Mornings with Pat Kreitlow

It’s easy to look at occasional mass protests like the “No Kings” rallies and conclude that not much is being done to stand up to things the Trump administration is doing to our country, but recent events show how individual Americans are coming together and pushing back effectively. We’ll talk to COURIER’s Cam Stevenson about how an expanded ICE presence in Charlotte, NC was thwarted, how Home Depot has backed off its cooperation with illegal arrests based on public pushback, and how DOGE has dried up months ahead of its planned expiration date.

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We’ll talk to state Rep. Angela Stroud of Ashland about the recently completed fall sessions of the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate, what got done and what’s still undone. Charly Ray of nearby Washburn has seen enough that’s not getting done, so he’s thrown his hat in the ring for the 25th state Senate seat in northwest Wisconsin. We’ll ask him about his decision to run.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the pod...

Tuesday of Thanksgiving week sure seems like an odd place on the calendar to announce the big, beautiful health care plan that’s been promised for many years, but maybe the president is serious this time. Or maybe he’s only thinking out loud about potentially reversing himself and backing an extension of tax credits that keep health insurance affordable for millions of American families. Either way, Republicans in Congress show signs of heading to the exits and not running for reelection in 2026, feeling left out of the loop — as would be expected when they won’t stand up for them...

Author Laura Bird is back with her monthly batch of book recommendations, this time with an eye on books that match the sentiment of the season: thankfulness.

She tells us about eight books: “Maggie; or a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar” by Katie Yee, “A Marriage at Sea” by Sophie Elmhurst, “Everything is Tuberculosis” by John Green, “Birds of the Great Lakes” by Dexter Patterson, “Unabridged: the Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary" by Stefan Fatsis, “So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color” by Caro De Robertis, “Car...

UpNorthNews reporter Salina Heller talked to the father of a Wisconsin-based member of the cast of “Wicked: For Good” about bringing her talents to Hollywood along with her wheelchair. And we’ll find out what the group Fair Wisconsin has been doing to continue the fight for fairness for the LGBTQ community.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Get more from Pat and Up...

We’ll review the Green Bay Packers’ dominating win against the Minnesota Vikings as they head toward a Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Detroit Lions. And we’ll review the weekend’s news headlines that include the death of DOGE, a small payday for Marjorie Taylor Greene for quitting Congress, and what press reports call a “Trump peace plan” for Ukraine that his own Secretary of State admitted was pretty much written by Russia.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am...

Once upon a time, it seemed like the most shocking thing far-right politicians could do was require that women seeking abortion care first allow themselves to be violated through the use of an invasive type of ultrasound. They somehow found a way to make things worse. We’ll discuss a proposal by Wisconsin republicans that would require women who endure a lost pregnancy to scoop up the pregnancy tissue, put it in a medical waste bag, and bring it to a doctor’s office. With a straight face, they say it’s about groundwater protection from medication-induced abortions and not at...

We’ll review some of the week’s big stories with journalist Mark Jacob and former US Attorney Jim Santelle, who probably has some thoughts on the new US Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Among the stories: The US Coast Guard changes its policy on swastikas. Add that to your list of “words we never thought we’d type in 2025… or ever.” At the end of the hour we play a week in review game.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday throu...

When Robert Kennedy Jr. was nominated to be the next US Secretary of Health and Human Services, he promised a member of Congress that the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would continue to say that vaccines do not cause autism, despite Kennedy’s anti-vaccine beliefs. Now we are shocked (shocked!) to discover the CDC website now makes unsubstantiated claims about vaccines and autism. We’ll discuss that and review how Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany demonstrates he doesn’t know what a census actually is. Also: some Friday fish fry chat with Jim Zons, the founder of the...

A new campaign of political ads warns voters in the 7th Congressional District up north about the dangers of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani. One problem: Neither is running for office in Wisconsin. One’s a New York City member of Congress and the other is the incoming mayor of New York City. But you’d never know that from a group running ads in order to put lots of shady out-of-state cash behind Sean Duffy’s son-in-law, who wants to start a Trump-style family dynasty in our state. We’ll talk to Joe Zepecki about that and more of this...

Despite getting a full-time salary from taxpayers, the Wisconsin Legislature won’t be addressing any more challenges in 2025. Did you get your money’s worth from so many salaries and so few days in session? We’ll review what did and didn’t get done. Also: Sean O’Malley reviews the trickle of economic data coming out since the government shutdown ended. It turns out President Trump talking about living in a new “golden age” is really only golden for him and his wealthy friends.

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Imagine a proposal that improves women’s health, making it easier to get critical health care during and after pregnancy, supported by nearly three-fourths of the Legislature — Republicans and Democrats alike — and one man is blocking it, using dirty tricks when necessary. If it were a Democrat, there would be a very public revolt. It might not surprise you to hear what happened when Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos continued to block better health care for women.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday...

This week’s Climate Check adds to a string of stories we never thought we’d see in this nation again. The Clean Water Act of 1972 is landmark legislation that helped un-do generations of pollution. Now, the Trump administration wants to restrict how the Environmental Protection Agency can limit pollution dumped into wetlands. It’s a victory for industry and developers — and a real threat to everyone who believes in clean drinking water.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. S...

