John Williams

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, political pundit Marj Halperin, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! This week the Rascals debate the proposed legislation that aims to increase the age for seniors to retake driver’s test from 79 to 87. Where are the Rascals on this controversial topic? The inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump is on Monday. Michelle Obama won’t be attending. And Speaker Mike Johnson announced that American flags at the Capitol would be temporarily raised defying a presidential order put in place last month to mourn the death of former President Jimmy Carter. What do the Rascals make of these developments? Senate confirmation hearings continue in Washington D.C. this week. What did the Rascals take away from the hearings? Wildfires devastated the Los Angeles area and a controversy erupted over the use of private firefighters. What do the Rascals think of the use of private firefighters? And shouldn’t there be places in the U.S. where people shouldn’t be allowed to live? The Indiana General Assembly is considering legislation that would adjust the state’s borders to include Illinois counties that have voted to secede. Should Illinois counties be able to secede and join Indiana? And finally, what are the Rascals *not* recommending this week. Cate didn’t like ‘Wicked,’ Brandon trashes ‘Emilia Perez,’ Marj disliked ‘Nickel Boys,’ Eric didn’t enjoy the book, “Long Island Compromise,’ and John says take a pass on ‘Squid Game.’

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias joins John Williams to talk about the push to pass new bipartisan legislation that will increase the age at which drivers must take a behind-the wheel driving test from 79 to 87. Secretary Giannoulias also shares his thoughts on a Wall Street ratings agency downgrading Chicago’s credit rating, and his future political plans.

Kelly Leonard, Vice President, Creative Strategy, Innovation and Business Development at The Second City and host of the “Getting to Yes, And…” podcast, joins John Williams to talk about a recent interview he did with Dr. Sunita Sah who talks about the power of ‘no.’ Kelly also talks about an interview he did with author Kurt Gray about how to find common ground with people during these divisive times. Kelly, once again, proves that he is the best storyteller in Chicago.

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

Dr. Jeffrey Kopin, Chief Medical Officer for Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, joins John Williams to talk about when COVID became real for him as a health care professional, child vaccination rates falling, if it’s too late to get a flu vaccine, and why you should get a COVID vaccine if you are older or immunocompromised.

The great author and Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg joins John Williams to talk about his column remembering the five year anniversary of COVID coming to Chicago. When do you recall first hearing or worrying about COVID?

Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, joins John Williams to talk about Chicago possibly lowering the default speed limit from 30 to 25, the effort to raise the age for mandatory road tests to 87 for older drivers, and if he believes that people with felony convictions should be barred from holding elected office.

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

The great Mr. Fix-It, Lou Manfredini, joins John Williams to tell us the projects we need to be working on this week. Lou gives us some tips to keep your house comfortable during this cold snap. Lou, as always, answers all of your home improvement questions.

Listen to HouseSmarts Radio on WGN each Saturday morning at 6 am.

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to [email protected]. Joining John in-studio today is WGN Radio’s own Michael Piff, who helps John kick off our Best Speed Jokes of 2024 Bracket Challenge. Vote for your favorite joke of 2024 here.