Author and registered dietician nutritionist Dawn Jackson Blatner joins John Williams to talk about organic produce and if it is worth the higher price. Dawn also talks about a new study that linked eating added sugar with faster aging. And, as always, Dawn answers all of your health and nutrition questions.

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 head north to the middle of beautiful Mirror Lake State Park and visit with Bob Prosser, owner of Ishnala Supper Club! Bob tells John about how unique Ishnala is, the spectacular area surrounding Ishnala, how hard they work to keep the food and service at top level, where they draw the majority of their customers from, the best-selling items at Ishnala, and what it means to be a supper club.

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

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, 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 start the podcast recapping former president Donald Trump’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference. Should the NABJ have invited Trump to sit for an interview? What did the Rascals make of the performance? The Paris Olympics kicked off with an opening ceremony that is causing some controversy. Were the Rascals offended by any of the imagery? Various news outlets are reporting Vice President Harris will make her VP decision early next week. Who do the Rascals believe should be the choice? Switching to local news, lawyers for the city now say that Dexter Reed was pulled over for having illegally tinted windows before he was killed by Chicago police, contradicting the initial claim given to oversight officials. What do the Rascals make of this change? And Mayor Brandon Johnson’s political campaign paid a firm for fundraising help while it lobbied City Hall. Austin explains why the Johnson administration is showing no interest in ethics reform. Finally, the Chicago Teachers Union is looking to reduce the property tax bill for their headquarters in the West Loop. Is this a cause for concern?

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 says the hot, humid weather combined with precipitation means that lawn disease has been running rampant.

Elder law attorney Kerry Peck joins John Williams to answer all your questions about elder law, trusts, wills, and elder abuse.

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

Chris Southwood, Illinois Fraternal Order of Police State Lodge President, joins John Williams to talk about how his organization had nothing to do with the grievance filed by the Illinois FOP Labor Council in the shooting of Sonya Massey. Chris also discusses the vetting process when hiring police officers, how the SAFE-T Act made things better in this specific situation, the difficulty hiring officers, and why he believes the ‘war on police’ is a leading cause for the lack of applicants trying to become police officers.

Ewa Bacher, mom of Olympic gymnast Paul Juda, joins John Williams, Andy Masur, and Ryan Burrow to talk about yesterday’s bronze medal performance by the men’s U.S. gymnastic team at the Paris Olympics.

Watch a clip of Paul’s segment from Quest for Gold, including his Lego Eiffel Tower:

Dr. Jeffrey Kopin, Chief Medical Officer for Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, joins John Williams to talk about the rise in COVID cases, what the CDC says about current COVID protocols, what we should know if we are close to someone who has tested positive, a new study that suggests that the shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of dementia, and his thoughts on a study that found a blood test accurately diagnosed Alzheimer’s 90% of the time. Dr. Kopin also answers your medical questions.