Columns
Media • March 2024 : Tom Skilling’s Parting Words
You won’t be surprised to discover that retiring WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling has loved the weather since he was young. “My parents couldn’t figure out where the heck this weather passion came from,” Skilling admits. “I had a psychic tell me one time that I was a ship captain in a previous life. It’s […]
Media • February 2024 • Remembering the Early Loop
One of the great advantages of writing an oral history like I recently wrote about WLUP Radio (The Loop Files) is the opportunity to hear the stories right from the horse’s mouth. I interviewed over a hundred of those horses (Loop employees). Since the book came out a few months ago, I’ve heard from […]
Media • January 2024 • Brent’s Food Destinations
Growing up in suburban Chicago, Brent Petersen never thought he would become one of the top foodie podcast hosts in the world. “My first career was in radio,” he explains about his stints in Champaign, Peoria, and Providence, Rhode Island. “I wanted to find a way to get back into that audio medium because I […]
Media – December 2023 • In Memoriam
Every December, I write a column dedicated to the great pros we lost in the media this year. This year was a particularly cruel one. We lost writers like Bill Zehme and Joe Goddard (Chicago Sun-Times), television stars like Jerry Springer, Richard Belzer, Suzanne Somers, Matthew Perry, and Richard Moll, recording and movie stars […]
Hello My Name is… Geddy Lee of Rush – talks about his “Effin’ Life”
Rush bassist and frontman Geddy Lee makes it clear that the word “retirement” has no place in his vocabulary. Rush may be finished (or is it?), but Lee is a whirlwind of activity. His series for Paramount+, Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?, premieres on December 5 as an outgrowth of his best-selling […]
Media: November 2023: The Loop Files: An Oral History
I’ve written a new book called The Loop Files: An Oral History of the Most Outrageous Radio Station Ever. The book comes out officially at the end of this month, but this month’s media column is a free preview. All the biggest stars who helped make the Loop (FM 98) so memorable tell the […]
Media: October 2023 • Listening in on Internet FM
Steve Leventhal is no stranger to terrestrial radio. He spent quite a few years as a broadcaster on stations like WVVX and the Bear (WCBR), doing his Sports Radio Nightly show with people like late sportscasters Les Grobstein, Jerry Kuc, and Bob Greenberg. “In 2012,” Leventhal says, “I started working with Bart Shore […]
Media: September 2023 • More Stories From The Heartland
Max Armstrong spent a lifetime in broadcasting, both in radio and television, but he is also an author. In fact, now he’s an author for the second time. His first book was called Stories from the Heartland. Can you guess what the second one is called? “It’s called More Stories from the Heartland,” Armstrong says […]
Media: August 2023 • Road to Rock’s New Class
The Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 is going to induct a new class to the Hall of Fame on September 17. This year’s musical acts include Earth Wind & Fire, the Cryan Shames, the Shadows of Knight, Nat King Cole, and Miles Davis. John Prine is being inducted into the songwriting […]
Hello My Name is Tommy Stinson
Some folks just attract trouble magnetically. Take ex-Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson, for example — when the coronavirus hit him, post-lockdown, it smacked him upside the scruffy head and just kept knocking him senseless. “That was horrible, and I’m still reeling from it,” the rasp-throated rock rapscallion recalls from his rustic home in upstate New York. […]
Media: July 2023 • Catching up with Mr. Wert
After more than four decades in the media business as a sales manager/general manager/vice president for places like WLS-TV, The Loop AM & FM radio stations, NBC-5 Chicago, and the Tribune Company, Larry Wert considers himself semi-retired. “But I’m working way more than I should be, considering I’m semi-retired,” he admits. “I’m working on […]
Media: June 2023 • Powering WGN AM 720
Mary Boyle is the first female general manager in WGN Radio’s history. The rest of the industry has taken note. This past month she was once again named one of the Most Influential Women in Radio by **Radio Ink Magazine. Her journey up the ladder, to the top job at the most iconic Chicago […]
Rock of Pages: Rose Marshack • Play Like a Man
Play Like a Man by Rose Marshack (University of Illinois Press) Following decades of fan engagement through road diaries and groundbreaking podcast predecessor Radio Zero, Poster Children bassist Rose Marshack has gathered stories and experience for this fast-paced and wide-ranging but well-balanced rock/tech/spiritual memoir. Hard-won lessons, road stories, tech geekery, entertaining anecdotes, and lessons […]
Media: May 2023 • Andrea’s Illini Calling
After decades of working at WGN Radio and WGN Television, Andrea Darlas has fond memories of her time there. “I loved all the people I worked with at WGN. Working with Spike O’Dell was a joy. He was a legend. Being his news anchor for five years is probably the highlight of my career. I […]
Media: April 2023 • Leading on the Score
Mitch Rosen is Operations Manager and Brand Manager for AM 670 The Score and has been in that role for nearly twenty years. “February of ’05 is when I started at the Score,” he explains. “Paul Agase was the station manager and reached out to me and asked me to come back to the […]
Recent Comments