PODCAST · news
Chicago Public Square Podcasts
by Charlie Meyerson
Award-winning journalist Charlie Meyerson talks to people about stuff. Contact: [email protected].
Episodes
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Life after the ‘Broadview 6’: Oak Park Village Trustee Brian Straw and his lawyer, Chris Parente
The collapse of the indictment of six people who in the fall of 2025 were protesting the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration crackdown created problem after problem for the feds—and in particular for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago. As you’re about to hear, that case...
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To Tell the Truth: The Future of Local Media (The Podcast)
Have you thanked a journalist lately? Coming off one of the most challenging years ever for local U.S. reporters, the historic 19th Century Club in Oak Park gathered a panel of journalists—and a gerontologist—to assess the present and future of local news, with your Chicago Public Square…
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How tech-savvy author Cory Doctorow got scammed
The American Dialect Society’s 2023 word of the year? Enshittification. And our guest on this edition of Chicago Public Square Podcasts, Cory Doctorow, is the guy who coined it. Hear him define it—and his harrowing explanation of how he, one of the world’s most tech-savvy authors and journalists,...
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Axios Chicago’s Monica Eng and Justin Kaufmann: ‘This is a talk show in an email format’
She’s worked for Chicago’s biggest newspapers and he’s worked for Chicago’s most successful radio stations. And now … they do email. Joining Charlie Meyerson for this edition of the Chicago Public Square / Rivet360 podcast, Chicago Media Talks: Axios Chicago newsletter authors Justin Kaufmann and...
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Food critic Louisa Chu’s vivid pandemic moment: ‘Crying so much’
The most enduring memory of a restaurant reviewer through the pandemic: “Crying so much … over so many meals with gratitude and relief.” Joining this edition of the Chicago Public Square / Rivet360 podcast, Chicago Media Talks: Chef, journalist, adventurer and Chicago Tribune critic Louisa…
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Stephanie Skora and A.D. Quig: Reshaping Chicago’s news and political scene
Joining this edition of the Chicago Public Square / Rivet360 podcast, Chicago Media Talks: A couple of media figures whose work is increasingly shaping Chicago’s news and political landscape. Meet A.D. Quig, a rising Chicago Tribune reporter who sees local government facing “a time of big…
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Pulitzer winners Hopkins and Reyes: Teamwork ‘wasn’t always easy’
Their groundbreaking alliance netted them and their news organizations a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. But that doesn’t mean they always worked together seamlessly. In this edition of the Chicago Public Square / Rivet360 podcast, Chicago Media Talks, meet Madison Hopkins and Cecilia...
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Meet the Sun-Times’ new executive editor, Jennifer Kho
She’s the first woman—and the first woman of color—ever to serve as Chicago Sun-Times executive editor. She’s facing challenges like none before her, as the paper comes under the control of an organization primarily in the radio business. In another edition of the Chicago Public Square / Rivet360...
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WTTW’s new stars navigate changing news landscape
Odds are good you didn’t know their names a decade ago, when one of them was just breaking into Chicago radio news and another was barely removed from an internship at Chicago’s public TV station. And now they’re two of the city’s most influential journalists. In another edition of the Chicago...
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Block Club Chicago’s origin story
When a billionaire yanked the plug on a pioneering Chicago digital news site, putting a large team of local reporters out of work, some of them banded together to start another digital news site—for themselves, and for the people of the city. Block Club Chicago editor-in-chief Shamus Toomey joins...
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Music journalist Jim DeRogatis: ‘Every system in this city failed … to protect these young black girls’
You could trace the evolution of the news business through Jim DeRogatis’ career arc over the last 35 years—as he’s moved from print to broadcast to online and podcasting, and from employer-supported to audience-funded journalism. And along the way, he broke one of the biggest stories in music...
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After a lifetime at the Chicago Tribune, Eric Zorn and Steve Johnson are leaving. What’s next?
Columnist Eric Zorn started at the Tribune in 1980; cultural critic Steve Johnson started six years later. Now, they’re among the more than three dozen editorial staffers who’ve left—taking buyouts offered under the Trib’s new ownership. They join hosts Sheila Solomon and Charlie Meyerson for...
