aspect and is not a dairy cheese
Somehow what you just described is not as gross as the word head cheese.
Yeah,
I don't know
Turin, Aspic, Jelly.
No, thank you.
But it's a
cold cut.
Yeah,
it's a cold
cut.
Mike Desitel on social media says, I'm normally just a belogna guy, but I'll never turn down the Kato Salami.
You can keep your olive loaf.
That's where he draws the line.
Tim Baker says head cheese in all caps.
That's very important.
Disgusting.
Dick on social media says, my baloney is the first name.
It's O-S-E-A-R, my baloney is second name, M-A-Y-E-R, or I love to eat it every, you just kind of type the song.
We're gonna get sued by the Oscar Meyer company.
We're just gonna get sued for copyright infringement.
What do you, what do you, what do you feel?
Okay.
So this, to me, I know it's a cold cut and you know, but to me it's one of the fanciest of cold cuts and that is a prosciutto.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
That's
less gross for some reason.
I
don't know why wrapped around a piece of string cheese.
You
know, I put string cheese right up there with bologna.
I'm not a fan.
I'm I'm sorry.
What?
What did you just what
especially when people eat it like when they just put it in their mouth like it's a hot dog and take a bite I Understand
the things that upset you are so weird.
I
mean you're upset by people eating cheese So okay, so okay, let me get this right mr. Individualist you want everyone to eat string cheese the way you eat it I
don't want to see people eating string cheese ideally, but if they have to do it That's what I prefer and I don't think I'm asking too much
in a purse so so that
Oh, maybe maybe we get ahead of senior senior producer Tucker says boo string cheese all the way.
Thank you Tucker I'm glad you at least have some taste and brains in this operation my goodness everyone's against me so do you so do you so it's just Okay, I'm on this now.
Okay, so string cheese.
What's your so you don't like string cheese?
You don't like the people who eat string cheese You don't like kids dogs.
You like dogs, too.
Just not puppies.
I
like dogs.
I do not like puppies I got no use for puppies or kids
Wow.
Daniel Wheeler on the social media says, much like Happy Gilmore, I enjoy the cold cut combo from Subway.
Sean Boy says, Gabagool, soprano style.
Oh, he went, he goes, he makes it ethnic.
See what he did there?
Capicola, I always feel like I'm saying Capicola wrong and I'm insulting Italian, but is it because it just did Capicola?
It doesn't sound like it should be said like that that
is true It is actually said like that because I was I worked at Jimmy John's and that's what they all they said They said use Capicola, so I know it is Capicola
Jimmy John's is our is our barometer for Italian interpretation of culture and food
You're Italian too Dom and you're deferring to Jimmy John.
I just
I worked there for so
long
Scott on social media says my wife's comments on my clothing styles are the best cold cuts.
Okay.
No
boy Ian on social media says the spicy taste of a cold Skimitar blade in the guts of me enemies.
Yeah, okay, actually a nice lean corned beef.
Oh, I forgot about corned beef.
Yeah corned
beef is always good He says
every cardiologist within 10 miles of me looks up suddenly when I bite into it and says there's a disturbance in the force He had to work Star Wars into it.
You had me Ian and then you lost me with the Star Wars
String cheese, kittens, puppies, and Star
Wars.
Look, if I had a nickel for every time I sat in a movie theater, watching Star Wars and someone was eating string cheese, the wrong way.
I'd be a rich man.
So there you go.
We got some, oh, Richard says balona, baloney, balogna, beef.
Not the chicken turkey Frankenstein version.
I'm so confused by that.
Okay.
All right, well.
When we come back, the fantastic Kristen Toomey will be here talking
about comedy.
Comedy Chicago.
Her show's coming up this weekend, but don't go anywhere.
Stick around.
You are listening to Night Light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach here on the Civic Media Network.
Stay tuned and stay close.
Welcome back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
My name is Greg Bach across the table for me in a manner of speaking.
is Mr. Peach Waba and we are here for you on the Civic Media Network.
We got Dom Lee in Madison on the ones and twos and you can be part of the conversation.
