John Williams

This week’s show is slightly shorter than usual, but John still has time to discuss Europe’s refugee crisis with Rob Martier, play another portion of the Mincing Rascals podcast (featuring Eric Zorn, Kristen McQueary, and Steve Bertrand), and talk to Thomas Jefferson about Donald Trump. All that, plus the weekly VibeScore segment.

John talks to Rob Martier about the refugee crisis in Europe and what President Obama had to say about it this week. Then he takes calls to help answer the question: should the US take these people in?

Today on the show, John takes your calls about the unpaid winners of the Illinois Lottery. Then he plays back a little bit of the Mincing Rascals podcast in which he, Eric Zorn, Kristen McQueary, and Steve Bertrand discuss Donald Trump’s recent press conference. Sonia Saraiya, TV critic at Salon, joins the show later on to talk about why USA postponed the finale of their show “Mr. Robot” after the shooting in Virginia on Wednesday. Plus the weekly VibeScore segment […]

Sonia Saraiya, TV critic at Salon, is on to talk about USA’s decision to postpone the finale of “Mr. Robot” after Wednesday’s shooting on live television. The episode apparently contained a scene that echoed the day’s events a little too closely.

Today’s show begins with a broadcast of the podcast, Mincing Rascals, in which John is joined by Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, Tribune editorial cartoonist Scott Stantis, and WGN Radio’s very own Steve Bertrand. Together they discuss the latest on Jared Fogle, Bruce Rauner and the budget, the unending success of Donald Trump’s campaign, and more. Then he’s joined by New York Times economics writer Patricia Cohen to talk about a Seattle company that pledged to pay every employee $70,000 […]

New York Times writer Patricia Cohen joins the show to discuss the fallout that faced Seattle company Gravity Payments after CEO Dan Price raised the minimum salary to $70,000.

Leonard Goodman, appellate attorney for Rod Blagojevich, joins the show to talk to John about why he believes his client wasn’t as bad as many other politicians and why his sentence should be reduced.

On this week’s show, John kicks things off talking about the recent GOP debate and getting your reactions to it. Then he talks with Rod Blagojevich’s appellate attorney Leonard Goodman about where the former governor stands now and why he thinks his client’s sentence should be reduced. Katharine Trendacosta, writer and editor at io9, tells John about her experience bingewatching 16 years of “Daily Show” episodes before Jon Stewart’s farewell on Thursday. Plus, the weekly VibeScore segment!

John begins the show with an unbelievable story about his brother and takes calls from people with embarrassing nude stories of their own. Then he talks to the hilarious Joel Stein about recent pieces he’s written for GQ and Businessweek. Later, he plays a segment of “The Mincing Rascals” podcast featuring Steve Bertrand, Eric Zorn, and Kristen McQueary, in which they all discuss Senator Mark Kirk and the Democratic presidential candidates. Plus, the weekly VibeScore segment and some breaking news […]

The hilarious Joel Stein, writer for publications like TIME, GQ, Businessweek, and more, is on the show to talk about recent pieces he’s written on Google employees that live at the office (literally) and the training regiment that Hollywood actors undergo when getting ready for a role.

Now that John has had a chance to read “Go Set a Watchman,” he’s ready to talk about it and book critic from the Los Angeles Times David Ulin is on to give his opinion too. Then Pulitzer Prize winning columnist from the Chicago Tribune Mary Schmich is on to talk about a recent column in which she reflects on her decades-long career. Sonia Saraiya from Salon is back to talk about the newly announced Emmy nominations. Plus, as always, […]

Now that he’s had a chance to finish reading it, John wants to talk about Harper Lee’s newly released novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” and he’s joined by book critic from the Los Angeles Times David Ulin to do so. Is it a worthy follow-up to her 1960 classic?

John begins the show by sitting down with author Mike Thomas to talk about his oral history in Chicago Magazine of the devastating 1995 Chicago heat wave, which hit the city 20 years ago this week. Later he talks to Matt Roush, senior TV critic at TV Guide Magazine and TVInsider.com. He takes calls on Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz, and the news they made this week. Plus, as always, the weekly VibeScore segment. All that and more!

John sits down with Mike Thomas, who wrote an oral history of the 1995 heat wave that claimed over 700 lives in Chicago. The 20th anniversary is this week. They talk about what happened, what it was like re-telling the story, and take calls from listeners who remember the heat.

John once again talks to Thomas Jefferson to kick off his 4th of July episode! Jefferson has some qualms about the way we celebrate now, and some things to say about freedom. Later John counts down the best American bands of all time and interviews Bill Pohlad, the director of the Beach Boys biopic “Love and Mercy.” Film critic for LA Weekly Amy Nicholson joins the show as well to tell John about the new phenomenon of people laughing at […]