Joan Esposito (Featured Interviews)

Joan is joined by Catherine Ross, professor of law at George Washington University and author of A Right to Lie? Presidents, Other Liars, and the First Amendment.

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.

Joan is joined by Dr. Alison Dagnes, professor of political science at Shippensburg University and author of Super Mad at Everything All the Time: Political Media and Our National Anger. 

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.

Joan is joined by Stephanie Miller ahead of the Sexy Liberal Save the World Comedy Tour Pay-Per-View Inauguration Special which takes place Saturday, January 18th at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C. Stephanie's special guests that night will include Jamie Raskin, George Conway, Harry Dunn, JoJo from Jerz, and Tara Setmayer. 

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.

On January 10, WCPT’s Joan Esposito talked to Illinois Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, who described "some real wins" for her downstate district in her just-concluded first term in office (she was elected to a second term in last November's election).  

Budzinski also stressed the importance of bipartisan cooperation on issues like the farm bill and the budget, and underscored the need for better communication of Democratic achievements to counter misinformation.

"We need to tell our story," she said. "[I]n a lot of ways, in this last election, our story just didn't break through. It's making a difference in people's lives. It's deliverables. It's job opportunities. It's getting a good education. It's tackling affordable childcare. It's making sure you get high-speed internet access to your home that's affordable. These are the kind of everyday issues that Democrats champion every day, and we have to keep working on telling our story of what we're doing to deliver."

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.

Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs talks to Turi Ryder (filling in for Joan Esposito) about the state's unclaimed property program, also known as Enhanced Money Match.  Find out if you have any money coming to you! 

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, Turi Ryder talks to Chuck Hildebrandt, a retired digital marketing executive and library scofflaw who is using a 50-year-old overdue library book to raise money to benefit Reading is Fundamental, a literacy nonprofit.

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.

Rep. Brad Schneider, Democrat of Illinois, gives Joan Esposito the latest details on the late-hour legislative maneuvering to fund the government before the House and Senate recess for the year. 

Asked what his confidence level is that Congress will pass a budget deal and avert a government shutdown, Schneider said: "I have 100 percent confidence that my colleagues in the Democratic Party, that Leader Jeffries are all committed to find a way to keep the government open and get a deal. We had that agreement. [Democrats] all stand by that. And if Speaker Johnson wants to reach out to Leader Jeffries -- maybe they're talking right now. If there's a will, there's a way.

"I'm less confident on Speaker Johnson; he says he wants to get a deal. I'm not sure he has the ability to deliver a deal, because he may have to negotiate and then hope that Donald Trump doesn't sink it. And I have zero confidence that Elon Musk is going to do what's in the best interest of the American people. He's always going to do what he thinks is in his own personal interest.

"So given all of that dynamic, I'm probably 50-50."

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.

Joan is joined by Nancy MacLean, professor of history and public policy at Duke University, and author of “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America.”

MacLean pointed out that Donald Trump and fellow Republicans have been able to secure "positions of power through disinformation, through Fox, through Clear Channel, through Sinclair Broadcasting, all of that, and by essentially a judicial coup, by using dark money and stealth measures to ensure a 6-3 supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court, which basically enabled Donald Trump to do anything he wanted and prevented him from facing legal accountability for his criminal attack on the Capitol. And that really cleared the way to his winning the election and bringing in other [Republicans] on his coattails. We would have been looking at a very different election if figures like Charles Koch and Leonard Leo had not invested so much in Supreme Court capture."

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.

Joan talks to Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran program senior director and senior fellow at  Foundation For Defense of Democracies. 

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.

Joan is joined by Jacob Soboroff, NBC News political and national correspondent, author of "Separated: Inside an American Tragedy," and executive producer of "Separated: An Un-American Tragedy," a film by Errol Morris.

Soboroff explained that "part of the reason we wanted to make the film is to remember what happened" when the Trump administration carried out its unpopular family separation immigration enforcement policy in 2017 and 2018, "but also to think about where we're headed, how this is a roadmap for what [the incoming Trump administration has] promised. I stood on the floor of the Republican convention and covered those 'Mass Deportation Now' signs. And look, I believe the polls that many people in this country say they want a mass deportation policy, but what I don't believe is that people fully understand that mass deportation is family separation by another name."

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.