WGN Radio Host Dave Hoekstra describes the music scene in Springfield, Missouri, which he depicts in his new documentary, “Songs of an Unsung America.” Join Dave and his film crew Thursday at FitzGerald’s to see a sneak preview of the documentary itself, as well as of the featured music.

RJ ‘Bob’ Nelson stopped by the studio to tell Rick about his new book, and share a couple of choice stories from his days as a harbor boss. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3359244/3359244_2017-05-29-162744.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D3807.mp3

Rick reads his essay on Memorial Day and Chicago, reflects on the holiday’s intended purpose and shares a few stories along the way. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3359248/3359248_2017-05-29-163648.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D3807.mp3

Rick filled in for John Williams today. To start things out, RJ “Bob” Nelson talked about his new book, “Dirty Waters: Confessions of Chicago’s Last Harbor Boss.” Then, former Playboy Bunny, Candace Jordan joined Rick to talk about her career and her reshoot for the magazine, all these years later. History on Tap’s Liz Garibay and Bill Jacobs from Piece Pizza stopped by to talk about their efforts to start the country’s first beer museum, or “Brewseum,” as they refer to it. Then, Rick […]

Author John Binder joined Rick in the studio to discuss his new book, “Al Capone’s Beer Wars: The Complete History of Organized Crime in Chicago During Prohibition.” They talk about some of the fascinating bootlegging history & John tells Rick about his ‘Gangster Tours’ of Oak Park and River Forest. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3359097/3359097_2017-05-29-000637.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D3807.mp3

To begin, publishers Richard Cahan and Michael Williams joined Rick in studio to talk about their new book, “Chicago: Classic Photographs.” They told Rick about how they managed to put together such a beautifully diverse collection of photographs and mentioned a couple of the photographers included in the book by name, including Stanley Kubrik and Mildred Mead. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3356611/3356611_2017-05-22-010211.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D3807.mp3

Tonight on the program, Rick Kogan delved into the worlds of music, photography, clocks and history. To begin, publishers Richard Cahan and Michael Williams joined Rick in studio to talk about their new book, “Chicago: Classic Photographs.” Then, Ben Montalbano from local band Matthäus joined Rick and producer Lise to debut his band’s brand new song, “To the Years,” and talk about his upcoming EP. Jason Matthiesen from the Chicago Clock Company called in to talk about the business’ 100th […]

Singer Sam Fazio joined Rick Kogan in the studio to talk about his upcoming performance with Kimberly Gordon, “Legends of the Empire Room.” They talked about Sam’s childhood, why he came back to Chicago later in life and how he decided to pursue his musical dreams. Then, Kimberly joined the conversation to talk about working with Sam and the group commented on the importance of celebrating these classic, nostalgic songs and how magical and intimate live music can be. Find out […]

Rick gets to know his new producer, Lise Graham. They talk about how she got started in radio, her roots at WGN and how she wants to be involved with the show. He welcomes her to the Sunday night family.

Ten years ago, Mike Lowecki’s life changed when he was sent to prison for bribing Shirley McMayon to secure Chicago Park District work for his Mundelein-based business, James Michael Inc. He reflects on the experience in his chilling new memoir “Pay to Play: My Odyssey from Multimillionaire to Prisoner #18099-424.” Rick asks him about his writing process and Mike reveals how life after prison has been. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3345979/3345979_2017-05-01-030219.64kmono.mp3?ad_params=zones%3DPreroll%7Cstation_id%3D3807.mp3