Author, A City on the Edge: Pandemic, Protest, and Polarization
This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with Dennis R. McBride, mayor of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and author of A City on the Edge: Pandemic, Protest, and Polarization. Drawing on his background as a journalist, lawyer, and student of history, Dennis offers a candid, unfiltered look at leading a city through one of the most turbulent periods in modern American life.
Wauwatosa endured the COVID-19 pandemic, 98 consecutive days and nights of protests, and the trauma of mass shootings at the state’s busiest shopping mall—challenges that made the city a true microcosm of America. Dennis explains why he felt compelled to document these experiences, what it means to govern as a progressive but practical leader, and why he took criticism from both the left and the right.
As the city’s lowest-paid employee, Dennis describes the personal toll of leadership, the constant need for vigilance, and the lingering impact of stress that hasn’t fully faded. Yet through it all, he stayed grounded by what he calls his guiding principle: “You follow the North Star—and the North Star is the law.”
This thoughtful and timely conversation explores leadership under pressure, short-term crisis versus long-term thinking, why Wauwatosa is truly an “edge city,” and why Dennis believes the path forward requires renewed civility, participation, and dialogue. A powerful episode about democracy, resilience, and finding common ground when it matters most.
Dennis R. McBride is the mayor of the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Dennis earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a master’s degree in public administration from Princeton University, and a law degree from New York University. Before becoming mayor, he practiced law with Boston and Milwaukee law firms and the U.S. government, taught part-time at Marquette University Law School, and served on a committee of judges and lawyers which drafted model jury instructions for U.S. district courts in the Seventh Circuit. For his professional accomplishments, he was named a Fellow of the Wisconsin Law Foundation.
Dennis co-founded several community organizations, served on the State of Wisconsin Retirement Board, and served several terms on the Wauwatosa city council, including two terms as council president. For these and other civic activities, he received UW-Milwaukee’s Alumni Citizenship Award. He is a two-time marathon winner and a member of his high school and university sports halls of fame.