Call or text.
The number is 855-752-4842-855-75.
Civic, leave a comment on the live stream.
We're currently streaming on Facebook, YouTube and the platform.
We still call Twitter.
Very happy to have you here tonight.
You can also lodge a thought, question, complaint about cold cuts.
Pete has many on regarding cold cuts, especially don't get him started on string cheese, apparently, because that's a thing.
But it just
be part of something else.
Did she ban a cracker or something?
Cheese on its own.
I had blue cheese today on a salad.
It was great.
I wouldn't take a fistful of blue cheese and muscle it down though.
All right.
Really?
Okay.
I'm just, I just, this is a whole new, whole new facet, a whole new side.
Like, like you are like, you just look at, you look at plain old cheese by itself.
You're like,
Get off my property.
Yeah.
Not a fan.
All right.
Well, maybe you'll be a fan of our next guest.
She is comedian from Chicago.
She's appearing this Saturday at Q's bar and river deck in Prairie du Sac at eight PM.
Please welcome to the show.
Chicago's very own Kristen Toomey.
Good evening, Kristen.
How are you this evening?
Hello, fellas.
How are you?
You guys were giving me the meat sweats with all
that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I shouldn't even
talking either I had tacos for lunch and I'm so full but I'm like you know a pastrami is really delicious.
You said you you said you ate a chipotle what's your chipotle order Kristen?
Well today I got a veggie bowl but normally I get the chicken bowl but I feel like they're weird with the chicken lately.
What do you mean?
You know you used to get like one scary piece
of
chicken.
And now I feel like the bowls are like 90% the scary pieces.
And so I just went full veggie with the black bean today.
Have you gotten their vegan meat option?
I can't remember the name of it.
It's very delicious.
I've had it many, many times.
No scary pieces.
No scary pieces.
Maybe I'll check it out.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There is nothing worse when you bite into a piece of chicken grizzle that it's kind of like the chicken having a last laugh.
It's so horrible.
It is the worst feeling.
I'm sure there's worse feelings, but yeah, I'm with you totally.
Veggie all the way, baby.
Nope, that's the worst feeling.
Pete Schwab has said it right here.
There are no worse feelings than biting into some chicken and being thoroughly inconvenienced.
They used to do that again, Mo.
He
reads this.
Yeah, exactly.
Kristen, it's great to have you here.
Tell us about this show.
You got this great show coming up in Prairie to Sack at Cube Bar in Riverdeck, March 7th, as Greg mentioned.
What will that be like for people?
Do you have a couple of comics going up in front of you?
Have you worked there before?
I
think I have Jim McHugh and Des Maloney.
Des Maloney, sure.
Maloney,
yeah.
Little cutie, I think he played like Doug Stanhope in a movie, didn't he?
Something like that.
He did.
It was funny because I played a club owner in that movie.
Did you?
And I used to be a comedian, so I got to take out all my aggression on every club owner I ever did not like.
That's who I based the character on.
But Dez plays the lead role.
Well, Stan Hope, I guess, is the lead role.
Dez played his kid, and I was only on the set for like a day, but they were both great.
And Dez is a good guy, and Stan Hope was really funny, so.
Great.
Yeah.
So he's on the show and then me, you know, I'll be closing it out.
And, uh, I have never been to cues bar.
So I'm excited to head up that way and see how it goes.
How long have you now?
How long have you been doing standup?
Cause I mean you, I, I got to know you through the Chicago scene long time ago, but I believe you were doing it before I was.
How long have you been doing standup now?
Uh, I'm going on seven, 18 years almost.
Okay.
All right.
Yeah.
You know, just keeping busy.
And this year I had a special come out.
It's on Apple TV.
It's called Shriller.
People can watch that.
It's on Comedy Dynamics.
And yeah, it's been going, you know, keeping busy.
Have you worked, you work Wisconsin frequently or have you been here several times?
I work Wisconsin pretty often.
I was just up in West Bend and, you know, I'll do like Kenosha or Madison.
But yeah, I love Wisconsin.
