John Williams

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg, Executive Director of the Chicago Policy Center and author of the The Last Ward, and Jon Hansen of WGN Radio and Block Club Chicago. This week, the Rascals kick off the podcast with ‘News or Noise.’ What are the news stories that are worth paying attention to? And what are the stories that are just a distraction? Eric says we should be paying attention to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announcing that she’s resigning from Congress. Jon wants to talk about the meeting between President Trump and New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Austin reminds us that President Trump likes winners and that’s what contributed to the ‘love fest.’ John thinks the U.S. striking alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean is a story we should be watching. Over the weekend, President Trump doubled down on his sedition accusation over a video released by some Democratic lawmakers. Is that a serious threat or just some more noise? And where are we on the Epstein files? Closer to home, it was 10 years ago today the Laquan McDonald tape was released. Looking back, what are the main takeaways from the release of the video? Austin catches us up on two Chicago Public School stories: CPS employees spent $23.6 million in tax dollars on lavish vacations at 5-star hotels and overseas trips, and the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce sent a formal demand letter to Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates wanting the last five years of CTU audits. A new, independent poll for the Democratic primary in the 9th Congressional District race has Daniel Biss and Kat Abughazaleh tied for first place. Do the Rascals give Abughazaleh a chance? And finally, it’s time for a Thanksgiving version of red light, yellow light, green light.

Davis Jaspers, Founder & CEO of VitaLife, joins John Williams to talk about their weight loss and wellness program, how they are able to figure out what the body needs, their focus on getting metabolism working the way it should, what their weight loss program looks like and the typical client they serve, if they have seen an impact on business since the rise of weight loss medication, and how much weight you can expect to lose on the program. VitaLife has a Black Friday promotion, too! Their initial assessment is normally $300, but for Black Friday, it’s only $47. And if you schedule your assessment for Black Friday 11/28 or Small Business Saturday 11/29 at our Naperville Grand Opening, they will give you your $47 back at your appointment. Here is what you need to do:
Just grab your phone, dial #250, press call,
and when prompted say the keyword: “VitaLife.”
They will text you the link so you can lock it in.

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 podcast he recorded with Dr. James Kimmel about his new book, “The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World’s Deadliest Addiction and How to Overcome It.” Kelly explores the idea that revenge is an addiction and should be treated as such.

The great Mr. Fix-It, Lou Manfredini, joins John Williams to tell us the projects we need to be working on this week. Lou has some amazing advice on how to pre-clean your dishwasher before Thanksgiving. And, as always, Lou 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].

After 6 rounds of voting on 64 of Chicagoland’s favorite Christmas events and attractions, polls officially closed at 10 AM, November 24th.

WGN Radio senior digital strategist and bracketologist Michael Piff joined John Williams to announce and call the winner of the Chicagoland Christmas Traditions Tournament, sponsored by Treetime Christmas Creations. Listen to the announcement below:

Congrats to the Village of Lake Zurich and their “Miracle on Main Street” event for winning our inaugural tournament! Thank you to runner-up Brookfield Zoo Chicago for their efforts in promoting the tournament, as well as the other organizations and villages that participated. And thank you to Treetime Christmas Creations for their support of our tournament.

Craig Bolanos, Founder and Wealth Advisor at VestGen Wealth Partners, joins John Williams to talk about the likelihood we see an interest rate cut in December, why the stock market likes the idea of a rate cut, where people should be putting their money considering the volatility in the market, why consumer sentiment is down, his thoughts on the job data that was just released, and the importance of being a good, long-term investor.

Dr. David J. Gunkel, Distinguished Research Professor, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Chair – Department of Communication, Northern Illinois University, joins John Williams to talk about AI generated music, what the AI landscape in the arts is like right now, how human artists are using AI in their music, the ethical problems that come with AI, who holds the copyright for AI generated music, and what AI art can tells us about the future of human creativity.

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

NewsNation Now anchor Connell McShane joins John Williams to talk about President Donald Trump meeting New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the Coast Guard changing their swastika policy, President Trump telling a reporter, ‘Quiet, piggy,’ and President Trump accusing several Democratic lawmakers of “seditious behavior,” after they posted a video telling military and intelligence officers to “refuse illegal orders.” Connell helps us separate the news from the noise.