Joan Esposito (Full Episodes)
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Here are full episodes of "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).
Location:
United States
Description:
Here are full episodes of "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).
Language:
English
Episodes
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 17, 2025
6/17/2025
Tue 6/17
– Lynne Olson, New York Times bestselling author and historian; her latest book is “The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück”
– Dr. Loren Lybarger, Ohio University professor and religious studies specialist focusing on Islam and comparative religions
– Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy at ACLU Illinois
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:30:04
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 16, 2025
6/16/2025
Mon 6/16
– Our regular media segment with Mark Jacob and Jennifer Schulze
– Ray Long, Chicago Tribune investigative reporter, on the sentencing of Michael Madigan
– Thom Serafin, founder and CEO of Serafin & Associates, Inc.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:24:36
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 13, 2025
6/13/2025
On today's Show:
– Heartland Signal’s Rich Eberwein with three stories you might have missed from our digital newsroom
– Camaron Stevenson, national correspondent in Washington, D.C. for Courier
– Rick Smith, host of “The Rick Smith Show,”
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:27:35
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 12, 2025
6/12/2025
On today's show:
– Eric Zorn, author of The Picayune Sentinel
– Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) on the Sen. Alex Padilla incident [Listen to the interview]
– Joe Brancatelli of the joesentme.com business travel newsletter
– Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner (Ret.), former acting vice chair of the National Guard Bureau, and member of National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A) [Listen to the interview]
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:26:57
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host Mike Nellis June 11, 2025
6/11/2025
On today's show:
Mike Nellis fills in for Joan and his guests include:
– Aaron Kleinman, director of research at The States Project
– Candace DeMatteis, policy director for Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease
– Mallory McMorrow, Michigan state senator, candidate for U.S. Senate, and author of Hate Won’t Win: Find Your Power and Leave This Place Better Than You Found It
– Liz Pancotti, managing director of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, former Labor Policy Director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and author of this recent Heartland Signal op-ed
– Micheal Negron, senior fellow at The Center for American Progress
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:22:50
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 10, 2025
6/10/2025
Tue 6/10
– Nina Burleigh, journalist, best-selling author, documentary producer, and publisher of the American Freakshow Substack newsletter
– Anders Croy, communications director at Florida Watch
– Daniel Biss, mayor of Evanston and candidate for Congress
– Lisa Graves, founder and executive director of True North Research, “a national investigative watchdog group that works with journalists and other researchers to shine a bright light on the dark money fueling regressive agendas targeting vital institutions in our republic.”
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:28:07
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 9, 2025
6/9/2025
Mon 6/9
– John Shaw, director of The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
– Journalist, author and pundit Molly Jong-Fast, who will be in Evanston Wednesday doing an event at Nichols Concert Hall
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:22:59
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 6, 2025
6/6/2025
Fri 6/6
– Dr. Kevin King, radiation oncologist at City of Hope Cancer Center Chicago
– Jennifer Schulze and Bruce Rheins (former CBS Los Angeles deputy bureau chief) with a conversation about the media
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:25:56
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 5, 2025
6/6/2025
On today's show:
–Suzanne Chod, professor of political science at North Central College
– Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza
– Miles Taylor, political commentator, former senior Trump administration official, and author of “A Warning” (2019). He will be in Chicago on June 19 to headline a public event titled “In the Crosshairs of the President,” a live conversation about authoritarianism, whistleblower retaliation, and the fight to protect democracy. The event benefits Whistleblower Aid’s nonprofit legal defense fund. Visit endpresidentialrevenge.org.
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.
Duration:02:29:58
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 4, 2025
6/4/2025
On today's show:
– Zak Mucha, LCSW, author of “Emotional Abuse: A manual for self-defense”
– Heartland Signal’s Rich Eberwein with three stories you might have missed from our digital newsroom
– Michigan Sec. of State Jocelyn Benson, candidate for Michigan governor and author of The Purposeful Warrior [Listen to the interview]
– Pat Kreitlow, founder and editor of Up North News (Courier)
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.
Duration:02:28:05
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 3, 2025
6/3/2025
On today's show:
– Tom Moss of Indivisible Chicago and a moderator of the Hideout’s live conversation series
– Tamar Jacoby, director of the New Ukraine Project at the Progressive Policy Institute
– 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.
Duration:02:24:53
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive June 2, 2025
6/2/2025
Mon 6/2
– Forest Issac Jones, author of “The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972”
– Kevin Morrison, Cook County commissioner and candidate for Congress
– Doug Fraser, executive director of The Chicago Help Initiative
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:20:57
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive May 30, 2025
5/30/2025
On today's show:
– Andrew Goldberg, Chicago-born filmmaker whose new film, “White With Fear: A Documentary,” recently opened in Chicago
– Union Strong segment with Don Villar, secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor
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.
Duration:02:27:05
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive May 29, 2025
5/29/2025
On today's show:
– Jens Ludwig, author of the new book “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence”
– María Inés Zamudio, reporter for ProPublica, along with Dana Brozost-Kelleher, investigative journalist at the Invisible Institute focused on police accountability and criminal justice issues
– Deja Foxx, Democratic candidate running in a July 15 special U.S. House election to represent Arizona’s 7th Congressional District (to succeed the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva)
– 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.
Duration:02:26:29
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive May 28, 2025
5/28/2025
On today's show:
– David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America
– Helene Klodawsky, independent filmmaker and director of “Stolen Time,” a 2023 feature documentary that confronts the corporate nursing home industry through the eyes of a young elder rights lawyer
– David Hochberg, vice president of lending for Team Hochberg at Homeside Financial
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.
Duration:02:24:57
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive May 27, 2025
5/27/2025
Tue 5/27
– Rex Huppke, USA Today columnist
– Chris Bury, senior journalist-in-residence, DePaul University
Joan also talked about this HuffPost article.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:23:38
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive May 23, 2025
5/23/2025
On today's show:
– Dr. Kevin King, radiation oncologist at City of Hope Cancer Center Chicago
– Susan Casey, author of “Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean”
– Zaldwaynaka (“Z”) Scott, president of Chicago State University
– Robert Weiner, director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under 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.
Duration:02:30:03
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive today's guest host John St. Augustine May 22, 2025
5/22/2025
On today's show:
John St. Augustine fills in for Joan and his guests include:
– Cathleen Falsani, author and journalist
– Tom Schaffner with some Riverview memories
– Heidy Moran, principal at Carl Schurz High School
– Dr. Betsy Southerland, former director of the Office of Science and Technology in EPA’s Office of Water
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.
Duration:02:34:43
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive May 21, 2025
5/21/2025
On today's show:
– Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL)
– Andrei Turea, Green Attic Roofing and Insulation Company
– David Layman, former Providence, Rhode Island, news anchor, managing editor, and political commentator for RIPBS
– Spencer Critchley, author of Patriots of Two Nations and host of the Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good podcast
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.
Duration:02:31:35
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive May 20, 2025
5/20/2025
Tue 5/20
– Mike Sozan, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund
– Dr. John Murphy, professor of communication at the University of Illinois and an expert on the history of American public address and political rhetoric
– Khartik Uppalapati, biomedical researcher, global health advocate, and founder of RareGen Youth Network, a youth-led nonprofit at the intersection of rare disease policy, artificial intelligence, and equitable healthcare reform
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:26:58