Trevor Thomas of Inside Wisconsin goes Into The Winklerverse

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Good morning, everybody. Welcome into the Winklerverse. I'm Bar Winkler. Joining us today is Trevor Thomas. Of Inside Wisconsin, the radio show.

The podcast. The Enterprise. That it is. Trevor, good to talk to you. How are you doing?

Hey, man, I'm good. Our paths have crossed a couple of times. Thanks for letting me jump on here. I know that we both chatted with Caleb Durbin, and only one of us accidentally shared his cell phone number with everybody. That was me.

How did you do that? Why? That was a bad day, bad day. Listen, I'm not the most organized fella. That's why I'm attempting to surround myself with people that are better in that category than me.

Uh, and I, I, I don't know what happened. I can't couldn't tell if I got hacked or if something happened with uploading the wrong pod, but it was raw audio versus. It was a whole thing. I turned white as a ghost in the middle of a radio show because I was getting tipped off that something bad. I was.

It was a bad day, Bart. Bad day. Yeah, but I don't think too many people were like Oh my God, I have Caleb Durbin's number.

Well, I messaged him and let him know that it happened. I did not have an explanation. He was totally cool. He did not get a bunch of, I mean, I took it down as fast as I possibly could, but. These things happen, man.

Technology, lean on it too much and you get stung. I got stung. But Yeah, man, thanks for having me on here. I know that. We have similar paths and similar uh microphone I mean, you're doing stuff that was crazy cool on the national level, and I was a podcaster in my basement.

Well, now you're on the radio and I'm podcasting for my babies.

So it's like the DNA helix thing. The universe is a weird place. The Caleb Durbin thing. Um Because you had had him on, and then I listened to that, and then Tim Allen had him on. And I was, you know, for once in my life, I was doing prep because I had.

to do a Q ⁇ A with him in front of people for like an hour. With the Fond du Lac Doc Spiders. And that was. That was awesome.

So I do it, and I'm, and Caleb was great, and he, we like. You know when you interview these players because I used to go to the Ballpark all the time, and they don't want that. It's like, I got to talk to these people. You can't really. Foster anything in the locker room.

But I was like, I think this is. I think like this is good. Like, and then he gets traded three days later. I'm so pissed. And finally at an inn with somebody, and he got traded.

Pat Murphy was doing his tour around the state of Wisconsin that same night that Derbs had that piece with you. Were you at the Murphy thing? I was, and I know they FaceTimed. Yeah, yeah, they face timed. That was the one part that I like, because I was doing a bunch of social stuff, and then Caleb FaceTimes Murphy, and my phone's just like in my pocket.

I'm like, oh, so did you see what Derbs did for the Red Sox the other night? the the home run that put him ahead to to win 14 in a row. Yeah, I'm glad he did because they were very hard on him to start the season because he was very bad. He was. Text him every once in a while just to say, Hey, keep your head up.

I'm going to shoot him a note here today and be like, Have you come down from cloud 11 yet? Because that had to have felt good. Oh, so you and Durbin are like boys, like I thought I was going to be.

Well, I mean, he left.

So, how close are we of boys? The one thing that I loved about Caleb Durbin, and I'm sure you had this exact same scenario play out when you were chatting with him. At the end of the podcast, he said, Dude, this is what players are looking for. Like, we're sick of talking X's and O's. We're sick of being belittled about how our performance was this way or that.

I'm paraphrasing now, but he loved the idea that he had an outlet to tell his story. And that's what Inside Wisconsin was meant to be in the beginning and what it's become today. Pretty cool.

Well, now I'm going to have to transition right into that because you set it up perfectly and not talk about how I'm jealous that you have Caleb Durbin's number and I never got it. He did say I was funny, though. He said, He said, you're pretty funny. And I said, thanks, Caleb. And then I had him sign stuff for my kid.

And then. And then my kid had a favorite player, and like I said, he got traded three days later. Inside Wisconsin. This is your This is you. Put into entertainment form.

Um I first like just saw it popping up, you and John Anderson. And I was like. What is this? And then I kept seeing you with like guess that. But I couldn't get it.