I feel like I get a great response from the rooms I do and, you know, oh my gosh.
So I was booked at this brewery in Kenosha on that Bears Packers game, you know?
Yeah, wow.
And I thought no one's going to be at this show.
And I pull up.
And it says it's closed for a private event and there's people in there.
So I'm thinking, oh, wow, people showed up.
I walk in and I noticed there's poster boards with pictures of this person all over it.
And then I start to notice that people are crying and that there's a projector.
And I'm like, oh, my gosh, you know, this is a funeral.
Yeah.
And I'm thinking, where am I going to go up?
What am I going to open with?
And I don't see any other comedians.
So I go up to the owner and I said, you know, when does the comedy show start?
And he looks at me like, are you insane?
This
is
clearly a funeral.
And I got the wrong day.
I just showed up at this person's funeral and asked, what time do I go up?
And the fact that I was going to do it is the problem.
That's dedication.
Way too long where I'm like, what do I open with?
Well, I will say this, if you're having a funeral or a wake or a memorial service in a brewery, I say you are right to go up and say, hey, and maybe you weren't booked, but you can be like, hey, I'll do 15 for you.
Get everyone laughing.
I was thinking this person must have really loved comedy.
That's so great.
I would have been like, I would have been too embarrassed to say I got the date wrong.
I would have said, well, John was a very good friend of mine, went
up and kneeled down instead of
prayer and bailed, you know.
Oh, we're going to talk more with Kristen to me on the other side of the break, but don't go anywhere.
We are here on the civic media network.
You are listening to night light with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
That's us.
Dom is in Madison.
If you want to give a call or text 8557 5248 4 to 8557 5 civically, the comment on the live stream, let us know about your favorite cold cut.
We're still taking information till till taking opinions on it too.
I mean, Pete's got a lot of hard opinions on these foods, but forget it.
Yeah, he's over or if you have a
question for Kristen.
Let
us know.
Yes, of course, of course if you want her to play your funeral She That's a possibility but don't go anywhere you listen in nightlight with Pete Schwab and Greg Bach here on the Civic Media Network Stay tuned stay close
Welcome back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach here on the Civic Media Network.
My name is Greg Bach and across the table from me in a manner of speaking is Pete Schwabba and we are here for you until 7pm and you can always be part of the conversation.
855-752-4842-855-757.
Leave a comment on the live stream.
You can always get a hold of us on Facebook, YouTube or the platform.
We still call Twitter.
Still time to register your thoughts on cold cuts.
National cold cuts day.
What are your ideas?
Your likes, dislikes.
your very weird beliefs on string cheese.
Let us know.
I'd love to hear from you.
And also you can also send a question to our guest.
Comedian Kristen Toomey is here today.
Tonight she is our second guest this evening.
She will be performing at Q's Bar and River Deck in Prairie du Sac this Saturday at 8 p.m.
I have been told though, via the live stream, if you want to get tickets, get them now because as of today, there are merely four seats remaining of this 80 seat venue.
Anticipation for the show is building.
So like basically it's like a sellout in my opinion.
Like your four seats away from a sellout,
Kristen.
Wonderful.
We could sit lap up.
I don't know sit on someone's lap.
There you go.
There you go.
That's almost like Zaney's like 80 an 80 seat venue.
That's intimate.
Do you like it?
Do you like that Kristen?
Like when you're doing comedy, if it's on an outdoor festival or something, do you like a more intimate setting?
Yeah, I do.
I think as long as it's not, you know, too intimate,
like
nobody's there.
Yeah, your living room.
Yeah.
One time I was doing a club in Peoria and only one person showed up.
And so I just sat in the lobby and talked to her for 45 minutes.
That was my whole set.
But that was like 10 years ago.
But yeah, I prefer small like 80, 100, maybe 200, even up to three.
It's nice.
You can still kind of connect with people.
But, you know, doing the big rooms and that's fun every once in a while just for the thrill of it and like the
experience hearing that big laugh.
But I prefer anywhere from 50 to 200 is probably the sweet spot.
