Joan Esposito (Featured Interviews)

Joan Esposito is joined by Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ).

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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Nina Burleigh, journalist, best-selling author, documentary producer, and publisher of the American Freakshow Substack newsletter.

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, “Out Chicago” host Scott Duff and film critic Rebecca Ford are joined by Jim Lichtenstein, producer, writer, director, and host of the "Still Here Hollywood" podcast. 

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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Filling in for Joan Esposito, Mike Nellis is joined by Carlos Alvarez-Aranyos, founder of American Opposition, one of the main organizers of the No Kings protests. 

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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Filling in for Joan Esposito, Mike Nellis is joined by Daniel Biss, mayor of Evanston and 2026 candidate for Congress. 

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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Filling in for Joan Esposito, Mike Nellis is joined by Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner (Ret.), former acting vice chair of the National Guard Bureau, and member of National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A). 

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 Patrick Hanley, head of the New Trier Democrats and Democratic candidate for the 9th Illinois State Senate seat (currently held by Laura Fine). 

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 Bob Kustra, former Illinois lieutenant governor (under Gov. Jim Edgar).

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 Lisa Stark, former ABC News reporter who recently penned a letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger calling on him to defend free press and protect ABC journalists from political pressure. The letter garnered over 100 signatures from former ABC journalists, and received no official response. 

"For us, it wasn't even necessarily about getting a response but drawing a line in the sand, if you will. We needed to speak out, we needed to be heard, as former journalists, to speak out on behalf of our colleagues and a free press. And I will tell you, after we put the letter out, we've had dozens, nearly 50 other reporters, correspondents, editors, producers, sound people, camera people from ABC come to us and say we're signing on to that letter. So it definitely resonated with people who wanted to find a way to express their concern about what's happening right now." 

Stark described recent developments at CBS News as "very troublesome," particularly the appointment of Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. The inexperienced Weiss, Stark noted, will report not to the chief of CBS News but to Donald Trump-friendly David Ellison, the chairman and chief executive officer of CBS parent company Paramount Skydance.    

"Look, the media isn't anti-Trump or pro-Trump, the traditional media," Stark told WCPT. "They are not cheerleaders for an administration. They are watchdogs. That's their job: speak truth to power. It's a trite saying, but it's a true saying. And I think what we're seeing there will raise some concerns about whether that is really, truly going to be the case."

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 Mark Turcotte, Illinois Poet Laureate and distinguished writer in residence at DePaul University, and Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Kogan. They talk about Tony Fitzpatrick, who died Saturday at the age of 66. 

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).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.