And I'm like, okay, that's pretty interesting. Then you popped on the radio.

Now you're on WNFL. Give me the journey about how You're worthy enough to come into the Winklerverse today. I appreciate that. Let's go back 2010-ish timeframe. I was working full time, 2009, 2010 at the Green Bay Bullfrogs, which is now the Green Bay Rockers.

It's the Northwoods League team. And was for a little bit the Booyah. The Booyah, yeah. This year they did a 20-year anniversary of the Green Bay. Mm.

Bull boo boo rockin' booyah rockin' frogs. Is that what it's called?

Something along those lines. Anyway, I was there full time in the 2009, 2010 timeframe doing their sales and promotions. And one of the first things when I started doing their PA in 2007. was hey dudes John Anderson, ESPN Sports Center, at that time. Wipeout was absolutely huge.

He's from Green Bay. Like, we should definitely get him back to a game. We should do a bobblehead of him. We should do something for his charity. Let's get him back here.

And I don't know, man. People were afraid to pick up the phone or something like that.

Well, literally day one of my full-time tenure there, I picked up the phone and I called the front desk at ESPN. They answered back then and I said, hey, it's Trevor in Green Bay calling for John Anderson. And they said, oh, sure, just a moment. Bart, I have no idea who they thought I was, but they sent me right to his desk. It rang four or five times.

His voicemail picked up. I thought I was getting put up the PR chain to start the conversation about what could be. Nope, right to his desk. I rambled some message about wanting to do a bobblehead of them in Green Bay. And six weeks later, I'm at deer camp in Manaqua, half in the bag, playing euchre with my boys.

And my phone rings, and it's Bristol, Connecticut. It's John Anderson. We talked for about a half an hour, and we stayed friends ever since. Over the years, we'd connect on stuff. And so, in September of 2020, I really hated.

How much people here in Wisconsin, a place that I absolutely adore, hated each other. And so, I wanted to try to do something with my background in broadcasting that would allow people to escape the noise. And get lost in the stories of the state's most recognizable people. And so I called John, I shared that idea with him, and he goes, dude, I love it. Let's do it.

I just got to get ESPN's approval. I hung up the phone that day and looked at my wife and went, oh shit. I have no idea what we're doing from this point forward, but he's in.

Now what? We built a studio. I got trained on video editing. We literally risked our life savings. And at some level, everything that we worked for in our marriage.

To make this thing go, and it has gone. And I'm eternally indebted to John and his ability to help a guy like me get something like this off the ground and give it instant legitimacy. You said it, Bart. Like, I saw you popping up with John Anderson.

Well, one of us was recognizable, the other dude was a bald dude in his basement. But we put together the show, right? But we put together the show from a production standpoint with the help of so many people. To make it seem like a show, not a dude in his basement, even though I was a guy in my basement.

So, this very set that's behind me has been my set since day one. This is the fifth different studio, fourth or fifth different studio that we've built. But it's always looked the same with the same type of wooden backdrop and the same bobbleheads and all that stuff. And so literally we created Inside Wisconsin from nothing and have turned it into. What we believe is a place where people know they can go, not to hear the same.

Bullshit sports talk. I hate that stuff. I don't want to do that stuff. I want to. to tell stories.

The reason Inside Wisconsin worked in the beginning is because, and still works today, is we were asking questions of these people that nobody else was asking. not what they did or how they did it, but who are they? And how did we help shape you? And how did you help shape us? And that's why Durbin gave the feedback that he did.

We provided a space that was unlike anything else that these guys had come across, and it's still what we do today. We try really hard not to be the. Respectfully, the mundane sports talk, and just do it different and be dedicated to Wisconsin with it. I got to learn from this because you are talking about bullshit sports talk. And the way you present it is like acceptable.

But when I Rip on sports talk. For some reason, it's like angry. It's like, it's like sports talk. It's like, I have a problem where, like, even when I tweet, everything I say looks like. Angry and bitter, and I got to figure that out.

