Dean Richards

Everyone knows Dean loves his backyard gardening, so he invited Fairmont Chicago Chef, Atticus Garant to talk about the best late summer fruits and vegetables. Atticus shared with Dean some of his tips and tricks to cooking with the freshest of ingredients, along with what he is keeping his eyes open for at local farmers markets.  

With all of the conversation leading up to the premier this past week, Suicide Squad has created a lot of commotion in the movie world. Dean was a little disappointed with the result, giving the movie a Dean’s List C- , but never the less he shared his conversations with Suicide Squad stars such as Viola Davis, Jared Letto, and Will Smith.  

Jackie Taylor is the founder of The Black Ensemble Theater and it is one of the most culturally significant theaters that has graced the Chicago arts scene. By celebrating the the 40th anniversary of the theater, Jackie told Dean that she is bringing back some of the hit shows all year, one of which is “The Jackie Wilson Story”. The cast performed a sneak preview for Dean including the classic, “Higher and Higher”.  

A huge box office hit last weekend, Star Trek Beyond has been receiving rave reviews, but most importantly, Dean gave the new movie a, “Dean’s List A”! Dean shared his conversation with cast members Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, John Cho, and Zoe Saldana about the incredible series.  

On his regular food time segment, Dean checked in with Penny Pollack, Dining Editor of Chicago Magazine, to see what al fresco should be on our radar. Even though the summer is about halfway over, there is still time to get some great outdoor dining in and Penny shared her recent favorites with Dean.    

This week in theater, Dean invited in the West Chicago High School Theater Program because they have the distinct honor of performing at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August. Dean chatted with director, Mark Begovich along with the eight person, student cast who will be traveling to Edinburgh and performing their original interactive show along with thousands of other international acts.    

Dean and the Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot talked about the 25th anniversary of the biggest music festival in the city previewing some of the most anticipated acts, what founder, Perry Ferrel, thinks about the festival tones these days, and how to get through the 4 day festival.      

Phil Potempa is a seasoned critic covering much of the theater scene for the Post-Tribune and he comes to the heart of the Midwest with good theater news. Dean and Phil talked about all the shows that has been on Phil’s radar, locally and nationally like School House Rock LIVE, My Son The Waiter, Deathtrap, and more.  

With more terrible news about Baton Rouge and multiple police officers being killed, Dean talked with Former Chicago Police Superintendent, Garry McCarthy about police safety, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Baton Rouge shooting.  

Just after the news broke of multiple police officers being shot in Baton Rouge, Dean talked with the lead organizers of Black Lives Matters Chicago about their thoughts on the somber day.  

The original Ghostbusters is a classic, but will the remake be a hit? Dean jumped into the conversation  about the highly anticipated film and gave the first review of Ghostbusters before the release on Friday, July 15th. Dean also chatted with “The Pride of Plainfield” Illinois, Melissa McCarthy who is one of the stars in the Hollywood remake.  

Brad Zimmerman is the creator of My Son The Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy and he stopped by the studio to talk with Dean about his new show at The Northshore Center for Performing Arts, his relationship with Joan Rivers, and his mother…  

If you’ve never seen America’s Test Kitchen on TV, the chefs do the hard work so you don’t have to. One of those chefs is Bridget Lancaster and she joined Dean to talk about the 17th season of the show and she has been working on it since the beginning. She previewed what is coming up this season along with what the rest of us should and could be cooking this time of year.  

Dean shared his recent conversation with the legendary Hollywood director Steven Spielberg about his new release, “BFG”. Dean chatted with Steven about how the special effects were so important to this movie and how it provided a different feel compared to his other films. Steven also spilled some beans about his upcoming projects.  

Jamie Purviance is a grilling expert and his new book, “Weber’s New American Barbecue: A Modern Spin on The Classics” helps you decide the simple questions of charcoal vs gas, all the way to how flavor bars effect the way your food tastes. Dean talked with Jamie and listeners about tips, trick, and what recipes to use on the grill this 4th of July.