Cary Eisentraut may very well be the last great showman! He was born into the movie business, and lives it to the fullest like no other! We talk about how he came from Iowa to Illinois, the unique nature of the Orpheum and Grand, his 7 other local theatres, and what makes is marketing and promotion so unique. We discuss Tellmore Productions, his pa…

Matt Kane is just like every one of us... except he isn't! He and his best friend took a personal tragedy, stayed together through a bond as best friends, and launched a Barbeque Rub business based right here in the Midwest. We also talk about tips for great BBQ for beginners, how to take your BBQ to the next level, and the most important things no…

Just a small town girl... Becca G joins WTL to talk about HWAYD! "Hey What Are You Doing" is a new central IL podcast talking about the amazing lives of everyday people. Celebrities are not the only interesting people in the world as all of you know, and Becca finds them and get them to open up and inspire those around them. We talk about her famil…

Tobin Ott was a voice you knew right here in Central Illinois. Hosting shows and giving you the news on WSMI. Eight years ago, an amazing and life changing offer for his family came for his wife, and they moved to Florida, to work at Walt Disney World. A dream they had to pursue, and a dream they continue to live. Watch or Listen as Tobin tells us …

Today, we take an action packed journey thru the last four years of Zach Wygal... His new passion of Improv with Blended Artists Imaginarium, a tribute to the late Chris Funk, his multi year quest to end school lunch shaming across the country, starting What The Facts Trivia, and how he went from teaching junior high... to teaching in a prison. We …

Brad Skertich was a kid like any other, growing up in the 80s, riding bikes, and playing sports with his friends. But in 1993, he and his 1993 Staunton Bulldog teammates, pulled of a Cinderella/Hoosiers IHSA State Championship run that eventually lands the team in the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. Relive the emotion and the untold stori…

Larry Smith grew up in Little Rock, a product of a great family, and having a passion for music. His journeys through college left him with an incredible network of artistic friends with the stories and talents to bring interesting stories to the Silver Screen. Larry, or Movie Producer L Edward Smith, has molded his passions, talents and a great gr…

After 4 long years... WTL return with the guest that started it all. Bobby Krug gives us an update on how racing has changed his life since the beginning, tells us why dreams can come true, and how working for what he wanted, got him where he is today. As for the show. New studio, new season, new guests, and a few old favorites. Listen on Apple, Sp…

In these crazy quarantine times... we all need something to pass the time, so media consumer Zach Wygal returns to discuss.. Tiger King, Things Your Kids Will Like and You Will Too, Best DocuSeries and Documentaries, What You May Have Missed, the Best Background Noise, and some classic movies to go back and check out... Plus, some tips to stay posi…

This is a Classic Rewind episode tying back to our recent new episode with Brad Fiori and Shayne Isbell and their Excellent Adventures! It originally was posted on 11/2/19. Enjoy this WTL Classic! When it comes to local adventurers, look no further than Staunton natives Brad Fiori and Shayne Isbell. In this episode, we tackle the amazing adventure …

This is a Classic Rewind episode tying back to our recent new episode with Brad Fiori and Shayne Isbell and their Excellent Adventures! It originally was posted on 8/17/18. Enjoy this WTL Classic! Brad Fiori made his money, quit his job, and decided to live life NOW, as opposed to waiting for retirement! Crazy to some... and inspiration to others. …

Brad Fiori and Shayne return in this NEW episode, that was actually recorded back in fall 2019. In this episode, our amazing adventure friends tackle Kayaking the Florida Keys, Biking Vietnam, and Hiking across England. The ups and downs and joys of travel, and language, hygiene, and food obstacles in Southeast Asia! Currently, Brad is hiking the P…

By John Knowles

On this show, we take a retrospective look at the Coffeen Power Plant through the eyes of one employee, Don Nowell. He isn't a spokesman for the company, the union, or the plant... he is my friend, and I wanted to know, and share with all of you. What it is like to make electricity, how it works, how the plant worked, what factors led to it closing…

Tens of millions of unsuspecting husbands walk around without a clue as to what to do, what just happened, and why am I in the doghouse again with my wife? In this episode, we talk to Scott Litch, author of "A Husband's Survival Guide" , a husband of over 28 years offers humorous observations and sound tactics, essentially a field guide, on how to …

On this show... the man who helped start it all, Producer Bobby Krug returns and gives us all an update on his racing season, his future, where is has been, and more importantly... where he may be going! Then (23:15), Peyton & Mike Bertolis join me to discuss their mission: Peace, Love, & Bicycles! The are collecting used bikes, restoring or fixing…

When it comes to local adventurers, look no further than Staunton natives Brad Fiori and Shayne Isbell. In this episode, we tackle the amazing adventure of hiking the Appalachian Trail. We talk about the people (awesome), the dangers (not much), the bears, the bugs, the food, the beer, the shelter, the difficulty, and awesome journey that it it pre…

Tony Marcolini loves his hometown, he loves revitalizing old buildings, and he loves craft brew. He and his wife Jennifer took the big leap and started the Opera House Brewing Co in Hillsboro, IL in 2018. We cover how he got the brewing bug, the challenges of brewing, restoring a 120 year old building, and bring life back to his boyhood home. I'm s…

LISTEN: Central Illinois sent the local legend of Punk Rock & Heavy Metal to the Sunset Strip... and he lived to tell about it. Dennis Carlock, aka Rotten Rod joins John and co-host for the show, Toby Baugher, to discuss his twenty plus years on the LA Sunset Strip. Pick your poison to listen: Brought to you by Opera House Brewing Company! #DrinkLo…

