Byline Confidential

Some people think Daily Southtown columnist Phil Kadner is the state's best journalist.This episode is a good chat with the 37-year veteran about his life in the news business, mostly covering the city's south suburbs. Phil shares touching stories about the homeless and south suburban charities and tells fascinating tales about:Racial change in the city’s neighborhoods (Neo-Nazis in Marquette Park) Deciding not to become a sportswriter at Northern Illinois University (“I found it more corrupt in many ways than anything I ever covered on any political beat, covering police, all sorts of things…”) The tragic tale of a shooting involving a carney, the NIU basketball team and a player recruited into NIU who’d been stashed at a community college A particularly memorable tale about Robbins drug dealers (“I tell these kids not to sell drugs and they tell me we’re making more than your police officers are making, go away”)I really enjoyed this talk with Phil, who is a true classic newsman, so check it out!

Elvia Malagon covers crime for the Times of Northwest Indiana.A fun talk about:An alleged serial killer in Gary IndianaCrazy FloridiansThe importance of storytelling relatives, like the grandmother who "always tells these really depressing stories" that "sound really uplifting" but end with deathWith stints at newspapers in Florida and Kentucky, and with the New York Times Student Journalism Institute, Elvia has a lot of fun stories to tell, so check it out!

As a child, Jackie Spinner always wanted to be the first of her siblings to tell her mother what they’d seen. That instinct took her from the Daily Egyptian at Southern Illinois University to the Washington Post and Iraq. Now she’s a media reporter with the Columbia Journalism Review and a professor at Columbia College Chicago. Jackie's a great reporter and we had a good chat, so check it out! 

Univision's Jazmin Beltran is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, educator, person with a lot of neat stories to tell. From a small paper in Racine, Wisconsin to Spanish media, she's done all sorts of jobs: web publishing, stints on the assignment desk, broadcast journalist. A fun chat and a good conversation, so check it out!

He's been misidentified as "The Bearded Bandit" and dubbed "The" Matt O'Connor in Japan.Today, Matt is a "mild-mannered" newspaper editor at the Chicago Tribune, where he's covered public corruption at federal courts (including corrupt Gov. George Ryan), crime in Cook County (the Dowaliby kid-killing trial), and business. Before that, he's got amazing tales from his early days covering Caterpillar for the Peoria Journal Star, which sent him all around the world for a 10-part series about the giant corporation's future back in the day. A fun chat with a forty-year veteran who's got interesting stories about "deceptively dangerous" Jeffrey Erickson, a notorious bandit and former police trainee, and the points-shaving scandal at Northwestern.

On a beautiful summer afternoon, Mary Schmich and I sat near the top of Tribune Tower and talked about her life in journalism:Mary’s discovery, at an early age, that you could have fun with words (“Fuse confusion”). Her memories of working at the LA Times, where she worked on a typewriter in the fog of cigarette smoke and learned to write for newspapers by going through copy sheets. Why she believes being a journalist is being “in the business of connecting people to each other.”We talk about returning to the South, where she grew up, as a Tribune national correspondent, her time covering Jim Bakker’s trial and Tammy Fay Bakker, and her earliest days writing a column in Orlando. “Never be afraid to look stupid.” A fun talk with a great newswoman.

This is the sex, drugs and journalism edition of Byline Confidential, starring Dennis Black!Dennis is an old Texas wiseass with endless great stories: the time he asked Miss America who washes her underwear, intern torture, troublemaker reporters inserting funk into their copy to see if it gets caught. (“We can’t say 37 big knockers.")He edited sports copy at the Dallas Morning News and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and reported from small papers in Texas and Louisiana. His stories about driving around with cops and strolling through towns asking, "Are there any interesting people around here?" are a hoot. That's the episode in a word.

Ever wonder what goes into a traffic report? WBEZ’s Sarah Engel has you covered.A fun chat with a lifelong Chicago native who's got underground rock podcasts run by a circus owner in her backstory and helicopters.

In Mexico, being a female journalist is often considered an MMC career: “mientras me caso,” or “while I get married.”Not for Gisela Orozco, who has been a reporter and editor for 15 years. Gisela is currently the entertainment editor at Hoy in Chicago, where she writes about all sorts of cool stuff while balancing being a single mother.She’s a talented woman who grew up in a small town and moved to the United States after college. Gisela started as a typist in the classifieds section at La Raza but worked her way up to editorial. A fun chat about seeking independence, talking to people and more!