Yeah.
Pete brought up outdoor.
festival or something.
What does your heart say to you?
Look, what happens inside your brain when someone says, Oh, the show is outdoors.
Oh no.
Yeah.
Or, or, or you're opening for a band.
Oh, I've done that.
It's so hard.
Yeah.
No, I've done that indoors.
Even opening for a band is really hard, but outdoors.
I remember I did oddball festival years ago and they put me on the stage in the parking lot.
People are just walking by into the venue and me and it was like big J. O'Gerson and you know, it's a couple other comedians on this parking lot stage and people are just like glancing over.
The laughs are just going into the ether and pretty, it toughens you up.
It's like running underwater.
If you can get anything in that situation, it's great.
Do you, do you work the road a lot?
I remember in the 90s, you could, you could work.
all year and not leave Chicago.
And that was one of the perks to being there, but then nobody ever sees you outside of Chicago.
Where do you, where do you travel to and where are your favorite cities to work if you have one?
Well, I do love Chicago.
I always feel like I can trust the audience here so much, you know, on new material and, but I love the Midwest.
I mean, I really, I do all the Midwest rooms and enjoy that.
I love Canada.
Winnipeg, I was just there doing rumors, which is a fantastic club.
And I really like Canadians.
I have a little kink for Canadian men.
I love them.
Very attractive.
So I love a Canadian man.
And yeah, but I'll go anywhere.
That's the thing.
Anywhere.
Just perform in new places all the time.
i don't mean to belabor the canadian man thing but like is there what is it about the canadian man is it the educated canadian man the guy in the canadian rockies what what kind of uh because i work i remember i work canada and i like all canadians and the men
i like the women too but um i think
There's just something about their humor that I appreciate and they're kind, but not weak, you know?
Like,
this is a strength.
And I think, obviously I'm generalizing, but just in my head, I think they're kind of rugged and resourceful in a way that's attractive.
And I think the way this, their country is set up, it's just more like compassionate in some ways that I find attractive.
Hmm great answer.
Yeah, that's a great I You know when it comes to like the hierarchy of the funniest people I always find that like New Zealanders Australians the English Canadians people from there like a lot of folks from African countries Their humor is just so there's such a dry nest to their humor their jokes come out of nowhere And you're just like oh that was really funny and you said that without even like thinking about it.
It just
came out of your system, whereas I'm sitting here like, be the funniest person, be the funniest, and never the funniest person ever, but they're just funny by default.
Yeah, you know, it's funny because I was just helping with the standup class at DePaul University last
night
with the students there.
And as a high school dropout, I always get a kick out of walking in there with a little smirk that I'm helping the professor.
But anyway, you know, I was trying to tell the students like,
every comedian or every comic has a rhythm and I noticed like to your point other um and it's like finding your own rhythm and other cultures their comedy has different rhythms and if you listen to it you can hear like Australia they'll have like different pauses and um the laughs come in different spots you know and
it's
all over the world so it's really interesting and yeah I think I have a an ear for the Canadian one
Yeah.
Our guest is Kristen Toomey, folks.
You can see her at Cues Bar in Riverdeck, March 7th in Prairie de Sac, Wisconsin Showtime is at 8 p.m.
There were four seats available about seven minutes ago.
I
don't know if
they're still available, but move fast, people.
You can check out her comedy special, Kristen Toomey Shriller on Apple TV, and it looks like a few other platforms as well.
Who makes you laugh, Kristen?
Like, when you're flipping around the dial at night and a comedian comes on, who would you not turn off?
I would, well, there's quite a few.
And I'm one of the few comedians that actually probably watches comedy still.
Even
after all these years, I still really need it sometimes and I admire it, I respect it.
But I would say Cat Williams is always somebody that makes me laugh.
I'm always, I'm just in awe of this guy, Chris Fleming.
I don't know if you've heard
of
him.
He's a newer comedian, but you gotta look him up.
He just had a special come out on HBO a couple days ago.
It's doing fantastic.
But I saw him on my birthday in a small room at Lincoln Lodge last year when he was running his hour the night before he taped it.
