Joan Esposito (Featured Interviews)

Joan Esposito is joined by Stephanie Zimmermann, award-winning consumer investigations reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times.  Zimmermann has recently written a series of articles under the banner, "Chicago's Baltic Bond: Lithuania, America and Democracy," which she talks to WCPT about. 

"I did a whole story answering the question, why Lithuania?," she said. "I mean, personally, I have a connection to Lithuania because I had a Lithuanian mother. There are about 60,000 Lithuanian Americans in the Chicago area. We have one of the biggest diasporas in the whole world." 

Zimmermann described Lithuania’s strategic vulnerability beside Belarus and Russia, concerns about NATO reliability, and strong public support for democracy among both older and younger Lithuanians.

She also talked about stories she's recently written on insurance claims ("Insurance industry makes millions each day claims go unpaid, analysis shows"), and the enforcement (or lack thereof) of restrictions on Chicago restaurant owners barring sidewalk string lights ("Lights out for a Roscoe Village cafe's outdoor dining — even as others shine on").

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

 

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Broadcasting from Duke’s Ale House & Kitchen in Crystal Lake, Illinois, for an event with the Democratic Party of McHenry County, Joan Esposito is joined by Kristina Zahorik, Democratic National Committee Midwest Caucus vice chair. 

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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Broadcasting from Duke’s Ale House & Kitchen in Crystal Lake, Illinois, for an event with the Democratic Party of McHenry County, Joan Esposito is joined by Illinois State Rep. Suzanne Ness, candidate for re-election in the 66th District. 

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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Joan Esposito is joined by Bobby Kogan, senior director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress. They talked about federal budget practices, budget transfers favoring defense, and the effects of reduced domestic spending.

Here is a brief summary of the conversation:
- Kogan said that Donald Trump's promised $5,000 checks are unlikely to become reality and would increase the deficit if enacted.
- A Department of Defense transfer from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was recently approved under the Economy Act, which allows agencies to perform the same activity for greater efficiency. "If we think there are efficiencies to be had where a different agency could do the same," Kogan told WCPT, "it has to be the same. Like, that's the key point. It has to be the same activity, the same purpose, same everything. . . . I think we all have to ask ourselves: Do we really think the DOD is better situated for tracking infectious diseases and doing new research than NIH?"
- The transfer abuse also overrides congressional priorities.
- Defense has gained funding while discretionary domestic programs, including NIH, food safety, environmental protection, and agency operations have faced cuts.
- Health care costs are increasingly shifted from the federal government to states, seniors, and low-income people; the discussion highlighted risks to Medicaid, Affordable Care Act subsidies, Medicare drug coverage, and Medicare Advantage.

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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Joan Esposito is joined by Ned Resnikoff, urban policy analyst who writes the newsletter “Public Comment.” Last month he wrote the piece "It Is Past Time for You to Quit Elon Musk's X."

Resnikoff is also author of the forthcoming book, “Build or Die: How America Is Suffocating Its Cities and What to Do About It,” which will be published by Princeton University Press on December 8 and is currently available for preorder from bookshop.org.  

In the interview, Esposito and Resnikoff talked about housing policy, the effects of social media, and the challenges of AI-generated content.

Here is a brief summary of the conversation:
- Resnikoff argued that cities need both housing rehabilitation and substantial new construction, especially where population growth outpaces housing supply.
- Broadly reducing rents requires allowing more housing development at greater densities; subsidies can provide below-market housing but are not sufficient alone.
- He said X is particularly harmful because its algorithm amplifies far-right propaganda and can distort perceptions of public sentiment.
- He acknowledged limited professional or advocacy reasons to remain on X, but concluded that the long-term harms generally outweigh those benefits.
- Social media may redirect attention from sustained reading and contextual thinking toward short, emotionally charged content. "It's about attention fracking, right?" Resnikoff said. "It's about channeling whatever sort of intellectual energy we might have to write or think about things or read about current events into this kind of hot house where information comes in much shorter, decontextualized bursts. And I think it is corrosive."
- Resnikoff warned that low-cost AI-generated text and images could reduce trust in online information, requiring users to verify claims across independent sources.

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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Joan Esposito is joined by Dr. Judy Stone, infectious diseases physician, journalist and author. Last month she wrote a piece for Forbes called "Covid-19 Cases Surge—Here’s What’s Different This Summer That Will Help." She is a senior Forbes pharma and health care contributor, a former columnist for Scientific American, and the author of a nationally recognized textbook, "Conducting Clinical Research," as well as her survivor family’s Holocaust memoir, "Resilience: One Family's Story of Hope and Triumph Over Evil."  She focuses her writing on infectious disease and social justice issues.

In the interview Dr. Stone discussed vaccine-preventable diseases, COVID-19 risks, prevention, treatment, and concerns about public health institutions. 

Here is a brief summary of the conversation:

- Dr. Stone said measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases are resurging because of reduced vaccination and public misinformation.
- She recommended Defend Public Health and the Vaccine Integrity Project as alternative sources of reliable information.
- She said damage to agencies including the NIH, FDA, and CDC could take decades to repair. 
- Dr. Stone described recurring late-summer and early-winter COVID surges and said COVID is likely to remain endemic.
- She discussed post-exposure prophylaxis with Ensitrelvir and early Metformin use to reduce long COVID risk, while noting cost and access concerns.
- For people over 65 and immunocompromised individuals, Dr. Stone recommended COVID vaccination twice yearly.
- She advised timing the next booster for mid- to late October to provide stronger protection during winter surges. 

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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On the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Joan Esposito is joined by James Dowdell of the Visionary Network, an organization founded in 2020 by a group of individuals dedicated to preserving the memory of their loved ones and honoring the commitment to never forget 9/11. 

A New York firefighter, Dowdell's life of service was shaped by his father, Lt. Kevin Christopher Dowdell, an FDNY firefighter killed on 9/11.       

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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On the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Joan Esposito is joined by Graeme Wood, author of “The Way of the Strangers: Encounters With the Islamic State” and staff writer at The Atlantic; last month he wrote piece headlined “What Happened to al-Qaeda?”

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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On the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Joan Esposito is joined by Clifford Chanin, director of the 9/11 Memorial Museum. 

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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Joan Esposito is joined by Ira Glass, creator and host of "This American Life." Glass will appear at the Chicago Humanities Festival Monday, October 5, for an evening called "Half-Baked Stories About My Dead Mom: Ira Glass and Etgar Keret Don’t Mince Words."

The Humanities Festival presentation will be centered around Keret’s personal stories about his mother, whom Glass calls "this incredibly fearless lady." He expects to act primarily as interviewer and provocateur, with some discussion of his comparatively ordinary family experiences.

In the interview Glass also speaks about the storytelling approach behind "This American Life," how the 9/11 terrorist attacks motivated the show's producers "to apply the same kinds of storytelling to things that were in the news," the award-winning work the show did on the financial crisis of 2008, and Glass's influences in radio.   

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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