John Williams

Corey Brooks, Founder and Senior Pastor at New Beginnings Church of Chicago and the Founder and CEO of Project H.O.O.D, joins John Williams to talk about the violent holiday weekend and how he’s working to make the city a better and safer place.

Phil Vettel, Naperville Magazine restaurant critic and former Chicago Tribune restaurant critic, joins John Williams to offer his take on Hulu’s ‘The Bear.’ Phil talks about the series, how accurately it depicts the restaurant industry, and the importance of restaurant reviews to a new restaurant. And Phil, ever the restaurant critic, tells John some of the restaurants he’s been enjoying lately.

Dane Neal, WGN Radio’s motorsports expert, joins John Williams to recap the big NASCAR weekend in Chicago. What were Dane’s takeaways? Does Dane consider this year’s event to be a success?

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

Clay Jenkinson, author, humanities educator, and historical impersonator, joins John Williams to talk about his time following John Steinbeck’s journey and what he learned from studying him. John and Clay also discuss that the image we perceive of the media isn’t always accurate.

Jenkinson is scheduled to join John Williams on stage as Theodore Roosevelt at the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove on November 2 for a WGN Radio show. Additional details including how to purchase tickets will be announced soon on WGN Radio and wgnradio.com.

John Williams chats with WGN Radio motorsports expert and host Dane Neal about this weekend’s NASCAR Chicago Street Race events and how racing in the street is different than on the track. Dane highlights which racers have the best odds of winning and gives details into some hometown racers participating. John and Dane also give their opinions on season 3 of the television series, The Bear.

Enjoy this edition of “The Best of Speed Jokes.” What was your favorite joke of the week? Keep sending your jokes to [email protected]!

Tobias Moskowitz, author, economist and professor at Yale School of Management, joins WGN’s John Williams to discuss his book Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won, which focuses on analytics and reasons for why certain outcomes happen in sports. Tobias’ book dives in on how games are won, the rarity of losing and winning streaks, data on umpires favoring a batter or pitcher, and more. John and Tobias also talk about their thoughts on particular plays and rules in sports.

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Cate Plys, former staff writer at the Chicago Reader, and political op-ed columnist at the Sun-Times and Tribune, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week the Rascals break down President Biden’s poor debate performance and what that means for the future of his re-election campaign. Where do the Rascals believe the Democrats go from here? If President Biden decides to step aside, who replaces him? The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president. What does this immunity decision mean? Three Chicago public schools are being renamed in an effort to get rid of racist or otherwise problematic namesakes. Is it a good idea that these schools are changing their names? A lot of other Chicago things in the news this week…”The Bear,” NASCAR coming to town, etc. Marj explains why she isn’t too excited about NASCAR returning. And what do the Rascals think of the new season of TV’s “The Bear?”

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. The hot, humid weather the last couple weeks popped up some diseases. What do we need to look out for?