Up North Podcast

In Patti and Kirk’s last episode covering the "Right Wing War on Education,” they talked to Dountonia Batts and Dr. Preston Green about the issue of race as it relates to voucher schools.   This is important because private school vouchers are often presented as opportunities specifically advantageous for students of color. So it is fair to ask … Are they? Hint hint, they aren’t. Hosted on Ac...

On this episode of The Right Wing War on education, Michael Johnson, Superintendent of the Eau Claire school district, John Gaier, Superintendent of the Neillsville school district, and with Chris Hambuch Boyle, the Northern Wisconsin Regional Coordinator for the Wisconsin Public Education Network, talk about how our public school tax dollars are flowing out of rural small towns  #upnorth &nb...

Patti and Kirk talked to Marva Herndon, President of the Milwaukee Public School Board, and Ingrid Walker Henry, Vice President of the Milwaukee Teacher Education Association and a member of Schools & Communities United, about what has happened to Milwaukee public schools since the first voucher school program in the country was implemented in Milwaukee over 30 years ago. Hint, it ain’t pretty...

Patti and Fred, MBC’s Lawyer aka the “Irrepressible Ginger,” talk to Cory Mason, Mayor of Racine, and Angela Cruz, President of the Racine Educators Association, about the gaping hole in the Racine’s public education budget due to the parasitic private voucher school programs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we talked to our lawyers about the lawsuit we just filed as original action to overturn the voucher system in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, and we also talked to two plaintiffs to get their story and why they wanted to participate in this very important lawsuit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patti and Kirk spoke with Nicki Vander Meulen and Martha Siravo. Nicki is an attorney, advocate for kids with special needs, and member of the Madison Metropolitan School District Board. Martha coordinates Madtown Mommas and Disability Advocates which supports parents and caregivers of students with disabilities. They helped us understand how why the voucher system has decimated the funds availabl...

Kirk and Patty talked to Bob Baxter, Executive Director for the Wisconsin Teacher's Union, aka the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), and Heather Dubois Bourenane, Executive Director for the Wisconsin Public Education Network. They helped us understand how the growth of the parasitic private voucher school program has hurt both Wisconsin teachers and kids over the last 30 years. Hoste...

Patti and Kirk spoke with Attorney Jessica Levin from the Educational Law Center, who is also Director of "Public Funds Public Schools," a national campaign to ensure that all public funds are used to support public schools, about who and what is driving this push for parasitic private voucher school programs across the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...

UW-Madison Professor Emerita Julie Mead joins Patti and Kirk to discuss the history of the parasitic school voucher system in Wisconsin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patti and Kirk introduced the legal team who will sue to overturn the parasitic private voucher school program in Wisconsin, and asked them to explain why they think they will win. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode of the Up North Podcast, Kirk talked primarily about power imbalances, both in his ongoing battle with the Town of Minocqua and Oneida County to build a beer garden, and also at the judicial level where he is being sued by the Lakeland Times for defamation. He' spoke with a few of his lawyers to update everone on the defamation suit, and then he spoke to a national expe...

On this week’s episode of the Up North Podcast, Kirk, Kristin, and Sarah spoke with former Wisconsin US Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski about her new Political Action Committee called Women Win Wisconsin, and the rallies they're having around the state. Next, they spoke with political veteran Robert Kraig on how to get plugged into volunteer activities with Citizen Action of Wisconsin and he...

On this week’s Up North Podcast, Pat and Kirk spoke with Elder Law Expert Paul Sturgul and Family Practitioner Dr. Ann Reitz about how Wisconsin is one of only 11 states that hasn't adopted Medicaid expansion, and the only Midwestern state left. We then discussed how changing the balance of Wisconsin's Supreme Court could make Republicans more accountable to the health of their constituencies and...

In this special episode of the Up North Podcast, Kirk spoke with Melissa Kuhn, the winemaker behind Choice Sauvignon Blanc, and Matt Grove, owner of Equality Vines--the company that partnered with the Minocqua Brewing Company to make Choice wine. They tasted the new wine and talked about how Equality Vines was created as a cause-based winery that supports not only women’s reproductive rights, but...

