Kara Morgan Short and Kim Potowski of Bilingualism Matters join Justin to talk about the importance of teaching bilingual education, the goal to get students to speak multiple languages, the myths surrounding bilingual education, the challenge of finding people to teach language, how you get the educational system to understand the need for bilingual education, the best time to teach a new language, how the brain processes new language and why bilingualism is good for the brain. This is the […]

Tonight on Extension 720: Exploring stories from the shadows. The new podcast DACAmentation tells the stories of Chicago’s undocumented youth. Chicago universities are teaming up to make us more bilingual. What will it take for us to learn more language? Owen Keehnen tells us the story of the Bearded Lady and 1970s gay River North. Priya Mohanty tells us her story in her web series pilot “FOBia”and we hear the origin story of the I Heart Halal festival. All that […]

It’s the “The Download on Chicago Business” sponsored by Signature Bank. Tonight, Justin speaks with I Heart Halal Festival co-organizers Salman Chaudry and Asma Ahad about the values of Halal, some of the misconceptions surrounding Halal, the challenges of putting on a Chicago festival, wanting to create a festival that would allow people to make connections with the Muslim community, the way they deal with success, the amount of work it takes to put on a festival at Navy Pier and […]

Priya Mohanty, creator, writer and star of the new web series “FOBia,” joins Justin on Extension 720 to talk about creating her new comedy series for OTV, where she finds inspiration for the stories in “FOBia,” wanting to shed light on the challenges immigrants face, the tendency that people have to homogenize the immigrant experience, the goal of showcasing the immigrant lifestyle and her hope for the future of the series. This is the podcast for Extension 720. The show […]

It’s an historic election day in Chicago as the city is electing its first black woman as mayor! Tonight, Justin Kaufmann is live at the iconic Billy Goat to break down the momentous day! Joining Justin tonight is the Chicago Tribune’s Eric Zorn, former mayoral candidates Paul Vallas and Amara Enyia, 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins, 36th Ward alderman Gilbert Villegas, newly-elected 49th Ward alderwoman Maria Hadden, and political pundits Kerry Lester, Rebecca Sive, Connie Mixon, Marj Halperin, Hermene Hartman, […]

It’s Lower Wacker Live with Justin Kaufmann! This is the podcast that makes fun of the news and can also get you from Lake Shore Drive to 290 in like 5 minutes. Today’s top story is the Chicago runoff election and this is the first ever Lower Wacker Live Election Guide! We have 50 questions that are musts for any Chicagoan. You will know who to vote for once you know where the candidate stands on these important questions. For […]

It’s the debut edition of Lower Wacker Live with Justin Kaufmann! This is the podcast that makes fun of the news and can also get you from Lake Shore Drive to 290 in like 5 minutes. Today’s top stories include April Fools’ Day hijinks, the final day of the runoff election, the Chicago Archdiocese using money from its cemetery system to help pay down the debt related to sex misconduct costs and the start of the Major League Baseball season.

Several old-guard alderman are facing first-time challengers in this year’s runoff election. We take to the streets and explore the races between Jessica Gutierrez and Alderman Ariel Reboyras in the 30th Ward, Alderman Leslie Hairston and Will Calloway in the 5th Ward and Alderman O’Connor and Andre Vasquez in the 40th Ward. This is the podcast for Extension 720. The show originates from Chicago on WGN Radio and features newsmakers, tastemakers and trailblazers.  Hosted by award-winning broadcaster Justin Kaufmann, this […]

It’s the “The Download on Chicago Business” sponsored by Signature Bank. Tonight, Justin speaks with Daniel McLaughlin, Executive Director of the AGC, about the future of development in Chicago, how delaying development will keep Chicago from staying competitive, the need for more skilled workers, the importance of investing more money into finding people who can fill all the available construction jobs, the goal of improving minority hiring and if Chicago is a doing a good enough job of preserving its history. […]

“Off the Record” is a series of conversations with prominent Chicagoans in their communities. Tonight on Extension 720, Justin is joined by author Ethan Michaeli at the Café Robey in Bucktown. Ethan talks about  how much the area has changed over the years, the issues that are most to important to the residents of Bucktown, the performance of Mayor Emanuel, what the next mayor will need to do to be successful, the demoralized and the depleted status of the Chicago […]