Sorry, Bears fans, but there’s only one Iceman in Chicago. Ben riffs. Ashonta Rice tells the tale of the bizarre election law that forced her to keep her divorced husband’s name when she ran for offfce. Thus, a law that insults voters and demeans women. Heckuva job, Illinois lawmakers. Ashonta Rice is running for circuit court judge in Cook County.

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Ben and Dr D tell it like it is on a week’s worth of news, including…Madigan and MAGA, Mayor Johnson and the alders, Garcia and Garcia, and the Bears and Indiana. As the Bears threaten to move out of state in search of the biggest public handout for their new stadium. Also, a letter from a listener compels Ben to make a no-dumb pledge. And the on-going debate over the Mount Rushmore of f-bombs and comedians. Hint, everybody loves Rodney!

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Americans love a con man. Ben riffs. Jack White agrees, sorta. More like America loves to be entertained. And with that, Jack runs down the “cornucopia of bullshit” dished out by Trump and his lackeys on a daily basis. Is it possible that Trump will have a Scrooge like conversion on Christmas Eve? If so, will Roy Cohn be his Marley? Jack is a former columnist and editor at Time.

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A deranged Trump blames Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner for getting murdered. Ben riffs. Pedro Lira reports from Texas. Will Republicans pick up 5 congressional seats through gerrymandering? Or will their machinations work against them? What does it take to get rural Texans to vote Democratic? The dangers of pipe dreams. And a quick look at Crockett v Talarico in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Pedro is state director for the Texas Working Families Party.

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As we prepare to record, word breaks of senseless slaughter at a Chanukah festival in Australia. Ben riffs. State Representative Kam Buckner joins him. Ensuing topics include Hoosier redistricting, head tax v property tax, transit bill and Bears beat Browns to set up next week’s game against Packers. Kam loves the Bears DGAF attitude. A few words about park district bologna sandwiches. Kam is a state representative from the 26th district and a former defensive lineman for the Fighting Illini and the Morgan Park High School Mustangs.

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A federal grand jury says sorry, Donnie when it comes to prosecuting Letitia James. Ben riffs. And Maya returns! To talk about her epic profile of Cook County Judge Timothy Evans, one of the most important local politicians in recent history. He went from Machine alderman to Mayor Washington’s floor leader to one of the reasons Richard M Daley got elected mayor to Chief Judge and the unlikely criminal justice “reformer,” if such a word can ever be used in relation to Cook County. Maya is a writer for Injustice Watch. For years, she and Ben were colleagues at the Reader and co-hosts of First Tuesdays.

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Michael Madigan goes Blago—pleading with Trump for mercy. Ben riffs. Monroe considers the case of Mamdani. When should Dems defer to Trump? Should Mayor Johnson be more like Mamdani? And what to make about Trump’s hate of Somalia? A few words about Brian Glenn, MTG’s boyfriend, who’s torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool.

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Trump ends the War on Drugs for those who kiss his ass. Ben riffs. Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle takes us from A to Z on recent US policy toward Honduras. Starting with the coup of 2009 and continuing to Trump’s commutation of Juan Orlando Hernandez’s sentence for drug trafficking. It’s a sickening spectacle. Matt is an interpreter and human rights activist.

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