WGN Plus
The Mincing Rascals
John Williams and journalists from WGN Radio other Chicago media outlets discuss news of the week on The Mincing Rascals podcast from WGN Plus
Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: wgnradio.com
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Episodes
The Mincing Rascals 6.11.25: Immigration protests, Terry Moran let go, Mike Madigan sentencing 11.06.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! The Rascals start off the podcast talking about the protests in Los Angeles against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. What are the major takeaways from the protests? ABC News...
The Mincing Rascals 6.4.25: Mail-in voting law, medical aid in dying, gender identity debate 04.06.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! It’s a small, but mighty crew! This week, the Rascals start the podcast talking about the Supreme Court saying it would hear whether Republicans can challenge Illinois’ law that allows mail-in election ballots to be [̷...
The Mincing Rascals 5.28.25: Chicago crime down, POTUS pardons, Harvard vs. Trump 28.05.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! The Rascals start the podcast this week talking about violence being down over Memorial Day weekend and crime in general being down in Chicago. Are Mayor Johnson’s po...
The Mincing Rascals 5.21.25: DOJ investigation, ‘snap curfews,’ Biden cancer 21.05.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! The Rascals start off the podcast talking about the Department of Justice looking into the hiring practices of Mayor Brandon Johnson. What do the Rascals make of the DOJ probe? The Chicago City [...
The Mincing Rascals 5.14.25: Pope Leo XIV, Qatari jet, Biden’s decline 14.05.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, political pundit Marj Halperin, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! This week, the Rascals start the podcast talking about their favorite story, meme, etc. about Pope Leo XIV. Are we pope’d out yet? As usual, plenty of news about the Trump administ...
The Mincing Rascals 5.7.25: Senate race, George Ryan legacy, Alcatraz, movie tariffs 07.05.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals begin the podcast discussing U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL 8) announcing that he’ll be running for the senate seat being vacated by Dick Durbin. The Rascal...
The Mincing Rascals 4.30.25: Durbin’s successor, Trump 100 days, Amazon tariffs, plastic ban 30.04.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute (sign up for his new Substack!), longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals begin the podcast discussing the odds that Governor Pritzker becomes president, f...
The Mincing Rascals 4.23.25: Durbin retiring, Pritzker’s political future, economic turmoil 23.04.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute (sign up for his new Substack!), and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals start today’s podcast discussing Senator Dick Durbin announcing that he won’t seek another term...
The Mincing Rascals 4.16.25: Teen takeovers, homeschool bill, Kilmar Ábrego García 16.04.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! The Rascals start the podcast talking about the City of Chicago not approving a $1.25 million settlement to the family of Dexter Reed, who was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop. […]
The Mincing Rascals 4.9.25: Tariff reversal, ‘Hands Off’ protest, driving exam age 09.04.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! The small but mighty group of Rascals start off the podcast talking about the markets and economy as the tariff wars run amok this week. Do the Rascals believe President Trump caved on his trade policy? […]
The Mincing Rascals 4.2.25: Election recap, CTU-CPS deal, tariff announcement 02.04.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute (sign up for his new Substack!), and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! The Rascals start off the podcast discussing yesterday’s election results. What were the big takeaways from the results in Wisconsin and Flor...
The Mincing Rascals 3.26.25: Signal chat leak, Chicago charter, voting rights 26.03.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute (sign up for his new Substack!), longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week the Rascals start the podcast discussing The Atlantic publishing the contents of a Signal group ch...
The Mincing Rascals 3.19.25: Tesla protests, funding vote, Sun-Times buyouts 19.03.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Jon Hansen of WGN Radio and Block Club Chicago, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week, the Rascals start the podcast by congratulating new dad Jon Hansen! Next, the Rascals discuss the first few months of the Trump administration. What are the biggest [...
The Mincing Rascals 3.12.25: COVID anniversary, curfew debate, fur ban rejected 12.03.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals start this week’s podcast by sharing what they remember about the start of the COVID pandemic back in March of 2020. Woah, and all of sudden we are debating vaccine eff...
The Mincing Rascals 3.5.25: Sanctuary cities hearing, trade war, Rahm Emanuel’s political future 05.03.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute (sign up for his new Substack!), Brandon Pope, of WCIU, and political pundit Marj Halperin! The Rascals being this week’s show talking about the House hearing with the mayors of New York, Boston, Denver, and Chicago about their […]
The Mincing Rascals 2.26.25: Mayor Johnson’s approval rating, $830 million borrowing plan passes, school cell phone ban 27.02.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, political pundit Marj Halperin, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! This week, the Rascals start the podcast discussing the results of the election in Dolton where controversial Mayor Tiffany Henyar...
The Mincing Rascals 2.19.25: Federal government cuts, Illinois DOGE, Brandon Johnson borrowing plan 19.02.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! This week, the Rascals kick off the podcast talking about President Trump blaming Ukraine for the war with Russia. What do the Rascals make of Trump’s statements? Today, Governor Pritzker de...
The Mincing Rascals 2.12.25: Madigan verdict, Blagojevich pardon, Dexter Reed settlement 13.02.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, political pundit Marj Halperin, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys. Woah, a lot of news already this week! The Rascals kick things off discussing the most important story of the week: The controversy surrounding the Super Bowl half...
The Mincing Rascals 2.5.25: DEI debate, public art controversy, Mayor Johnson’s favorability 06.02.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, political pundit Marj Halperin, and Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute. The Rascals kick off the podcast talking about the biggest national political stories of the week including President Trump blaming DEI for t...
The Mincing Rascals 1.29.25: Funding freeze chaos, ICE raids, Madigan trial 29.01.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys, and Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute. This week, the Rascals start the podcast discussing the confusion over the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze. What were the big takeaways from the chaos that ensued this week? IC...
The Mincing Rascals 1.22.25: Birthright citizenship, J6 pardons, controversial puppet display 22.01.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! The Rascals kick off the podcast discussing the first days of the Trump presidency. The news is coming fast and furious, but what stood out most to the Rascals? Members [&#...
The Mincing Rascals 1.15.25: Driving test age, Trump inauguration, L.A. wildfires 16.01.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Brandon Pope, of WCIU, political pundit Marj Halperin, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! This week the Rascals debate the proposed legislation that aims to increase the age for seniors to retake driver’s test from 79 to 87. Where are th...
The Mincing Rascals 1.8.25: Madigan testimony, Greenland, Meta fact-checking 08.01.2025
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Austin Berg of the Illinois Policy Institute, political pundit Marj Halperin, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! This week the Rascals start the podcast talking about the seamless certification of the 2024 election. Wasn’t it nice to not...
The Mincing Rascals 12.18.24: Drones, Chicago budget, Trump lawsuit 18.12.2024
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, political pundit Marj Halperin, and longtime Chicago journalist Cate Plys! This week the Rascals kick off the show starting about the drones that have been flying over multiple states. What do the Rascals make of the story and the hysteria that it has created? […]
The Mincing Rascals 12.11.24: Immigration, birthright citizenship, U.S. healthcare 12.12.2024
The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Jon Hansen of WGN Radio and Block Club Chicago, and Brandon Pope, host of ‘On the Block‘ on WCIU, This week, the Rascals start the show breaking down the Chicago visit from Tom Homan, President-elect Trump’s ‘border czar.’ Do the Rascals believe the new administration’s plan for mass depo...
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