Bill Leff: an Entertainer Keeping it Real

Bill Leff talks about his luck-filled career, including his time at WGN with Kevin Metheny and his new overnight gig there, plus his adventures at WLUP and WKQX (Q101) with Wendy Snyder, and his stints at WLIT and WLS. He explains why his shows were cancelled at Q101 and WNND, what he thinks of Mancow and dumb radio, why he left stand-up comedy, and if you can still see him on TV. Basically, he's done a lot in the entertainment biz, but has managed to maintain normalcy.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG68.mp3

John Dempsey: Excellent News Guy

John Dempsey, a news anchor at WLS radio in Chicago, talks about his radio and TV career, which includes WMAQ, WBEZ, WLS, Fox Chicago, and Kansas City; the difference between working for public radio and commercial radio; influential people such as Jim Frank and Lorna Gladstone; how he developed his writing and speaking styles; what it was like to work with convicted governor Rod Blagojevich; and what he thinks of his bosses.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG67.mp3

Matt Dubiel: GM of WJJG and New Media Guy

Matt Dubiel, who's the General Manager of the revamped WJJG, talks about his radio start and spar with Steve Dahl, the move to Wendy Snyder and Bill Leff on Q101, the "boyquarium" that surrounded Mancow and Chet Coppock, why Nine FM disappeared, why he decided to be a GM, and if there are still opportunities in the radio biz.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG66.mp3

John Carney: KMOX Interviewer, Fresh FM Morning Guy, Son of Jack Carney

John Carney, who hosts mornings on KEZK-FM and Carney Sundays on the legendary KMOX in St. Louis, talks about his famous dad, St. Louis radio legend Jack Carney, his career, his charity Carney's Kids, cooking, his book Taste of Restaurant Tuesday, stand-up comedy, and more.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG65.mp3

Kevin Wheeler: Sports Guy at KMOX, Baseball Geek, Former Sporting News Host

Kevin Wheeler talks about his career at KMOX and Sporting News; what it's like to: work in a local market vs on a syndicated show, work in St. Louis, be a Tigers fan in St. Louis when they played the Cardinals in the 2006 World Series, and cover the Cardinals this year and see them win the World Series; Albert Pujols' destiny, Tony La Russa's future, rookie managers, Cubs fans vs Cardinals fans, why the Cardinals have done so well, Detroit sports, and how he got to KMOX.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG64.mp3

Joe McArdle: Awesome Voice and Production Guy

Joe McArdle, who's currently the Creative Director at WMVP/ESPN Radio and a voiceover artiste, talks about his career at WXRT, WCPT, Nine-FM, and WMAQ, and thanks the people who've helped him along the way.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG63.mp3

Brian Noonan: From Stand-Up to Radio

Brian Noonan, who hosts an overnight show and is part of the superb Sports Night show on WGN, talks about his stand-up comedy and radio career, his appearance on the Tonight Show and sitcoms, working in Los Angeles, and what it's like to be a White Sox fan at the Cubs-dominated station.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG62.mp3

Roe Conn: Successful, Smart, Talented

Roe Conn has a popular afternoon show on WLS-AM. He talks about his career, how he got together with Garry Meier, Bill Leff, and his current partner, Richard Roeper; what he learned when he worked with Don Vogel; how TV is different than radio, WLS's changing management, the radio biz, and more.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG61.mp3

Jaime Black: Passionate About Chicago Music

An important part of the Chicago music media, Jaime Black talks about his popular Dynasty Podcast and his daily Chicago music news site Chicago Verse United. He also talks about working with Chris Payne on Q101/WKQX's Local 101 show, how it was different from WXRT's Local Anesthetic, and the Chicago music scene.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG60.mp3

Orion Samuelson: Legendary Agricultural Broadcaster

Orion Samuelson is a hugely successful and influential agricultural broadcaster whose career has lasted 60 years. He talks about his long career at WGN, Bob Collins, Wally Phillips, why he didn't run for Congress, his view of the economy, agriculture, government regulation, development, small towns, farming, the media, and more.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG59.mp3

Jim Moran: Radio Guy and Future Libertyville Mayor?

Jim Moran has done talk, traffic, and news for various radio stations, including WLS and WBBM in Chicago, and talks about the difficulties and joys of the biz, including working with Jay Marvin, Steve Scott, Cisco Cotto, Chip Egan, and Lenny Palmer. He wrote a book about Libertyville and is currently a Village Board Trustee there...but will he eventually be its Mayor?

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG58.mp3

Rick Kogan: Newspaper Guy with a Great Media Gig in Chicago

Rick Kogan talks about his gig at the Chicago Tribune, his radio show, what the Tribune was like when Randy Michaels and Lee Abrams were in charge, experiencing the death of the Chicago Daily News, his friendship with and book about Ann Landers, Mike Royko, his radio and TV gigs with Richard Roeper, what he thinks of the media, the whiners at the Tribune, journalism school, a dumb TV talent, and more.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG57.mp3

J'mme Love: Music from the West Side

J'mme Love is a recording artist and producer from the West Side of Chicago, who also works on videos and movies, including the new Transformers 3. He talks about his singles Shawty From the Burbs and Famous, and how he got the Transformers gig. He's on Twitter, and I also did an extensive interview with him for the GapersBlock site last year.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG56.mp3

Bob Stern: Classic Rock on Vinyl Schminyl Radio

Bob Stern talks about his podcast Vinyl Schminyl Radio, which features classic rock. He also talks about why he stopped pursuing broadcast radio many years ago.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG55.mp3

Dean Richards: Chicago Media Celebrity

Dean Richards, who became famous beyond Chicago when Mel Gibson called him an a**hole, talks about his radio and TV career, why he was miserable at WNUA, how music radio has been ruined, obnoxious celebrities he's interviewed, which ones were decent, his cancer scare, the perks of fame, fans, and more.


Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG54.mp3

Roger Badesch: Newscaster and Teacher Who's Living the Dream

Roger Badesch does the weekend news at WGN with Nick Digilio and Brian Noonan, and he also teaches broadcasting at Chicago Vocational Career Academy. He even has a fan page on Facebook, created by a listener. He says he has found success and is living the dream!

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG53.mp3

Cara Carriveau: Vivacious Music Radio Talent

Cara Carriveau, who's the midday personality at the top music station, The Mix - WTMX, talks about her podcast, career, if a letter to columnist Robert Feder got her fired from The Loop - WLUP, the future of music radio, voicetracking, the radio biz, and more.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG52.mp3

Jeff Goldblatt: Not a Dumb TV News Guy

Jeff Goldblatt talks about being a reporter and anchor in TV news, former Fox News coworker Shepard Smith, Fox boss Roger Ailes, the TV news business, and more.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG51.mp3

Jason Skaggs: Passionate Commercial Guy

Sometimes I hear commercials that are everywhere, and assume they were created by large agencies, but there's a Gerber collision spot that has been around for a while, and I recently found out that it was created and voiced by the commercial services director at WGN Radio in Chicago. His name is Jason Skaggs, and he came from Cumulus headquarters in Atlanta. He also won a Radio-Mercury Award for a local spot he did in Missouri. He is very passionate and enthusiastic about creating commercials, and this is his first interview.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG50.mp3

RG Meet-Up: Online Radio, Evanston, Traffic, and Turmoil in Wisconsin

Yesterday I had an RG pod get-together with some interesting people: Marty Zivin from Zecom Radio, fellow Evanstonian and traffic guy Tom Gaines, Bart Shore from Time Warp Radio, and Scott Becher, who drove all the way from Madison, Wisconsin to talk about the drama there.

Download this episode by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking (on a Mac) on the link below.
http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG49.mp3