WGN - The Download with Justin Kaufmann Podcast

The Carry Out is the nightly segment where Justin reads the news so you don’t have to. Tonight’s top stories include Donald Trump Jr. releasing email correspondence on his Russian meeting, the hearing over the Cook County sugar tax being pushed back a week, a new poll saying Chris Kennedy still holding a lead over J.B. Pritzker in the race to take on Governor Bruce Rauner, Governor Rauner announcing a new Chief of Staff, the All-Star game being played in […]

It’s Monday so that means it is Industry Night. Justin welcomes writer, Chicago Reader food critic and James Beard Award-winner Mike Sula to talk about his career, where he finds his work happiness, the style of food he most likes to sample, the changing landscape of the food writing world, seeing food trends come and go and the restaurants we should be checking out this summer. Follow Justin on Twitter and give him a like on Facebook. The Download with Justin Kaufmann airs Monday through Friday […]

We have another great show for you to start the week! On tonight’s episode of The Download, political analysts Chris Robling and Dave Lundy are back to debate the top national political stories making news this week, Samantha Singer discusses the future of Amazon in Chicago, Chicago Reader food critic Mike Sula talks about his career and offers up a couple of can’t miss restaurants for the summer, WGN’s Kim Gordon previews her 3-part news series, “Turn: The Urban Recovery,” […]

It’s already Friday and we are ending the week with a terrific show for you! On tonight’s episode of The Download, WGN’s Kevin Powell breaks down the performance of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox as we head into the All-Star break, we recap the week in news with the Chicago Tribune’s Kristen McQueary and Reuters’ David Greising, the Chicago Tribune’s Tracy Swartz tells us about the week in reality television and we end the show with a tribute […]

We have an incredible show for you tonight. On tonight’s episode of The Download, Patti Vasquez joins Justin from Springfield to break down the Illinois budget deal, Chicago Media Angels Executive Director Ted Reilly chats about his effort to get more independent filmmakers to produce work in Chicago, Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers talks about her career and her most recent record, “Dragonfly,” Tony Award-winner Casey Nicholaw discusses his life in theater and the upcoming Chicago production of “Something Rotten” and […]

The amazing Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers joins Justin to discuss her career, how special it is to come to Chicago, what it was like growing up in a musical family,  being exposed to a lot of American country music while she was young, how seeing Lucinda Williams in concert changed her musical trajectory, having a song featured on the HBO show “The Sopranos,” creating music that is deeply personal, what keeps her evolving as an artist, her recovery from vocal […]

The Carry Out is the nightly segment where Justin reads the news so you don’t have to. Tonight’s top stories include the state possibly passing a budget, an alarming number of people being shot in Chicago over the holiday weekend, Mayor Emanuel writing an op-ed in the New York Times about public transit, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle saying that budget cuts are coming if the soda tax stays on hold, the Chicago Cubs beating the Rays this afternoon, […]

Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer joins Justin to talk about the paid sick leave laws that will go into effect Saturday in Chicago and Cook County, some suburbs opting out of a minimum wage hike and a judge putting Cook County’s penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages on hold at least until July 12. Follow Justin on Twitter and give him a like on Facebook. The Download with Justin Kaufmann airs Monday through Friday from 7 pm. to 11 pm on @WGNRadio

We are ending the month of June on a high note! On tonight’s episode of The Download, Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer talks about the paid sick leave laws that go into effect Saturday in Chicago and Cook County, we reload another busy week in news with Mario Smith and Amara Enyia, the Chicago Tribune’s Tracy Swartz recaps the week in reality TV and we end the show by exploring regional dialects with “How to Speak Midwestern” author Edward McClelland! Have […]

Creator Rachel Claff and Dina Marie Walters of the Neo-Futurists join Justin to discuss “It Came from … the Neo-Futurarium XII: Dawn of the Neo-Futurarium!” The festival of staged readings of the best worst movies of all time returns for a twelfth year! Tonight, Rachel and Dina break down the Nicolas Cage and John Travolta vehicle, “Face/Off.” You can’t out-Cage the Cage! Justin, Rachel and Dina also play another round of “Justify Your Love,” where you have to convince them […]