Send us your questions for our Summer Reader Mailbag!
In these discombobulating times, let's recombobulate together.
The Recombobulation Area is a thirteen-time NINETEEN-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.
Greetings, recombobulators!
It is time, once again, for you all to share your thoughts, ask some questions, and for us to recombobulate together with — you guessed it — a mailbag.
It’s been a while since our last mailbag. The last one we had here was in early December. I guess you could say there’s been a few things that have happened in politics — Wisconsin and beyond — in the months since.
So, let’s talk about it. Ask away. Ask about the Spring Election, or Donald Trump’s return to office, or Tony Evers’ decision not to seek a third term. Ask about Milwaukee. Ask about something that might not have been on our radar. Ask about the Bucks (and the Brewers!). Ask about working with our wonderful team at Civic Media over the last year. Ask about anything, really.
We always enjoy hearing from you. The Recombobulation Area and our readers are part of a real community, and we’ve always been so proud of that. This is our opportunity to share in some of that community. In these discombobulating times, we always have a place to recombobulate together.
Quick programming note with this: I’ll be away on vacation over the next week — we all need to recombobulate, folks! — so you’ll have plenty of time to send us lots of great questions.
So, ask away!
There are a few ways to do that:
Leave a comment! We’ll make it all the easier for you to get to it with this nice blue button to click
Send me a DM right here on Substack. Here, another nice blue button!
Tweet at me!
I’m at @DanRShafer (as you’re probably aware)
Send it on Bluesky!
I’m at danshafer.bsky.social!
Send it on Instagram!
We’re at @therecombobulationarea!
Send it on Threads!
I’m at @danshafer!
Send it on Facebook!
We’re there, too!
Walk around shouting it!
This won’t work, but it would be funny!
Send us an email!
We’re at therecombobulationarea@gmail.com and you can also ask me at dan.shafer@civicmedia.us.
Alright, have at it! Send in those mailbag questions!
We can’t wait to hear from you.
ICYMI: My recent posts at The Recombobulation Area
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 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.
1. Are WisDems in good hands with Remiker at the wheel?
2. Besides Sara Gonzalez, is there any other Dem looking to run for governor? Who should we be watching?
3. Will the Brewers break our hearts again in October?
Education spending is pretty opaque, but it looks like Milwaukee Public Schools have seen a massive (~50%) increase in spending per pupil over the past 30 years, but limited advances in achievement. Graduation rate increases over the period look to be from lowering requirements and it's hard to find a silver lining in academic achievement. What's the takeaway for how to reform/fix a troubled school district with enrollment declines? Not to even get into the administrative incompetence on display recently.