Richard Chew is joined by Aurora Mayor John Laesch. 

Laesch, a Democrat who defeated incumbent Republican Mayor Richard Irvin in last April's election, discussed his background, which includes service in the Navy and on the East Aurora School Board. He highlighted Aurora's $35 million budget shortfall and financial mismanagement by previous mayors. His initiatives as mayor have included appointing a first-ever sustainability director, promoting green building, and advocating for living wage jobs. Laesch emphasized the city's diversity and its vibrant arts and theater culture, and praised residents' commitment to look out for each other. He also talked about his decision to not lower Aurora flags to half-mast after the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

"It wasn't a decision made without thought," Laesch told WCPT. "I feel like, first of all, it's tragic what happened to Charlie Kirk. I can't imagine what it's like for his family. But at the same time, I think there needs to be a standard when we lower the flag, and there's just been a number of other tragedies that have been missed. And I think that when we lower the flag for a political provocateur that it somewhat diminishes the value of that action." 

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Richard Chew is joined by Leta McCollough Seletzky, author of The Kneeling Man: My Father’s Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Her recent piece for Washington Monthly is “Trump Released Martin Luther King Jr. Files: I’m in Them.”

McCollough Seletzky discussed the pervasive issue of gun violence in the United States and highlighted the impact of gun violence in her personal history, referencing her father's role in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  

"I'm no constitutional law scholar," she said, "but I cannot believe, and I know that it is not correct to say, that this situation that we're in [today] is what was envisioned when the Second Amendment was drafted and enacted. There's no way. . . . If anything, we have fundamental rights being chilled because of these guns." 

McCullough Seletzky also talked about the possible deployment of National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, the expense of which she said "flies in the face of this idea that we're going to be fiscally responsible and that we want to pour resources where they're going to help." 

She also addressed the recent hanging death of Demartravion "Trey" Reed, a Black student at Delta State University in Mississippi.

"To hear this rapid conclusion that there was no foul foul play is very disturbing," McCullough Seletzky said. "And so I feel like we need answers. There is contradictory information that's been coming out. . . . And then there was also another person, an unhoused person, who was discovered hanging in Mississippi. We need eyes on that. We need answers, because we know what the history is, not just in Mississippi, but nationwide, but particularly in Mississippi." 

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

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Richard Chew is joined in studio by retired Army Major General Randy Manner, former acting vice chair of the National Guard Bureau and member of National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A).

Manner discussed leadership fundamentals and criticized current federal leadership for lacking hope and direction. Manner praised Illinois leaders like Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for standing up for dignity and respect. He highlighted the "absolute misuse" of scarce National Guard resources for domestic policing. 

"I've done the math," Manner told WCPT. "For 1,000 guardsmen for one week is just about $3 million. Can you imagine if we were to give D.C., which now has 2,300 National Guardsmen deployed there -- so that's probably somewhere about $7 million a week. If the local community had that to invest in community engagement, to be able to invest perhaps in additional law enforcement officers to invest in homeless shelters, to invest in food programs -- $7 million a week. That's a lot of money."

Manner also talked about the financial strain National Guard deployments in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles are having at the local and individual level. 

"Employers are starting to get upset, because, obviously, 'Hey, I need you, and I support you when you go overseas, I support you when you're saving lives in a flood or a hurricane, but walking in the streets of D.C. or Memphis or whatever? No.'

"And then we have to remember that for a lot of these young men and women that are married or have children, whether they are part of a two-parent household or a single-parent household, we have to remember that many of them are earning less money than they did in their civilian job. And on top of that, if they work for themselves or they work on a farm, there's no one else to do the work. And so the problem is that family members are actually starting to suffer because of these deployments for these missions on these orders that are very short-term. And literally, these deployments are on the back of our young men and women in uniform. 

"I find it absolutely unforgivable and disrespectful of our military that these are political pawns and they are not doing the missions for which they were trained, which means, if this is truly a law enforcement operation, then bring in additional law enforcement personnel to help the mayors and the governors of the cities that perhaps need some help."

Manner stressed the importance of community engagement, volunteering, and standing up for what is right, advocating for better use of military resources and stronger community support.

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

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Richard Chew is joined by Kristen Crowell, executive director of Fair Share America. 

Crowell discussed the organization's 10-week bus tour across 18 states, covering 15,000 miles and holding nearly 50 town hall events to oppose the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The tour aimed to highlight the law's impact on local communities and small businesses.

She also talked about the Billionaire Income Tax Act, which is being reintroduced in Congress by a bicameral group of Democratic co-sponsors. 

