{"id":7408,"date":"2015-04-13T06:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=7408"},"modified":"2015-04-13T06:10:10","modified_gmt":"2015-04-13T11:10:10","slug":"justin-kaufmanns-download-to-debut-on-wgn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2015\/04\/13\/justin-kaufmanns-download-to-debut-on-wgn\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Kaufmann\u2019s \u2018Download\u2019 to debut on WGN Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Justin<\/a>

<\/a> Justin Kaufmann<\/p><\/div>\n

Ready or not, Chicago, Justin Kaufmann is about to deliver \u201cThe Download.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting this Thursday, the multitalented radio veteran will double as host and producer of an ambitious new show from 7 to 11 p.m. weeknights on Tribune Media news\/talk WGN AM 720.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"I could wait and workshop the show for months till everything was ready to go, but where is the fun in that?\u201d said Kaufmann, who just joined the station<\/a> after two decades at Chicago Public Media WBEZ FM 91.5.<\/a> \u201cI promised WGN listeners train wreck radio, so all aboard!\"<\/p>\n

Todd Manley, vice president of content and programming at WGN, described \u201cThe Download\u201d as a \u201cdaily mirror on Chicago revealed in multiple chapters,\u201d saying: \u201cYou\u2019ll hear a variation of WGN talk soup that replays pieces of interviews from earlier in the day not in \u2018best of\u2019 style, but to challenge ourselves to be more reflective and less reactive.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustin has a passion for revealing the hidden stories in breaking news, and we\u2019ll pack one hour each night with A-list guests, too. We also look forward to town hall conversations on location and some deep dives into music and comedy. You\u2019ll be treated to a kind of sonic architecture you won\u2019t hear anywhere else,\u201d Manley said.<\/p>\n

Kaufmann said he already has lined up Jason Sudeikis, Donnie Madia, Martha Lavey, Scott Waguespack and Rick Kogan as guests for his first couple of shows. \u201cIf they fail to show, I'll just find Ronnie Woo-Woo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

WGN listeners heard a sneak preview <\/a>on April 1 when Kaufmann faked a one-hour live broadcast of a Cubs opening-day game as an April Fools stunt. It would be hard to imagine anyone else pulling it off as hilariously as he and his cohorts did.<\/p>\n

Kaufmann, 40, most recently was executive producer at WBEZ, overseeing \u201cThe Morning Shift\u201d and \u201cThe Afternoon Shift,\u201d among other shows. The far northwest suburban native joined the public radio station in 1994 straight out of Columbia College. He also founded the Schadenfreude<\/a> comedy ensemble and created Ed Bus, the fictional 53rd ward alderman.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s hoping everything comes together on Chicago\u2019s legendary news\/talk station. Added Kaufmann: \u201cI\u2019m ready to bring that NPR sensibility to WGN. Which means stories about the orange fields of Botswana accompanied by seven seconds of dead air.\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ready or not, Chicago, Justin Kaufmann is about to deliver \u201cThe Download.\u201d Starting this Thursday, the multitalented radio veteran will double as host and producer of an ambitious new show from 7 to 11 p.m. weeknights on Tribune Media news\/talk WGN AM 720.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7408"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7408"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7413,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7408\/revisions\/7413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}