The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, political pundit Marj Halperin, and Cate Plys, former staff writer at the Chicago Reader and political op-ed columnist at the Sun-Times and Tribune. This week, the Rascals kick things off by discussing the unseasonably warm weather in Chicago. It’s great! Or is it? Next, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is asking the state for public funds for a new stadium in the South Loop. Where do the Rascals stand on this ask? Mayor Brandon Johnson had a meeting scheduled with the Sun-Times editorial board that ended abruptly when the Sun-Times denied a last-minute request by the mayor and his staff to have the meeting be off the record. What is going on with Johnson’s communications team? Austin explains why Johnson’s relationship with the media impacts everyone. Moving to international news, the Rascals talk about the death of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most formidable domestic opponent. The Rascals also mince quickly about a financial columnist for The Cut writing a story about how she was scammed out of $50,000, the best starting words for Wordle, and what they thought of the Academy Award nominated movie, “Past Lives.”