In April 2024 WCPT's Turi Ryder, filling in for Richard Chew, talked to Steppenwolf Theatre Artistic Director Glenn Davis. We repost the interview now, after Glenn Davis and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins accepted the Best Play award for “Purpose” at the 78th Annual Tony Awards (June 8, 2025). Davis was also nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Solomon "Junior" Jasper in "Purpose." 

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn. 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Chew is joined by Cliff Cash, comedian and activist. 

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Chew is joined by Brian Lemek, executive director of Defend The Vote, a political action committee dedicated to preserving our democracy through ensuring voting access, education and protection.

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views). And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Chew is joined by Shawn Harris, 2026 Democratic candidate for Congress. The Georgia native discussed his early campaign announcement (made two days before the WCPT interview) and his strategy to unseat Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the three-term Republican incumbent in Georgia's 14th Congressional District. Last November Greene defeated Harris by 29 percentage points, but he notes in the video announcing his campaign that he "won more votes than any other Democrat since 2012 right here in Northwest Georgia."  

"Five percent of the people that actually voted for Donald Trump crossed over and voted for me," Harris told WCPT.  "On top of that, when people went in to vote for me as a Democrat, we actually outperformed Vice President Harris by 12 points. So we have a foundation built from the last election to move forward." 

In the campaign video, Harris emphasizes his commitment to various community groups, like farmers, veterans, senior citizens and educators. (Harris is a retired Marine sergeant and Army Brigadier general and cattle farmer.)  

Harris told Chew that Greene's legislative accomplishments in Congress are limited to renaming a building after a Democrat ("I've got to give her credit on that," he said) and sponsoring a bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, which passed the House last month.

"What I say to the great people here in Northwest Georgia is OK, she finally got something done," Harris said. "But ask yourself this, how in the hell does 'Gulf of America' makes things different for you?"

 Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Chew is joined by Thomas M. Grace, one of nine former students who survived wounds inflicted by Ohio National Guard gunfire on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University, and Roseann “Chic” Canfora, professional-in-residence in the School of Media and Journalism at Kent State University, along with “Chew’s Views” contributor Kurt Hurner.

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Chew is joined by Patrick Hanley, Democratic candidate for the 9th Illinois State Senate seat, co-founder of Operation Swing State, and president of New Trier Democrats.

Hanley talked about his background in community organizing and environmental activism and highlighted the importance of sustainability. 

"My wife and I now run this business," he told WCPT, "and it's given me such an insider view to how the private sector works, which I think is so fundamental. If we're going to be progressives and we're going to think about building a sustainable, fairer economy, we've really got to understand how the different economic actors work, and why they do. And the one big lesson that I drew from that is: More than taxes, even more than regulation, what businesses hate is uncertainty. They hate chaos. We hate chaos. Right now our business is dealing with the 'will they/won't they?' tariff policy. At one moment, there's this huge tariff on European goods and . . . the next moment, it's off. Now maybe it's back on again. . . . So the economic downturn we've seen over the last four or five months, it's largely been uncertainty. It's businesses not knowing how to plan and people not knowing how to spend."  

Hanley also addressed the need for authentic political leadership, urging candidates to engage with voters honestly and lead "with their values and with their story. And if they do that, and if they come to politics with humility . . . that's going to resonate with people a lot more than the way folks have been trained to act in the political space, very stilted and very on-message and very rigid. And what voters expect now are real people that they can relate to, they can resonate with, people that are going to be communicative, people that are going to drop a Reel on Instagram and answer their DMs and show up in a living room. I mean, you've got to be able to do it all. And that is just the future of political leadership in this country."

Hanley will face Rachel Ruttenberg of Evanston in the March 2026 Democratic primary.  They are vying to replace incumbent Sen. Laura Fine (D) in the state Senate. 

Listen to a previous Patrick Hanley conversation with WCPT's Joan Esposito. 

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Chew is joined by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza. She discussed her efforts to support local businesses, particularly in diverse communities like Little Village and so-called Asia on Argyle in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. She highlighted the impact of Trump administration immigration policy on local businesses, noting a 60 to 70 percent reduction in sales at a Mexican restaurant in Little Village."  Mendoza talked to the owner, "And she's like, ever since all this talk about immigration, immigration raids and so forth, she said the people in that community, which is largely Mexican American . . . were scared. They were scared to leave their house. They were scared to send their kids to school. Clearly, they were scared to go eat." 

Mendoza emphasized the importance of community support to boost local economies and state revenue and is in the process of releasing a series of videos showcasing various Chicago neighborhoods (here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lNs-bWVGSg) to encourage patronage and community engagement. She also plans to feature Southern Illinois in the series. 

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's show:
- Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza
- State Rep. Mike Kelly (D-IL)

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's show:
- Ira Shapiro, former Senate staffer and author of "The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America" 
- Mike Nellis, founder and CEO of Authentic, a Chicago-based political fundraising and consulting firm

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard is joined by David Jolly, former Republican member of Congress, political analyst, author and founder of Florida 2026 political committee. During the Trump era, Jolly left the Republican Party and spent eight years as an independent. He is now preparing to run for Florida governor as a Democrat. "I think the way back for Democrats nationally is actually through governors runs this cycle, where you can extract some of the more toxic federal issues that are just so hard to unpack from the major party reflexes of voters," Jolly told WCPT.  

He continued: "I'm coming into the party because in this moment, where we have to stand in the gap, the fundamental values of the Democratic Party are absolutely right. Some coalition, some party has to fight for an economy for all people, for government that actually works, that serves seniors and veterans and those in need, and some party has to create a community where everyone is embraced and lifted up, regardless of who you worship, who you love, or where you came from. Those are the fundamental values of the Democratic Party.  And so forget it, folks, if you think we need to change. No, we don't. We don't need to change.

"And I don't even think we have to be afraid of issues of the past cycles. But what we need to do is this cycle, we have to meet voters exactly where they're at and where voters are at in 2026 may be different than '24 and '22, and that's fine. That's part of what you have to do in politics, is you have to listen a lot more than you talk and figure out where voters are at and say, OK, this is how we're going to apply Democratic Party values, Democratic coalition values, to where voters are right now, and throw in the fact that we're the party that wants to fight corruption and billionaires in politics at the national and state level. This is a rich opportunity for Democrats going into this cycle."

Catch "Chew's Views with Richard Chew” weekdays from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views).

And find the "Chew's Views" Full Episodes podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.