After Hours with Rick Kogan

06/04/2026

For that jukebox in your head, these two have crafted a remarkable CD with 11 songs, the familiarity of which enriches the listening. Without words, we supply the lyrics, but also listen more intently and the music soars on guitar and cello.”
For that

Michael Miles and Jill Kaeding’s new album, “Great American Jukebox,” has 11 songs and echoes of the Great American Songbook.

06/02/2026

This happy couple, Judith Barnard and Michael Fain, who split their time between Aspen and Chicago, wrote novels together under the Judith Michael and sold millions of copies. She died early in May after 94 fruitful years.

She and her husband Michael Fain wrote together as Judith Michael, and their novels were runaway bestsellers. The first became an NBC miniseries.

05/30/2026

No "After Hours" this Sunday, as we take a break while a couple of new shows move into that vaunted 5-7 pm timeslot. WGN would like to continue its long, very long, relationship with me and has been rather persuasive in explaining how a podcast version of the show would allow for longer interviews (uninterrupted by news and commercials) and give me more flexibility. So there is much for me to learn before we launch or crash. I will keep you posted.

05/26/2026

Tim O'Malley was one of the most naturally funny people this city has ever known, memorable as a performer and teacher at The Second City. He was also a man who used some of his own experiences to help and inspire others.

He shared the Second City Mainstage with Bonnie Hunt, Tim Meadows, Bob Odenkirk and Chris Farley, later becoming a teacher and leading a program for fellow addicts.

05/24/2026

5-7 pm Sunday brings you Della Leavitt on her fine novel, “Vivian’s Decision," Della Leavitt; tattoo artist Ben Wahhh on efforts to help domestic violence survivors Deluxe tattoo and ..org; music and a Royko letter about Sam Sianis.

05/20/2026

Two new burger books by George Motz and Maggie Hennessy are great. But asked long ago why we are a country that is nuts for burgers, the late Sam Sianis of the Billy Goat put it, with brilliant simplicity, “People like them because they’re good.”

Chicago writer Maggie Hennessy’s first book is “Hamburger Bible.” George Motz wrote the cross-country odyssey “Hamburger America.”

05/19/2026

Julian Frazin was admired for his legal skills as an attorney and judge over his long life. But it was his creative entertainment gifts and energy that made him most admired and unforgettable. Here's a gift link:

Along with a career as a judge and attorney, he wrote “Miracle — the Musical” about the Cubs, as well as songs and children’s books, and contributed to the annual holiday show by the Chicago Bar Association.

05/17/2026

is one hour Sunday, 6-7 pm and brings you Frank Maugeri, artistic director of Cabinet of Curiosity, Sonya Henderson (founder of Mother’s Healing Circle) and others to talk about “Honor Thy Mother” Saturday 8-11 p.m. First Presbyterian Church of Chicago

05/15/2026

Sam Sianis has died at 91. He was one of a kind and the hardest worker you could ever meet and a man who handled the considerable Billy Goat fame and curse with style and grace...and that smile.

Sam Sianis, a Greek immigrant who became one of the most successful saloonkeepers and a popular figure in the sports and media worlds, died in Chicago early Friday morning. He was 91.

05/13/2026

Memorial Day 1981, Dan Goodwin, aka Spider-Dan, climbed into city's sky, saying “If I was going to die, I was going to die on my own terms.” He is alive and well, has a book, has beat cancer and tells Rick Kogan, “I felt like I was floating in space.”

In 1981, the climber Dan Goodwin made himself part of Chicago’s history by climbing both the Sears Tower and the Hancock Building. He has a new memoir.