MIRS Monday, February 19, 2024

Today, former Wisconsin congressman and Washington, D.C. lobbyist Scott Klug discusses his story-telling podcast, "Lost in the Middle: America's Political Orphans." 

He details how the present-day state of political polarization has left a lot of voters "floating around on icebergs."

Also, the team is joined by Tom George, a past state senator and Historical Society of Michigan board member. In honor of Presidents Day, he describes President Abraham Lincoln's only trip to Michigan in 1856, speaking to more than 20,000 attendees at a Republican rally ahead of the American Civil War. 

Senior Chief Deputy Director Jonathan Smith of Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity explains the department's developing responsibility to assist and retrain the state's energy workforce as energy inventories become carbon free.