sifting and winnowing as staff writer at @isthmus. formerly: directing news at @civicmediaus + @wortnews. I spend my time listening. tips: [email protected]
Madison, WI
Joined August 2009
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I'm beyond excited to say I've joined @isthmus as their next staff writer. @liampberan leaves big shoes to fill!
isthmus.com/news/news/isthmu…
chali retweeted
NEW: On Feb. 9, Tom Tiffany made posts criticizing a Madison high school's annual drag show.
Within hours, the principal's inbox was flooded with emails, per records I obtained. Most were abusive. Some contained threatening language.
@isthmus
isthmus.com/news/news/after-…
UW-Madison data center contract moves from Fitchburg to Milwaukee firm, via @ruthyjacobs @captimes
captimes.com/news/education/…
Fun fact: Data Holdings also houses data for Wisconsin's DoA. I toured the data center in April: wisconsindata.substack.com/p…
"Everyone who's in public service pays a price. For me, the price has gotten too high."
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway won't run for re-election after all, and she talked with me about it, for @isthmus.
isthmus.com/news/news/rhodes…
And of course, the mayoral candidate tracker has been updated for those who have declared and filed paperwork: isthmus.com/news/news/2027-m…
In more news, Jason Ilstrup is "strongly considering" a run, the head of DMI told me today.
isthmus.com/news/news/jason-…
chali retweeted
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, in a candid interview, tells @chalipittman of @isthmus she's not running for a third term:
Genuine question for both candidates during this debate: what does it mean for communities to "have a say," or "want," data centers?
Does that mean a referendum? Does that mean a council, or town board vote? Does that mean adopting zoning; conditional use permits?
New from me: Madison police are seeking a federal grant to fund a "drone as first responder" pilot program.
If Madison gets the grant, and the council approves, the drone would respond to as many 911 calls on the west side as possible.
Read: isthmus.com/news/news/send-i…
Write about the gubernatorial election, they said. It'll be fun, they said.
This month's cover story from me in @isthmus: isthmus.com/news/cover-story…
So lovely to be interviewed by THE @danrshafer about data centers 👀
NEW: With so much talk on the politics of data centers, I wanted to take a different look at the issue. So, I talked to two Wisconsin journalists who have been covering what's actually happening with data centers in WI.
Part II with the legendary @chalipittman:
chali retweeted
NEW: With so much talk on the politics of data centers, I wanted to take a different look at the issue. So, I talked to two Wisconsin journalists who have been covering what's actually happening with data centers in WI.
Part II with the legendary @chalipittman:
chali retweeted
Watch: I talked with my former colleague @AndrewWeiland of @BizTimesMedia about the "data center economy" in Wisconsin.
There's been some huge business news stories on this of late in Wisconsin, including an $8B deal with Generac and Amazon:
youtube.com/watch?v=hyJgHbvt…
I counted them up: 21 counties in Wisconsin have adopted a moratorium on data centers.
Six counties are poised to consider moratoriums this fall; other counties have jumped straight to establishing zoning rules.
Read more: wisconsindata.substack.com/p…
The people depicted in these works are groaning or menacing, in despair, in pain or in terror, or they’re dead, or about to die. You should go see them anyway.
(a little arts writing for @isthmus)
—
isthmus.com/arts/chazen-pres…
chali retweeted
The most important thing about the data center backlash is that, in a time of intense polarization and micro-movements, it is astonishingly large—such a big tent mass politics that any time you try and an atomize or explain it you end up diminishing it. nytimes.com/2026/08/31/opini…
Very cool to be quoted in the @newyorker on data centers, thank you @dankaufman70 for letting me rant about brownfields and NDAs and metonymy.
As A.I. becomes increasingly unpopular among voters, the politics of data centers are scrambling political lines across the country. “I’ve never seen engagement like this on any normal development issue,” a county supervisor in Southern Wisconsin said, about his constituents’ response to the planned construction of a data center. “People don’t like that they didn’t have a vote on whether social media could take over our society. And now people see A.I. getting ready to take things over and potentially upset lives, upset society, upset jobs, and they want the ability to have a say in that.” Read about the impact data centers are having in elections across the country—and especially in the Wisconsin governor’s race: newyorker.com/news/the-lede/…
chali retweeted
I have a new piece in @NewYorker about the Wisconsin governor's race and growing movement against A.I. data centers. Deepest thanks to all the people who shared their insights with me and to the stellar editorial staff at the magazine.
newyorker.com/news/the-lede/…
