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, WGN Radio, WGN-TV, and more.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

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!

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

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.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

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.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

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.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

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.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG49.mp3

Bruce Wolf: Super-Talented Media Guy!

Bruce Wolf is currently on WLS with Dan Proft, and has worked at various stations around Chicago, including WMVP, The Loop, The Score, WMAQ TV, and Fox Chicago. He talks about working with Steve Dahl, Garry Meier, and Jonathan Brandmeier, explains why he got fired from Fox and why Howard McGee isn't funny, shares some wacky things he's done on the air, talks about what it's like to work in TV and radio, if he's a weird sportscaster, and more.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG48.mp3

Mitch Michaels: When Radio was Fun and Creative

Mitch Michaels talks about what it was like to work in Chicago radio when it was still fun and creative. He worked in Cleveland and at some of the most popular stations in Chicago, including WLUP (The Loop), WCKG, WDAI, and WGLD, and talks about Don Imus, Steve Dahl, Disco Demolition, and getting fired numerous times.

He also talks about The Who concert that was simulcast on The Loop, which had never been done before. You can hear all the promos from that event, including the ones with Pete Townsend, at Mitch's site.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG47.mp3

An End-of-the-Year THANK YOU and a Few Emails

It's the last pod of the year, and I'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone. I also read a few emails. Don't worry--this THANK YOU pod isn't as long as the last one.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG46.mp3

Lise Dominique: Enthusiastic Radio News Announcer and Writer

Lise Dominique, who has been on the air with Jonathan Brandmeier, Robert Murphy, Kevin Matthews, Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, even Jerry Springer, talks about Drew Hayes and her radio experience at WLUP The Loop, Love-FM/Rewind 100.3, WLS-AM, and WGN-AM. She also talks about dogs, including Harvey the Wonderdog, and how columnist Cheryl Lavin inspired her writing.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG45.mp3

David Kaplan: Classy Sports Media Guy

David Kaplan is all over the Chicago sports media: on the radio at WGN and on TV through Comcast Sportsnet, in addition to his columns. He's a class act.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG44.mp3

Cisco Cotto: Now Alone on WLS, but for How Long?

Several months ago, I interviewed Cisco Cotto, who at the time had a show with Roe Conn on WLS-AM. Now he's alone and has his own show. He talks about what happened with Roe, what he thinks of talk radio, ratings, and even shares some interesting developments about his own show: will he remain alone?

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG43.mp3

Lee Abrams: Non-Snobby Successful Media Guy

Lee Abrams, who changed FM radio through Album Rock, consulted MTV, was the first employee at XM Satellite Radio, helped various bands including his friends Yes, and has done a lot more in the media, talks about broadcast radio, TV, research, the music business, online outlets, newspapers, satellite radio, music labels, bands, mainstream culture, the Tribune Company, his ideal media company, and more. He's a creative, open-minded, nice, successful guy who isn't snobby because he agreed to participate in this micro-media outlet :D

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG42.mp3

J Niice and Julian and Showbiz Shelly from B96: Broadcasting Artists Having Fun!

Lots of fun with J Niice (Jamar McNeil), Julian (Julian Nieh), and Showbiz Shelly (Michelle Menaker) from the J and Julian in the Morning show on B96. They talk about the famous people they've met, changes in music, their Chinese and Jamaican backgrounds, their radio experience in Washington DC, Virginia, Miami, Cleveland, and Chicago, share advice, and express their broadcast philosophies. J and Julian are broadcasting artists, the show is good, and they're all really friendly.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG41.mp3

Jordan Bernfield: Sports Host and Future Sports Media Star

Jordan Bernfield is co-host of the popular online sports B-Squared Show and works at WGN sports radio as a producer and reporter. He is going to be such a big sports media star one day, people will be looking to *him* for a job.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG40.mp3

Thank you and emails

I've been getting a lot of emails and feedback about this podcast, so I respond to them, and even play a voicemail that I got. I hopefully make sense--I was sort of tired when I was putting this together :D Bottom line: THANK YOU for listening!

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG39.mp3

Mike McConnell: from Cincinnati to Chicago

Mike McConnell was a very popular talk show host at WLW in Cincinnati for 25 years. Then he decided to leave and go to WGN in Chicago. He talks about his political views, Clear Channel, what he thinks of Chicago and Cincinnati, why he made the change, what he thinks of radio and syndication, and more.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG38.mp3

Bart Shore: Long-Time Radio Guy with a Great Voice

Bart Shore has spent many years in radio doing traffic in the morning in Chicago, and for various music stations in Chicago and Iowa. He also has an excellent voice, and hosts a popular music podcast called Time Warp Radio.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG37.mp3

Shawn Wasson: Nerdy News Junkie

Shawn Wasson, aka The News Junkie, has parlayed his passion for radio, computers, and information into a good living in the digital and broadcast media. He talks about radio, music, the media, and even the infamous company Clear Channel, where he used to work.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG36.mp3

Rob Hart: a Radio News Guy Who Gets It

Rob Hart is a news guy who's had a successful radio career in Milwaukee at WTMJ and is currently at WGN in Chicago. He's also a White Sox fan among lots of Cubs fans, and actually has a good attitude about working in radio. He also understands the role of the media and just seems to get the whole thing.

Click the link below to play, or download it by right-clicking (on a PC) or holding down the CTRL key and clicking on it (for Mac).

http://radiogirl.us/audio/RG35.mp3