WGN - The Download with Justin Kaufmann Podcast

We have a great episode of The Download for you this evening! On tonight’s show, Justin welcomes Chicago Cares CEO Jenne Myers to talk about the importance of volunteering and the #DoMoreGood campaign, political analyst, historian, journalist, and columnist Thomas Frank discusses his latest book, “Listen Liberal: Or What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?,” Clemson Smith Muñiz and Adrian Burgos, Jr. tell us about a new site that celebrates the passion of Latino baseball’s past, present and […]

Best-selling author, political analyst, journalist and columnist Thomas Frank joins Justin to discuss his latest book, “Listen Liberal: Or What Ever Happened to The Party of The People?” Thomas talks about his Chicago roots, what drew him to writing about the Democrats, how the Republicans are currently dominating the political landscape, President Clinton changing the platform of the Democratic Party, the effort by Democrats to make the “Creative Class” happy, how inequality is out of control, why Bernie Sanders is […]

The Carry Out is the nightly segment where Justin reads the news so you don’t have to. Tonight’s top stories include President Trump readying himself for a slew of executive orders, President Trump bragging about his “Face the Nation” ratings, the government heading to a shutdown, the violence in Chicago continuing over the weekend, President Obama speaking at the University of Chicago, Senator Elizabeth Warren meeting with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicagoans using fewer plastic bags since the plastic bag tax, […]

The hilarious writer and actor Peter Grosz joins Justin to discuss his new show, “The President Show,” which debuts this week on Comedy Central. Pete talks about the premise of the show, how much improvisation will be used on the show, how the show will be like a mix between the Colbert Report and Johnny Carson, his portrayal of Vice-President Mike Pence, what he knows about Vice-President Pence and how he his handling being a showrunner while also starring on […]

The great Chicago band Penthouse Sweets join Justin in Studio 435 to talk about making music in Chicago, how they came together, the type of music they play, what the goals of the band are, the changing landscape of the music industry, the evolution of the songwriting, their process of recording music, their new record, “In the House of the Penthouse Sweets” and their upcoming show at Livewire Lounge. They also perform a few songs including, “Yeah, it’s Gone,” “Walk […]

We have a terrific show for you to start the week! On tonight’s episode of The Download, political analysts Dave Lundy and Chris Robling debate President Trump’s first 100 days in office, Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lo tell us about all the amazing dishes they are serving at their Logan Square restaurant Fat Rice, we learn about all the  unusual wildlife that is thriving in pockets of big cities across the country as highlighted in the WTTW digital series, “Urban Nature” […]

The Carry Out is the nightly segment where Justin reads the news so you don’t have to. Tonight’s top stories include the Blackhawks getting swept by Nashville in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Nashville celebrities Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson burning the Blackhawks on Twitter, President Trump lashing out at the media about the “First 100 Days” judgement, Governor Bruce Rauner standing pat on his stance the state insurance plans shouldn’t pay for abortions, President Obama coming to Chicago on Monday, […]

In honor of Earth Day tomorrow, Justin welcomes Shedd Aquarium’s sustainability specialist Maddie Caldwell and Hooked on Fish founder Karen Wollins to talk about issues that are negatively impacting our planet including the use of plastic straws and over-fishing and tomorrow’s “BLU Goes Green” event at The Chopping Block. 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 this week on a high note! On tonight’s episode of The Download, ahead of Earth Day tomorrow, Justin speaks with the Shedd Aquarium’s sustainability specialist Maddie Caldwell and Hooked on Fish founder Karen Wollins about Earth Day and what we can do to help protect our oceans, the immensely talented singer-songwriter M. Ward discusses his career and the art of collaboration, the one and only Big Boi talks about his amazing career with Outkast and his upcoming solo […]

The tremendous singer-songwriter M. Ward joins Justin to talk about his amazing career, living in Chicago in the late ’90’s and early 2000’s, being exposed to blues music while he lived here, what drew him to folk music as a young musician, learning how to play the guitar from listening to Beatles records, where his collaboration spirit comes from, what he learned from working with Mavis Staples, how he loves working with artists that are comfortable with improvisation, the different […]