The ALL NEW Big Wakeup Call with Ryan Gatenby

Send us Fan Mail From June 1, 2021: Chris Matthews, former host of MSNBC's  Hardball,  became a member of our Three-Timers club when he called in for a fun and lively chat about his memoir, This Country: My Life in Politics and History. ABOUT CHRIS MATTHEWS Chris Matthews is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit, Jack Kennedy-Elusive Hero, Tip and the Gip...

Send us Fan Mail From May 24, 2021: Chelsea Clinton called in for a chat about her podcast, In Fact with Chelsea Clinton. ABOUT CHELSEA CLINTON Chelsea Clinton is an outspoken advocate for those who need it most. She uses her voice, platform - and unique life experience - to address issues of human rights, public health, the environment and climate change, and to combat the spread of misinformatio...

Send us Fan Mail From October 5, 2020: The Reverend Al Sharpton discusses his book Rise Up. ABOUT THE REVEREND AL SHARPTON Rev. Al Sharpton is the host of MSNBC's "PoliticsNation" and the founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), one of the leading civil rights organization in the world. With over 40 years of experience as a community leader, politician, minister a...

Send us Fan Mail From August 26, 2022: United States Senator Patrick Leahy, currently the chamber's longest-serving senator and President Pro Tempore, called into the show for a talk about his memoir, The Road Taken. ABOUT PATRICK LEAHY:  The last of Congress's "Watergate Babies," Patrick Leahy was elected to the United States Senate in 1974 and is currently its most senior mem...

Send us Fan Mail Consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader called into the show on June 10, 2020 for a fun chat about his book Ralph Nader and Family Cookbook. ABOUT RALPH NADER Ralph Nader first made headlines as a young lawyer in 1965 with his book Unsafe at Any Speed , a scathing indictment that lambasted the auto industry for producing unsafe vehicles. The book led to con...

Send us Fan Mail From December 10, 2014, U.S. Senator John McCain visited the show to discuss his book  Thirteen Soldiers.

Send us Fan Mail We once again open the nearly filled to capacity Big Wakeup Call Vault and go back to 2020 for a fun conversation with radio legend Cousin Brucie. Brucie introduced the Beatles and others to America as a DJ on WABC in New York City.  Brucie was promoting his new radio show, back at WABC for "Saturday Night Rock & Roll Party ."

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, we open the vaults and revisit my 2019 chat with the legendary William Shatner, who was promoting a local screening of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” on the big screen, followed by a live conversation with the one and only “Captain James T. Kirk.” 

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, Gaby Dalkin , NY Times Bestselling Cookbook Author, Chef & Creator of  "What’s Gaby Cooking" joined the show to discuss summer grilling.  Gaby was also joined by Josh Archibald from Tillamook, who shared some ideas on cheese pairing and more. Then I'm joined by Paco Lomeli, firefighter and paramedic for Station 16 in the Watts neighborhood of Lo...

Send us Fan Mail From August 3, 2020:   Dave Mason and friends have taken the downtime during quarantine to remake one of Mason's most iconic and heavily covered songs since its release in 1968 - "Feelin' Alright." Dubbed "Dave Mason and the Quarantines," the group's new song features Mason singing along with Mick Fleetwood, Sammy Hagar, Michael McDonald, and The...

Send us Fan Mail From October 16, 2020:  Action-packed and full of laughs, LIGHTS, CAMERA, DANGER! (ALIEN SUPERSTAR #2)  is the second book in the New York Times bestselling, highly illustrated middle grade series from beloved writing team Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver. After escaping his oppressive red dwarf planet and landing a role on a popular Hollywood sitcom, Buddy Burger seems destined for h...

Send us Fan Mail From February 18, 2020: Huey Lewis called in to discuss the latest album from Huey Lewis & The News, Weather.  Featuring the group's first new, original songs since 2001's Plan B LP - plus one cover of the classic Eugene Church soul burner "Pretty Girls Everywhere" - Weather was produced in-house by Huey and the guys, just like every record they've mad...

Send us Fan Mail From July 20, 2020: Linda Hamilton of Terminator   fame called in to promote her new film,  Easy Does It. Directed by Will Addison and featuring: Linda Hamilton (The Terminator), Bryan Batt ("Mad Men"), Dwight Henry (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ben Matheny (Assassination Nation)Best buds, Jack and Scottie (Ben Matheny and Matthew Martinez) are going nowhere fast in the...