And he's just so brilliant.
And so he is definitely somebody that you should look out for and check
out.
Who in outside of comedy are the people you go to for the funniest world?
Like, you know, is it parents?
Is it kids?
Is it, you know, friends?
Like I find that making my family laugh so hard is like the best thing for me.
Like it's I love making an audience laugh, but making my family laugh.
I'm like, oh, I think I might I might be funny because they're laughing and I'm not even trying right now.
Yeah, I mean, I'll make a lady at the grocery store laugh.
I love
to
laugh.
That's how I connect with people.
I really feel close to somebody.
If I'm laughing with them, that's really my favorite thing in life.
So, but the best, you know, I'm lucky.
I grew up with a lot of very funny people in my friend group in high school, very talented artists that were very funny creatives.
And, you know, so that my kids are very funny.
Both of them have unique sense of humor, a little bit different than mine, but I appreciate them.
Very quick-witted.
And yeah, my parents both are funny in their own way.
My mom insists that she's funny.
I don't know that
she.
I'm funny,
dammit.
She's very
cinematic, I want to say.
She's a very dramatic kind of person.
And my dad is funny,
though.
Yeah.
There's nothing better than funny kids.
Funny kids are like, it's kind of a bonus.
Like you're not expecting your kids to make you laugh so much, so I totally agree with you there.
Let me just give this.
Is it easier for women now to work the road?
Because I remember in the 90s, I always felt like, oh my god, I would not want to be a woman sharing a condo with other guy comics because
I don't want to generalize either, but some of them were just pigs.
And I remember club owners saying like, well, I'm going to put you in a hotel because sometimes the guys might want to walk around and they're all together.
That was a direct quote from a club owner.
So they had to put, now she was probably better off in a hotel, but it's just like, what on earth has it gotten any better?
Yeah.
Well, I mean, the condos are probably like pretty much gone now.
Okay.
I think everybody's doing Airbnbs or
or hotel rooms.
And I think it's better in that way.
Like I don't have to worry about, although I have shared Airbnb with strange features and they've been wonderful.
The men, you know,
it's
like they were great.
But yeah, I think it is a little bit better than I don't know what those women went through.
I don't know how they did that.
But yeah, I think it's also a little scary to travel alone as a woman.
just in general, you know, you have your head
on a
swivel and I have like my parents I check in with and people I check in with if I'm alone and and I do prefer like a hotel for safety reasons and things like that but most of the time I'm hanging out with the comics and I feel like comics nowadays I feel safe around them I don't feel I never feel like I'm in an awkward
situation and, you know, it helps to be sober.
I'm a sober person.
So
I'm not,
you know, hanging out after and, and making a mess.
And so that helps.
Yeah.
There's, there is something to be said to about just like, you're done with the show.
You've shaken all the hands.
You've said good night.
And then you're like, I'm going back to the hotel room.
And it's like, it's like,
10 o'clock 11 o'clock at night.
You're like, I'm going to bed now.
This is going to be great.
I can't wait.
I mean, I
just, I've got like a skincare routine.
Yeah.
My pajamas at 11 o'clock
and I'm
not, you know, I'm listening to music and playing solitaire in the bed and I'm not out doing anything.
You know, maybe I'll get a Snickers bar if I'm feeling like really wild.
That's where I'm at.
So who did you grow up watching, Kristen?
Like, was there a moment and a twofold question?
Who was your idol when you were younger when it came to comedy, not your family, an actual comedian?
And when was that moment that you knew I can do this?
Well, you know, my idol growing up was Lucille Ball, obviously.
You know, I was, I was a, I was home a lot sick as a kid, you know?
And so I would just watch her all day.
And I think it really got in there in almost like a cable guy kind of way.
And then, um, I remember sneaking into C. Paula Poundstone at Community College.
I was
eight years old and that was the first time I'd seen anybody do stand up.
And I watched from the catwalk in the theater and she was doing crowd work and I, I thought she had planted those people.
I didn't know how she was doing.