But I say that because that's the approach I've always had too. I think that Sports talk can be many things, okay? Um The biggest problem that I have with the sports talk industry. is I feel like People are Cosplaying as someone else. like they've hurt like They've heard or they grew up with.

I don't think if you're gonna be in sports talk. I think the less sports talk you listen to, The better. Amen. Cause I don't, I didn't listen to sports talk at, you listen to Mike and Mike growing up, you listen to friends, no. I I watch Conan O'Brien.

I watched The Simpsons. I don't I don't want to be A sports talk guy. I'm just doing my show, and it's on the sports talk platform, and I love sports. And so I'll talk about sports. And I think your approach is good because there's There's always different angles you can take with sports, but there's so many shows.

That just sound like Whether it's the fake takes that happen, I'll take this side, you take this side. I just don't understand why people fall into that trap. And so. The the background just being like Open and let's talk and whatever. And you can talk about the guy stuff.

You know? But but at the at the end of the day, People are going to come to you because they love Wisconsin and they love sports. And you've been a good intersection of that. Yeah, I appreciate that. We have dedicated only to Wisconsin time and time again.

People are like, why don't you do more like Midwest or national stuff? To which my response is, because I don't care. I really don't care nearly as much about what we do in terms of sports instead of who we are in terms of sports. Bart, I jumped my for some reason, my screen went blank on my end. Are you still there?

Yeah, I'm still there. You had two things up and I kicked off the other one.

Okay, so so now you're back. All right, welcome back. Tim, can you edit that in post? Tim never edits in post. Go ahead.

Sorry, Tim. Um I was talking about sports talk in general and why we're dedicated to Wisconsin.

So we came up with a slogan. The people, the stories, and the statriotism of America's Dairyland. Sports, culture, entertainment, and business, but we wanted to get to know these people as people. And I really think that hanging our hat on that has been the difference maker.

Now, couple that with core values, and this matters to me. I set core values right at the beginning of this journey for both the business side of Inside Wisconsin and the personal side. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.

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$15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes means slow when network is busy. See terms. It's unity, community, positivity, and joy. You mentioned it, the BS takes earlier, right?

I don't want to do hot takes. I think that that's divisive and creates arguments, but I do want to do things that. Drive community, like building a community around positivity in Wisconsin sports and culture and entertainment. I want to do things that help. bring unity to something in some place that could really use it.

The idea of Positivity and unity and community, and that leading to people experiencing joy. That's what drives me. And so, if you engage with the brand, we hope that you smile. If you listen to the radio show, we hope that. We're giving you a take on something that you would have never thought of, and maybe you have some input.

Do we go down the sports broadcast or sports talk rabbit hole? Of course we do. And there are days that we have to. Like when Devontae Wyatt signs a new contract. We're going to talk about that, but I want to talk about that from a a different angle than just well what does it mean to help bolster the d line Stuff like that.

Alright, so couple things off of this. Because I did hear you once. Say What you just said But when you said it, this might have been a year ago. I don't know what you guys are talking about, but like in the morning, I'll get on my computer and I'll see Twitter and I'll see what broadcasts are on. And the question was something about Maybe the Rams.

Or maybe, I don't know. But you said something like, I don't care. I don't care because it's not Wisconsin. And you're trying to compare quarterbacks. And you're like, I don't watch, I don't watch anything else.

And I'm like. I was like, what the fuck? You don't watch anything else. You gotta watch something else. I was like, what is happening?

Yeah, John Cooper with that recently, too. Yeah. So remember, I don't appreciate.

Next, like Monday Night Football, you just don't watch if it's not the Packers? Probably not. No.

So, again, if I'm not doing the normal sports talk type show, then. What do I benefit of being a national sports guy? I just don't. You said you liked football? Hold on.

You said you love sports. I do. What do you love about sports? Oh wow, Trevor, Jesus. That's just how I'm gonna defend myself with this.

What do you love about sports? Tim? What I love about sports is, Jesus Christ, I don't know. What do I love about sports? I love that.

Well, the World Cup. I love the World Cup. Why? I love the drama. I love the strategy.

I watched that 1-0 game. Spain and Argentina. I feel like I watch it different than other people because I'm. Like I see what's happening. And I love the buildup and I love the strategy and the planning.

