There are many robust threads of progressivism in the history of Wisconsin, running all the way back to its founding by Scandinavian and German immigrants. It also had influence on progressive policies in other governments, including the federal government. But at least in recent years, conservative officials in the state have successfully enacted policies contrary to the stances of progressives, and in many cases inimical to the interests of organized labor and others. And these policies have also been influential outside of Wisconsin. In this episode, I speak about such issues with Dan Kaufman, author of The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics. We discuss the administration of outgoing Republican Governor Scott Walker, organized labor, race, and more.

--The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics, by Dan Kaufman

--Dan Kaufman's Twitter profile

--Ableman v. Booth (U.S. Supreme Court response to the Wisconsin Supreme Court's ruling on the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850)

--The Turner Movement

--Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette

--The Wisconsin Idea

--Wisconsin Act 10

--Right-to-work law

--"Trump's tweets attract attention. Act 10 moves forward. Quietly. Inexorably. Changing the political landscape like a glacier." (Grover Norquist)

--The Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968

--There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America, by Phillip Dray

Special Guest: Dan Kaufman.