Episodes

Mark Zuckerberg waves the white flag as he surrenders to Donny. Ben riffs. Monroe says it's all about sucking up to Big Daddy in order to make even more billions. Then it's on to the latest lunacy from Trump--whales, windmills, and various invasions. Monroe makes like the dairy farmer in South Dako…

News from “the world” has Baby Donny visiting Greenland. Ben riffs. Adolfo Mondragon returns to explain the logic of the illogic to Ben. Including…why Dems don’t riot when they lose, like MAGA does. Why corporate Chicago loves Pedro Martinez. Why MAGA likes Mexican cuisine but dislikes Mexicans. Wh…

Alden Loury tells you everything you need to know about property taxes. Including…why we need them. Why we hate them. Why they’re unfair and not up for the task we demand of them. How they force people to leave their neighborhoods. Ben adds a few words about TIFs. Which are property tax hikes. Even…

Ben doesn’t want to talk about all the bad news that happened last night. But he does so anyway. Kevin Blackistone returns to take us from A to Z on the Congressional land-transfer bill that enabled Washington to take control of land in Washington. It makes no sense until you realize that DC is tre…

Producer-director Michael Tollin has made movies about Michael Jordan and Hank Aaron. Now he’s producing a movie about Dick Allen, one of the greatest baseball players of the 60s and 70s. Michael’s love for Allen goes back to when he was playing for the Phillies. Ben loves him for his years with th…

As the re-election of Speaker Johnson happens in the background, Pat Whalen explains the Trump-MAGA playbook. And, as one of the only Chicagoans who actually watches the George Stephanopolous Show, he discusses ABC’s decision to cut a deal, uhm, settlement, with Donnie. What’s the Trump library inc…

Congress elects Mike Johnson speaker by a few votes. Contrast that to Mayor Johnson’s four-vote budget victory. Ben riffs. Greg returns! He talks Mayors Lightfoot, Johnson, and Rahm. Also, journalism. Specifically, what constitutes a puff piece. Ever heard of a “beat sweetener”? Well, stick around …

Pension propaganda disguised as policy analysis—only in the NYT. Well, actually, it’s standard brainwashing in the mainstreams. Ben riffs. Mick Dumke riffs on Ben’s riff. Then they’re off—talking Jimmy Carter, Trump, Reagan and Bob Dylan. Yes, they both saw the Dylan movie. In the first show of 202…

Ben shares his New Years Resolution for 2025. If you know Ben, you know, it's a BIG ONE! Now the main issue is…what’s the over under before he breaks that resolution? Start the new year off right, by catching all the latest BennyJ Shows on your favorite podcast platforms. Happy New Year Every…

Crime falls in Chicago. Does Mayor Johnson get credit? Ben riffs. Monroe Anderson explains…only white mayors get credit for good things. Musk v Bannon! Apparently, the MAGA bosses think the great mass of MAGA voters are stupid. Which makes sense cause they voted for Trump. A few words of praise fo…

Miles Kamp-Lassin covers it all. The oligarchy of Musk. The kakistocracy of Trump. And the gerontocracy in the Democratic Party who launched a counter attack against Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, apparently cause she has the audacity to want to win future elections and use government to h…

David Faris tells you everything you need to know about last week's congressional budget debacle--a spectacle of madness starring Elon Musk as the president and Donald Trump as Musk's loyal sidekick. Trump has the constitutional authority but Musk has the megaphone. Listen and learn about continuin…

It turns out MAGA doesn’t want to deport all immigrants. Or build a wall to keep all immigrants out. Oh, no, it turns out that President Musk and his sidekick Donny like “smart” immigrants. Cause they think Americans—especially the ones who voted for them—are too dumb to be workers in the Tech Bro …

Christmas was a day of peace—well, that’s over. Ben riffs. Antonio Correa returns to talk immigration, illogical voters, the Hispanic vote and Luigi Mangione. Bill Burr joins show. Sorta. As does Trump, the grifter. And a dairy farmer in South Dakota. Antonio reveals his back-of-the-class theory. B…

Ben hits the old interwebs to offer listeners a quick message of peace and love this Christmas! It's been a tumultuous year in Chicago, America and around the world. And Ben offers his three wishes for the future. The full show returns on Thursday, with special guest; Senior Digital Strategist at …

Corporate Chicago hates unionized teachers so much that they fell in love with Pedro Martinez. And they’ll stay in love with him as long as he’s a useful tool to bash the union. Ben riffs. Monroe wonders why the mainstreams weren’t this upset at mayoral power plays when Daley sold the parking meter…

Thom Clark is one of the few who has been around long enough to distinguish reformers from deformers. And so he contemplates the current state of the city council, filled with aldermen and women who swear up and down they're looking out for the taxpayers. Don't laugh, listeners--you elected them. A…

The Sun-Times fantasizes about the awesome wonderfulness of Mayor Rahm—a thing that never existed. Ben riffs. Denali turns Ben’s attention to health care in the age of Trump. MAGA wants agency over their care. Meaning they want the freedom to take any old horse pill that any old grifter promotes. B…

Trump says there's little he can do about the price of groceries after all. Ben riffs. Delmarie Cobb says she told you so about American voters being incapable of electing a Black woman as president. Or any woman for that matter. And that the first woman elected president will be one of the MAGA pe…

Elon Musk uses X to pull the plug on funding the government. Ben riffs. Scott Waguespack riffs on the riff, reminding Ben about Musk’s bromance with Mayor Rahm. Bullet train to O’Hare. Then Scott tells the tale of the fast one Mayor Johnson pulled with a zoning proposal in Lincoln Park. Looks like …

Trump forces Disney to its knees. Ben riffs. Monroe says I told you so. Trump is the emperor-elect, the media better get in line. A word or two about the Des Moines Register case. And Trump greeting Daniel Penny at the Army-Navy game. Finally, a few thoughts about why white people embrace Mayor Eri…

The city council passes a budget and instead of praising Mayor Johnson, everyone’s hating on him. Ben riffs. Perri Small riffs on Ben’s riff. Explaining what’s going in words that north siders know is true even if they’d never admit it. A few words about pardoning Jesse Jackson Jr. And reflections …

For seven years, Jim Coogan has been keeping track of the prosecution of Donald Trump for his various crimes. Now with MAGA having pardoned Trump by electing him president, it's time to consider Trump's revenge. Should President Biden anticipate the persecution with massive pardons? Jim Coogan is a…

Shooting of an insurance executive in New York exposes hatred of our privatized health-care system. Ben riffs. Heidi Henry riffs on Ben’s riff. Then she talks about running as a New Deal Democrat in Trump country. And some of the strange comments she heard from voters while going door-to-door. Also…