So I guess what I love about What I love about sports is that What do I really love about sports? I think the answer is that it's on TV.

Okay, so I love the people side of sports. I love the stories. And gambling and fantasy and money. I hate fantasy. I hate fantasy football with a passion.

Wow. You got to do dynasty leagues. I was in one. I was in a dynasty league. But listen, it's part of the story.

Why do I hate fantasy football? Because I don't give a shit about other teams. Because I can't draft people from the Bears or the Vikings or the Lions because I won't cheer for them. And so I went at this whole thing, Bart. With two main focuses.

One, Wisconsin, because I love it here. I spent time away from here covering sports in South Florida, hated it, couldn't get back here fast enough. I really love people. And so, if I want to look at the personal story side of sports, specifically here in Wisconsin. I want to talk to JJ Watt.

And figure out what it was about his upbringing in Wisconsin that made him want to go and meet that dude last weekend for a beer. I want to talk to guys like. Craig Council going, oh, ho. Like, what am I missing? I understand there's a business side, but you grew up in the same state we did.

What am I missing, right? That's the type of thing. I don't like either of those guys.

So bring up somebody I do like. Matt Kenseth? He's fine. But we had him on the show. I think it was episode number five.

Telling his Cambridge, Wisconsin story, his short track story, his Jefferson speedway and Slinger Speedway and the Madison International. Like, I love that stuff. And so I don't watch sports for the X's and O's. I love the story of sports. That's why I love sports.

If it didn't come along with a story, I wouldn't be interested. The game itself is a great example. We went to a Packer game with John Anderson. He's got season tickets in the North End Zone. Him and his son, me and Pete Lee.

Remember, you know, Pete Lee, stand-up comedian from Janesville? We went to a game together, and I am there. for the people and the party. He is there to put his hands in his pockets and watch the game. That is the opposite of how I want to engage with sports.

I am there for the people side of all of it.

So last night, or two nights ago when I'm watching a brewer game. With five other buddies, Tommy Wertz included. And I look at them in third and I go, how'd they score? Everybody looks at me and goes, what game are you watching?

Well, I missed that part because I was doing something else because I was thinking of something else. When I went to a bird game as a kid, I had binoculars and I would turn around and watch Euchre and Bob Betts. and the production of the game. That's why I love Banana Ball. I'm so fascinated by these people's stories.

So, on Monday night football, if the Packers aren't playing and if there's nothing that would have anything to do with affecting the Packers, I am very likely not. Watching that, I'm probably watching Monday Night Raw.

Okay, well, I'm watching that also. I mean, look at my hat. I'm wearing helicopters. I saw it right away. Today.

We watched Raw last night. Um my kid is turning seven. And he is so into wrestling. Almost too much. Like he knows it's real but not real, but he's.

Like, if you he won't sit down for anything, but you turn on right, we're we're going. Chronological reverse order watching Money in the Banks. And uh And Royal Rumbles. See, no, but wrestling is a great example. Yeah, it's a story.

When Unreal came out on Netflix, hooked. I love all things what I call behind the cheddar curtain. Show me the things I don't know. Tell me the stories I've never heard. And with wrestling, if you can allow your mind to go there and understand that this is a dramatization with professional athletes.

That's completely choreographed, yet. You get sucked in. It's a soap opera for men. and women. My wife loves it.

So if you watch sports that way. I don't wanna I don't wanna watch it your way. I don't want to watch it. Cool. I watch it.

I'm already in on my way. But There are a lot of cons with my way. Because The results matter too much to me. And I think I've gotten to the point.

Well, I've gotten to two different realizations. One is Because I like all the Wisconsin teams, obviously. Except Marquette. But I I don't enjoy winning as much as I Enjoy other teams losing.

So like I don't want to beat the Cubs in the playoffs because then the Brewers move on. I want to beat the Cubs in the playoffs because then the Cubs don't. because there's a story with the cubs. If it was a different team, we wouldn't care as much because there's no story.

