John Williams

It’s time once again for our Best of the Midwest feature! Are you trying to come up with some vacation ideas that are only a quick getaway from the Chicago area? Well, John Williams has some great recommendations for your trip! Today, we take a trip to the Hoosier state and visit with Ken Kosky, Executive Director, Festival Country Indiana! Ken talks about where Festival Country Indiana is located, what the area is like, the towns that make up Festival Country, the big festivals happening this fall, the best places to eat and drink, the unique and interesting places you can stay when you visit, and the other must-do activities for the season. Click here for a chance to win a fall escape to Festival Country Indiana!

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to [email protected].

After 4 weeks of voting on 64 local burger businesses, the inaugural Chicago Area’s Best Burgers Tournament, sponsored by Turano Baking Company and The Puckered Pickle Company, has its champion.

The announcement was made on The John Williams Show, as Chicago’s Very Own Eats co-host and WGN Radio bracketologist Michael Piff joined John to call the winner live. Listen to hear the announcement below:

Congrats to Nick’s Tavern of Lemont for winning the championship and taking home the Chicago Area’s Best Burgers Tournament crown!

We thank both Nick’s and Smash’D, as well as their communities, for making this championship week so fun to follow. We also thank the rest of our field of 64 Chicago area burger places for being good sports and helping us with promoting local businesses.

Hear more about the tournament and all things Chicago food by subscribing to Chicago’s Very Own Eats on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. All episodes are available on the Chicago’s Very Own Eats podcast page at WGNRadio.com.

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, long-time Chicago journalist Cate Plys, publisher of Roseland, Chicago: 1972, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals begin the podcast talking about Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night after a brief suspension. What did the Rascals take away from Kimmel’s monologue? Next, the Rascals discuss the Trump administration linking autism to the use of Tylenol during pregnancy. Today, there was a fatal shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas. And new information is coming out about the fatal shooting by an ICE agent in Franklin Park. The Rascals react to the incidents. Alderman Timmy Knudsen is proposing an ordinance that would allow restaurants to decide if they want to allow dogs. Where are the Rascals on this? Are they in favor of this ordinance? And finally, it’s time for red light, yellow light, green light! What are the Rascals recommending (or not recommending) this week!

Craig Bolanos, Founder and Wealth Advisor at VestGen Wealth Partners, joins John Williams to talk about the surge in home sales, the anticipation of two more rate cuts this year, why it’s going to be a good time for investors, the expected rise in unemployment numbers, and why leaning into AI could be good for your portfolio.

Joel Stein, journalist, author, and cultural pundit, joins John Williams to talk about his recent piece in the New York Times about AI company Anthropic settling a class-action suit that awarded $1.5 billion to authors. Joel also shares his thoughts on the return of Jimmy Kimmel to late night.

Bob Bertog, president of Bertog Landscape Co. in Wheeling and a certified landscape professional with the National Association of Landscape Professionals, joins John Williams to answer all of your lawn and garden questions. Bob encourages you to keep watering those lawns.

Steve Phillipos, President of Chevrolet of Homewood & Ford of Homewood, tells John everything we need to know about federal tax credits for electric vehicles that are expiring on Tuesday, September 30th. Steve also talks to John about the upcoming Chicago Drives Electric Show coming up in October.

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to [email protected].

WGN Radio News Director Ryan Burrow joins John Williams to recap his trip to South Korea as part of a two-week journalism fellowship. Ryan talks to John about the impact of tariffs on the South Korean economy, the South Korean workers recently detained by ICE in Georgia, what people in South Korea think of North Korea and China, and the rise of K-Culture.