The Mincing Rascals

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

Episodes

July 9, 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! The Rascals start the podcast talk about the devastating flooding in Texas. There has been a lot of finger pointing, but is it too early to place blame for the catastrophe? 4th of July […]
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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, Jon Hansen of WGN Radio and Block Club Chicago, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week, the Rascals star the show talking about President Trump’s tax and policy bill. The Rascals break down the latest. Do […]
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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! This week the Rascals head to New York to start the podcast and break down Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic mayoral primary. What do the Rascals think the win means […]
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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 kick off today’s podcast talking about some Illinois politicians being denied entry to ICE facilities this week. What are these types of actions designed to accomplish? The ‘No Kings’ protest...
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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 didn’t renew the contract [&...
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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 […]
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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 policies working? The […]
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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 […]
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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 administration this […]
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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 Rascals break down the […]
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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, former governor Rod Blagojevich make...
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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. Who do the Rascals believe is [&#...
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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. […]
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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? […]
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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 Florida? […]
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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 chat of Trump […]
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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 […]
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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 efficacy. […]
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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 […]
Mark as Played
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 Henyard lost her reelection bid. Speaking...
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