The Recombobulation Area

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time TEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winningweekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

The race for Wisconsin Supreme Court happened a couple weeks ago now, but since it was such a big deal for the future of politics in this state, there’s a whole lot for us to still be talking about.

As we said over and over again in the months prior to this election, you cannot overstate the importance of this race. The ramifications for the victory for liberal justice Janet Protasiewicz, flipping the ideological balance of power on the state’s highest court, are going to be profound. 

So, as we continue to recombobulate over these massively important election results, we were joined by Dan Kaufman, who is the author of the book “The Fall of Wisconsin”, an outstanding and poignant account of the era of conservative conquest in the state, that was published in 2018. He has also written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The New York Review of Books. His most recent work was in the New Yorker, where he wrote a brilliant in-depth feature story on the race in the weeks before the election, and then wrote another piece last week after Janet Protasiewicz’s resounding victory in the election.

On those results, Kaufman said he “felt like it was the culmination of a lot of anger over the past twelve years of essentially living under minority rule, with a radical overturning of the state’s past.”

Dan and I talked about what those elections results meant for Wisconsin, and he also shared some stories from his reporting, we talked about how Robin Vos deserves blame from his party in their losses in these statewide elections, about how Republican coalitions in Wisconsin have changed post-Trump, and whether or not this is the moment where Wisconsin finally stops falling.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

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Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time TEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winningweekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

For Episode Five of the “Bird on a Wire” podcast series, Lu Ann Bird is joined by Dr. Katheryn Hope Wilkinson.

Dr. Wilkinson is a resident of the district where LuAnn ran for Assembly, and they met while LuAnn was campaigning and knocking on doors. Wilkinson is a doctor and a surgeon who has treated victims of gun violence, and that has inspired her to get involved in efforts to pass gun safety legislation.

In this podcast, they talk about the work they are continuing to do not only to advance gun violence prevention bills, but combat the fatalistic attitudes on gun reform. It’s an important conversation.

If you missed the earlier episodes of this series, you can listen to them here:

* Episode One with Dan Shafer

* Episode Two with Evan Goyke

* Episode Three with Christopher Porterfield

* Episode Four with Sarah Godlewski

This podcast series is presented by The Recombobulation Area and produced by Dan Shafer. The lead sponsor for this podcast is Civic Media, the fastest-growing hometown radio network in Wisconsin. Visit civicmedia.us to find your local station and tune in to your community. Civic Media, hometown radio refreshed. Supporting sponsors include Marianne Lubar and Marlene Ott.

Music and logo design for the podcast is by Christopher Porterfield.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area to get the "Bird on a Wire" podcast series sent right to your inbox.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 13 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time TEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winningweekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

For Episode Four of the “Bird on a Wire” podcast series, Lu Ann Bird is joined by Sarah Godlewski. You might know Sarah from her time serving as the State Treasurer, her run for U.S. Senate, or her work helping elect women in the Wisconsin state legislature. One of those women that Godlewski supported was indeed LuAnn Bird. So, these two had a lot to talk about on this episode.

Godlewski also discussed the Rally For Your Rights tour that has been happening all over the state. The final two events from that tour are this weekend in Milwaukee on Saturday, April 1 and in Madison on Sunday, April 2. She will be speaking at both events. 

Godlewski also contributed a guest column here at The Recombobulation Area about what she’s seen on this tour. You can read that piece here.

If you missed the first three episodes in the series, you can listen to them here (Episode One with Dan Shafer, Episode Two with Evan Goyke, Episode Three with Christopher Porterfield).

This podcast series is presented by The Recombobulation Area and produced by Dan Shafer. The lead sponsor for this podcast is Civic Media, the fastest-growing hometown radio network in Wisconsin. Visit civicmedia.us to find your local station and tune in to your community. Civic Media, hometown radio refreshed. Supporting sponsors include Marianne Lubar and Marlene Ott.

Music and logo design for the podcast is by Christopher Porterfield.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area to get the "Bird on a Wire" podcast series sent right to your inbox.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 13 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagramat @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time TEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winningweekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

We are just days away from the Spring Election in Wisconsin. And while the race for Wisconsin Supreme Court will be on the ballot statewide, there are a whole lot of other races happening in communities all over the state.

One of those is the special election in the 8th Senate District. This district includes parts of Ozaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Milwaukee counties. 

This is a very important race because it will determine whether or not Republicans will gain a two-thirds supermajority in the State Senate. Longtime Republican state senator Alberta Darling retired late last year, creating an open seat. And while this district has been in GOP control for a long time, this is a part of the region here in southeastern Wisconsin that has seen its political leanings shift significantly in recent years. 

The Democratic candidate running to flip this district is Jodi Habush Sinykin, and she joined the podcast to talk about her background, why she’s running for State Senate, the top issues in the race, and more.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time TEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winningweekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

For Episode Three of the “Bird on a Wire” podcast series, Lu Ann Bird is joined by Christopher Porterfield. Porterfield is the lead singer and songwriter from the acclaimed band Field Report (yes, he also provided the theme music for this podcast series).

He got involved in LuAnn’s State Assembly campaign last year in a variety of ways, perhaps most notably by helping create the “Bird Songs” concert series. Porterfield has continued his journey into political action and is now a candidate running for Whitnall School Board. 