It was so brilliant.
And I mean, if you go back and watch her crowd work was amazing in the agency.
And I was just blown away by that.
And, but as far as like me thinking when, when I could do it, I mean, I was a very shy person and performing was very like, I would get very nervous and shy and I wouldn't audition for things.
So that was, this is earned, this confidence is earned over these years, but, you know, I'm still not sure if I could do it some days.
So I don't know when I clicked, I don't know, I just keep doing it.
regardless how I feel about it.
Yeah.
Well, if you live in the Prairie du Sac area and you act right now, you can see Kristin this Saturday at Q's Bar and River Deck in Prairie du Sac this Saturday at 8pm.
Get your tickets before they're gone.
They're almost gone.
Kristin Toomey, thank you so much for being here tonight.
We really appreciate you and I love talking to
you.
Thank you guys so much.
And this is great.
I can't wait to watch this all the time now.
Please put it on your credits.
All right.
Thanks, Kristin.
All right.
When we come back, a handy tip from Pete and Greg.
Don't go anywhere.
You're listening to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach here on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Dom Lee in Madison.
Stay tuned.
Stay close.
Get lucky.
Welcome
back to Nightlight with Pete Schwabba and Greg Bach.
My name is Greg Bach.
Across the table, in a manner of speaking, is Mr. Pete Schwabba.
We have Dom Lee
in
Madison on the Ones and Twos.
And we're happy that you are joining us this evening.
We're almost out of here, but don't go anywhere.
There's still more programming ahead.
Great stuff here on Civic Media.
If you ever want to catch up, go to civicmedia.us slash shows.
Find your favorite show like Nightlight with Pete Schwab and Greg Bach.
You can download episodes, take them with you wherever you go.
You can also download the Civic Media app.
It's app, absolutely free.
And you can listen to shows, talk.
You can listen to music programs.
You can
call, text, leave a voice note.
You can participate in text-to-win contests.
You can get your news there.
It's all right there on the Civic Media app.
Tons of ways to stay in touch with what's going on with our network.
And we appreciate you being here.
Any last comments on cold cuts, 855-752-4842, 855-755 Civic.
You can also get us on Facebook, YouTube, and the platform we still call Twitter to get us your cold cut thoughts.
on National Cold Cut Day, Pete.
You said you had some more, you had some more messages to talk about?
There are a couple of social media responses we didn't get to.
Bill says, I don't eat no meat.
Okay.
Not happy about the double negative, but he's health conscious.
That's good.
And then Vicky Svakina just put a puke on me.
Just Vicky is fine.
Oh, really?
Really cold cuts get a puke?
You've cold cuts get a puke emoji.
That's not a puke mode.
Listen people feel strongly about stuff
I guess I'm not here to judge.
Okay.
You look at a piece of turkey like Bulk.
I don't understand it.
I don't know I
don't know if people think of turkey though That could be part of the problem because both I don't typically like cold cuts But I think a turkey might who doesn't love a turkey sandwich.
I mean exactly Smoked roasted chicken breast chicken look chicken loaf.
No, no, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, anything with loaf in it anything with loaf in it
Wait, you like the loaf in the name?
No, I don't.
Well, I like meatloaf.
I like meatloaf if it's made well, but I don't look, but like chicken loaf or... Olive loaf.
Olive loaf.
It's funny.
It's really, you know what's really funny about olive loaf is the fact that, no, well, true, true.
Nothing is funny about olive loaf.
But you think it would be called ham loaf, because ham is the majority of the product.
Like when you look at, like you think, I think ham and... Yeah.
The pimento olives are part of it.
They're almost like, you know, I don't want to say sweetener.
So why do we call it olive loaf instead of ham loaf?
It's just awful all the way around.
Yeah, I have no idea.
Disgusting.
Maybe that's a deal breaker for some people.
But on top of that though, we need another two hours.
Okay.
To discuss the
loaf,
I gotta get a beer.
I enjoy ham.
I enjoy ham.
I enjoy green olives.
If you put them together, I don't think you're my friend.
