La Crosse Talk PM WIZM

Jennifer Hyer, co-owner of Root Down Yoga, joined to talk about her business as a third space. The first week of the new year, with the weather the way it is and people looking toward their resolutions, La Crosse Talk PM focused on third spaces — so not home, not work, but a place you go for community, to be social.  So Hyer talks about the different ways Root Down, and yoga in general,...

Kylie Wiltgen, the senior fitness and wellness director, joined to talk about the the La Crosse Area YMCAs as a third space. La Crosse Talk PM has focused the first week of the new year on third spaces — so not home, not work, but that place you go for community, to be social.  Wiltgen notes that the YMCA is for everyone and almost literally has every age covered from infants to a 99-ye...

Wisconsin governor candidate and state Sen. Kelda Roys stopped in studio, and we got into discussions on minimum wage, the GOP argument over Tony Evers 400-year "property tax increase "vs. public school funding, and what to do with AI data centers. Before that, however, since we're doing shows all week about third spaces, that's where I began. For those who don't know, a third space would be &mdas...

Protein chips, fiber-fortified popcorn, the Midwest "meat and potatoes" trap — those are just some of the topics we discussed with Laura Birkel, a registered dietitian at Emplify Health. Birkel is also 23 weeks pregnant, so we had to ask her what a dietitian does with those weird food cravings. Other topics discussed on the show included a rapid-fire segment on how good or bad these ite...

Third spaces are an ever-growing need for communities, and Jake Erickson leads an organization that’s providing these spaces for kids across La Crosse County. Erickson, the CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse, stopped in studio to talk about how their facilities serve as these unique social hubs — but also how they prepare youth for their "second spaces," like sch...

We recap the most popular genres at the La Crosse Library in 2025, the most checked out books, whether paper can keep up with eBooks and more with the library's Lindsay Schmitt and Bill Ives. While thrillers remain the most popular genre overall because they are "fast and satisfying," Schmitt said, the single most checked-out book — for the second consecutive year — was Kristin Hannah&...

Small business owner Adam Murphy joins to discuss issues surrounding A.I. that often go overlooked, what to expect from the Wisconsin state legislature in 2026 and how YouTube has replaced traditional mentors. The conversation began with the rise of A.I. "slop" videos, plus the technology's potential benefits for healthcare — as well as manual labor jobs like plumber or electrician. Murphy a...

Mac Kiel is back in studio to preview committee and council week in La Crosse. The holidays pack all the big meetings into one week, highlighted by discussions on deregulating little free food pantries, asking for new proposals for a downtown bike lane and parking plan, and tackling homelessness as the community marks the two-year anniversary of Pathways Home. Kiel talks about her experience worki...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky in studio with his Top 5 Wisconsin politics topics of 2025.  From the governor’s race to controversy around judges to the state budget and the government shutdown, Chergosky dissects what he saw as the biggest stories in Wisconsin politics. Along with that, we also talk about whether or not people believe Santa Claus is a R...

Tacking the complaints and myths about bicycles, bike lanes and parking with Andrew Ericson in studio for La Crosse Talk PM. Ericson sits on the city of La Crosse’s Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee, the MTU Board and the Climate Action Steering Committee.  Some of those complaints we discuss include bicyclists not obeying traffic laws, needing to pay for their own infrastructure and why the...

Ken Cooper in studio for La Crosse Talk PM to participate in the Festivus tradition, the Airing of Grievances, in celebration of the holiday.  For those who don't know, Festivus is a holiday from Seinfeld, created by Frank Costanza — George's dad — as an alternative to the commercialism of Christmas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wisconsin Sen. Brad Pfaff in studio to discuss his New Year’s resolutions for the state Legislature, the debate over property taxes, strategies to address healthcare costs and his outlook for 2026. We started the show, though, with a bit of Christmas spirit, asking Pfaff when his kids first figured out the truth about Santa Claus. After that, we dived into the debate over the rise in propert...

Wisconsin state Assembly Rep. Tara Johnson stopped in studio to recap her first year in office, and explain to us the phrase bill-jacking. Johnson (D-Shelby) also tells a couple of stories — one on what she saw as a useless education bill and another on how a near-unanimous, bipartisan postpartum care bill was stalled by one man, Robin Vos.  Other things we hit on included how Johnson w...

