LIMITED TICKETS HAVE BEEN RELEASED!
Join John Williams and the cast of The Mincing Rascals at Winter’s Jazz Club (465 N. McClurg Ct.) on Wednesday, June 12 for a live taping of the podcast – plus Robert’s Pizza and jazz guitarist Andy Brown. Tickets are $42.75, inclusive of all fees.
Doors to Winter’s Jazz Club open at 5pm for happy hour in the lounge with 25% off all drinks. The podcast taping starts at 6pm. Around 7pm until 8pm, the audience will gather back in the lounge for a slice of Robert’s Pizza and live music from jazz guitarist Andy Brown.
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/4714135/Event_Announcement_2024-04-26-154635.64kmono.mp3
See the award-winning panel do their thing live – which is a witty, snappy, smart conversation filled with insight and humor about the day’s major news. The episode will be taped for playback on WGN Radio. Get tickets here. (A drink minimum purchase of $10 per person applies to all shows at Winter’s Jazz Club.)
About the Rascals cast:
John Williams is heard weekdays on WGN Radio from 10am to 2pm, including the Wintrust Business Lunch at noon. His “Mincing Rascals” podcast, featuring John and a roundtable of Chicago journalists discussing the big news stories of the day, is available at wgnradio.com, wherever podcasts are found and also airs most Saturday nights from 8-9pm.
Eric Zorn was long-time op-ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune who specialized in local news and politics, but also wrote widely about sports, arts and culture. After 41 years at the paper, he left in June 2021 and now writes The Picayune Sentinel, a Substack with nearly 12,000 subscribers. He and his wife, audio news and documentary editor Johanna Zorn, live on the city’s northwest side and have three adult children. On the side, he’s an old-time dance fiddler.
Jon Hansen is an Emmy-winning TV, radio and podcast host for WCIU-TV, WGN Radio, and Block Club Chicago. He is also the in-arena host for the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.
Austin Berg is the vice president of marketing at the Illinois Policy Institute and co-founder of Iron Light, an agency helping purpose-driven brands change the world. He is the co-author of the book The New Chicago Way: Lessons from Other Big Cities.
Brandon Pope is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated journalist, host, podcaster, media critic and columnist, with experience covering a range of topics from politics to sports. Brandon is currently the host of ‘On The Block: Powered by Block Club Chicago’ on CW26, and the MAKING podcast series from WBEZ and NPR. He is president of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, where he focuses on shepherding the next generation of of journalists and raising money for scholarships. Brandon is also an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago.
Cate Plys is a former reporter and columnist for the Reader, Sun-Times and Tribune, focusing on city politics and after that just about anything. She covered City Council for ten years. Proudest moment: When Ald. Ed Burke requested the original drawing from one of her column’s cartoon illustrations, which depicted him in bed with Jesse Jackson Jr. Cate now writes the Chicago history website Roseland, Chicago:1972 on Substack. City affiliation: South Side. Go Sox!
Marj Halperin has decades of experience as an award-winning journalist, government reformer, campaign strategist, community activist, and PR consultant. Marj’s commentary has been featured on Canada’s national CTV network, Fox News Channel, Los Angeles Public Radio, progressive talk radio WCPT, and WGN-TV Morning News, where she served as a Democratic analyst for more than 10 years. An all-around expert at challenging authority, Marj leads the fledgling One Community Near South to give neighbors a stronger voice amid rapid development that often ignores the views and needs of residents.
About Andy Brown:
A New York native, Andy Brown is a guitarist based in Chicago who has been playing professionally for more than 25 years. Andy has worked at many of the area’s finest jazz venues with his own bands, as well as playing his unique brand of solo jazz guitar. He performs with his trio bi-weekly at Winter’s Jazz Club. His love of great tunes, as well as accompanying skills have made him a favorite with vocalists. In 2009, he had the good fortune to accompany Barbra Streisand when she appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Andy has made many festival and club appearances around the world and been featured on a wide array of recordings.