Activated: The Recombobulation Area subscriber group chat!
If you're a paid subscriber, you can now join our exclusive group chat. In discombobulating times, let's recombobulate together.
The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. The Recombobulation Area is now part of Civic Media.
The NBA trade deadline has come and passed, and Giannis Antetkounmpo remains a Milwaukee Buck, so over here at Recombobulation Area HQ, we’re getting ready to pop some celebratory champagne.
But while we’re here feeling some good vibes (for once, in 2026), I wanted to let you know about a new thing we’re getting up and running here on Substack: It’s our exclusive Recombobulation Area subscriber group chat!
This is going to be available to all of our paid subscribers to come together and recombobulate in these discombobulating times.
We know that the social media landscape is growing increasingly fragmented, and while we’re working harder to reach folks on a variety of different platforms — Threads! Bluesky! more Instagram and Facebook1! more to come (we hope)! — we want you to know you’ll always have a place to share thoughts here, as part of this wonderful little community we’ve built together.
So, if you have not yet, you should get the Substack app…
upgrade to become a paid subscriber …
… and join us in the group chat. We’re going to have some fun with this — and, of course, discuss the big issues facing Milwaukee and Wisconsin, too.
Let’s recombobulate.
One more thing: Here’s the “How to get started” information from Substack:
Get the Substack app by clicking this link or the button below. New chat threads won’t be sent sent via email, so turn on push notifications so you don’t miss conversation as it happens. You can also access chat on the web.
Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.
That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.
Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. In 2024, he became the Political Editor of Civic Media. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 23 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.
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Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer and at BlueSky at @danshafer.bsky.social.
with the help of Civic Media’s Jennie Brand!