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?”

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 kick off the podcast talking about the upcoming debate between President Biden and Donald Trump. Are the Rascals looking forward to watching? What are the Rascals most interested in seeing from the candidates? This week former Alderman Ed Burke was sentenced to two years in prison plus a $2M fine. Do the Rascals believe justice was served? A Supreme Court ruling today will narrow the scope of corruption laws targeting public officials. What do the Rascals make of this SCOTUS decision? And finally, Chicago Alderman William Hall asked aldermen to log their yes/no support for 16 different tax hike proposals in a “Revenue Survey” distributed to city council members. The survey briefly had an open link that anyone could access. Where do the Rascals stand on the various tax hike proposals?

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, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week the Rascals start the podcast by discussing Mayor Johnson launching a task force looking into a reparations program. Where are the Rascals on reparations? The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools held their first-ever public bargaining session last week. Austin watched the session and gives us the major takeaways. The Rascals also get into it about corporate profits and ‘greedflation.’ Controversy continues to follow the Chicago Sky after their game last weekend against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. John thinks the Sky are playing like the old Detroit Pistons ‘Bad Boys.’ The Supreme Court struck down a Trump-era ban on rapid-fire rifle bump stocks. What do the Rascals make of the ruling? And finally, the Rascals discuss the impact of President Biden issuing a new policy granting legal protections to undocumented spouses and children of American citizens.

This week’s Mincing Rascals was recorded in front of a live audience at Winter’s Jazz Club on Wednesday, June, 12, 2024. The Mincing Rascals for this special live show are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Jon Hansen of WGN Radio and Block Club Chicago, 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, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals take on a number of topics including if former Alderman Ed Burke should serve prison time, why some alderman want an 8 pm curfew for downtown Chicago, how everyone feels about the Donald Trump and Hunter Biden verdicts, the Supreme Court audio and the journalistic ethics of secretly recording interviews, if Caitlin Clark deserves to be on the Olympic team, and why some are hoping the White Sox break the record for futility. Did you miss out on attending the event? That’s okay, because we have all the photos here!

The Mincing Rascals this week are Jon Hansen of WGN Radio and Block Club Chicago, Cate Plys, former staff writer at the Chicago Reader, and political op-ed columnist at the Sun-Times and Tribune, 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 things off by discussing Chicago’s preparedness for the upcoming Democratic National Convention. Do the Rascals trust that the city and CPD will be ready to handle the DNC? On to the WNBA! Next, the Rascals discuss the Chicago Sky and the controversy surrounding their game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. What did the Rascals think about the Caitlin Clark-Chennedy Carter incident and the media / online reaction? Cate thinks that Caitlin Clark definitely flopped and needs to toughen up! This week, the Chicago City Council scrutinized Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to quickly budget federal COVID-19 relief dollars before the end-of-year deadline. How much do the Rascals care if the city rushes to spend COVID money? What to do the Rascals think of Chicago’s Plow the Sidewalks pilot program? Should the city spend money on plowing sidewalks for its residents? And finally, let’s give the Rascals 1-minute each to talk about former president Donald Trump being found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Talk to you next week from Winter’s Jazz Club!

The Mincing Rascals this week are Jon Hansen of WGN Radio and Block Club Chicago, 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 talk about the upcoming DNC in Chicago and the plan to virtually nominate President Biden and Vice President Harris before the scheduled DNC. Does this decision take any juice away from the DNC? The Illinois House passed a $53.1 billion state budget early Wednesday morning. Why do lawmakers have to wait until the last minute and then hold a vote in the middle of the night? Is this what an open government should look like? Senate President Don Harmon didn’t put a measure to extend a moratorium on public school closings in Chicago to a vote because he accepted Mayor Brandon Johnson’s promise not to shut down any schools or deplete funding for selective enrollment schools. Was this a win for Mayor Johnson? The Madison County (Illinois) Board will place a symbolic advisory referendum on the November ballot that will ask voters if they should explore separating from the Chicago area. What do the Rascals make of this effort? The Washington Post dug into some data about America’s best decade. When do the Rascals think the nation peaked? And does it follow the data? And what decade delivered the best music? The gang debates!