After Hours with Rick Kogan

WGN Radio Host Dave Hoekstra describes the music scene in Springfield, Missouri, which he depicts in his new documentary, “Songs of an Unsung America.” Join Dave and his film crew Thursday at FitzGerald’s to see a sneak preview of the documentary itself, as well as of the featured music.

Grown-Up Anger: The Connected Mysteries of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913 Author Daniel Wolff explains what brought him to relate to the musicians who have created movements through their words and sounds.

Reporting War: How Foreign Correspondents Risked Capture, Torture and Death to Cover World War II Author Ray Moseley joins Rick from London to share why journalists of all demographics risked their lives to cover the war. That group includes one war correspondent rose from having no experience in his field, to becoming a household name on the radio during one of the scariest moments in history.

Chicago’s Fabulous Fountains Author Greg Borzo tells Rick about the past, the present and the future of these soothing installations. From Olson Rug Waterfall, to to the fountain right in Tribune Tower’s neighboring Pioneer Court, Greg shares the history of over 100 of Chicago’s beautiful fountains.

Rick filled in for John Williams today. To start things out, RJ “Bob” Nelson talked about his new book, “Dirty Waters: Confessions of Chicago’s Last Harbor Boss.” Then, former Playboy Bunny, Candace Jordan joined Rick to talk about her career and her reshoot for the magazine, all these years later. History on Tap’s Liz Garibay and Bill Jacobs from Piece Pizza stopped by to talk about their efforts to start the country’s first beer museum, or “Brewseum,” as they refer to it. Then, Rick […]

Rick reads his essay on Memorial Day and Chicago, reflects on the holiday’s intended purpose and shares a few stories along the way. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3359248/3359248_2017-05-29-163648.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D3807.mp3

RJ ‘Bob’ Nelson stopped by the studio to tell Rick about his new book, and share a couple of choice stories from his days as a harbor boss. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3359244/3359244_2017-05-29-162744.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D3807.mp3

Author John Binder joined Rick in the studio to discuss his new book, “Al Capone’s Beer Wars: The Complete History of Organized Crime in Chicago During Prohibition.” They talk about some of the fascinating bootlegging history & John tells Rick about his ‘Gangster Tours’ of Oak Park and River Forest. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3359097/3359097_2017-05-29-000637.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D3807.mp3

Tonight on the program, Rick Kogan delved into the worlds of music, photography, clocks and history. To begin, publishers Richard Cahan and Michael Williams joined Rick in studio to talk about their new book, “Chicago: Classic Photographs.” Then, Ben Montalbano from local band Matthäus joined Rick and producer Lise to debut his band’s brand new song, “To the Years,” and talk about his upcoming EP. Jason Matthiesen from the Chicago Clock Company called in to talk about the business’ 100th […]

To begin, publishers Richard Cahan and Michael Williams joined Rick in studio to talk about their new book, “Chicago: Classic Photographs.” They told Rick about how they managed to put together such a beautifully diverse collection of photographs and mentioned a couple of the photographers included in the book by name, including Stanley Kubrik and Mildred Mead. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3356611/3356611_2017-05-22-010211.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D3807.mp3