Mornings with Pat Kreitlow

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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...

It was a noteworthy feat that Wisconsin voters earlier this year stopped the world’s richest man from trying to buy a seat on our state Supreme Court. This week, Pennsylvania voters did something similar when an in-state billionaire tried to flip three state Supreme Court seats. A reporter from our sister outlet The Keystone will tell us how people mobilized to counter his big bucks — something we’ll have to do here next year since we have multiple in-state billionaires willing to write big checks once again. We also ask, how old is too old to wear a jersey...

We don’t have the same access to government data as we did before the shutdown, but the figures we’re seeing make clear that in Trump’s America, the rich are quite comfortable and the job growth is only happening in bigger companies. We’ll review your money and the markets with Sean O’Malley. And we’ll check in with both Todd Allbaugh and Joe Zepecki to see if Tuesday’s election results are a short-term setback for Republicans or the sign of tsunami-sized backlash in 2026 to what the GOP has done to our country in 2025.

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We’ll visit with Assembly Democratic Leader Greta Neubauer about the ways Wisconsinites can help their neighbors while President Trump and Republicans try to starve them into caving and accepting skyrocketing healthcare costs. And we’ll talk to an economic support specialist who helps Wisconsin families when they first realize they need a lifeline in order to afford groceries and avoid eviction.

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...

Legislators held a hearing Wednesday on a bill that represents the latest effort by right wing politicians to insert themselves in the medical decisions made by women and their doctors. The authors claim the bill addresses situations where abortions are necessary to save the life of the mother, but it also would define a fertilized egg as a person. Instead of trying to micromanage which medical procedures are legal or not, maybe they could finally understand that abortion is a normal part of health care, needed for a variety of reasons, none of them being the business of anyone...

Measles is nothing to take lightly. While it sounds like a common ailment, measles is a highly contagious viral illness that can lead to a rash, fever, cough, ear infections, pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death. And it is entirely preventable, except for the efforts of a few people spreading another contagious hazard: misinformation. We’ll talk to pediatrician Dr. Kellie Snooks about the alarming uptick in childhood measles cases and the truth behind the vaccine that can literally save little lives.

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We’ll ask Congressman Mark Pocan if Tuesday’s election results provided the extra force that could break the Republican logjam on the government shutdown. We’ll visit with newsletter editor Ellie Bourdo and start some trouble by asking you who makes Wisconsin’s best cheese curds? And Civic Media sports director Jimmie Kaska gives us an update on the many fall sports seasons winding down for Wisconsin high schools.

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 p...

Tuesday’s election results should not be seen as some big surprise. Donald Trump’s Republican Party went backwards in every non-president election cycle in his first term as well. We’ll review the results and the reaction of a president who increasingly sees himself as someone not bound by any rules or laws, even courts that tell him to stop withholding food from struggling families. Who does that?

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 po...

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes came within a whisker of unseating US Sen. Ron Johnson, whose campaign carcass was dragged over the finish line by billionaires who put tens of millions of dollars into racist ads. And yet it’s Barnes who’s the target of not-so-subtle talk in some Democratic circles that he shouldn’t run for governor in 2026 because he didn’t beat Johnson and the billionaires in 2022. We’ll ask Dan Shafer of The Recombobulation Area about the reasons why Barnes should or shouldn’t make a run for governor.

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It’s one year until some big elections in Wisconsin. We’ll visit with Emily Berge, Eau Claire City Council president and a candidate for Congress in Wisconsin’s 3rd District. We’ll talk to guests behind an idea to engage in something called forest carbon management and voluntary forest carbon markets as a way to reduce the impacts of a changing climate, by offsetting industries that can’t quickly reduce their carbon footprint but are willing to fund the growth of natural carbon collection.

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There’s a fair debate to be had about whether it’s a waste of time and taxpayer resources for legislators to create and pass bills they know will be vetoed by the governor. Was it right to make a statement by passing the doomed bills? Or was it the state capitol version of, “This meeting could have been an email,” and it would’ve been enough to issue a press release on what you’d like to do? Either way, Republicans sent a bunch of bills to Gov. Tony Evers that just met their fate thanks to his veto pen.

A Wisconsin Senior Summit in Stevens Point this week will help a statewide group put together an agenda for 2026 that will help candidates understand what the state’s older population needs most from our state and federal leaders.

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! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to...

The current administration has proven itself to be no friend to small businesses: tariffs that raise costs, cuts to healthcare that impact their workers, a shutdown that hurts the economy. We’ll talk to Shawn Phetteplace from Main Street Alliance, a small business group active in court cases that challenge the hostile agenda coming out of Washington, DC.

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 si...

Well, that was painful. Despite being two-touchdown favorites, the Green Bay Packers never had the lead at Lambeau Field on Sunday, losing to Carolina, which appeared nearly unstoppable while slicing through Green Bay’s defense en route to an upset win. Also: Gov. Tony Evers declares a state of emergency to help the 700,000 people in the state impacted by President Trump’s likely-illegal cutoff of SNAP benefits for lower income families to afford basic groceries.

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

We’ll visit with State Senate candidate Emily Tseffos on why it’s important for candidates to step up even in the districts that appear to be unwinnable in order to send a message of hope and provide voters with a great alternative to the politics-as-usual coming out of Madison. Also: A little game of politician or Disney villain to kick off the Halloween 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...

Our Week In Review panel will break down the stream of misinformation coming from the White House and Capitol Hill about the shutdown and the pain being needlessly inflicted on American families and the nation’s economy.

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! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to ci...

Next Tuesday will mark one year until some very important elections in Wisconsin, but there will be voting going on next week in several other states — and those outcomes in New York, California, and other states could be an indicator of how voters feel as the Republicans’ government shutdown enters a second month. Plus: Greg Bach joins us for our daily History Lesson.

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 m...

We’ve seen the recessions caused by the dot-com bubble of 2000 and the real estate bubble of 2008. Now there’s reason to fear a new bubble. The stock market is higher not because of basic fundamentals (which aren’t great) but because Wall Street has a new idol to worship: artificial intelligence. With one chipmaker now worth $5 trillion, we’ll ask Sean O’Malley if he’s concerned that there will be nothing artificial about the next bubble that bursts.

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

We’ll talk to an expert on so-called Medicare Advantage plans because we’re in the open enrollment season for seniors or their caregivers to make important choices on their health insurance plans for 2026. Original Medicare can’t match all of the TV ads being run by the private health insurance companies who get to claim their plans have some kind of advantage — when the truth is there are significant restrictions to keep in mind before going down a road that looks a lot like the troubles Americans faced before the Affordable Care Act.

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