Journalism “The Chicago Way”

The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour

Hillsdale College

Education

4.8 • 649 Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Guests: John Kass & Matthew Mehan

Host Scot Bertram talks with John Kass, an independent Chicago-based columnist and host of The Chicago Way podcast, about his legendary journalism career in Chicago and what the city’s mistakes can teach the rest of the country. And Matthew Mehan, associate dean and associate professor at the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College in Washington, D.C., discusses the importance of children in American political life and his report "The Higher Purpose of Children in American Society."

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Transcript

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0:00.0	From the historic campus of Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan,
0:11.3	where the good, the true, and the beautiful are taught, nurtured, and honored,
0:16.9	this is the Radio Free Hillsdale Hour, bringing the activity and education of the college to listeners across the country.
0:25.2	The arc of history would lead us to understand once you get socialism and that falls apart and brings anarchy with it.
0:34.7	Then, according to the Soviets, a strong man must appear. And I don't know if there's any such
0:41.8	strong man. This is your host, Scott Bertram. Welcome to the Radio Free Hillsdale Hour. That was John
0:48.9	Cass, legendary Chicago writer, journalist, and columnist. We'll talk in-depth him today about his experience in Chicago media, what he's learned
0:58.8	along the way, and how Chicago can warn the rest of the country about the consequences
1:03.3	of bad government.
1:05.0	Also, later on in today's program, Matt Meen from Hillsdale in D.C.
1:08.8	We'll talk about the high purpose of children at American society.
1:12.6	First, we're joined by John Cass, long-time writer, reporter, and columnist in Chicago.
1:19.2	Now, independent, you can find out at John Cass News.com.
1:22.8	That's John K-A-S-S-News.com.
1:26.5	John's here on campus as part of our CCA lecture series on journalism. John, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be with you today. I've read you and the Chicago Tribune, where you work previously for decades now, and it's a pleasure to have you here. You've written about Chicago for a long, long time. Started at the Tribune in
1:44.9	1980s, so you covered the Council Wars of the 80s and the Daily and the Dailies and ROM,
1:50.7	thousands of columns. The Romfather. Yes, right. Your podcast is called The Chicago Way. What does that
1:57.4	mean? What's the Chicago Way? The Chicago Way comes from the movie The Untouchables.
2:03.7	And David Mamet wrote a brilliant script.
2:07.0	So the Chicago Way is taken from a dialogue.
2:12.3	Sean Connery is playing the old copper, Chicago Cop, and he's telling a young Elliot Ness played by Kevin
2:21.9	Costner, how to get Capone. And he says, he takes a knife, you grab a gun. He sends one of
	...

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