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The Big Picture (Featured Interviews)

The Big Picture (Featured Interviews)

By: WCPT 820
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Here are featured interviews from "The Big Picture" with Edwin Eisendrath (Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT Chicago). Good conversations help us see the big picture. Edwin Eisendrath and his guests get specific about politics, government, campaigns, and the kind of country all this work is meant to build. Join us live every Saturday to be part of the conversation.


Edwin served two terms in Chicago’s City Council before being appointed Midwest Region Director of HUD by President Bill Clinton. He was subsequently appointed Federal Receiver in charge of the takeover and turnaround of the Chicago Housing Authority. His last foray as a candidate came when he took on a crooked governor of his own party, but it was the U.S. attorney rather than the voters who sealed Rod Blagojevich’s fate.

Off the campaign trail, Edwin worked in higher education and as a consultant to universities here and around the world. He was working primarily in Saudi Arabia during the 2016 election cycle, but after Donald Trump’s victory, he knew he had to focus back home. He brought business and labor leaders together to rescue the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Reader. He ran the company as its CEO until both publications were saved.

Edwin continues his political, civic, and business engagement from his home in Chicago, where he and his wife, Jennifer, raised their three children. He and Jennifer can be seen walking their hound dog, Winston Churchill.

 Political Science Politics & Government
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Episodes
  • WCPT 820 Interview: Jeff Jarvis

    WCPT 820 Interview: Jeff Jarvis
    May 5 2025

    Edwin talks to Jeff Jarvis, visiting professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University.

    Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

    And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    31 mins
  • WCPT 820 Interview: Donna Ladd of Mississippi Free Press

    WCPT 820 Interview: Donna Ladd of Mississippi Free Press
    Apr 28 2025

    Edwin is joined by Donna Ladd, editor at Mississippi Free Press. She discussed the proclamation of April as Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi and its implications. She highlighted the extremist views of some advocates who romanticize the Confederacy and criticized Governor Tate Reeves (R) for quietly publishing his proclamation through the Sons of Confederate Veterans. She emphasized the need for historical accuracy and warned against the revisionist Civil War narrative perpetuated by organizations like Beauvoir, which operates the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library. "To me, it sends the message that we are not better than our past if we allow this to happen," Ladd told WCPT.

    Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

    And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
  • WCPT 820 Interview: David Pepper

    WCPT 820 Interview: David Pepper
    Apr 21 2025

    Edwin is joined by David Pepper, lawyer, political activist, author (of fiction and nonfiction), and former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. He discussed the growing resistance against authoritarianism in America and highlighted the story of an Ohio nurse named Valerie who recently started organizing rallies in Cincinnati. Pepper said she had "really never been to a rally before January. It gave her courage. She felt like the courage was sort of contagious in the crowd. And so they needed to do one in Cincinnati and she went to a website and signed up, and . . . a couple weeks ago, she had about 4,500 people" show up at the April 5 "Hands Off" rally.

    Pepper called for broader participation from institutions and individuals to counteract the administration's attacks on higher education and drew a line from Viktor Orbán's Hungary to Donald Trump's America. "What did Orbán do with higher ed in Hungary? He converted it all to right-wing higher ed," Pepper told WCPT. "The end goal here -- this is why you can never comply. They'd rather destroy current higher ed than have it be as it is. But their ultimate goal is to put higher ed and its infrastructure to work for their cause."

    Catch “The Big Picture with Edwin Eisendrath” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/the-big-picture).

    And find “The Big Picture (Full Episodes)” podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Amazon and TuneIn.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show More Show Less
    28 mins

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