Mornings with Pat Kreitlow

We’ll talk to COURIER’s Cam Stevenson in Washington, DC, where he’s following the far-right assault on freedom of speech in the nation’s classrooms. He also has an update on President Trump sending troops to a third American city with little to no justification. And we’ll talk to Dan Shafer from The Recombobulation Area about a new GOP package that engages in a classic case of overkill to address...

The conservative uproar in the wake of the Charlie Kirk murder crossed a line at some point for many Americans who sensed a willingness to infringe their freedom of expression. Some of them spoke out at last night’s Eau Claire City Council meeting to defend the rights of two council members whose reactions to the Kirk killing made them targets for right-wing scorn. We’ll talk to congressional cand...

There must be a lot of ibuprofen being passed around the White House, since they seem to have something against Tylenol. The headaches aren’t just coming from medical professionals and pregnant women pushing back on misinformation about acetaminophen, they’re also coming from supporters of free speech whose howls of disapproval at ABC have led the network to put Jimmy Kimmel back on the air. In ot...

The Wisconsin Badgers football team went through a pretty decent 30-year run starting with Barry Alvarez taking over in 1990, but the pendulum has swung the other way and we’ll ask our Madison radio friends John & Gordy what life is like in the shadow of Camp Randall when the football karma for the Badgers is, pardon the pun, a bit more “Fickell.” Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNor...

State Sen. Kelda Roys joins us live to discuss the first week of her run for governor — the issues that propelled her to join the race and why she thinks she’ll emerge from a growing field of Democratic candidates seeking the nomination next year. And UpNorthNews reporter Salina Heller shares the story of a Wisconsin mom whose adult son demonstrates how Medicaid is an essential service that allows...

Packers quarterback Jordan Love is a proven talent, but he’s also young enough to make bad choices that’ll break your heart — like throwing an interception when all you need to do is run out the clock, (Emphasis on “run.”) The Brewers lost too, but at least Craig Counsell’s Cubs were kind enough to also lose, which gave Milwaukee the title of Central Division champions. And we’ll review an Arizona...

For struggling families on lower incomes, there are food banks — but some of those families are also in need of basic household items like diapers. A diaper bank in southeast Wisconsin is holding a special campaign where donations are being matched and doubled. We’ll talk to Kate Duffy of Motherhood for Good about the Milwaukee Diaper Mission, which also helps women with basic hygiene supplies as...

Our Week In Review panel has some thoughts on the latest capitulation from corporate media and how it has emboldened Donald Trump to outright threaten the licenses of broadcasters if he doesn’t like what they say about him. What kind of role can journalists and their readers, listeners, and viewers play in pushing back against the latest example of a wannabe dictator doing whatever he wants, inclu...

Jill Underly, Wisconsin’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, didn’t sugarcoat the current environment in her annual “State of Education” address Thursday at the Capitol — saying that this year, “the biggest schoolyard bully in our public schools is our own federal government.” Since Underly was recently reelected to a second four-year term, expect her to only become more outspoken about protect...

We’ll talk to Sean O’Malley about your money and the markets. While the Federal Reserve did cut interest rates Wednesday, it appears to be less out of pressure from President Trump and more out of concern that Trump has taken the country to the verge of stagflation, with inflation still a problem even as the job market keeps getting worse. Chad Holmes will tell us about the stories he’s following...

We’ll meet pediatrician Dr. Kellie Snooks, who has a new video series “Raising Wisconsin” on UpNorthNews social media sites. Her latest report explains what vaccines actually do inside your body. We’ll also visit with former Racine alderman Trevor Jung, who just announced his candidacy for a State Senate seat held by a Republican for most of the past 14 years. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered...

We’ll discuss the latest disturbing attack on America’s freedoms as another corporate television network caves to pressure from a ruling party and removes its late night show host. ABC joins a growing list of media outlets that have done the president’s bidding and put profits ahead of free expression and the freedom to speak truth to power. Meanwhile, Congressman Derrick Van Orden takes a page fr...

We continue welcoming a growing parade of candidates seeking higher office in 2026, with a visit from state Rep. Francesca Hong, who this morning announced her candidacy for Wisconsin governor. We’ll ask about the growing appetite among some voters for more unabashed liberalism and no more trying to placate the creeping authoritarianism in our government. We’ll visit with Civic Media friends Earl...

The change of seasons is becoming more noticeable. Kids are back in school. Football is back on the field. And candidates are announcing their plans for 2026. We’ll talk to a former childcare provider in New Glarus who’s decided to run for a seat in the Legislature because its leadership has ignored the needs of providers, parents, and employers long enough. And in our Homeroom segment, we’ll trac...

There’s a lot about the current sluggish economy that can be pegged to moves by the White House, but there’s another underreported quirk in our economy: big business is getting bigger. That reduces competition — the most important factor in keeping prices manageable. We’ll talk about some troubling examples of how families are being nickeled and dimed in ways that don’t get big headlines and show...

To hear the Speaker of the House tell it, Republicans have no interest in working with Democrats to reach a budget deal and avoid a government shutdown — even though GOP members can’t agree among themselves how to write a budget. Democrats are demanding Republicans dismantle a health care cost bomb that’s going to skyrocket health insurance premiums, but Speaker Mike Johnson seems content to watch...

Instead of doing the job of a congressman, Derrick Van Orden spent his Monday still attached to his Twitter keyboard and calling for people, groups, and even cities to be punished because he does not agree with the opinions expressed by fellow Americans. That now includes the City of Eau Claire. It’s not typical (or normal) behavior for a member of Congress to advocate for defunding services from...

Big Government is casting a wider net, seeking to police people’s thoughts as expressed on social media and use those posts to have people fired or to deny visas to potential visitors and workers — again, based on their thoughts and opinions. The news about visa denials came even as the vice president of the United States used his government office to guest host Charlie Kirk’s former radio show an...

The candidate list for the 2026 election is growing again this week. We’ll talk about this morning’s entry of state Sen. Kelda Roys to the governor’s race. And we’ll talk live with Milwaukee city council member JoCasta Zamarripa, a former legislator who’s now running for Wisconsin Secretary of State. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is powered by UpNorthNews, and it airs on several stations across the C...

The current president and majority party may be shamelessly trying to drag America back to the days of coal and oil generating most of our power and pollution, but plenty of other people are pushing back. We’ll talk to Robert Kraig of Citizen Action Wisconsin about the ways they’re making sure lawmakers are aware of the direction being demanded by most Americans — and it doesn’t involve going back...

Far-right provocateur Charlie Kirk symbolized the fight over free speech. Universities faced pressure to cancel his appearances as well as pressure to not give in to so-called cancel culture. That makes it ironic that the most tangible activity in the country in the days after his murder has been a wave of firings of people for expressing their own points of view — and threats of firings from peop...

We’ll ask Dr. Kristin Lyerly about Not-a-Dr. Robert Kennedy, Jr. and the misinformation he’s spreading about autism, Tylenol, and folate deficiencies, causing more angst among pregnant women. And Mike Clemens will help us review last night’s Packers game against Washington and whether the short-week pressure will be worth it by having ten days until the next game. Mornings with Pat Kreitlow is pow...

We’ll ask former US Attorney Jim Santelle to make it make sense: the same US Supreme Court that says race cannot be a consideration for college admissions now says race can be an issue in deciding whether law enforcement can pull over, harass, and even detain people they only suspect of not being citizens. And we’ll ask journalists Mark Jacob and Jennifer Schulze about the coverage of the Charlie...