Author and registered dietician nutritionist Dawn Jackson Blatner joins John Williams to talk about a new study that shows America’s diet quality moved from an F to a D. What tips does Dawn have for improving your diet? Also, another study showed that eating plant-based meat may be healthier for your heart than real meat. What does Dawn make of the study. Dawn also answers your 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 don’t travel very far from Chicago at all! In fact, we head right down the street and visit with Henry Dornelas, Hotel Manager, Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel! Henry talks about his love for the city since he’s been here, the legacy of the Palmer House and its amazing history, the various types of rooms they offer, who typically stays at the hotel, how Palmer House invented the Brownie for the 1893 World’s Fair (they still serve them today!), the magnificent lobby at the hotel, why it’s the perfect place to stay if you are coming downtown for the NASCAR event, and all the other incredible amenities they offer. The Park and Stay package offering savings on parking and the inclusion of a Palmer House brownie, is available NOW exclusively when booking via the link on the John Williams page on WGNRADIO.COM

Christmas in July- Enjoy the gift of savings- RATES FROM $119. Sale will launch on Monday July 1st and end on July 31st with savings on stays in July and also during the holiday season (Nov/Dec/Jan) stays at Palmer House a Hilton Hotel, or our sister properties Hilton Chicago and The Drake Hotel.

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, 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 kick off the podcast talking about the upcoming debate between President Biden and Donald Trump. Are the Rascals looking forward to watching? What are the Rascals most interested in seeing from the candidates? This week former Alderman Ed Burke was sentenced to two years in prison plus a $2M fine. Do the Rascals believe justice was served? A Supreme Court ruling today will narrow the scope of corruption laws targeting public officials. What do the Rascals make of this SCOTUS decision? And finally, Chicago Alderman William Hall asked aldermen to log their yes/no support for 16 different tax hike proposals in a “Revenue Survey” distributed to city council members. The survey briefly had an open link that anyone could access. Where do the Rascals stand on the various tax hike proposals?

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 tells us if it is safe to plant grass seeds now when air temperatures are cooler.

Aaron Kleidon, owner, Scratch Brewing, joins John Williams to talk about his spot being named as one of the best pizza places in the USA by the New York Times. Aaron tells John how they are pretty well known for beer across the U.S., the way word of mouth has been a good advertiser for their food, what makes the pizza so unique, and why he’s happy working in southern Illinois.

Elder law attorney Kerry Peck joins John Williams to answer all your questions about elder law, trusts, wills, and elder abuse. Kerry discusses the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s disease on both the patient and the family and what you need to know about dealing with the legal impact of the illness.

USA Triple Jumper Tori Franklin joins John Williams and Ryan Burrow to talk about her strenuous training regimen, the keys to be a successful triple jumper, the mental aspect of her sport, her experience at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, her chances of medaling in Paris, and why she likes being the underdog. And don’t forget to check out Tori’s work with The Live Happii Project. They are hosting an event in September and you can find more information about that here.

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

US Para Track & Field athlete, Decatur native, and DePaul University alum Noelle Malkamaki joins John Williams and Ryan Burrow to talk about competing against non-disabled athletes growing up and at DePaul, when she fell in love with track and field, how she came to start competing in the Para games, what she’s doing to getting ready for the Paralympic trials in July, the way NIL has changed the terrain of college athletics, who her biggest competition will be at the trials, and the difficulty coming to terms with being a disabled athlete.