A fun show brainstorming a new beverage to commemorate the 94-year-old Lansing bridge explosion, and recapping the 2025 words of the year with UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky. WIZM News Director Kevin Millard shared his experience watching the bridge blow, and we cold-called Todd Wiedenhaft, owner of Skeleton Crew Brew, to see if he could craft a "Blown Bridge Beer....

Mac Kiel in studio with the latest update on La Crosse hiring a city administrator and the recent conversations around that, plus the sale of the Charmant to billionaire Diane Hendricks and what that might mean for downtown. We discuss city administrator a couple different times during the show, first talking about the council structure — plus Kiel geeking out on seating charts — and t...

Rivoli co-owner Jonathan Gelatt in studio talking holiday movies, theatre etiquette, and some of the unique events they’re having this month, including the hit YouTubers, Found Footage Fest . The Wisconsin-born comedy duo behind Found Footage Fest will bring their best VHS finds for a live comedy show, beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday . The duo boasts over 160,000 subscribers on YouTube. On the...

Citizen Action of Wisconsin executive director Robert Kraig joins to discuss how the state should handle data centers and energy costs. We also talk healthcare at both the state and federal level, and Wisconsin's gerrymandered US House maps, as there are two lawsuits pending seeking to change them. We began the show, though, since Citizen Action is based in Milwaukee, discussing the Bucks potentia...

We're back on La Crosse Talk PM with UW-La Crosse political science professor Dr. Anthony Chergosky, who helps us take a deep dive into civics vs. politics. Before we get to that, we had to reset after nearly a year away from the Friday slot. The last PM show we did, Chergosky was ironically trying to start a cheese curd war between Kwik Trip and Culver’s. After that, we discuss the top Goog...

The UW-La Crosse men’s basketball team has opened the season right where it left off last year, when it set a school record with 25 wins and got to the Elite Eight for the first time ever. Now, coach JT Gritzmacher has his team ranked No. 3 in the nation and off to a 7-0 start. Gritzmacher joined La Crosse Talk PM to talk about the hot start, hype up his shooting guard Sam Grieger — wh...

La Crosse County Board chair Tina Tryggestad in studio, discussing a slew of topics, including the cost to plow snow, having the fifth-lowest tax levy, regionalizing assets, funding the SMRT bus and updates to the Hillview Healthcare Center. We also talked about county board elections across Wisconsin. La Crosse County has 30 seats — always up for election every two years. Tryggestad talks a...

City Council President Tamra Dickinson in studio as La Crosse Talk PM returns from about a year hiatus. On the show we discuss a crazy amount of things, including one of the two parks reopening, the Charmant sale needing council approval, the search for an airport director and bringing in Allegiant Airlines. We also hit on the old Kmart lot development status, the DOT bike lanes plan for downtown,...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, in studio discussing optics of the Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office meeting, media bias and why Republicans are now shying away from public town halls.  Plus, Chergosky reignites the #CurdWar between Kwik Trip and Culvers, and we chatted quick about the end of Skype, when the video service should be ruling the world. We began the sho...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, may have just sparked Wisconsin’s fiercest food fight — the Great Curds War between Kwik Trip and Culver’s. We kicked off Friday's show with this critical debate and circled back often. Chergosky took a firm stance on who has the best cheese curds based on some changes in the Kwik Trip kitchens.  In the spirit...

UW-L political science and public administration professor, Dr. John Kovari, joins in-studio to dissect everything from the city administrator's role in lowering La Crosse taxes to working Oompa Loompas into a conversation about TIFs — which might explain why his TIF book is orange. Kovari breaks down TIF (Tax Increment Financing) districts, how La Crosse uses them, and why they're on the sp...

UW-La Crosse political science professor, Dr. Anthony Chergosky, joins on Valentine's Day, so of course we discuss those chalk hearts. We also got into voter turnout in Tuesday's primary with the mayor race being on the ballot, plus is Tim Walz going to run for US Senate in Minnesota?  Began the show, though, with Valentine's Day, whether those candy hearts are even good and what ever happene...