ICYMI: Recombobulating on the radio (and on podcasts, Instagram, YouTube, The Washington Post, with the VEEP cast & more)
Featuring appearances in The Washington Post, on Civic Media, "Decision Wisconsin," "Spanning the State," with Motherhood for Good, and more, along with special campaign and debate coverage.
The Recombobulation Area is a thirteen-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning weekly opinion column and online publication founded by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. The Recombobulation Area is now part of Civic Media.
It’s been a busy week at The Recombobulation Area and Civic Media. I was part of special coverage of the vice presidential debate, coverage of former president Trump’s visits to Dane County and Milwaukee, Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney’s visit to Ripon, and joined all sorts of podcasts and radio shows. Let’s recap all of it here.
On Sunday, I covered the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s fundraiser with the cast of “VEEP” and special guests. The event raised more than $725,000. Along with the terrific cast — and Recombobulation Area supporter Julia Louis-Dreyfus — they were joined by Larry David, Jason Alexander, Kumail Nanjiani, and host of the event, Stephen Colbert.
It was pretty hilarious. And it also featured Democratic Senate and Assembly candidates Sarah Keyeski, LuAnn Bird and Duane Shukoski.
Read more about the event in my story at Civic Media here.
On Monday, I was quoted in the Washington Post. Karen Tumulty, associate editor and columnist at the Post, wrote about the “other” big election happening in Wisconsin this fall, the one happening under new maps in the Wisconsin State Legislature.
On Monday, I joined Kate Duffy of Motherhood for Good for an Instagram Live to talk about the key races happening in the Wisconsin State Legislature, under new maps.
Watch that full conversation here, or go right to it over on Instagram here. And be sure to check out Civic Media and The Recombobulation Area’s comprehensive, district-by-district voter guide here.
Also on Monday, I joined our friend Kristin Brey on “Spanning the State” to talk about new maps and what it’s like to put together a preview of 115 races in the state legislature.
On Tuesday, I joined Pat Kreitlow, host of UpNorth News Radio, every weekday from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on the Civic Media network, to talk about legislative races and more.
Also on Tuesday, I published a piece I wrote on Tim Walz with the headline, “The Audacity of Ope.” That night was also the vice presidential debate, and I joined from a watch party in Menomonee Falls.
You can see Civic Media’s pre- and post-debate coverage (and watch the full debate) here. Also on the special broadcast was Civic Media news director Terry Bell, Pat Kreitlow, host of UpNorth News Radio, and Angela Lang, executive director of BLOC.
Also on Tuesday, Donald Trump was campaigning in Wisconsin, and I joined “The Todd Allbaugh Show” for coverage following the former president’s campaign rally in Dane County (2:28:00 mark).
On Wednesday, I joined Steve Scaffidi for “Decision Wisconsin” for an in-depth breakdown on key races in the state legislature.
On Thursday, I joined our special coverage of Kamala Harris’ visit to Ripon, Wisconsin, with former congresswoman Liz Cheney.
First, I was on “The Todd Allbaugh Show” talking to the host about his own history in leaving the Republican Party in 2011, after it went down the road of voter suppression. He was broadcasting live from the Little White Schoolhouse, the birthplace of the Republican Party.
Find the special coverage here of the campaign event here, as part of “The Dom Salvia Show.”
On Friday, I joined “The Earl Ingram Show.” Listen here.
And as always on Friday at 11 a.m., I joined Jane Matenaer and Greg Bach on “Matenaer On Air” to recombobulate.
On this episode, I talked about my in-depth breakdown of the latest Marquette poll, which you can find here.
WHEW! That was a lot.
There’s now less than one month to go until Election Day. Expect a few more busy weeks like this one here in the weeks ahead.
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 also 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 18 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.
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Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.