Well in Chicago in general I Can't handle it. I am a 42-year-old man. Who can't handle this rivalry? I went to the Playoffs, game one and five. Not good.

I started so I started I got in an argument in game five. Guess who I got in an argument with though? Tubbs fan. No.

Brewers fans. But what? Because it's the ninth inning in game five. And I gotta like beg people to stand.

So I've got an issue in this state, which I love. And I've lived In Fond du Lac. In Milwaukee. On the west side of the state, lacrosse, the most beautiful area on earth. And I love the state, I love our people.

But I don't like, I think, let me give you this. Take. I think We are good fans. We digest information. We listen to sports talk.

We talk about it with our buddies. We go to the games. But when we go to the games. We don't put on a t-shirt. We don't stand up.

We love when other people come here and then they go home and write editorials to their newspaper. I went to Green Bay for a Panthers-Packers game. I met so many nice people. I know Midwest nice, and I'm not saying we have to like. Punch people in the neck when they come here.

But I don't like us as fans, Trevor. That's because the majority of Wisconsin sports fans. Are a bunch of bitches. They watch sports the way I watch sports, not the way you watch sports. And I really truly believe that.

If you go to Lambeau Field. How many people there are watching snap by snap? What percentage of Lambo fields? Snap by snap. Lambeau Field's a great example because the people that are actually going to Lambeau Field.

They have the tickets. They're going there out of obligation because they've had tickets for 50 years. Packers aren't home this week. Oh, I gotta go to the game. Do you watch football alone or with a group of people?

Uh I for the most part I do end up watching it alone. And I'm the opposite way. I would mind.

Soccer with the World Cup, I needed to be with people. That I needed to be with people, but when I got a little sucked into that, but I had no, obviously, no skin in the game. For me, sports is about people and stories, truly. And that's what I love the most about Wisconsin. And I use the word statriotism.

It's which I wanted to. Give you credit for if you made that up, that's a great Okay. Yeah, I mean, obviously. You stole it, whatever. I'm crediting you.

You hear patriotism, right? Yeah. Statriotism is the zealous patriotism for one's home state. Yeah, that's a good word. I like it.

I found it inside Wisconsin on that belief, the idea that Wisconsin's different, man. And Listen, like. Um, SmackDown is coming here July 31st to Green Bay. My family and I will be there as close to the stage, as close to the The ring as we could possibly afford because we love the entertainment side of it. And the people side of it and the story side of it, but it's just an amazing production.

I get involved with UW Green Bay because I appreciate what this community does for a team like that. Who time and time again has different coaches and different ADs and different players at different levels, and yet, It is our D1 team here in Northern Wisconsin.

So. Do I watch them because they win? They won more last year than they did the previous, like five in a row, but. At some level, for me, it's about the stories. And that's just how I watch sports.

Yeah, I mean, I don't not watch for the stories. I'm not not, we're not totally on different sides of the coin. But I so like if the Packers lose in the playoffs. You're not devastated for the next three months and want to see Matt LaFleur pack his bags and leave.

Well, so that's different. Those are two separate things. I love the story side of a loss like that. What does Ed Policy do in terms of conversation? What is Matt Lafleur?

He talks to Matt LaFleur, is what he does.

Well, he did, and he also shared that his decision was made up prior to that game's finality.

Now, look at this season. If Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers make it to the first round of the playoffs in a wildcard spot and lose, I don't care what type of extension he got. I would assume Matt LaFleur will no longer be the head coach of the Packers. That fascinates me. And but that's maybe this is the difference, Bart.

That's where I start. And now I'll peel back the layers of the onion and go, so what's all this about? Like, why do we struggle? When we have a lead in those last five games, what was it about the defense that didn't work? How did Hafley get a full-time job as a head coach, albeit with Miami, after a season like that finished and showed all of the holes in his defense?

I love breaking that type of stuff down, but that has to do with the person, not the play. Your shirt says shut up and sit down. Yeah. That's like exactly against what I just said.

So When this is kind of an interesting story. If you've listened to the podcast or watched the interviews, There's a song that we've used since day one. That has just this catchy beat to it and little record scratch of some kind. It's called. Actionable by Ben Sound.

