Justin Kaufmann

Tonight on Extension 720: It’s Chicago music festival season so why not launch our very own festival in the WGN performance studio! We’ll have interviews and tons of live music with the Latingrass sensation Che Apalache, Chicago dream pop band Fauvely, a tribute to Chicago soul music with the Chicago Soul Spectacular, hyper-literate indie rock from Louisville’s (by way of Chicago) State Champion, bagpipes courtesy of the Midwest Pipe Band Association and blues legend Mary Lane and the No Static […]

Justin Kaufmann fills in for John Williams and asks listeners where they’d like the first Chicago casino to open. Then, The Mushroom Cure one-man show star Adam Strauss joins Justin to share about his coping mechanism for his obsessive compulsive disorder. Former Chicago Police Department Superintendent and Chicago Police Memorial Foundation Executive Director Philip Cline sits in with Justin to talk about the new way people can donate to the memories of fallen officers through a scratch-off lottery ticket. Finally, Justin, Kevin […]

Former Chicago Police Department Superintendent and Chicago Police Memorial Foundation Executive Director Philip Cline joins Justin Kaufmann to talk about a cool way to donate to the memories of fallen Chicago police officers. That’s in light of the recent deaths involving shootings, pursuits and traffic stops.

Tonight on Extension 720: Toxic relationships: A new study says Sterigenics released more than 10 times the pollution acceptable by the EPA. But they are questioning the science behind it. Award-winning environmental journalist Michael Hawthorne talks about this ongoing story, The new documentary “Pooh” looks at the turbulent life and career of Derrick Rose. It’s a fascinating look at one of the greatest sports stories in Chicago history. The writer and director of the film Scott Diener joins Justin to […]

Writer and Director Scott Diener joins Justin on Extension 720 to discuss his film, “Pooh: The Derrick Rose Story.” Scott talks about how Derrick is such a polarizing figure in Chicago sports, the amount of pressure Derrick was under while playing for the Bulls, how the game of basketball was more about survival than a sport for Derrick Rose, why Derrick felt the need to be so close to his family, Derrick’s love for the city of Chicago, why Bulls […]

The tremendous band State Champion (Ryan Davis, Salvatore Cassato, Jim Marlow, Mikie Poland and Sabrina Rush) join Justin on Extension 720 to talk about their career, how the band has evolved over the years, the process of writing songs and their latest record, “Send Flowers,” which was named one of the Best Rock Records of the Year by Pitchfork. The band performs three songs (“Death Preferences,” “Lifetime Sentence” and “Legends of Miami Bass”) in our performance studio. And definitely make […]

Justin Kaufmann is in for John Williams, and his first order of business is to check in with Springfield. Patti Vasquez joins the show to describe the atmosphere as the marijuana bill took the House floor. Then, ABC News Correspondent Mark Remillard explains why Wikipedia is calling a North Face marketing scheme to a breach of public trust. Northern Illinois University Professor of Meteorology Walker Ashley expands on the extreme weather the country has been facing, with tornadoes and the […]

ABC News Correspondent Mark Remillard joins Justin Kaufmann to describe how The North Face got itself in trouble with a creative marketing scheme. And, Mark describes Wikipedia’s own comparison of the ploy by The North Face’s ad agency.

The incredible Chicago band Fauvely (Sophie Brochu, Dale Price, Scott Cortez, Dave Piscotti, Chace Wall and Mike Altergott) join Justin on Extension 720 to talk about their new EP, “This is What the Living Do,” how this EP differs from the previous work, how well the arrangements work with Sophie’s voice, the importance of experimentation while creating music, the challenge of replicating the studio recording when performing on stage, their songwriting process, how they have evolved over the years, the […]

Coming up this weekend is The Fear Experiment at the Park West. Justin heads to a closed dress rehearsal at the Park West and talks to creator Saya Hillman about her goal of getting people out of their comfort zone. The whole idea of The Fear Experiment is to get you to do something you’ve never done and push past your anxieties. We also hear from Jessica Williams and Aranda Stathers, two students who will be on the big stage […]