This week’s Up North Podcast featured Jim Obergefell from the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that gave us marriage equality, Obergefell v. Hodges.   We talked to Jim about how he became the plaintiff for this case, and what he's doing now.   We also talk about how we got to know him as a co-owner of Equality Vines, a caused based winery out of Sonoma, CA, and our partnership in creatin...

This week’s episode was a special late-night reaction to Governor Evers’ budget address to Wisconsin. State Representative Jodi Emerson from Eau Claire joined Pat, Kristin, and Kirk to dig through the proposed budget and what it would mean to our rural areas “Up North.” We also discussed how wonderful it would be if the right-wing gerrymandered legislature would finally ignore special interes...

On this week's episode of the Up North Podcast, we talked about how we might be able to re-litigate some of the terrible things that have happened to our public schools and public school teachers over the past 14 years if we elect a progressive Supreme Court Justice on February 21st (primary) and April 4 (general).   Our guests were WEAC (Teacher's Union) President Peggy Wirtz-Olsen and Dr. J...

On this week’s Up North Podcast, we talked to Madison Senator Kelda Roys about what Wisconsin can do to help women get their reproductive rights back after we elect a progressive Supreme Court Justice. We also spoke with Jodi Habush Sinykin, who is running for the special election to replace Alberta Darling in the Milwaukee suburbs, about how important this race is. Finally we remembered that...

In this week's Up North Podcast, we talk to representatives of Nates's Mission, a survivor led group that hopes to bring justice to clergy abuse victims in Wisconsin, and is frustrated with what they see is a lack of action from the Wisconsin Department of Justice. We then talk about the need for courage among politicians to not just throw feel-good press conferences, but to risk failure to do wha...

Kirk and Kristin talk with former United States Attorney Jim Santelle about how Wisconsin’s Tribes may be able to sue to end gerrymandering if we can elect a progressive Wisconsin Supreme Court judge on February 21 and April 4. Then they spoke with Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Member and member of Govern Evers’ Fair Maps Commission, Janson Bisonette, about how the tribes would be...

Kirk and Kristin talk to former United States attorney Jim Santelle, and former State Senate candidate Kelly Westlund about how we can finally get Fair Maps in Wisconsin if we elect a progressive Supreme Court Judge on April 4. And we think the the people of Douglas, Bayfield, and Ashland counties have a great reason to lead the charge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kirk, Pat, and Kristin are embarking on a new format for the podcast, so used this week as a tech rehearsal which provided many funny bloopers. They also promoted their holiday music extravaganza that will be airing on Dec. 21 at 8:15 am live on the Minocqua Brewing Company Facebook page, and talked about their focus for the New Year: The Wisconsin Supreme Court Race. Hosted on Acast. See acast.co...

Kristin and Kirk talked to “Iron Stache” Randy Bryce, the iron worker that tried to warn Wisconsin that former Governor Scott Walker was trying to break the unions, and how he thinks labor will get out the vote in this election. We then talked to two state assembly candidates, Leah Spicer and Joel Jacobsen, who were once considered underdogs but have a real chance at winning their races and s...

Pat, Kirk, and Kristin spoke with Senator Chris Larson about the grass roots energy needed to fuel progressives to vote during these last two weeks before the election. He told the story of how that energy was white hot when he and the other Democratic senators left the state in 2010 to try and stop Scott Walker from passing Act 10--the bill that stripped collective bargaining rights from sta...

Kirk, Pat, and Kristin talk to candidates Kelly Westlund and Laura Gapske from the Superior/Ashland area of Northwest Wisconsin about how they must win their traditionally blue State Senate and Assembly races in order to protect Governor Evers’ veto from a badly gerrymandered Republican state legislature. Later, they discuss how Gapske’s opponent has been extremely vicious and reminiscent of...