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Pulitzer winner Jamie Kalven on the news business: ‘I see no reason to despair’
Jamie Kalven—journalist, human rights activist and founder of one of Chicago’s newest Pulitzer Prize winners, the Invisible Institute—says he has “deep sympathy for those who wagered their lives and their careers on the stability of legacy media,” but he says “some of the new forms that are...
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A ‘mouthy black lesbian feminist’ is one of Chicago’s most influential media leaders
Karen Hawkins—self-described “mouthy black lesbian feminist over 40” and “recovering mainstream media reporter and editor”—is doing a terrible job of recovering: She’s now co-publisher of the Chicago Reader, the founder of Rebellious Magazine, and a leader of the upstart Chicago Independent Media...
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Did Mayor Lightfoot make things better for journalists of color?
Pulliam Professor of Journalism at DePauw University and former Sun-Times editor and columnist Deborah Douglas joins host Charlie Meyerson and co-host Sheila Solomon to launch the new Chicago Media Talks podcast—a joint production of Chicago Public Square and Rivet360—with a discussion of Chicago...
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Who was Stan Lee? Two biographers discuss his life and legacy.
Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee so inspired a generation of readers and writers, a multiplicity of biographies was inevitable after his death in 2018. On the occasion of the publication of Oak Park, Ill., native Abraham Riesman’s entry, True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, the Chicago Public...
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Barack Obama’s 1st biographer, David Mendell: Michelle didn’t care for the book
He’s Barack Obama’s first biographer. But journalist David Mendell doesn’t expect his award-winning 2007 book, Obama: From Promise to Power, to land a spot in Obama’s presidential library. Mendell and I were colleagues at the Chicago Tribune through much of the 2000s, but we barely exchanged…
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Science fiction, Radicalized: An interview with Cory Doctorow
Wanna know what terrible technology is headed your way in the years ahead? Journalist and science fiction author Cory Doctorow says it’s not hard: Take a look at what The Powers That Be are foisting on prisoners and students. Doctorow joined the Chicago Public Square Podcast for half an hour or…
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How Steve James overcame doubt—his and others’—to create America to Me
Filmmaker Steve James’s work—including the Oscar-nominated Hoop Dreams and Abacus—has won him critical acclaim galore and goodwill in the town where he lives, Oak Park. But when he set out to create his 10-part documentary series America to Me—about Oak Park, its historic commitment to…
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Food Network star Jeff Mauro talks about that time a guy in the audience died
Something different for the Chicago Public Square Newscast (and Podcast) series this time: A visit with Food Network star and Chicago native Jeff Mauro. He joined the Wednesday Journal Conversations series May 15, 2018, to talk about his life and times—including that time he was performing improv...
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‘Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!’ host Peter Sagal tells his not-favorite things
Let Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s incredibly successful Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!, tell you this: He hates the show’s name. He also hates the place where he creates that show. You’ll learn why as you listen to a podcast of my onstage interview with Sagal—part of the Wednesday Journal Conversations...
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David Axelrod: From Oak Park to the White House
When President Obama’s former chief strategist—now University of Chicago Institute of Politics founder and CNN senior political commentator—David Axelrod agreed to return to his old suburban neighborhood to kick off the Wednesday Journal newspaper’s series of public conversations at Dominican...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Award-winning journalist Charlie Meyerson talks to people about stuff. Contact: [email protected].
HOSTED BY
Charlie Meyerson
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Chicago Public Square Podcasts have?
Chicago Public Square Podcasts currently has 22 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Chicago Public Square Podcasts about?
Award-winning journalist Charlie Meyerson talks to people about stuff. Contact: [email protected].
How often does Chicago Public Square Podcasts release new episodes?
Chicago Public Square Podcasts has 22 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Chicago Public Square Podcasts?
You can listen to Chicago Public Square Podcasts on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Chicago Public Square Podcasts?
Chicago Public Square Podcasts is created and hosted by Charlie Meyerson.
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