John Williams

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Austin Berg, Executive Director of the Chicago Policy Center and author of the The Last Ward on Substack, multi-media journalist Brandon Pope, author of Brandon Pope’s Screening Room, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals begin the podcast this week talking about the ICE shooting in Minneapolis that left a woman dead. The Rascals talk about the shooting, the response by DHS, and what they thought after watching the video of the incident. Continuing on the national front, the Rascals talk about the U.S. capturing President Nicolás Maduro and the latest on the situation in Venezuela. What’s next? The Rascals break it all down. Also, what’s going on with the desire by the Trump administration to acquire Greenland? Next, Austin tells us, why you can’t start a Chicago-style hot dog cart in Chicago. And finally, Rep. Mike Quigley announced that he will be running for Chicago mayor. Do the Rascals see him as a viable candidate?

Jenn Jolly, tech reporter, founder of Techish.com, and host of the Techishly Jenn podcast, joins John Williams to talk about the hot tech items to see at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Mortgage and real estate expert David Hochberg joins John Williams to talk about consumer debt continuing to be high, what expects from mortgage interest rates in 2026, his thoughts on jobs data and inflation, and what he makes of U-Haul’s Growth Index.

David hosts “Home Sweet Home Chicago” on Saturdays from 10am to 1pm on WGN Radio. You can call him at 855-56-David, or check out the Team Hochberg website.

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 what we need to know about battery disposal since the Portable and Medium-Format Battery Stewardship Act went into effect on January 1st.

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

Dr. Jeffrey Kopin, Chief Medical Officer for Northwestern Medicine Catherine Gratz Griffin Lake Forest Hospital, joins John Williams to talk about the rise in flu cases in the area, how people typically get the flu, why it’s so important to stay home if you are feeling sick, the rise in vaccine hesitancy, and to answer all of your medical questions.

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

U.S. Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL5) joins John Williams to talk about what Congress can do about the situation with Venezuela, if there was justification for capturing Maduro, and if he’s going to run for mayor of Chicago.

Author, terrorism analyst, and DePaul University history professor Dr. Thomas Mockaitis joins John Williams to discuss the U.S. seizing Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro to put him on trial in New York for drug trafficking and other federal crimes.

The great Mr. Fix-It, Lou Manfredini, joins John Williams to tell us the projects we need to be working on this week. Now that the holidays are over, Lou gives us some deep cleaning tips to get your house back in order. Lou also answers all of your home improvement questions.

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