Joan Esposito is joined by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who talked about the "Dog Days of Summer" social media campaign that features cats, dogs, and other animals in need of forever homes. It kicked off last month and runs each Tuesday through Labor Day. The effort, in its second year, features pets available for adoption from shelters around the state who are looking for a new family. It operates in conjunction with the Comptroller's Critters program, which features an online database of participating shelters around the state and resources for pet adoption and care.

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

 

(Photos from the Comptroller's Critters page.) 

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Joan Esposito is joined by Miles Taylor, political commentator, former senior Trump administration official, and author of “A Warning” (2019). He will be in Chicago on June 19 to headline a public event titled “In the Crosshairs of the President,” a live conversation about authoritarianism, whistleblower retaliation, and the fight to protect democracy. The event benefits Whistleblower Aid’s nonprofit legal defense fund. Visit endpresidentialrevenge.org.

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Michigan Sec. of State Jocelyn Benson, candidate for Michigan governor and author of The Purposeful Warrior.

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Joan is joined by Tamar Jacoby, director of the New Ukraine Project at the Progressive Policy Institute.

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

 

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Joan Esposito is joined by Kevin Morrison, Cook County commissioner and candidate for Congress. He is a Democrat running for the congressional seat currently held by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL).  

In the interview Morrison highlighted his seven-year tenure as a county commissioner, discussed the challenges in transitioning from state to federal campaign finance laws, and emphasized his commitment to issues like mental health care and living wages. The first openly gay member of the Cook County Board, Morrison also underscored the importance of LGBTQ representation and support. 

"We've already announced that Congressman Eric Sorensen, the first LGBT elected to the Illinois delegation, has endorsed my campaign," Morrison told WCPT, adding that his congressional campaign has so far secured almost 50 endorsements. 

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Forest Issac Jones, author of “Good Trouble: The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972.” 

The book explores the connections between the American civil rights movement and the Catholic civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. During a 2020 trip to Derry, Jones learned that Northern Irish activists modeled their 1969 march from Belfast to Derry on the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march. Both movements fought for voting rights, jobs, and better housing. For the book, Jones interviewed key Northern Ireland figures like Billy McVeigh and Eamonn McCann and highlighted the parallels and shared struggles of the two movements.

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Deja Foxx, candidate running in the July 15 Democratic primary for a special U.S. House election to represent Arizona’s 7th Congressional District (to succeed the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva).

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Helene Klodawsky, independent filmmaker and director of “Stolen Time,” a 2023 feature documentary that confronts the corporate nursing home industry through the eyes of a young elder rights lawyer. 

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Joan is joined by David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America.

Project 2025 was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and Russell Vought and the resulting 900-plus-page policy playbook aims to "grab control [of] the executive branch and grab more power for the president," Graham told WCPT. "And all of that is toward a larger goal of creating a very traditional, biblically based society." 

Graham highlighted the plan's far-reaching goals, including "the demolition of every environmental regulation that they can. So that means getting rid of climate change research, getting rid of climate change regulation, getting rid of greenhouse gas regulation, removing regulations on other pollution. We see that happening. We see the elimination of many of the services that NOAA provides, weather forecasts. So those things are ongoing.

"What we haven't seen so far is a big assault on abortion. But it's something that's very important to the authors of Project 2025 and to much of the right, and so I expect that we will see more of that at some point. And I think we're going to continue to see Trump trying to grab power in the executive branch, trying to grab control of the independent agencies, trying to impound funds from Congress, and trying to defy courts as long as courts allow him to get away with that."

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

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Joan is joined by Robert Weiner, director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. 

Weiner discussed the challenges of voting rights, including Congress's failure to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Supreme Court's 2013 decision striking down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. He highlighted voter suppression efforts, citing laws in North Carolina and Texas as examples, and emphasized the importance of voter education and turnout, noting that other countries have higher voter participation due to easier access. He also criticized the Trump administration's attempts to undermine confidence in the electoral system.

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).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.