The Ben Joravsky Show

A few days after Trump celebrates his birthday in a spasm of hate and violence, Barack Obama opens his presidential center on the south side. Ben riffs. Monroe talks Obama’s legacy. The reflecting pool debacle. Epstein’s suicide. The Iran “peace” deal. And Brian Urlacher, whose thoughts on immigrants raise the question: Why are so many white jocks MAGA men? 

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Knicks win. Ben tries to be gracious. Rossana Rodriguez joins the celebration. And then the conversation turns serious. As she makes the connection between fascists in the White House and conservatives in the city council. Her T-shirt says it all. Also, the promise of Mamdani. Pay attention, Chicago lefties. And more. Rossana is the alderwoman of the 33rd ward. 

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Ben interrupts his road trip and Dr D puts down his newborn baby long enough to tell you what’s going on. Firstly…no one believes the Bears are going to Hammond and no one cares if they do. Susana Mendoza outflanks Vallas and Willie Wilson, locking up the MAGA vote in the mayor’s race. And Mayor Rahm breaks from bike riding in New Hampshire to watch his beloved Knicks.

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Trump trolls Biden on the walls of the White House. Ben riffs. Heidi Henry—the Heartland Mama—talks about Trump’s professed love for inflation. Do liberals still think it was the cost of eggs that did in Kamala? The case against data centers. Can a nice guy win in Texas? Bill Gates explains why he was hanging with Epstein. To which Heidi advises—listen to Melinda. Heidi is a political activist and horse trainer in the heart of MAGA land.

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Mayor Rahm solidifies his 1 percent base by hanging with the rich guys in the courtside seats at the Knicks game. Ben riffs. Senator Rachel Ventura talks Bears stadium and data centers and AI and paying the state’s bills in face of Trump’s budget cuts. She closes with thoughts on the Democrat’s identity crisis. Are they the party of the courtside crew or the nosebleeds? Though even the nosebleed seats are out of reach for many. Rachel is the state senator from the 43rd district in Joliet.

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Great news! Dr D is now Daddy D—again. Ben riffs. Pushkar Sharma pays tribute to Amisha Patel. And then explains why and how they put together a campaign to reject Raja in the Democratic primary for Senator. He also talks about Kash Patel and Vivek Ramaswamy and other members of the “white-adjacency” crowd, who look to protect their communities or advance their careers by embedding themselves in MAGA. Pushkar is co-founder of Sacred Acts.

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The pope takes a stand against AI enslaving us. Ben riffs. Ishmael Reed joins the conversation from Oakland. Yes, that Ishmael Reed. One of America’s greatest writers—novelist, poet, essayist, playwright and song writer. And one of Ben’s heroes since like forever. The conversation flows from Musk to Thiel to Altman to Vance to Vivek, to Django to Lin Manual Miranda. Hamilton was no hero, people. Finally, how did Trump defeat Harris? Painting her as a Promiscuous Jezebel is how.

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South Carolina Republican legislators defy Trump on congressional redistricting. Ben riffs. Mallory Dittmer fills in the details—46,000 Democratic voters had something to do with it. A Democratic candidate for Congress in the fifth district, Mallory analyzes the big issues that make South Carolina ripe for change. Education, health care, affordability and the degradation of democracy. If the Dems are going to take back the house, it will come down to candidates like Mallory.

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The great Murakami tweaks his hamstring. Ben howls in pain. Miles and Gave assess the Sox and Cubs two months into the season. Sox fans will be delighted. Cubs fans not so much. Bottom line—if the Cubs were as tough on the Brewers as they are with a woman Sox fan, they’d still be in first place. Hey, don’t blame the messengers. Ben defends Jerry Reinsdorf. Gave and Miles try not to laugh. Much talk about a salary cap. Miles co-hosts Blue Line radio. And Gave co-hosts The New Twenty-Four.

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There’s hardly any money to get books from one library branch to the other, but $1.5 trillion for the military. Ben riffs. Rachel Hinton fills in the blanks, explicating on her recent article on why it takes so long to get those library books you ordered. Also, political talk. Why is Governor Pritzker irritated by Mayor Johnson? The politics of being tough on teen takeovers. And more. Rachel is an investigative reporter for Block Club.

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