It's one of those royalty-free music pieces that I had to buy a license for to use online. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. At the very beginning of that song, there's this computer-animated voice that comes on and says, Shut up. and sit down. And then the song starts.

Okay.

Well, we thought that that was a cool way to get somebody's attention for a brand new brand that nobody knew what it was. And so I picked that song to be our intro song. And what people loved the most was when it said, shut up and sit down. I'm like, well, there's something that you don't plan for yet. That's pretty cool.

So we put it on some sweatshirts and some t-shirts, and people love them. Which is a good aside. I just started my merch store. People, you can go and go check it out. Um after four years of doing this.

I finally decided. I want a hat with my name on it. The podcast and the show, they're both running. Congruently. But what's the difference, would you say, between Great question.

Thank you, Trevor. Can we go back to the WSSP thing for just a hot second?

So, the idea of I don't know if I'm allowed to mention those call letters, but sure. I will, I can. The idea of inside Wisconsin was when it's Odyssey's got audisy's got a stranglehold on me, even my whole career, Trevor. Everyone wants to be my boss. No one wants to hire me.

And everyone wants to tell me what to do. No one wants to pay me. Go ahead.

When we started inside Wisconsin, it was supposed to be one brand, one show. John was under contract with Disney. As you'd expect. And when John retired, he went to go and become a professor within the J school at Mizzou. The only reason John Anderson is no longer the co-host of Inside Wisconsin is because he pulled back from a retired life perspective.

That's why he's not doing anything on ESPN Milwaukee. Every once in a while, he'll do a fill-in shift and work with those guys, but he's retired. No, you pulled that slimy trash Dario Melendez.

Well, so this is an interesting thing. I just did his show on Saturday.

So I'm. Oh, did you? Cool. Yeah, I'm. No, I love.

Here's the deal. I love Dario, and that fell in my lap. There was no plan to replace John Anderson. There is no replacing John Anderson. But one of my next guests on the podcast was Dario Melendez.

And I was like, dude. Do you want to co-host this thing with me now? Pause there. The dream at some point, Bart, was for Inside Wisconsin to become a morning radio show, along with a live stream show or. Maybe simulcast on the weekends on broadcast television up north.

I don't know. We didn't put a plan in place to go and chase that. We just thought if we keep doing what we're doing and stay true to our core values, then something may happen. When Inside Wisconsin became a morning show. It was never meant to be two separate brands.

Why it became two separate brands, that one I'll keep to myself. But it is inside Wisconsin. It is inside Wisconsin on the morning show. It is inside Wisconsin on the podcast that Dario and I do every other week. And the partnerships, the sponsors that you see as a part of our show, both in the morning and on the podcast.

They believe what we believe.

So, right now, the difference between the radio show and the podcast is just a deeper dive in terms of interviews. The next podcast that comes out next week, Jake Bowers. We got to talk with Jake for about 15 minutes. and didn't once ask him about his batting average. Did ask him.

If he could join the whole tarps off thing the next time he hits a walk-off at Ampham Field.

So, if he remembers, he said, because it's kind of a blackout moment, he's going to go tarps off. With the fans. After his walk off, that's the type of stuff you get on the podcast that we can't necessarily pull off on the radio show. But indeed, they're supposed to be the same interaction you have with the brand, both on air and online. Yeah, I like that.

And it's like I'm trying to do, you know, build my thing, I guess. And you have built your thing. And it does feel like, you know. With what happened with the game. All of a sudden.

Everyone's got their own podcast and like. I encourage that. I think that.

Now, you have to find sponsors, and we've got great sponsors here: Carl's Place, Happy Place, Hemt, and Chandi Insurance.

So you gotta find great sponsors that believe in you. Like you said, But when you can have control of what you're doing. I just I d I mean, I would love, obviously, to be back on the radio. But not if I had to give up this. Because this is Mike, this is my show.

This is what is what I do and I'm so happy that people follow me and people are finding me new. But like, this is the best reflection of me. as a broadcaster that I can give I don't know if I want to be chained again. I was 15 years old, Bart, when I started in this business, not making it up. I was on a Podunk AM radio station in Watertown, Wisconsin.

