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'As Goes Wisconsin' creator Kristin Brey aims to move the needle with humor and information across social media and radio

Wisconsin Native Kristen Brey hosts daily radio program from her politically based humerus show "As Goes Wisconsin"
CJ Foeckler
Wisconsin Native Kristen Brey hosts daily radio program from her politically based humerus show "As Goes Wisconsin"

When Wisconsin native Kristin Brey left for Los Angeles, CA to pursue an acting career, the thought of ever residing in Wisconsin again was a distant one. However, in January of 2020, Brey did have the idea to return to her home state to make a documentary about Wisconsin voters.

Within days of arriving back in Wisconsin to begin her work in March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down and Brey decided to reside in her parents' home for the time.

"What I thought was going to be a story of Wisconsin democrats choosing between [Joe] Biden and Bernie [Sanders], became 'Oh, we're going to have an election during a pandemic,'" recalls Brey. She realized the more pressing issue became showing people how to request their absentee ballots, and her very first video was Brey helping her mother through the process, step-by-step and with humor.

Brey then began to explore creating politically informative and locally focused comedy content for her social media accounts. These videos eventually became the As Goes Wisconsin series. After gaining popularity online over the past two years, the show has also become a daily radio program on WAUK 540AM and 101.1FM The ‘Sha.

The transition from online to a daily radio program has somewhat shifted the format for Brey, she wants whatever content she creates to be informative, accessible, and humorous.

"What is important to understand, what is the right balance between fun and lighthearted versus important and consequential? And I don't know if I have figured it out," she admits. "I think my gut instinct right now is that I follow what I think is interesting and try to be cognizant of putting myself in other people's shoes throughout the community."

Brey believes that radio is an ideal platform for her content because it continues to be a prominent form of information and entertainment for Wisconsinites. She says, "if you can have a conversation that is authentic and sincere and interesting you capture them in some way... [Radio] is different than podcasts but is in the same element of what air, we can give conversations and bring nuance and bring that gray area in longer conversations that kind of get lost in TV or in social media."

Agreeing to create this style of content on a regular basis on multiple platforms requires a constant intake of news. Though the high volume of information can feel overbearing, Brey has methods of keeping herself motivated to do the work that she does.

"You just keep going. I think you either just like it and live for it and find it interesting and are constantly motivated by how much you're learning," says Brey. "And [I like] the challenge of 'How do I talk about this so that people actually hear it?', because it's important ultimately."

When discussing her moments of gratification, Brey notes that the best feedback she's received are from people who don't necessarily agree with her stances but are appreciative of the way she presents information.

"It is motivating and validating when you have people that are consuming the thing that you're doing and telling you that it actually did move the needle — whether that means they voted [or] whether that means they had a shift in perspective. So to know that you're not just yelling into an echo chamber feels good," says Brey.

You can read more about Kristin Brey in an article featured in this month's Milwaukee Magazine.

Audrey is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.
Rob is All Things Considered Host and Digital Producer.
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