"This is a bill that would make our tax code more fair and bring back billions of dollars that have been stolen through the big, ugly law. And we can't just sit down and take it. We cannot just accept that this is what is going to be done. We have to push back."

Crowell said she is flying today to Washington, D.C., to attend a Wednesday press availability with the bill's co-sponsors.   

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

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Richard Chew is joined by Susan Stokes, the Blake Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, director of the Chicago Center on Democracy, and author of “The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies.”

Stokes highlighted the centralization of power in the U.S. and other countries, rising income inequality, and the role of political leaders in exploiting grievances. She noted that democratic backsliding is driven by intentional strategies, such as gerrymandering and media manipulation, and is exacerbated by partisan polarization and misinformation. 

One of the major types of backsliding leaders, Stokes explained, is the right-wing ethno-nationalist. "And those are leaders who . . . use antagonism against minorities, be it racial minorities, religious minorities, ethnic sexual minorities, sometimes women too, to distract people from the class politics that, in a sense, has given rise to their power.

"So you come to power in part because people are angry about losing ground economically, and then, if you don't want to engage in real social spending and reducing those economic inequalities, blame minorities, blame immigrants, blame affirmative action, that that's what's taking things away from you. . . . And we see that certainly in the United States." 

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

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Michelle Duster, author, educator, historian, and Chicagoan known for her work to preserve the legacy of her great-grandmother, Ida B. Wells.

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

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Richard Chew is joined by John Fugelsang, actor, comedian, podcaster and radio host, TV pundit, and author of "Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds."

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.

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Richard Chew is joined by Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. 

Clayton discussed her efforts to energize the party and engage young people. She highlighted North Carolina Democrats' success in the 2024 election, which included flipping two statewide offices from red to blue and winning six statewide elections.

She emphasized the importance of year-round organizing through Project 100, which aims to give Democrats a foothold in all of North Carolina's 100 counties. "The Democratic Party wants to have a presence in every single one of them," Clayton told WCPT, "and we want to be making sure that there are trained county parties but also people in each community that can help organize folks, can help teach them how to knock doors and make phone calls, but also organize on issues in their communities and what needs to be the priority focus of local elected Democrats in those communities too." 

She criticized the national party's focus on federal elections, called for more investment in states like Mississippi and Louisiana, and stressed the need for national leaders to visit and support Southern states, noting the significant Black population in the region.

"I look at people and I'm like, 55 percent of Black Americans -- not Black voters but Black Americans -- live in the South, and the Democratic Party has consistently said, Black Americans are our base voters; Black and brown voters are what got us here; they're what's going to keep us here. If you're looking at places like Mississippi and Louisiana and being like, you don't have one congressional race that we'd want to put money into this year, it's sort of like, well, then how do Black voters actually feel like our party is listening to them?" 

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

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Richard Chew is joined by Man-Yee Lee, director of communications for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Background:
Every year on September 11, Chicago comes together to honor those we lost in the 2001 attacks by doing something truly special—packing meals for our neighbors in need. On 9/11 Day 2025, over 1,800 volunteers gathered at Union Station to pack 500,000 healthy, non-perishable meals as part of the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. It’s all about turning a day of remembrance into a day of giving back, just like the unity and kindness we saw after 9/11. These meals go straight to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which works hard to fight hunger across Cook County, helping folks right here in our community who are struggling to put food on the table. With over 47 million Americans facing food insecurity, this event is a heartfelt way to remember 9/11 by spreading love and support where it’s needed most.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

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Richard Chew is joined by Iowa Sen.-elect Catelin Drey, a Democrat.

Drey discussed her August 26 victory in Iowa's Senate District One, where she ran in a special election to replace Republican State Sen. Rocky De Witt, who died in June. With Drey winning the race by an 11-percent margin in a district that favored Donald Trump by 11 points in last November's election, the win made national news for the 22-point swing, pointing to electoral vulnerabilities for the GOP nationally. 

The win also upended the Republican supermajority in the Iowa Senate. That change, Drey told WCPT, will give state Democrats "some negotiating power when it comes to especially bad legislation and cabinet nominations. And that, I think, really motivated people to the polls." 

As a candidate, Drey said she focused on affordable housing, equitable health care, and childcare. 

"A good life right now in the state of Iowa is really expensive," she said. "It almost absolutely requires a two-income household in order to make ends meet, and that has gotten a lot harder over the course of the last eight to 10 years, under our GOP trifecta . . . who truly does not care about working Iowans or working people."

In the conversation, Drey emphasized the importance of online communication and mobilizing younger voters and said she is "really excited" to start holding town halls in her northwest Iowa district. She will be sworn in to office on September 15.

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. 

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