That was my sophomore year of high school. I was getting dropped off at the radio station by my mom on Sunday mornings to run church on the radio in that community. Until I got my license and then moved up to the stations in Beaver Dam and some stuff in Madison. I was a senior in high school on my way to play college basketball at a Juco here in the state. And I went up to the GM of the radio station and I said, What's my major?

Right? Broadcasting. That's all I've ever done. I've run the board for Packers games and Brewers games. I prayed for a rain delay during a NASCAR event because that meant I got to DJ with.

all the creative freedom in the world, right? He said no marketing. And I said, no. Broadcasting. And he said, Trevor, you know more about the broadcast industry in the three years you've been doing this part-time with us than a senior in college does.

If you don't learn how we drive revenue and pay all these people around the building, then you'll never get to do what you want to do. And so I spent the first 20 years of my career, Bart. Learning the ins and outs of the revenue and advertising side of this business, how to create partnerships, how to make sure that they are. Equally as important to them as it is to us, and therefore. When I launched Inside Wisconsin, I had the entire business side.

completely understood for the most part. The on-air side came naturally to me when I was 15 years old. I've stayed up on it, don't get me wrong. But at the end of the day, that's how Inside Wisconsin was born. I took years, literal decades.

Of my favorite parts of the broadcast industry and the revenue side, and brought it to life with a podcast that's now turned into a radio show. And you mentioned it earlier: there's a lot of people with a radio show that now do a podcast. I was just on Heller's podcast the other day. Butchie and I have had great conversations. Those guys will all be no different than you back in the actual broadcast industry, but there's nothing wrong with podcasts.

I just happened to start on the radio, learn the business side, launch my own business, which was on-air and video podcast. And then it's turned into something greater, but it's still. the same brand with the same core values and the same idea. This is the story of the one. The one who keeps multiple buildings running smoothly day after day.

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So, what are you like? Do you want to? How do you get bigger? Are you good where you're at? More stations, more.

Yeah, and there's a lot of plans. I can't share the behind-the-scenes stuff on that, but we will be on a lot more radio stations here in the near future. But for me, it was never about more stations. It's about building a community. Again, I hate bullshit sports talk.

So when you tune into Tom Dick or Harry's morning show, midday show, afternoon show, whatever. All they do is puke stats. And that's great for some people, but that's not what my show is. And so, as we're trying to build a community with inside Wisconsin, we want people to know that they can get lost in the people, the stories, and the statriotism of who we are. I would love to be.

The less vulgar Wisconsin-based Pat McAfee style. of show i'm not trying to be pat mcfee i'm not trying to do his show but I do love what he does. For the athletes and actors and actresses that come on his show, he provides a space for them to be themselves. That's what I want Inside Wisconsin to be for our state.

So that's what growth looks like.

However, many more opportunities we get in terms of continuing to do the morning radio show. Or continuing to do the podcast, and I really believe that soon they're going to become one and the same. And I kind of want to do the podcast, I want that to morph into something that we call like behind the cheddar curtain. I want to show people the behind-the-scenes stuff of what we do. And the stories that we didn't get to share on the radio or on TV.

knowing that we're going to do the interviews. As we do now with Doug Gottlieb every single week on Wednesday mornings or. If we can get a player like Jake Bowers to jump on with us, like we did on the podcast, we're going to use that audio and video and put it on the radio show. Again, one and the same brand.

So, Growth for me just gets to keep on doing what we're doing, hopefully, partners. That see what we're doing around the state, notice the difference of what we're doing in comparison to what others are doing. And so far, so good, man. And if anything even remotely crosses the border of the state, you are not interested. Out.

Out not even beautiful La Crescent, Minnesota. Right across from lacrosse. I don't think I have enough. Um I don't think I have enough memory in the bank. to be able to take it all in.