Wisconsin’s school funding system is a mystery to most people, but there’s an even bigger mystery out there: Gathering dust on a shelf is a comprehensive bipartisan plan to simplify and improve school funding in our state. Whatever happened to it? We’ll talk to two members of the 2017 Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding. It was praised as a model for how Republicans and Democrats could work together. But togetherness is not a quality that’s been top-of-mind for the people in charge of the state Assembly and Senate.

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You might have heard how some politicians are described as either workhorses or showhorses. Somehow, Wisconsin ended up with a pugnacious pony. We’ll talk about Congressman Derrick Van Orden’s latest utterances, which are utterly embarrassing — especially if it turns out the Epstein files have something in there that would cause Van Orden to rethink his take on capital punishment. And speaking of embarrassments, we’ll talk about how a US president is putting the BS in MBS as he gushes over another global dictator.

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With the government shutdown ending, Congress can get back to work doing… very little work. We’ll talk to COURIER’s Cam Stevenson in Washington, DC to see what kind of “normal” is returning to Capitol Hill. He also tells us about the searchable Epstein files database that he made with what is already available. And we’ll talk to Dan Shafer of The Recombobulation Area about Wisconsin political news, including a big ad campaign targeting US Rep. Bryan Steil for his role in allowing inflation to surge again, while cutting federal help for families facing all of those higher price...

The GOP wants to add more red tape to struggling families who need food aid and now Wisconsin Republicans want to police what people on SNAP are buying. How does that work when someone struggling to pay their bills gets a raised eyebrow for trying to buy candy canes for the kids at Christmas time? Also: Hans Breitenmoser on the crackdown on undocumented immigrants on farms. Sheila Everhart joins Hans to talk about getting Christmas trees from farms in Wisconsin.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic...

As a private citizen, a candidate, and president, it is fair to say Donald Trump has been all over the road when it comes to releasing information about sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein: juicing up speculation about what’s in the files, indicating he’d release them, then blasting it all as a hoax, pressuring Republicans in Congress not to demand their release, and now claiming he would sign such a demand. What gives? We’ll explore the possible answers and ask what you think. And our Question the Day revolves around apps. Now Culver’s is adding one. How many do...

Thanks to more than a decade of gerrymandering, we have a Legislature run by Republicans who don’t hesitate to take actions that are far beyond mainstream Wisconsin values. The latest example is the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program that protects some of our state’s most scenic and sensitive areas from being turned into strip malls, golf courses, and places that no longer allow snowmobiles and other recreation. We’ll talk to a state senator who’s working on a bipartisan effort to keep the program from becoming just another political or unfunded altogether.

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Let’s talk about your friends… and your politics. A new national survey prompts our Question of the Week: Do you have close friends whose politics are the opposite of yours? We’ve already received many heartfelt responses on both sides of the question. Some try to avoid politics in order to stay friends while others have seen friendships end. What about you? Also UpNorthNews reporter Salina Heller takes a ride in a combine as a farmer describes the double-whammy of Trump’s trade war and now the coming surge in health insurance premiums.

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Sometimes it feels like the leaders of the MAGA movement are playing a game, trying to see how far they can go to make some Americans believe their wild excuses and accusations to justify all that they do. The latest example is the US treasury secretary saying beef prices are inflated not because of Trump administration policies, but because undocumented immigrants “brought some of their cattle with them.” A southern invasion of cattle? Also, of course, a wrap on the Packers-Giants game with a welcomed Green Bay victory.

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It wasn’t a surprise that the New York Times editorial board blasted the attacks on women’s reproductive rights, but it was shocking to hear their proposed solution: an abortion “floor” that ensures some very basic rights. But make no mistake, that floor would become a national ban, as we discuss with Dr. Kristin Lyerly. Plus, Mike Clemens previews a busy Wisconsin sports weekend.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not...

Our Week in Review panel with former US Attorney Jim Santelle and veteran Chicago journalists Mark Jacob and Jennifer Schulze will walk us through this week’s happenings — including a letter signed by a lot of retired Chicago reporters that urges Americans to not normalize what’s happening when a president can send the military into the streets of our cities on a whim.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to...

The government shutdown is over, but that doesn’t change the conditions that led to the ongoing dysfunction on Capitol Hill. We’ll talk to COURIER’s Keya Vakil about this week’s developments and whether there’s still a chance Congress can pass a new proposal to avoid huge spikes in health insurance costs.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Get more from...

We’ll ask political strategist Joe Zepecki about the pressure building on Republicans in Congress to stop the cover-up of the files about sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, as emails are released with Epstein writing in 2019 about how Donald Trump “knew about the girls.” We’ll also cover some of today’s headlines with Civic Media’s Todd Allbaugh and visit with Marathon County Democratic Party chair Nancy Stencil.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to b...

It’s one of the oldest cons out there: convince someone to pay a little less now and a lot more later. That’s the thinking behind the President of the United States proposing mortgages that stretch for 50 years. We’ll take you through the math to show just how much more money banks and billionaires would get if people allow con men like the sitting president to treat them as suckers in another safe bet for Wall Street.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio...

