From Heartland Signal and WCPT AM 820 (https://heartlandsignal.com/wcpt820/) in Chicago, here are full episodes of "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" (weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central), a topical and interactive talk show that focuses on national, state and city politics.
A veteran Chicago broadcaster, Joan talks to politicians and professors, activists and authors, candidates and correspondents, as well as listeners who call in to share their views on the news of the day. Her goal is to Edify, Entertain and Elect — Democrats, of course.
Joan Esposito has hosted WCPT's afternoon show since 2019. Prior to that she spent 20 years as a Chicago television anchor and reporter for WGN Channel 9, ABC7 and NBC5, and had a stint as managing partner at media trainer J2SC. Joan is a long-time member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
Joan Esposito: Live, Local & Progressive with guest host Mike Nellis | October 20, 2026
On today's show Mike Nellis (https://endlessurgency.com/)fills in for Joan and his guests are
– Aaron Kleinman, Heartland Signal (https://heartlandsignal.com/)‘s senior political analyst and author of the “Radio Free America (https://radio-free-america.beehiiv.com/)” newsletter
– Melissa Toufanian, former State Department deputy assistant secretary who served on the communications team for the original Iran nuclear deal under President Obama, and now serves as managing director at Navigator Research (https://navigatorresearch.org/)
– Richard Chew, host of “Chew’s Views (https://heartlandsignal.com/programs/chews-views/),” weekday mornings from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. Central on WCPT, AM 950 The Progressive Voice of Minnesota (https://www.am950radio.com/), KFNN 1510 AM Phoenix, and Atlanta's WMLB AM 1690; the show also airs on WARR in Warren County, North Carolina
– Matthew Botvinick, world-renowned AI researcher and neuroscientist who is senior fellow at Yale Law School, a member of the technical staff at Anthropic, and author of "AI and Political Freedom: The Risk to Democracy and How to Respond (https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691291215/ai-and-political-freedom?srsltid=AU7gw4XZGx4o2oiJPtCkcYTyNZpAHm3j0ehyw3LF5c3jjT5p_Q1_H_mb)" (2026)
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive (http://heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive)).
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See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
20 Oct 2026
Joan Esposito: Live, Local & Progressive | October 19, 2026
On today's show
– Amanda Zahorak (https://www.zahorakforil48.com/), Democratic candidate for Illinois House District 48
– Paul Lisnek (https://paullisnek.com/), multi-Emmy Award-winning TV host who served as political and legal analyst at WGN for 18 years; he is also the author of 15 books and host of “Curtain Call Chicago (https://paullisnek.com/curtain-call-chicago)” and “Paul On Politics (https://www.youtube.com/@PaulOnPolitics)“
– Robert Pape (https://political-science.uchicago.edu/directory/Robert-Pape), professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago specializing in international security affairs, and author of The Escalation Trap (https://escalationtrap.substack.com/) on Substack; his new book, “Our Own Worst Enemies: America in the Age of Violent Populism (https://thenewpress.org/books/our-own-worst-enemies/),” came out last month
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive (http://heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive)).
Follow us:
Website: https://heartlandsignal.com (https://heartlandsignal.com/)
WCPT Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WCPT820 (https://www.facebook.com/WCPT820)
Heartland Signal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeartlandSignal (https://www.facebook.com/HeartlandSignal)
Tiktok: (https://www.tiktok.com/@heartlandsignal?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc)https://www.tiktok.com/@heartlandsignal (https://www.tiktok.com/@heartlandsignal)
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartlandsignal (https://www.instagram.com/heartlandsignal/)
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heartlandsignal (https://www.youtube.com/@heartlandsignal)
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
17 Oct 2026
Joan Esposito: Live, Local & Progressive | October 16, 2026
On today's show
– Jen Thompson, former political campaign manager, former counsel in the U.S. House and Senate, and author of “Wild Pivot: Notes from a Political Life Rewritten (https://shewritespress.com/product/wild-pivot/)” (2026)
– David Layman, former Providence, Rhode Island, news anchor, managing editor, and political commentator for RIPBS
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive (http://heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive)).
Follow us:
Website: https://heartlandsignal.com (https://heartlandsignal.com/)
WCPT Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WCPT820 (https://www.facebook.com/WCPT820)
Heartland Signal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeartlandSignal (https://www.facebook.com/HeartlandSignal)
Tiktok: (https://www.tiktok.com/@heartlandsignal?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc)https://www.tiktok.com/@heartlandsignal (https://www.tiktok.com/@heartlandsignal)
Heartland Signal X: https://x.com/HeartlandSignal (https://x.com/HeartlandSignal)
WCPT 820 X: https://x.com/WCPT820 (https://x.com/WCPT820)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartlandsignal (https://www.instagram.com/heartlandsignal/)
Threads: threads.com/@heartlandsignal (http://threads.com/@heartlandsignal)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heartlandsignal (https://www.youtube.com/@heartlandsignal)
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
Inside a recent episode
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive, January 13, 2026
Published 14 Jan 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] And so that is one measure that they can do. They can through the federal appropriations process, they can tell DC how we can spend our own DC raised tax money on issues related to the district of Columbia. So what this means is they have essentially in the past told DC that we could not fund a needle exchange program in the district of Columbia. This was in the 80s at the at the height of the HIV AIDS crisis, which resulted in, you know, a lot of deaths, the highest rate of HIV AIDS in the country because we couldn't deal with. The fact that we can have, sort of, our own local state slash municipal issues, and then the third way is that Congress can actually directly legislate on the district of Columbia, and that is what we are seeing in this Congress is. is a rash of not only riders on the appropriations bills, but also a bunch of pieces of legislation that would only apply to the district of Columbia. […]
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