Because my interests are here. I know more about UW Green Bay basketball than I ever thought I would in my entire life, but I know the people behind the scenes. That helps. I love the Brewers because I grew up in Johnson Creek, and my grandparents and my dad, who grew up in Milwaukee, used to take us to the games at County Stadium. I love jump around at Camp Randall because of the story at Wandos behind it, not because the football team sucks right now.

Like, you see what I'm saying?

So for me to have that type of interest. with teams outside of our state. When I say I don't care, like I really don't care. I follow.

So you don't, then you don't hate. Anyone. You don't hate the Cubs? There's a story there that would give me reason to hate the Cubs, but. I know the story as to why we hate the Cubs and when the Braves left and there was no baseball because my grandpa and my dad were in Milwaukee when that happened.

The next closest team were the Chicago Cubs.

So, so many Brewers fans were then Braves fans. Became Cubs fans because there was no team here. And then when the Brewers came back, they were still Cubs fans because the Cubs were in the NL and the Brewers were in the AL. It was when we went to the NL, and then that son of a bitch, Craig Counsel, did what he did. Yeah, now I hate the Cubs.

But growing up, and I've gotten a lot of shit for this on my show. WGN? was the only station on my cable package at my parents' place. that had baseball on during the day all summer.

So who did I watch? Mark Grace, Ryan Sandberg. Andre Dawson, was I a Cubs fan? I don't think so, but I didn't hate them. I've been open about this.

My first favorite sports team was the Chicago Cubs. Sure. And I love the Cubs and I love the Brewers, but the Brewers were on every other Sunday on TV. The Cubs were on every goddamn day. And we also watch the Braves on TNT and TBS.

Yeah, I didn't really get into them, but I liked the Cubs. But then N L A L You know what I the thing the thing I've found with like And then doing the national show is We have to. Even though I get combative with Brewers fans at a Brewers Cub game instead of Cubs fans. We have to Be proud of what's in our border. Because no one else gives a shit about us.

Exactly. That's the open of my show. would say live from Milwaukee. Bar Oinkler. And then Affiliates are like, he's talking too much Wisconsin.

And I'm like, I haven't mentioned any of our teams all week.

Well, it says Milwaukee in the open.

Well, that's where I am. And then in the two years that I had the national show full time. The Packers are a top story. The Brewers are a top story. Giannis is a top story.

But then you talk, I don't know, it's just it's a weird. We are flyover country. We really are to those coasts, man. Yeah, but not to us. Not to us.

That's the definition of statriotism. And I would be led to believe for all sorts of right reasons that we have more here. Than any other state does in terms of its sports, its people, its culture, its entertainment. But I mean We have more lakes than Minnesota, and you don't hear us bragging about it. Can you rattle off actresses and actors that are from Wisconsin?

Like, do you know? I mean, I'm sure you do. I could give you Mark Ruffalo. I could give you. What the hell's his name?

The guy, William Dafoe. Appleton, yep. I could give, I know who Deani's from Appleton. I believe my wife went to Houdini Elementary. Red Foreman.

Red Foreman is from Wisconsin. Yeah, what's his real name? Kurt something? Kurtwood Smith. Ertwood Smith.

So we had him on the podcast and learned that that character in that 70s show was based off of his Wisconsin stepdad. Uh So, like, those are great stories. Or Jane Kazmarek, the mom in Malcolm in the Middle. Lois. We just had her on the show and talked about the reboot that they just did and how much she loves Wisconsin.

So there are people across the country and across the world, in terms of where the podcast has reached, that share this common value and belief that Wisconsin's best and there's no telling us otherwise. And so that's what we've been able to tap into. If we have people engaging with the brand, it's because they know who we are. And either share the same belief about Wisconsin statriotism, or frankly, they're jealous and they're trying to learn how to be better. Yeah.

I like that, and I'll leave you with that. Trevor Thomas inside Wisconsin. You can find it on WNFL. The podcast. Wherever you get yours.

And more big things coming, he has teased a little bit.

So. Excited to hear about that. Trevor, thank you for your time. Thanks for repping the state. In maybe a different way, but in a good way.

I appreciate that, Bart. Thanks for having me on. We'll stay in touch. Thanks for stopping into the Winklerverse. Yeah.