WGN - The John Williams Uncut Podcast

Craig Ferguson, actor, comedian, and host of ‘Scrabble,’ Thursdays on the CW, joins John Williams to talk about how long he’s been living and working in the United States, what it was like when he became a U.S. citizen, how the Scrabble board game translates to TV, if he has any desire to return to […]

Connell McShane, anchor of ‘NewsNation Live with Connell McShane,’ joins John Williams to talk about his last two weeks reporting from the Middle East, how many residents in the Middle East are worried about the long-term damage of the war in Iran, the possibility we see U.S. troops on the ground, and what the administration hopes […]

Sam Toia, President and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, tells John why the Illinois Restaurant Association believes that the phase-out of the subminimum wage will eliminate many restaurant jobs.

Enjoy this edition of “The Best of Speed Jokes.” What was your favorite joke of the week? Keep sending your jokes to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com!

Chris Balke, Owner, All City Brick Staining, talks to John about their business and how they help customers transform and revitalize brick surfaces with their expert staining services. Chris explains who their biggest customers are, if there is a popular color right now, how long a typical job takes, how business is going right now, […]

Author and journalist Danny Funt joins John Williams to discuss his book, ‘Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling.’ Danny tells John about how much the average gambler lose a month, how difficult it is to outsmart a point spread, when the prop bet was created, how people who bet in-game are more […]

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com.

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, multi-media journalist Brandon Pope, author of Brandon Pope's Screening Room, and political pundit Marj Halperin. The Rascals kick off the podcast talking about the results of yesterday’s Illinois primary. What were the major takeaways from the results? The Chicago Teachers Union wants students […]

Chicago Tribune chief political reporter Rick Pearson joins John Williams to recap last night’s Illinois primary election. What were Rick’s biggest takeaways?

Bob Bertog, president of Bertog Landscape Co. in Wheeling and a certified landscape professional with the National Association of Landscape Professionals, joins John Williams to answer all of your lawn and garden questions. 

Darren Bailey joins John Williams to talk about winning the GOP nomination for Illinois governor and how he plans to defeat Governor Pritzker in November. What does he plan to do differently this time?

With our international correspondent Sara Tieman back in the States for a visit, the Book Club scheduled a quick get-together to discuss some of the latest books they’ve been reading. John Williams (weekdays 10am-2pm, including The Noon Business Lunch, plus the Mincing Rascals podcast) The Sea Captain’s Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the […]

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com.

Dr. Jeffrey Kopin, Chief Medical Officer for Northwestern Medicine Catherine Gratz Griffin Lake Forest Hospital, joins John Williams to talk about new medical guidance that suggests that more adults should consider starting cholesterol-lowering medications earlier to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke.

John Williams, Steve Alexander, Lou Manfredini, and the great WGN listeners reflect on the life and legacy of WGN Radio legend, the one and only Orion Samuelson, who passed away at age 91.

Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, joins John Williams to talk about election day in Illinois, the races that he’s most interested in, the Chicago City Council expected to vote on restoring Chicago’s subminimum wage, and what he thinks of CTU wanting students to take a day off of school to engage in civic engagement. […]

Sam Panayotovich, Fox Sports Betting Analyst and co-host of the sports betting show “Chicken Dinner,” joins John Williams to give us his picks for the men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament.

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com.

Austin Berg, Executive Director of the Chicago Policy Center and author of the The Last Ward on Substack, joins John Williams to talk about a new Washington Post editorial backing four key reforms to change Chicago's financial trajectory.

Jackson Potter, Vice President, Chicago Teachers Union, joins John Williams to talk about the effort to close schools on May 1st so students and teachers can take part in a civic day of action.

The great Mr. Fix-It, Lou Manfredini, joins John Williams to tell us the projects we need to be working on this week. Lou says that after all the storms over the past week, it’s a good idea to give your house a good inspection to see if you suffered any wind damage that needs to be fixed by […]

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com.

Former WGN Radio news anchor Steve Bertrand was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the RTDNA Foundation at their 2026 First Amendment Awards. The foundation's awards celebrate the efforts to promote responsible journalism and preserve the constitutionally guaranteed rights to do so. Past honorees include local reporters, network anchors, members of the U.S. House of […]

Enjoy this edition of “The Best of Speed Jokes.” What was your favorite joke of the week? Keep sending your jokes to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com!

It's time once again for our Best of the Midwest feature for 2026! Are you trying to come up with some quick getaway ideas that are only a short trip from the Chicago area? Well, John Williams has some great recommendations for you! Today, we head to Wisconsin and visit with Kathleen Papcke, Chair, Women's […]

Professor Samir Khuller, Chair, Northwestern's Computer Science Department, joins John Williams to talk about the university offering a major in AI next year.

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com.

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, multi-media journalist Brandon Pope, author of Brandon Pope's Screening Room, and long-time Chicago journalist Cate Plys, publisher of Roseland, Chicago: 1972. This week, the Rascals start the podcast discussing the war in Iran. How and when does this war end? Last week, HHS […]

Bob Bertog, president of Bertog Landscape Co. in Wheeling and a certified landscape professional with the National Association of Landscape Professionals, joins John Williams to answer all of your lawn and garden questions. Bob says it’s a little too early to start seeding, but definitely get debris cleaned up and make sure to get leftover fall leaves […]

Local farmer John Andermann, President of the Will County Farm Bureau, joins John Williams to talk about his farm and his yield last year, what he’s doing with his field right now, how very few farmers turned a profit last year, the cost of fertilizer going up, and how the war in Iran is impacting […]

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com.

Dr. Jeffrey Kopin, Chief Medical Officer for Northwestern Medicine Catherine Gratz Griffin Lake Forest Hospital, joins John Williams to talk about being on the back-end of flu season, how most of the respiratory illness they saw in the hospital was influenza, how far we have come with COVID since 2020, if popular weight loss drugs could become a […]

Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, joins John Williams to talk about his thoughts on the current landscape of NCAA sports in the transfer portal era, Uber rolling out their women-only option, and his general observations about the war in Iran.

DeWayne Peevy, Vice President & Director of Athletics, DePaul University, joins John Williams to talk about the DePaul basketball team ahead of the Big East tournament. DeWayne talks about how the team has performed this year, the big step the team made in the second year of the Chris Holtmann era, what the future of […]

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com.

Judd Sirott, the television play-by-play announcer for the Boston Bruins on NESN and former pre-game, intermission and post-game host for Chicago Blackhawks broadcasts on WGN Radio, joins John Williams to share his thoughts on the life and legacy of the great Troy Murray, who passed away over the weekend at the age of 63.

The great Mr. Fix-It, Lou Manfredini, joins John Williams to tell us the projects we need to be working on this week. Lou says that it’s time to get outside and do some early spring clean up. Lou also answers all of your home improvement questions. Listen to HouseSmarts Radio on WGN each Saturday morning at 6 am.

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com.

Christopher Parente, Partner, Cheronis & Parente, joins John Williams to talk about how former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s testimony earlier in the week about his client, Marimar Martinez, who was shot by Federal agents last October, possibly contributed to Noem being removed from her position leading DHS.

Jared Gans, staff writer, The Hill, joins John Williams to talk about the latest news coming out of Iran.

Craig Bolanos, Founder and Wealth Advisor at VestGen Wealth Partners, joins John Williams to talk about the disappointing and surprising job report data, how the attack on Iran is impacting the economy, why we need to pay attention to the price of oil, why he’s still expecting economic growth this year, how the markets are reacting to […]

Enjoy this edition of “The Best of Speed Jokes.” What was your favorite joke of the week? Keep sending your jokes to JohnWilliams@wgnradio.com!