Politicizing Natural Disasters, The Resurgence of TikTok, Rural Men Leaving the Workforce and More

Today on Spanning the State Kristin and Brian recount the sad news of the passing American professional baseball catcher and sportscaster who served as the primary broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball for 54 seasons Bob Uecker and how they spent the rest of their day. Sarah Halpern Meekin Director of UW-Madison's Institute for Research on Poverty and author of a study surveying 60 rural Wisconsin men, joins the show to speak to Kristin and Brian about the mass exodus of rural men from the workplace. She explains the reasons, which vary from wages and video games to a lack of disability benefits. She shares what else they uncovered in the study, and what demographics they focused on. Steve Scaffidi joins Kristin and Brian for the Political Power HALF Hour. They discuss what we are preparing for come Monday and the inauguration of Donald Trump. They then talk about how our government has mismanaged the tragic wildfires in California and how it's being politicized as well as Steve's fire thoughts on having TikTok banned and it's possible resurgence.