Maya Schenwar is Truthout's Editor-in-Chief and the author of Locked Down, Locked Out, a fascinating new book about the prison system.A really fun interview about her career and detours, including time spent farming in Europe at a "center for spiritual wellness."Maya also opens up about her sister's experiences in the criminal justice system, pregnant women delivering their babies in jail, being pen-pals with Steven Michael Woods, a Texas inmate executed for a crime someone else confessed to and much much more!

Bloomberg's Bryan Gruley shared a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of 9/11 at the Wall Street Journal. He's recently been on the elderly sex beat, reporting fascinating stories like this one: "Can a wife with dementia say yes to sex?"Gruley has interesting tales about dark days and good men: 9/11, the World War II Lt. who shielded refugees in Dachau against army orders, overwriting a hostage situation as a young journalist, and much more! A fun conversation.

Eric Roper is one of the best young journalists in America. Hear: His humble beginnings as editor of the George Washington University student newspaper and a correction controversy over the phase-out of an unofficial hippo mascot (and how it haunts him);What it's like to cover a city, Minneapolis, and all of its many data points for the Star Tribune;Tales from his time covering the United States Congress;Why, he says, “Journalism is a very emotional business for me" (a frank talk about the neurosis of news)A strong episode with a sharp reporter, so check it out!

(Photo courtesy of Marcus DiPaola.)Freelance photographer Marcus DiPaola went to Liberia last month in search of stories, treatment centers and rural areas. He came back with entertaining, harrowing and sad tales of: Burial teams struggling to collect the dead from folks that won’t give them up;Orphans left behind by the disease; Survivors working to help the sick; The 12-year old mechanic who fixed his car; and much more! He’s also being monitored by Chicago public health officials for Ebola. An interesting chat with a brave photojournalist about his lengthy trip to Africa, so check it out!

Britt Robson is his own man.He learned journalism on the road hitchhiking across the country and wrote his first magazine story on Cincinnati mayor Jerry Springer. Over the years, he's become a respected NBA writer and music scribe. For a time, he penned speeches or Rudy Perpich, Minnesota's "Governor Goofy." Fun anecdotes about Ken Garnett, Glen Taylor, scrubs and more! One hell of an interview with a great journalist!

Emily Gurnon has the steak!As a Pioneer Press courts reporter, Emily helped free a man from prison. In San Francisco, she exposed shady hotels, watched a heroin user shoot up ("God loves me") and got pranked by the alternative weekly. She even survived flying cockroaches and mean people at the (1994!) Chicago Tribune. A fun chat with a great reporter whose journey started with a simple question: "How hard would that be, really?"

KSMP's Tom Lyden is one of the Twin Cities' best investigative reporters.A great episode about:Learning his trade at the University of MissouriCovering the story of a mill worker killed by his colleagues in Green Bay, WisconsinInvestigating cult leader Victor BernardBeing overwhelmed by skyscrapers when he drove into Saint PaulWhat it was like to be caught in a firestorm over a decision to take a tape from the back of a car (and how it made him a better journalist)...and so much more! Truly a good conversation

Star Tribune reporter Maya Rao spent a month working at the Wild Bison truck stop in North Dakota for a story this summer.In this week’s episode she explains what went into her excellent Atlantic piece about the North Dakota oil boom, discusses the importance of taking risks, and opens up about her career in the news business (including tales of corrupt New Jersey pols and the off-duty Minneapolis cop doing work at electronic dance parties)A great chat with a true intrepid journalist, so check it out!

B96 entertainment reporter Showbiz Shelly started as the “perpetual intern” before becoming an on-air personality. She gives us the inside story on coming from a broadcasting family, being a shy person growing up, talking with celebrities and saying silly things on the radio (“So now he gets to pee in peace!”)A fun chat (gossip!) with a talented journalist

For two years, Adam Sege worked as an overnight breaking news reporter for the Chicago Tribune.In this week's episode, Adam talks about the emotion at crime scenes, what he's observed about life for those growing up in gang neighborhoods, and the humanity Chicago violence leaves behind. An interesting chat about pain, compassion, crime, and life in the city: "I really want those scenes to stay with me." He's going to South Africa to report for awhile. You can read about (and support!) his next project here.

Palladium Item sports reporter Jesus Jimenez got his job through a unique and tragic set of circumstances. He joins us to talk about getting into the news business, small town athletics, high school sports and more!