Episodes

Sun-Times sports columnist Rick Telander pays tribute to the late great boxing champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler. It was 1990. Rick was writing for Sports Illustrated. He was in Italy, covering the World Cup. And...oh, let Ric...

The day was Wednesday, April 10, 2019. One week after Lori Lightfoot was elected mayor. And Ben unloaded on the Lincoln Yards TIF deal. How much home grown marijuana is too much home grown marijuana? Monroe Anderson talked Tr...

On April 6, Ben and Maya hosted a virtual First Tuesday, featuring Anjanette Young and Shapearl Wells. Young is the social worker whose west side house was raided by police. They burst through the front door with a no-knock w...

Political scientist David Faris returns just in time to try and make sense of what makes no sense. The rise of Matt Gaetz as a force in the Republican Party. The underlying racism of Georgia's anti-voting laws. And a new and ...

Ben & Dr. D. take the deep dive on the week's local news. Mayor Lightfoot and Governor Pritzker have their differences. The curious politics of the elected school board. Why does the Illinois Policy Institute suddenly "care"...

The Republicans have decided to win back the White House and the Senate by deterring Black people from voting. As opposed to proposing policies that would encourage Black voters to vote Republican. Now Corporate America has t...

With MAGA all over the map--for instance, opposing IDs on airplanes but requiring them at the polls--Ben says the time has come for a MAGA for Dummies Handbook. Also, Dave Glowacz--of Inside Chicago Government--returns with ...

Over the weekend, Republican Governors Brian Kemp and Greg Abbott got upset at Black people who were protesting their attempts to make it more difficult for Black people to vote in Georgia and Texas. So they started canceling...

Historians Elliot Gorn & Rosemary Feuer are part of a campaign to memorialize Mother Jones, the great 20th century labor leader and radical. Chicago has a history has of radical union and organizing efforts that's largely bee...

March 20, 2019 was the day. Ben was riffing on Trump trashing McCain and our Elizabeth Warren poll results, In These Times Writer Miles Kampf-Lassin talks the 2019 Runoffs AND 38th Ward Alderman/Trump voter Nick Sposato joins...

President of the Chicago Principals Association Troy LaRaviere returns to evaluate the condition of public schools in the wake of their pandemic reopening. The evaluation shows big differences between schools in white and Bla...

Sun-Times editor/columnist Rummana Hussain returns to riff on everything from Allen v. Farrow to the Chicago City Council. Ben makes a confession--yes, he loved Woody Allen. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...

Ben and Dennis run through the week that was in Chicago and or Illinois politics. Mayor Lightfoot, Governor Pritzker, MAGA & more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19...

President Biden introduces his plan to spend trillions of dollars fixing roads and bridges and other stuff that everybody uses. And what do Republicans do? They oppose it. More evidence, as if any is needed, at the insanity o...

They're counting the union organizing vote at the Amazon warehouse in Alabama. That gives Ben an opportunity to riff on unions, Amazon, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, unionizing the Reader, Mayor Rahm and more. Also, Jill Wine-Banks ...

Ben and Dr. D return after a much needed week off and discover not much has changed. The world is still insane. And let's count the ways. Also, Rosie Rees--Indivisible Evanston activist--talks all things filibuster. Its histo...

Last week, Meyers Leonard--of the Miami Heat--made a colossal ass of himself by spouting off a deragatory comment about Jews, while playing a video game. We brought together podcasters Rachel Joravsky & Miles Porter to talk a...

Rod Blagojevich was impeached and removed as Illinois Governor. He was later convicted of corruption, including attempts to sell a U-S Senate seat. He received a 14 year sentence and remains in prison. Reporter Dave McKinney ...

SPOILER ALERT: Benny J, Director of the Black Harvest Film Festival Sergio Mims and election lawyer/movie buff Adolfo Mondragon give their reviews of the brand new film "The Irishman" Go see the film and download this Benny J...

Political strategist Jason Lee grew up in Texas and worked several campaigns there. So he's a good source to explain the bizarre MAGA politics that grip that state in which Governor Abbott responds to a brutal freeze by blami...

Professor and author of "The Kids are All Left" ,David Faris returns to talk about the latest political news. Specifically, why are Dems so timid. Will they never learn from their mistakes? See Privacy Policy at https://art...

A flashback to the summer of 2019--June 30, to be exact. Recreational marijuana legalization, reproductive rights, gaming legislation and more with (then) State Senator Toi Hutchinson and State Representative Jehan Gordon Boo...

Oscar Sanchez and many of his allies on the southeast side went on a hunger strike for about a month to protest the city gearing up to allow General Iron to move its metal crushing operation from an affluent north side neighb...

Leila Taylor is the author of "Darkly: Black History and America's Gothic Soul" You can learn more about her work at https://www.strandbooks.com/product/darkly-blackness-and-americas-gothic-soul/_/searchString/gothic%20soul S...