Organizing Worker Power & Political Expectations

We welcome Peter Rickman, president of the Milwaukee Service and Hospitality Union (MASH) to discuss the union’s big organizing victory this week at Landmark Theater in Milwaukee, the rapid growth of the union, and the union's commitment to the Living Wage Coalition pushing for a $20 minimum wage bill. We take a dive into new national polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation showing health care cost is a dominant election issue in 2026, even for Republicans and treasured independent and swing voters. Seventy-two percent of Democrats, 63% of independents and 47% of Republicans said the cost of healthcare will have a major impact on which party’s candidate they will support. Robert updates us on the continued fight for a BadgerCare Public Option and the grassroots leaders and legislative champions making it happen. We also highlight the dysfunction of our health care system, as evidenced by news this week that Ascension Wisconsin now has tele-ICUs at some hospitals… that’s right, no ICU doctors on-site! We close with the scandalous news that more massive “hyperscale” data centers are coming to Wisconsin, according to the head of WEC (the parent company of WE Energies and WPS), who arrogantly bragged at a recent shareholders meeting about the boon it will be to their windfall profits. This is only happening because Wisconsin state political leaders green lighted data center development with huge tax giveaways ($2 billion and counting) while failing to pass any guardrails to protect the climate, rate payers, and public health.

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Embracing Commutations

This week we dig into the criminal justice reform most needed in the next legislation session with Mark Rice, WISDOM’s Transformational Justice Coordinator. Before we get to that vital topic, we provi...

20 Aug 52min

Primary Election: What happened & the roadmap forward

Following our weekly tick report, we do a deep dive into the stunning primary election outcome in the race for governor. We unpack why the Francesca Hong campaign was so successful, why it fell bare...

13 Aug 55min

Keeping the throttle twisted towards the primary election

Following the tick report where we learn, in the words of a CDC scientist, that “the ticks are winning,” we discuss a new study finding wildfire smoke is now the primary pollutant negatively affecting...

6 Aug 49min

Meet Laurel Wales

We welcome Laurel Wales, Citizen Action's Managing Director, to the show as a guest panelist. Following the tick report, we dive into the latest developments in Wisconsin’s governor primary election...

30 Juli 51min

Elections > Polls

We take a deep into the latest MU Law Poll, which finds Francesca Hong and Mandela Barnes distancing themselves from the field. What does the MU poll clearly tell us and what remains unclear and fluid...

23 Juli 50min

Special Interview with Citizen Action endorsed candidate for governor, Francesca Hong

We welcome Citizen Action’s newly endorsed Governor candidate, State Representative Francesca Hong, to discuss her historic campaign and why Citizen Action members endorsed her in a crowded field of s...

15 Juli 52min

Civil War in the Democratic Party?

With Matt on vacation this week Robert welcomes special Guest State Rep Christian Phelps to discuss the new "improved" Trump immigration crackdown, huge Wisconsin budget deficits in education and heal...

9 Juli 58min

Organizing the democracy we need the next 250 years

Robert gives us the 250th July 4th Tick Report, nature’s revenge for climate change. This week’s report includes a menacing headline from the Boston Globe, There’s a terrifying uptick in tick-borne il...

2 Juli 49min