Give Congressman Tom Tiffany credit for maybe being a little too honest when it comes to Republicans and health care. After blasting the Affordable Care Act in Milwaukee on Wednesday, the GOP candidate for governor was asked why his party still hasn’t put forward an alternative in the 15 years since the ACA passed. His answer showed how his colleagues don’t even have the “concepts of a plan” claimed by Donald Trump last year. Also: Cherita Booker on weekend events around the state and a viral post about whether you call a drinking fountain a “bubbler.”

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Hunting is a cherished tradition in Wisconsin, perhaps none more so than the annual nine-day gun season for deer. We’ll talk to one of our Civic Media friends in Park Falls, where the station’s Deer Hunters Roundup has celebrated trophies, stories, and humor for more than 50 seasons. We’ll also hear what’s coming up in Earl Ingram’s “What’s Going On” podcast and check in with Melissa Baldauff for our weekly Climate Check.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through F...

What do you get when you combine two small problems and do nothing else? You get one bigger problem. That’s the mentality behind what GOP legislators are proposing in the Legislature for Wisconsin’s struggling school districts. Rather than meet their obligations to ensure every child has the opportunity to get a quality education, legislators are proposing ways to make it easier for school districts to consolidate or merge. But that does nothing to address other problems other than make some school bus rides even longer. We’ll review what else is on the education docket in our Homero...

Even the most passionate motorcycle riders are smart enough to read a thermometer. That might explain why a congressman from western Wisconsin is getting national media attention for his latest stunt. Is US Rep. Derrick Van Orden showing himself to be the embodiment of hell on wheels, eager to take a vote to end the government shutdown? Is it a case of brain freeze, choosing to focus on performative politics while racing to take a vote that could lock in huge hikes in health insurance costs? Or is it an indictment of the job being done by US Transportation...

Whatever lessons Democrats take away from last week’s elections, it should be clear that success starts at the state level, according to Wisconsin Examiner editor-in-chief Ruth Conniff. We’ll discuss how a focus on kitchen table issues within state borders can be more effective than simply calling attention to every terrible thing done by a president sitting 1,000 miles away. We’ll discuss the proposal to end the government shutdown — and whether there’s any path to avoid a monstrous hike in health insurance prices for many Americans.

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Between last week’s big election wins and this week’s move to end the government shutdown, Democrats find themselves in familiar territory: arguing amongst themselves about whether the party will have more success with voters if they move left as unabashedly progressive warriors or move toward the center to appeal to moderates who’ve been turned off by the Republicans’ embrace of extremism. We’ll talk to a candidate for Congress as well as a former speechwriter for President Clinton.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Medi...

Whatever happened to the party that loved talking about it stood for “law and order?” There hasn’t been a peep of protest from Republicans about President Trump issuing pardons to co-conspirators in his attempted coup in 2020. They include several figures who played a role in Wisconsin’s fake electors scheme. We’ll have reaction from a legal group that still wants to see justice done at the state level for those who chose party over democracy. Also, of course, a review of the Monday night Packers-Eagles game.

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Today marks the 50th anniversary of the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald, one of the largest freighters on the Great Lakes, and the 29 souls on board. We’ll revisit our interview with Tom Nelson, the Outagamie County Executive, who’s written a book on the maritime disaster that also shows the ship as a fitting metaphor for the political and economic management of the late 20th century — putting shareholder profits ahead of workers’ prosperity. Also: Updates from our Civic Media friends John & Gordy and Jane Matenaer.

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We’ll talk to the head of a state organization that coordinates the many Head Start programs around Wisconsin. The government shutdown forced on America by its president and Republicans in Congress has been especially hard on families that are struggling economically. The Trump-GOP shutdown is kicking families when they’re already down by forcing Head Start programs to close, removing a child care option, and putting parents’ employment in danger.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscr...

Cue up the Lucy and Charlie Brown memes. A small group of Democratic senators voted with Republicans Sunday night on a proposal to end the government shutdown, without winning anything that would protect Americans from a huge spike in health insurance costs — other than a promise to hold a vote on the subject, maybe. Did that handful of Democrats see a long-term win, now that voters see Republicans literally taking food off the tables of struggling families? Or will this all be long forgotten by the midterm elections in a year?

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We’ll talk to Matt Rothschild of Civic Media’s “Wisconsin Forward” podcast and ask him if this week’s election results give him any renewed confidence in our ability to move beyond Trumpism and get things accomplished for Americans once again. Plus: Mike Clemens will preview Monday night’s game between the Packers and Eagles.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Get more fro...

Mark Jacob has written a new column: “12 helpful terms to understand American chaos.” And UpNorthNews newsletter editor Ellie Bourdo has a new series called “Civic Check-in” explaining some of the terminology of the times. Brush up on your current events vocabulary as we review the headlines of the past week.

Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the Civic Media radio network, Monday through Friday from 6-9 am. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Get more from Pat and UpNorthNews on their...