Chicago journalist and historian Cate Plys, 61, pictured above with her husband Ron Garzotto, is one of the newer regular members of “The Mincing Rascals” podcast team. This autobiographical sketch is based on an edited excerpt of an interview I conducted with her in April 2024: I became obsessed with being a reporter in the…

Marj Halperin is the newest regular member of the rotating Mincing Rascals podcast panel. This autobiographical essay is based on an interview I conducted with her in June 2024. My first real media job was at WKAR, Michigan State University’s public radio station. I started as weekend news anchor, expanding to host public affairs and…

Meet the Rascals: Brandon Pope By Eric Zorn on April 13, 2022 TV and print journalist Brandon Pope, 30, is the host of “On The Block,”  a local newsmagazine premiering Thursday at 7 p.m. on WCIU-Ch. 26. He entered “The Mincing Rascals” rotation in the spring of 2021. This narrative is an edited version of his…

Jon Hansen, 37, has been in “The Mincing Rascals” podcast rotation since April 2021. He’s the host of “Your Money Matters” on WGN-AM 720 Monday through Thursday, 6-7 p.m., and “Let’s Get Legal” on Saturday afternoons. He is also the host of “It’s All Good,” a Block Club Chicago podcast, the in-arena host for the Chicago…

BY ERIC ZORN ON JUNE 28, 2022 John Williams, 62, hosts a daily talk show on WGN-AM 720 and has presided over “The Mincing Rascals” weekly podcast since 2014. This autobiographical sketch is based on edited excerpts of interviews with him in June, 2022.  My father was an Air Force intelligence officer so we lived…

Austin Berg, 29, is a regular panelist with me on the Mincing Rascals podcast at WGN-plus. He is the Vice President of Marketing for the Illinois Policy Institute and a contributor to the Economist, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, ABC 7 Chicago and WTTW-Ch. 11. He is also the co-author of “The New Chicago…