Joan Esposito (Featured Interviews)

Joan Esposito (Featured Interviews)

Here are featured interviews from "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" (weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT Chicago), a topical and interactive talk show from Chicago that focuses on national, state and city politics. A veteran Chicago broadcaster, Joan talks to politicians and professors, activists and authors, candidates and correspondents, as well as listeners who call in to share their views on the news of the day. Her goal is to Edify, Entertain and Elect — Democrats, of course. Joan Esposito has hosted WCPT's afternoon show since 2019. Prior to that she spent 20 years as a Chicago television anchor and reporter for WGN Channel 9, ABC7 and NBC5, and had a stint as managing partner at media trainer J2SC. Joan is a long-time member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

Episodes

December 24, 2025 23 mins

Filling in for Joan Esposito, Jill Wine-Banks is joined by Dean Obeidallah, lawyer, comedian, journalist, and host of “The Dean Obeidallah Show” on SiriusXM Progress.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Filling in for Joan Esposito, Jill Wine-Banks talks Democratic Party politics with screenwriter and film director Billy Ray.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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December 24, 2025 16 mins

Filling in for Joan Esposito, Jill Wine-Banks talks to Daniel Bissmayor of Evanston and candidate for Congress in the 9th District of Illinois.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Filling in for Joan Esposito, Jill Wine-Banks talks to Alice Peterson (pictured), president of Kentucky Heritage Hemp Company, and medical cannabis advocate Maureen Surin, whose daughter Ashley inspired the Illinois legislation known as Ashley's Law, which allows children to receive prescribed medical marijuana in school.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsi...

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Filling in for Joan Esposito, William Muck is joined by Abdullah Al-Bahrani, associate dean for Graduate Programs and Research and professor of Economics in the Haile College of Business at Northern Kentucky University. 

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Filling in for Joan Esposito, William Muck is joined by Michael Schererstaff writer at The Atlantic; his latest piece is “Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right?

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Heartland Signal’s Rich Eberwein with three stories you might have missed from our digital newsroom. 

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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December 18, 2025 27 mins

Joan Esposito is joined by Dr. Stockton Mayer, infectious disease physician at UI Health. 

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL).

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Oren Jacobson, executive director and co-founder of Men4Choice, which “exists to activate, educate, and mobilize male allies into the fight” for reproductive freedom “as active partners and allies.”

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener...

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Joan Esposito is joined by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Nick Blumberg, correspondent at WTTW News, who talks about his reporting on Chicago's Roseland Community Hospital. His latest piece is "Roseland Hospital Failed to Monitor a Patient During a Mental Health Crisis, Regulators Say. Now He’s Charged With Killing His Wife."

Photo by Ken Carl for WTTW.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (hear...

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December 16, 2025 22 mins

Joan Esposito is joined by Lindsay Nichols, policy director at GIFFORDS Law.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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December 16, 2025 19 mins

Joan Esposito is joined by James Stroud, a statistician at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) currently on administrative leave; he has gone public with his opposition to the Trump administration’s wide-ranging effort to obstruct FEMA’s work and recently signed the FEMA Katrina Declaration.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsigna...

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Joan Esposito is joined by Adam Abrams, spokesperson for Keep Americans Covered, former communications aide to President Barack Obama and a White House spokesman during the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Joe Fontana, founder of Fry the Coop.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Heartland Signal’s Rich Eberwein with three stories you might have missed from our digital newsroom.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joan Esposito is joined by Abby Vesoulis, national politics reporter at Mother Jones.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joan Esposito and guest Bruce Rheins are joined by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL).

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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December 11, 2025 44 mins

Joan Esposito is joined by Joel Ostrow, professor of political science at Benedictine University.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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