Send us Fan Mail From August 15, 2017: Legendary actor Bruce Campbell dialed into the show to talk about his new film,  Black Friday:  On Thanksgiving night, a group of disgruntled toy store employees begrudgingly arrive for work to open the store at midnight for the busiest shopping day of the year. Meanwhile, an alien parasite crashes to Earth in a meteor. This group of misfits led by store mana...

Send us Fan Mail Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer John Desmore, legendary drummer for The Doors, joined me for a discussion about his book  THE SEEKERS: Meetings With Remarkable Musicians (and Other Artists):  John Densmore, drummer of The Doors and bestselling author, reveals his personal creative journey and spiritual path alongside some of the iconic people he has known. Whether it's the curios...

Send us Fan Mail From March 29, 2017: Comedian and actor Robert Klein called in to discuss his 40-year career in comedy and a new documentary,  Robert Klein Still Can't Stop His Leg: ROBERT KLEIN STILL CAN'T STOP HIS LEG blends vérité and archival footage with fresh interviews to look at Robert Klein in the 21st century – still performing, still creating new material, now an icon but for...

Send us Fan Mail From December 6, 2021: Multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe Award-winning actress Sharon Gless called in to promote her memoir, Apparently There Were Complaints. Spanning her childhood and five decades as an actress in Hollywood, from her work on "Cagney & Lacey," "Queer as Folk," "Burn Notice," and countless other shows, movies, and international stag...

Send us Fan Mail From November 7, 2018: Bill Scheft,  long-time writer for David Letterman, called in to talk about a new book, The Last Days of Letterman: The Final Six Weeks. Bill wrote the forward for the book, and when I mentioned how unusual it was to have someone on who was not the author of the book but the author of the forward, I got one genuine, hearty laugh.  Making a legendary comedy w...

Send us Fan Mail From May 29, 2019: Chicago's Music legend Jim Peterik called in for a discussion about songwriting, producing, and his new album "Winds of Change," which features collaborations from Dennis DeYoung, Mike Reno, Kevin Cronin and more, and also featured a "lost track" with vocals by the late great Jimi Jamison.

Send us Fan Mail From May 29, 2019: Steve Young, longtime comedy writer for David Letterman, visited the show to talk about a new documentary,  Bathtubs Over Broadway: In this award-winning, feel-good documentary, a comedy writer for David Letterman stumbles upon a secret musical world starring tractors and bathtubs and finds an unexpected connection to his fellow man. With David Letterman, Martin...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode, I visit with Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Lee Loughnane,  trumpeter and original member of  Chicago . The band will be performing live on  "A Capitol Fourth," broadcast on PBS at 8:00 Eastern/7:00 Central on July 4th.  Brian "Uncle John" Boone  has been a contributor to the "Bathroom Reader" series for more than two decades. We chatted...

Send us Fan Mail From April 26, 2018: Amy Chock,  writer-at-large for the New York Times, visited the show to talk about her book,  CHASING HILLARY: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling. The debut memoir from award-winning New York Times journalist Amy Chozick, CHASING HILLARY: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling is the rollicking, irr...

Send us Fan Mail From April 6, 2018: Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe Award-winning actress Christine Lahti promoted her memoir, True Stories from An Unreliable Witness: A Feminist Coming of Age. ABOUT CHRISTINE LAHTI Christine Lahti is an Academy, Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning acclaimed director and stage, television, and film actress with a career that spans over forty years. She won an Oscar...

Send us Fan Mail From October 25, 2017: Iconic songstress Petula Clark was a guest on the show to talk about her new album, Living For Today, and an upcoming local show at the Arcadia Theater in St. Charles, Illinois.  ABOUT PETULA CLARK Petula Clark was born in Epsom, England, but her love of music began at a very early age in her mother's land of Wales. She was already a star in the U.K. by...

Send us Fan Mail From November 9, 2020: Chicago's own Jeremy Piven, star of Entourage, was a guest on our show to discuss his new movie,  My Dad's Christmas Date: My Dad's Christmas Date stars Jeremy Piven, Olivia Mai Barrett, Hadar Cats, Megan Brown Martinez, Roger Aston-Griffiths, Nathalie Cox, and Joely Richardson and is directed by Mick Davis. It's Christmas and the charmin...