So, that's just, yeah.
Dom, you taking notes?
I'm
writing all of this down.
We're gonna get a
meat expert in soon, so, well, I'm ready.
I'm ready.
From Jimmy John's?
From Jimmy
John's.
Get your cold cuts.
He's gonna have to lean off camera to take a bite of this olive loaf sandwich.
Not to feel the wrath of Greg.
Oh,
it's olive loaf brown swagger on a soggy piece of rye.
That's awful.
All right.
With that in mind, let's bring it down.
Let's not bring it down.
Let's bring it to a close with a handy tip from Pete and Greg.
So we were talking about this over the live stream before, during the break, during the secret
show.
And we were talking about presents.
We were talking about puzzles.
And then we started talking about buying presents.
And Pete, you said that you're bad at giving gifts.
The
worst.
Dom, you said, you kind of were shaking your head too.
I'm thinking that made me, this is my tip.
This is my tip.
And it just, all it does is require not know, it's just being aware.
When someone you like or love spouse, partner, parent, sibling, simply says something like, Hey, I like this thing.
Oh, this thing.
Oh, this was like, like I was in a bookstore with my wife in Madison and she saw a great Gatsby puzzle.
And she just said,
Oh, this is really cool.
I just wrote it down and took a picture and I bought it for her for Christmas.
And I, those are my favorite presents.
I don't like, my wife does not require like, she's not, she's not a jewelry person.
She doesn't expect a car with a bow on it.
But what I like to do is I like to give her those presents where it's the thing of when she sees it, she remembers it from a.
months before that and I just and I I will admit I do take a moment like yeah I'm best husband ever but those are the moments that are amazing like you can buy them something that's very expensive but if you get them something they mentioned six months ago and you just say yeah you mentioned it so I thought I thought that you should have it that is awesome so that's my tip be aware for present giving it shows your paying attention yeah yeah I think it's very very
Here's the thing, I do get my wife a car, typically every Christmas.
Wow.
But I don't
go for the brand new fully loaded pickup.
I got her a 78 Chevette last year.
Nice.
Well.
It's still a car.
Wow.
Technically speaking, it is a car.
You cannot get around that piece of information.
It is a car.
It has four wheels and a motor.
And I believe once your wife said back in 1981, I'd love a 71 Chevette.
I cataloged it.
See
that?
Exactly.
You remember the puzzle?
I remember what she said 30 years ago and I think
that's it.
Exactly.
puts me in another category.
I try to do my best.
I'm not a very good gift getter.
I typically, you know, I'm in awe of people that do like you, like what you just said, Greg, that's fantastic.
But everyone can do it.
It's easy.
It's easy.
Also, here's experiences.
You can get them a gift, you can buy them a buying, buying gift.
That's fine.
But if you say to them, Hey, we're going to do a thing.
And here are three things we're going to do.
Those are fun too.
I like that.
See, I want time.
From people that I love the most, I just spend time with me.
Let's hang out.
Let's make a memory.
I don't care.
I don't want more stuff.
I do not want more stuff unless it's expensive.
And I love those two tips just for gift giving and for making time and making memories.
Love it.
And that is the
tip of
the day.
All right.
Tip of the day!
Nailed it.
All right.
On behalf of Pete, I would like to thank Dominic.
I would like to thank Tucker.
I would like to thank traffic and engineering for all of your work.
Without you, we talk into non-operational microphones.
Everyone who called or texted, everyone who sent a comment on the live stream.
Thank you so much for being on the show.
We appreciate it.
Without you, there's no us.
By the way, tomorrow we're talking to August Lamb.
He's a writer and activist who will be talking about how to live without a computer or a smartphone in the Midwest and talking to Susan Kearns, the executive director of Milwaukee film, the chat movies and the latest news from the Milwaukee film.
events and showing.
So all that tomorrow.
But don't go anywhere.
Still more programming ahead.
We'll be back with Night Light with Pete Schwab and Greg Bach on Wednesday.
Have a great night, folks.
Stay tuned.
Stay close.
Good night, Wisconsin.