Sun Prairie Rising Podcast

We are BACK!  After a few months off, Sun Prairie's What Are We Building? podcast returns with the perfect guest: Taylor Brown, Director of Economic Development for the city, knows exactly what we're building.  We did a whirlwhind tour of construction projects around town - updates on the area around Metro Market, HyVee, new Apartments, Main St, Downtown and MORE!

Part 2 of my interview with Mayor Paul Esser.  We talked about specific projects and important issues affecting Sun Prairie, from the bus line and BRT, to affordable housing, apartments, and racial diversity.

Sorry to say this will be my last show for awhile - I'll be taking some time for a summer hiatus.  I haven't ruled out bringing the show back - in Sun Prairie someone's always asking "What Are We Building?"

In honor of recording over 50 episodes of "What Are We Building?" I sat down for a chat with the guy in the big chair: Mayor Paul Esser.  In Part 1, we talked about the Mayor's experience growing up in Madison, joining the army and attending college amidst the Vietnam era, and how he first got involved in politics in Sun Prairie.  

Also, some news and reflections about 2 years and 50+ episodes at the beginning of the show.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the interview, airing next week.

Donna Mackey has lived in Sun Prairie for 32 years.  As a military wife, she moved around a lot and had multiple careers, so we had a lovely chat about why her family chose to put down roots and settle here.  From the richness of ethnic diversity to the sense of community and connection, Donna's perspective on what Sun Prairie is building is especially valuable and fascinating.

I also opened the show with thoughts on the recent local elections for City Council and School Board.

Our special LIVE broadcast on election night April 5, 2022.  It’s a little long, but it was a really fun, interesting discussion between myself, Bill Baker and Tony Klemme, joined by all the new faces coming to City Council and School Board: David Virgell, Diana McFarland, Latoya Holiday and Brent Eisberner. We had a lot of time to wait for the results, so in between we managed to have a few laughs while talking about serious topics like race, diversity and Voter ID. There was also singing at one point.

On the newest episode of "What Are We Building?" Andy concludes his series of interviews with all of the candidates running in the local election on April 5th.  On this show, you'll hear from Diana McFarland, Steve Schroeder, and Latoya Holiday.  Plus an announcement about a special LIVE episode...tune in on election night to hear Andy and a few special guests announce the results as they come in.

This week I continue the series of interviews with the various folks running for local office in the April 5th election.  In this show hear from Lisa Goldsberry and Stephen Elmer, 2 of the 5 candidates for school board.  Next week we'll have Diana McFarland, Latoya Holiday and Steve Schroeder.    

I opened the show with some thoughts on the school district, and making sure we remember how good we have it, even as we work to make things better...

I'm continuing my series of shows talking with the various candidates running for City Council and School Board.  This week I spoke with the 2 gentlemen running for District 4 Alder: David Virgell & Russ Wied.

This week, Andy talks with District 2 City Council Candidate Brent Eisberner about his time in the Marine Corps, working as an attorney and standing up for the "little guy."

Andy also opens the show with some choice words (good & bad) about traveling for his new job, and news about an approved rental unit development project on the North side of town at Bird & Egre Rd.