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, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week, the Rascals talk about a federal judge in Rockford ruling that Illinois’ concealed carry law can’t prohibit holders from having guns on public transportation. What do the Rascals think of this decision? CPS and CTU are continuing negotiations over a new contract. Austin gets us up to speed on the latest news. Meanwhile, the city of Chicago is facing nearly a billion dollar deficit in 2025. Where is all the money going to come from? CTU president Stacy Davis Gates recently accused Austin of stalking and the Rascals come to Austin’s defense. A WBEZ analysis found more than 30 websites of Local Government Information Services exposed the home addresses for more than 6 million Illinois voters including dozens of state and federal judges. Does the public have a right to know where voters live? And finally, we are less than a week away from the first debate between VP Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump. The Rascals break down the latest polls.

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week, the Rascals start the podcast talking about Cate’s magnificent tie! And also, the DNC. How do the Rascals feel the city of Chicago handled the convention? What were the highlights? The missteps? The Rascals break it all down. During the convention, Tim Walz’s son Gus became emotional seeing his father on stage and the hosts of a local right-wing radio station are coming under fire for mocking him. Now, one of the hosts has resigned her position as the coach of the boys and girls volleyball teams at a local high school. Do the Rascals believe the hosts should be fired from their radio jobs? The first Harris-Trump debate is set to take place on Sept. 10th, but there is still uncertainty about the debate rules concerning microphones, notes, and a live audience. What rules do the Rascals believe should carry over from the first debate? And finally, the White Sox are still really bad.

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, longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week, the Rascals break down all things Democratic National Convention. What were the highlights, lowlights, and big political takeaways? The Rascals have you covered! Was there and economic benefit to hosting the DNC? Some businesses have reported being slower than usual and the minimal crowds mean that it would be a great time to come visit downtown. Also, how has the city and CPD handled the protesters? What about the speeches? Who were the Rascals impressed with? Who was the biggest disappointment? And what about the city of Chicago in general? How has the city handled the huge event? Will this DNC be considered a success come Friday morning? And finally, will the DNC move the political needle to the left?

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, Brandon Pope, host of ‘On the Block‘ on WCIU, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week the Rascals start the podcast discussing the upcoming DNC in Chicago. Are the Rascals optimistic about the DNC? Is there concern about the protesters? The Rascals break down all the storylines. Vice President Harris hasn’t had held a press conference or any one-on-one interviews since she jumped to the top of the Democratic ticket. Austin thinks she should stay away from the media, while Marj says that she should sit down reporters, but there is no urgency right now. Brandon says Harris could do non-traditional media and take advantage of the current excitement. And speaking of interviews, did the Rascals catch any of the conversation between Elon Musk and former president Trump? The Sun-Times is reporting that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is working to oust CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. The Rascals get us up to speed on the latest contract negotiations between CPS. And finally, the Olympics ended on Sunday, but controversy lingers on! US gymnast Jordan Chiles was stripped of her bronze medal because an appeal by Chiles’ coach came 4 seconds beyond the 1-minute time limit for scoring inquiries. So what now? Does Chiles keep the medal? Do both athletes get the bronze? Is Chiles out of luck? Where are the Rascals on this?

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Brandon Pope, host of ‘On the Block‘ on WCIU, 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 mince about Kamala Harris choosing Minnesota governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. What do the Rascals think about the choice? Last week, former president Trump came to town for an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention. Brandon was there and recaps the visit. Today, JB Pritzker called for Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell to resign for his handling of the Sonya Massey case. Do the Rascals believe that Campbell should resign? New body camera footage obtained by the Sun-Times shows that police officers conducted dozens of traffic stops in the days leading up to a deadly shootout with Dexter Reed. What do the Rascals make of this new footage? Brandon hopes this will lead to police reform. And finally, the Olympics are wrapping up this week and the Rascals address the controversy surrounding Olympic boxer Imane Khelif.

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, 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 start the podcast recapping former president Donald Trump’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference. Should the NABJ have invited Trump to sit for an interview? What did the Rascals make of the performance? The Paris Olympics kicked off with an opening ceremony that is causing some controversy. Were the Rascals offended by any of the imagery? Various news outlets are reporting Vice President Harris will make her VP decision early next week. Who do the Rascals believe should be the choice? Switching to local news, lawyers for the city now say that Dexter Reed was pulled over for having illegally tinted windows before he was killed by Chicago police, contradicting the initial claim given to oversight officials. What do the Rascals make of this change? And Mayor Brandon Johnson’s political campaign paid a firm for fundraising help while it lobbied City Hall. Austin explains why the Johnson administration is showing no interest in ethics reform. Finally, the Chicago Teachers Union is looking to reduce the property tax bill for their headquarters in the West Loop. Is this a cause for concern?

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, 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 start the podcast talking about President Biden announcing on Sunday that he would not run for another term. Where were the Rascals when they heard the news? Is Vice President Harris the right person to run against Donald Trump? And who do the Rascals believe Harris will pick to be her running mate? And speaking of running mates, the Rascals discuss the choice of JD Vance to be Trump’s running mate. Do the Rascals believe Vance was the right choice to join the ticket? Next, the Rascals discuss the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey by Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson inside her Springfield, Illinois home. Austin believes this officer was clearly unfit to be a police officer. What do the other Rascals think of how the officer involved in the shooting acted?

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, 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 gang kick things of chatting with Rascal Brandon Pope, host of ‘On the Block‘ on WCIU, who is covering the RNC (and pasta) in Milwaukee. What is Brandon seeing and hearing up in Milwaukee as he covers the GOP convention? New polling from 538 about the presidential election shows that the race is extremely close. What do the Rascals make of the current polls? Eric believes the Democrats are in disarray and in real trouble, while Marj thinks President Biden does have a path to victory. More and more members of Congress are asking President Biden to step down. Do the Rascals think Biden is going to stay in the race? And what do the Rascals think of Trump picking Senator JD Vance to be his running mate? Switching to some local news, the Rascals mince about Mayor Johnson tabling a plan to fine ‘teen trend’ party organizers, Mayor Johnson’s appointment of Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez as Zoning chair being delayed, Mayor Johnson wanting CPS to take out the equivalent of a payday loan to address its budget challenges, and the Johnson administration nixing a plan to remove a George Washington statue from city hall. And finally, back to national politics. The Rascals have a discussion on political rhetoric in light of the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump.

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, Brandon Pope, host of ‘On the Block‘ on WCIU, and Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute. This week, the Rascals begin by discussing whether or not Joe Biden will step down from candidacy. Can anyone besides Biden actually run? Then they switch gears by talking about a potential redesign of the Magnificent Mile. To close things off, the group discusses the ramifications of finding out that a number of current and former Chicago police officers may be involved with the ‘Oath Keepers,’ who are notorious for their participation in the January 6th storming of the Capitol. Is there any validity to these claims?

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 break down President Biden’s poor debate performance and what that means for the future of his re-election campaign. Where do the Rascals believe the Democrats go from here? If President Biden decides to step aside, who replaces him? The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president. What does this immunity decision mean? Three Chicago public schools are being renamed in an effort to get rid of racist or otherwise problematic namesakes. Is it a good idea that these schools are changing their names? A lot of other Chicago things in the news this week…”The Bear,” NASCAR coming to town, etc. Marj explains why she isn’t too excited about NASCAR returning. And what do the Rascals think of the new season of TV’s “The Bear?”