Chris and LuAnn had a lot of wonderful stories to share on the podcast. We hope you enjoy.

If you missed the first two episodes in the series, you can listen to them here (Episode One with Dan Shafer, Episode Two with Evan Goyke).

This podcast series is presented by The Recombobulation Area and produced by Dan Shafer. The lead sponsor for this podcast is Civic Media, the fastest-growing hometown radio network in Wisconsin. Visit civicmedia.us to find your local station and tune in to your community. Civic Media, hometown radio refreshed. Supporting sponsors include Marianne Lubar and Marlene Ott.

Music and logo design for the podcast is by Christopher Porterfield.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area to get the "Bird on a Wire" podcast series sent right to your inbox.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 13 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagramat @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time TEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

"Bird on a Wire" is a podcast series featuring conversations about hope, civility and action. LuAnn Bird has had a career in civic action and making change, from serving on school boards to working with the League of Women Voters to running for Wisconsin State Assembly, and this podcast series aims to continue many of the conversations that began during her remarkable and unconventional 2022 campaign.

If you missed our newsletter introducing this podcast series, check it out here.

If you missed Episode One with Dan Shafer, listen to the full episode for free here.

Episode Two features State Rep. Evan Goyke of Milwaukee. Enjoy!

This podcast series is presented by The Recombobulation Area and produced by Dan Shafer. The lead sponsor for this podcast is Civic Media, the fastest-growing hometown radio network in Wisconsin. Visit civicmedia.us to find your local station and tune in to your community. Civic Media, hometown radio refreshed. Supporting sponsors include Marianne Lubar and Marlene Ott.

Music and logo design for the podcast is by Christopher Porterfield.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area to get the "Bird on a Wire" podcast series sent right to your inbox.

The Recombobulation Area is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 17 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

"Bird on a Wire" is a podcast series featuring conversations about hope, civility and action. LuAnn Bird has had a career in civic action and making change, from serving on school boards to working with the League of Women Voters to running for Wisconsin State Assembly, and this podcast series aims to continue many of the conversations that began during her remarkable and unconventional 2022 campaign.

If you missed our newsletter introducing this podcast series, check it out here.

The first episode of this series is with LuAnn Bird and Dan Shafer. They discuss Bird’s path to a career in public service, the tragic accident that altered the course of her family’s life, and take a look ahead at what’s to come in this 10-episode podcast series.

Listen to the podcast in the media player above, or watch it as a video podcast on YouTube here.

This podcast series is presented by The Recombobulation Area and produced by Dan Shafer. The lead sponsor for this podcast is Civic Media, the fastest-growing hometown radio network in Wisconsin. Visit civicmedia.us to find your local station and tune in to your community. Civic Media, hometown radio refreshed. Supporting sponsors include Marianne Lubar and Marlene Ott.

Music and logo design for the podcast is by Christopher Porterfield. Video was edited by Steve Grisetti.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area to get the "Bird on a Wire" podcast series sent right to your inbox.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 13 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

The Spring Election in Wisconsin is now less than one month away. And on the ballot statewide in that April 4 election is the race for Wisconsin Supreme Court, where Janet Protasiewicz and Daniel Kelly are competing to be elected to a 10-year term. That election will determine the ideological balance of the state Supreme Court, with conservative justice Patience Roggensack retiring, leaving an open seat.

It’s been about two weeks now since the primary and we’re looking ahead to the general election. So to help us recombobulate, we’re joined by Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette University Law School Poll, to talk about primary results, statewide trends, key regions, turnout and much more.

The Recombobulation Area is a reader-funded publication. Support our work and become a paid subscriber (just $5 to start!).

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 13 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend!

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

#BucksInSix

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

Reporter Mario Koran of Wisconsin Watch has exhaustively detailed the fallout of a controversial Title IX investigation at Kiel Middle School. His reporting revealed that the narrative being pushed to conservative media was not the full story, uncovering a misinformation campaign that sparked a firestorm that led to bomb threats, death threats, closures and chaos in a small Wisconsin town.

He joined The Recombobulation Area to talk about his reporting, how he uncovered the false narrative generated by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), a WILL attorney taking a “victory lap” over causing an anti-trans panic, and the latest chapter the saga unfolding in Kiel, one of community that has just had it with the right-wing culture war in their schools. 

Listen to the full podcast here, and read our commentary on the cautionary tale in Kiel over at Heartland Signal.

The Recombobulation Area is a reader-supported publication. To support our work and access bonus content like this podcast, become a paid subscriber.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 13 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagramat @therecombobulationarea.

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a six-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication written and published by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

For the last couple weeks, I have had the opportunity to be the guest host for “Connect MKE,” the local news program at CW18 and My24 Milwaukee.

If you missed the episodes live, you can check out the interviews here at The Recombobulation Area in podcast form. You can also watch the full episode linked below on YouTube.

This week’s episode featured a segment on races happening in the Wisconsin State Legislature, under new Republican-drawn maps. I talked to John D. Johnson of Marquette University to discuss that issue. For the next segment, I talked to Kristina Hoffman of the Milwaukee County Transit System about raising ridership and the many new things happening this year in public transit in Milwaukee.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. His work was recently featured in The New York Times. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s won 13 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @therecombobulationarea.

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe