WPR Politics
114 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★ - 89 ratings"WPR Politics" is a weekly podcast about the ins and outs of Wisconsin's political news. Host John K. Wilson and WPR reporters clue listeners into stories they may have missed and tell them what's actually interesting about stories they've already heard a thousand times.
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Episodes
A special announcement: Pod on ice (but just real quick)
January 19, 2022 17:10Attention dear listeners, we have an announcement: The WPR Politics Podcast is taking a quick winter break!!
About that year we had!
December 18, 2021 18:20Do you remember 2021? That's OK, neither do we! But that just means it's time to take a look back at the year that was in Wisconsin state politics news on another episode of everyone's favorite fake podcast game show! Let's play!!!
This changes (nothing) everything!
December 03, 2021 22:30The Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority issued a ruling this week laying out how they'll handle the political map-drawing process in the state: basically change things from the existing, GOP-slanted maps as little as possible. And how better to make sense of the news? Soft rock piano!
A sticky issue
November 19, 2021 22:20A new bipartisan bill sparked fresh discussion about marijuana policy in Wisconsin this week. It would standardize penalties for marijuana possession across the state, and while it would mellow out restrictions in many areas, some communities that have lax rules aren't feeling the vibe. Plus, can it actually pass, or will it go up in smoke as so many week bills before it?
Hark! News of redistricting
November 12, 2021 22:25Our very own Shawn Johnson has been away on a journey for many weeks, but today is the day he returns, and with news of Wisconsin redistricting no less. Just in time for GOP lawmakers' passage of their political maps. So sit back and let yourself be regaled!
1 year, 3 days
November 05, 2021 21:15It is just over 12 months until election day 2022 in Wisconsin, and that means it's high time for a podcast breakdown of the major races to keep an eye on over the next year — you've got your governor's race, the U.S. Senate, the 3rd Congressional District — so much excitement it's going to be hard to stay calm. But we are going to make it through this year if it kills us!
It came from the LAB
October 29, 2021 21:35Deep in the bowels of the Capitol square, shrouded in mystery, you’ll find the LAB. What goes on there, nobody’s quite sure. But for months, day and night, something has been growing, bit by bit, taking on a life of its own. And now it’s in the light of day — a massive, incomprehensible entity that’s already started to spawn!! It has long, nonpartisan tentacles wrapped around the core parts of state government. It is … the Legislative Audit Bureau 2020 elections administration report !!!!!!!!
Cranes/cranes/schools/schools/Gableman/Gableman/Gableman
October 15, 2021 21:45No tiny tweets or scrawny stories here! This week we have literally all the information there is on crane hunting, school transfers, election investigations, you name it! Hours and hours of state Capitol news on this special extended cut!
Over and over and over again, forever
October 08, 2021 21:40 - 206 BytesYeah, it's October 2021, but somehow November 2020 is front-page political news in Wisconsin this week. It's like a wise man once said: "Time is a flat circle. Yes it is, yes it is."
Fever To Map
October 01, 2021 21:15 - 206 BytesThe wheels are turning on Wisconsin's once-a-decade legislative redistricting process and everyone has mapmaking fever — Republicans in the state Legislature, the governor and his fellow Democrats, and eventually probably the courts. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Fall Into Politics: The WPRPP Is Back!
September 24, 2021 18:05 - 206 BytesIt has been a refreshing few weeks off for summer vacation, but the seasons are changing it's time to get back to work! That's right, fall is in the air and as the leaves start to drop, so will crisp new episodes of the WPR Politics Podcast. There is so much news to dig back into, so dust off that podcast app and get ready!
A Special Announcement: Hot Pod Summer Vacation
July 30, 2021 21:35 - 206 BytesAttention dear listeners, we have an announcement: The WPR Politics Podcast is going on summer vacation!!
Budget Action Action!
July 09, 2021 22:05 - 206 BytesWe were preparing for this for weeks. Training day and night. Running through all the eventualities. Time to cover Gov. Tony Evers' action on the two-year state budget. Partial vetoes? One big veto? You name it. So what happened? Strap in and listen to find out!
Say It's Vetoed (Or Not?)
June 25, 2021 21:15 - 206 BytesThe Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature has been passing a lot of bills lately that raise the prospect of gubernatorial vetoes. For some of the legislation it seems likely, for others it's harder to tell. We could use our experience as political reporters to tell listeners what seems likely … or we could invent a fake supercomputer to do the work instead.
jfc and tax cuts and stuff
June 18, 2021 21:10 - 206 BytesLong week in the Legislature — Joint Finance wrapped up their work on the state budget, Republicans introduced a massive tax cut proposal, and Laurel didn't get much sleep. So how about some terrible parody karaoke to bring it all together?
More Gravy
June 11, 2021 22:50 - 206 BytesWhat happens when you run a state like, say, Wisconsin, and all of a sudden you find out that your state has more money coming in than you expected? Like a lot more money? Billions of dollars more money? Well, you fight about it of course!
Don't You (Forget About State K-12 And Higher Education Funding)
May 28, 2021 22:20 - 207 BytesAlright class, settle down. If you'll open your budget papers, today we're talking about state and federal funding for Wisconsin's K-12 schools and the UW System. Now who knows how the ed funding plan from the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Legislature compares to the governor's spending proposal? Anyone? How about the surprise this week involving the UW System tuition freeze? Did nobody do the reading?
Big Ideas (That Ain't Gonna Happen)
May 22, 2021 17:45 - 206 BytesAnother week in Wisconsin's divided state government and it seems like we've seen this one before — Both Democrats and Republicans push big ideas that they know they other side won't buy. But maybe that's part of the point.
Running The Ol' Legislative Mill
May 14, 2021 22:05 - 206 BytesIt's that time in point in the Wisconsin legislative session where things are humming along — bills are being considered, votes are being taken — pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. But wait just a darn minute, because even run-of-the-mill lawmaking can be pretty important, or at least interesting. Election changes, police reform bills, singing at the ball game. Yeah, it was all there this week.
The First Cuts
May 07, 2021 22:40 - 203 BytesIt's that time in the biennium when the budgetary blocks are being stacked. The governor has made his spending proposal, lawmakers have held public hearings on the issues, and this week the Legislature's budget committee took their first vote. But there was no balancing act to be seen. Republicans sent pieces flying.
Horsin' Around The Capitol
April 23, 2021 21:55 - 206 BytesThere were plenty of important Wisconsin politics stories this week but they were wandering all over the news pasture like a herd of calves. So it's time to hop in the saddle and rope 'em up. That's right, it's time for a good ol' news roundup show. Heeyah!!
Federal Funding Family Feud
April 17, 2021 17:20 - 206 BytesWith divided government at the Wisconsin Capitol there's never a shortage of feuding going on, but this week especially, a pile of federal money coming the state's way has Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Legislature's GOP majority jostling over control of how to spend it. So to help sort through all of the dueling proposals, it's time for a poorly executed game show parody!
Judicial Hot Fire No. 72
April 02, 2021 21:50 - 206 BytesAfter arguments way back in November, the Wisconsin Supreme Court finally issued a ruling this week, deciding that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers overstepped his authority in declaring multiple states of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic without input from the GOP-controlled state Legislature. In practical terms, the ruling voids the governor's statewide mask mandate, among other things. In nerdy politics podcast terms, it means we have a written decision full of judicial hot fire to par...
All The Bills
March 19, 2021 22:55 - 206 BytesWhat happens when John is out and the list of bills that passed the Legislature is long? Laurel and Shawn talk about all of them, that's what. From administrative rules to "cocktails to go" to the latest on Wisconsin's capital budget, this week's episode has it all and in no particular order. Because freedom.
The World Has Turned And Left Us Here (Still In A Pandemic)
March 12, 2021 22:30 - 206 BytesThis week marks one year since the last episode of the WPR Politics Podcast that we all recorded together in the same room — and what a year it has been. So, in an endeavor of profound self reflection, we went back and listened to that episode to see what few things we knew back then about the COVID-19 pandemic, and all the ways it would come to affect Wisconsin politics that we had no clue about at the time.
Ron Johnson And Ron Johnson And Ron Johnson
March 06, 2021 02:20 - 206 BytesIt's a bit unusual for us to devote an entire episode to a single Wisconsin politician, but lately, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has been in the news — a lot. He's been amplifying refuted claims about election fraud; he's been downplaying the severity of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and questioning who was involved; and he's been a ringleader in trying to slow President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief bill. Is he just doing it to do it? Or does it tell us something about his future politic...
Do You Remember (All Those 2020 Challenges? Well, Now There Are GOP Bills For Those)
February 27, 2021 18:30 - 206 BytesWith the way the world is moving these days, you could be forgiven for totally forgetting all those Wisconsin election challenges brought by former President Donald Trump and his supporters after his loss in November 2020. But state GOP lawmakers remember, and this week they introduced a huge slate of election bills, many of which would make changes directly related to issues raised in those lawsuits.
The Budget, But 1 Louder
February 19, 2021 22:50 - 206 BytesWisconsin Gov. Tony Evers released his second biennial state budget proposal this week. Chances are if you're a Democrat, you thought his last budget rocked super hard. Two years later, the governor is playing a similar song, but you could say everything is just turned up one more notch.
Act 10 Storytime: The Obligatory Retrospective Episode
February 13, 2021 18:45 - 206 BytesIt's been 10 years this week since former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker introduced sweeping legislation gutting the state's once-strong public-sector unions, leading to giant protests and epic political drama. Whether you remember Act 10 like it was yesterday, or you weren't around yet like two-thirds of the WPRPP team, gather round. It's storytime.
Wacky Wisconsin Divided Government
January 29, 2021 23:35 - 206 BytesSometimes state government is orderly; sometimes it's a mix of like ping pong, pin the tail on the donkey, Jenga, Mouse Trap and Twister. And nobody seems to be winning. This week the Legislature's COVID-19 response bill collided with Republicans' attempts to repeal the governor's statewide mask mandate — and let's just say some wackiness ensued.
Yeah, Still COVID
January 22, 2021 23:05 - 206 BytesIt's finally (probably) safe to say that the election cycle is now behind us, and for a state politics podcast, that means shifting focus back to the business of governing. So what's dominating things at the state Capitol as a new session gets underway? Yeah, it's still COVID-19 — policy addressing it and partisan politics surrounding it.
Everything Is Totally Normal
January 15, 2021 23:00 - 206 BytesThere were some relatively normal political things that happened this week. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers gave his annual State of the State address. Republicans gave a response. State senators passed a bill. But speech was remote, the response was in person, the Democratic governor sided with some Republicans on the bill and against others, and that's not even to mention that, in Washington, the president of the United States was impeached — again. So yeah, totally normal.
More Serious Than Politics
January 08, 2021 23:50 - 206 BytesIt's a new year, and a new legislative session here in Wisconsin. And normally we'd probably do a look-ahead, talking about new members being sworn in, new proposals, the upcoming budget process, maybe this week’s COVID-19 legislation. But the events in Washington this week really overshadowed any of that. And even though it's a story with nationwide significance, there's plenty to talk about as far as how Wisconsin's political leaders were involved and how they responded to it.
How To Win An Election In Wisconsin: An instruction Manual (2020 Edition)
December 16, 2020 03:55 - 206 BytesIs it early? Is it late? Who knows? It's a patented WPR Politics Podcast step-by-step guide through all of the election lawsuits — state and federal — that were decided in Wisconsin in the last week or so, not to mention a legislative hearing and a formal meeting of electors!
But It's Not Friday
December 08, 2020 02:30 - 206 BytesWell, last week we kinda failed. We waited all day on Friday to record an episode, but news kept breaking, and breaking, and breaking. So here we are, on a MONDAY, ready to fill you in on all of the election lawsuit drama and coronavirus-related legislative machinations we missed.
AVALANCHE!!! (Of Post-Election Wisconsin Politics Developments)
November 21, 2020 18:25 - 206 BytesJust when you thought it was safe to take a stroll outside in the post-election news world — RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE — Oh no! It's a presidential recount! And a new COVID-19 emergency order! And lawsuits! AAAAHHHHH!!!!
News Never Sleeps
November 07, 2020 02:05 - 206 BytesDepending on when you listen to this episode, you may or may not know who the next president will be. But there is still a ton of Wisconsin election news to talk about. The presidential race was very tight, but this time President Donald Trump lost the state to his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden — but it still looks like we're headed toward a recount. There were also plenty of down-ballot races for Congress and the state Legislature that tell a story about where Wiscon...
An Election/Politics Totally Not A Halloween Episode
October 31, 2020 01:45 - 206 BytesThis is it. The moment we've been waiting for. It's time to put on your costume and gorge yourself on candy because it's the last episode of the podcast before the November 2020 election and we have a lot to cover.
Election House Party (Don't Tell Shawn!)
October 24, 2020 01:55 - 206 BytesWith Shawn away for the day, that means it's time to par-tay — election style that is! We'll break out the democracy snacks, pump up the jams and talk about early voting, polling and the presidential campaigns in Wisconsin during the waning days of the race.
Lawsuits & Lawsuits & Campaigning
October 17, 2020 18:05 - 206 BytesWisconsin has lawsuits about COVID-19. And lawsuits about voting. Oh, and there's a presidential election in like two weeks and we're still a swing state.
This Week: This Week!
October 02, 2020 21:45 - 206 BytesOver the course of this year, we've found ourselves repeating some variation on the sentiment: "Oh man, 2020! What? There is so much news! This is the craziest week!" But maybe, just maybe, this week is actually the craziest week, as far as state and national politics are concerned. President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19; Wisconsin is seeing a record coronavirus outbreak with elected officials seemingly taking no new actions to curb it; and on top of everything, there is an ongoin...
A Fast Car (Of News)
September 25, 2020 21:55 - 206 BytesThere is so much news that happened this week — federal election rulings, a new COVID-19 emergency declaration, more presidential campaign visits to Wisconsin than you can shake a stick at and so much more — you can't rely on just Twitter notifications or the radio. No, what you need to keep up is some sort of speedy, metaphorical vehicle!
Our Dramatic Friend
September 11, 2020 22:35 - 206 BytesYou know that friend, the one who always seems to have some issue going on? Some sort of drama? Well if states were people, it kinda seems like Wisconsin would be that friend this election year. Other states just decide who's going to be on their presidential ballots and print them. Simple. But in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court is considering a last-minute change that could mean millions of ballots have to be reprinted and deadlines could be missed. And other states seem to sorta know whi...
A Tale Of Two Kenosha Visits
September 04, 2020 22:10 - 206 BytesThe events in Kenosha continued to drive political news this week, with both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden visiting the city that has been rocked by a police shooting, protests, destruction and killings. We were certainly expecting Wisconsin to get plenty of attention during the 2020 election cycle, but we didn't think it would look like this.
A Really Tough Week In Wisconsin
August 29, 2020 01:15 - 206 BytesThis has been a hard week for Wisconsin — Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot seven times in the back by a Kenosha police officer; Protesters took to the streets to express outrage; Some set fires and destroyed buildings; Police used tear gas, pepper spray and military vehicles; And an armed teen shot three protesters, killing two of them. And the crisis did nothing to bridge deep divisions among elected officials, spurring emotional responses, harsh criticism and intense debate about race, la...
What Is Space? What Is Time?
August 22, 2020 01:50 - 206 BytesThis was the week of the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee — that wasn't really in Milwaukee. At one point we were expecting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be here. Instead, Donald Trump and Mike Pence were. Wisconsin Democrats said some ... things. And the state's elections officials parsed the very nature of time itself, to the disappointment of rapper Kanye West.
Picking From A Short List Of News
August 15, 2020 01:35 - 206 BytesWell there was some big political news this week about someone making a much discussed selection — but it really doesn't a Wisconsin angle, so instead we've put together our own short list of news stories, and we're going to make some equally momentous selections from said list to talk about.
Teach Me How To Shruggy
August 08, 2020 01:00 - 206 Bytes2020 has a way of warping one's perspective of the news. This week there were stories that years or even months ago would have felt unimaginable — a rap superstar filed to be on Wisconsin's presidential ballot; the much-hyped DNC in Milwaukee that was supposed to woo Wisconsin voters won't even feature the party's candidate; and a federal judge who mad headlines ruling in Wisconsin's last election gave signs he might rule similarly for November — but now one is just left feeling like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Face To Face (Behind A Mask)
July 31, 2020 21:20 - 206 BytesThis week Gov. Tony Evers issued a statewide mask mandate to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But the timing of the order also has some political dimensions. There was a swift show of opposition from Republican state lawmakers, who could take action to reverse the order, and there is also the strong likelihood of a court challenge. Also, musical robots.
A Different Kind Of Action
July 25, 2020 01:20 - 206 BytesIn an alternate non-COVID world, the 2020 Olympics were supposed to start this week. But while we won't get to marvel at the pure athletic spectacle of disciplines like handball, sport climbing or artistic swimming, there's plenty of action going on in Wisconsin political news. The White House announced federal law enforcement agents are vaulting into Milwaukee, there's still plenty of wrestling going on over the state government's response to the coronavirus and the governor's administration...