The Livingston Road Rallye is a Metro East institution. For the last 25+ years, October has meant a monster of an event in Livingston, IL. The Road Rallye, a combination scavenger hunt, trivia contest, Amazing Race, and Survivor has been entertaining hundreds of people since the 90s. On this episode, Beth Atwood, Brandon Margaritis, and Cindy Scars…

Proud to bring you Mr. Mount Olive Wrestling, Ron Ryan. He started wrestling in college in the '60s, and came to Mt. Olive as a teacher when he and a few HS boys decided to start a wrestling program in 1969. Fifty years, 400+ Wins, a Hall of Fame induction, and 1000+ athletes later, he calls it a career, and I was honored to have him on the What's …

A quick episode... i visit with Gabe Dexheimer, the host of the Turner Hall Queen of Hearts drawing. We talk about the return after the 4 month break, and catch up on the Queen Hysteria of the last few years. While things have certainly slowed down a bit, the pot upon restart is over $50K, and only 25 cards remain! So it's back, and WTL will be the…

When it comes to people in Central IL you want to get to know and learn from, Pete Visintin should be near the top of anyone's list. After a devastating illness struck his father, he was inspired to help others, and created the iconic Fight the Fight Clothing brand! A short time later, the CEO group, based in Effingham, IL, came calling on Pete to …

If you are from Central IL, you may know Brad Weiss, former WSMI on air talent. But the rest of America knows him as Brad Carson after a producer asked him for a name change. You can take the big time radio guy out of the small town, but you cannot take the small town out of Brad. On this episode of WTL, we talk about his start, his breaks, his pat…

An Emergency edition of WTL! After the unexpected Dec 1, 2018 breakout of Tornadoes across IL, I called podcast friend and storm chaser Skip Talbot! On this episode, Skip recaps his chase day, we talk about the multiple tornadoes that formed from Staunton, Mt Olive, Litchfield, Hillsboro, to Taylorville and the line from Bluff City to Havana. Skip …

Zach returns again to update us on the upcoming Stamp Out Cancer 2019! Including a WTL Contest to win 2 Tix to the big event with special guest "The Dirty Muggs"! And then its on... Zach had a snow day, he binge watches. So I asked him to do some homework, and we break down all the big ones... #GameofThrones, #StrangerThings, #WalkingDead, #Breakin…

Author Tom Corner has been a friend of mine for decade. But just recently, I feel like I really got to know who he was and why. Listen to this discussion between friends, as life events shaped who Tom was, and who he would later become, and lead him to a path to enlightenment. His recent book, "Borrowed Eyes and Feet", available at Amazon and Barne…

January 5, 2000... 5 days after Y2K, at around 4AM... Melvern Noll of Highland, IL spotted a large UFO. He described it as big as a two story house in the sky, just above the treeline near his business. He quickly alerted the local police dispatcher, who relayed the direction to Lebanon's police department. This is were the story begins... in all, …

Kaylan is back again, and this time with a new book in hand! "Haunted Carlinville: History & Hauntings that shaped Macoupin County". It went on sale 9/15/18, and we talk about her process, why she wrote it, and of course some of the dark history of Central Illinois' Macoupin County. She also talks about upcoming tours in Carlinville and Alton - htt…

Another two parter this week! First up is Jeff Grunwald, Director of the New Madrid Historical Museum. We talk about the largest earthquakes ever to hit North America in 1811 and 1812. Did they feel it in Boston? Did the Mississippi run backwards? We will talk about what it was like for the sparse river population over 200 years ago and also the ke…

First Up, Paul Miller is hosting the 4th Annual "When I'm 64" Beatles Music Festival in Prarietown, IL on 9/8/18 from 12-9p. 7 Bands and all the Beatles you can handle... Lots of fun side activities and food as well! https://www.facebook.com/When-Im-64-Beatles-Festival-103995760047994/ Then, Randy Bersch rejoins the show to talk the second annual T…

The Coliseum Ballroom... Benld, IL... you can't mention one without the other. Built in 1924 by Dominic Tarro for an unheard of $50K, was it funded by Al Capone? Did all the greats play there? Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Elvis, the Beatles? Why was Joyce Tarro murdered in 1976? We will find out...what it was like! Jim Marcacci & John Ubben are puttin…

Brad Fiori made his money, quit his job, and decided to live life NOW, as opposed to waiting for retirement! Crazy to some... and inspiration to others. He tackles adventures as he can and he came on WTL to talk about his biggest journey to date. His circumnavigation the United States at the border... all 11,338 miles! His journey was not easy, and…

The Tour De Donut is a southern Illinois institution. A 36 mile ride with two stops for donuts. Every donut eaten reduces your ride time by 5 minutes! It celebrated it's 30th anniversary on 7/14. 1400 cyclists & 6500 Donuts! In this episode, 4x Finisher TDD Producer Bob joins in to interview Race Director Christian Hasselberg less than 24 hours sin…

House Hunters has to be one of the most popular shows on TV. It seems like its on a constant loop! Many of you have seen it, and watch it regularly, and like me, you try to figure out which house the people on the show will pick... and why! Jordan & Dawn Kettler have appeared on the show not once, but TWICE! I thought it be a great idea to have the…

Cuba lies 80 miles from the U.S., but its a whole world away. In 2016, travel restrictions to this island nation were eased, but this is a hardly a vacation destination like other Caribbean islands. Recently, my friend, and yours, Greg Shiveley and his wife Leslie made the trip. We talk about eating, communist rule, going back in time, and how the …

Of course Superfan, and almost Co-Host at this point, Zach Wygal has to stop by to talk all the Summer Concerts in Hillsboro. We preview and listen to this years bands... The Bashful Youngens, Revolution, Cary Miller Band, Petty Cash Junction, and the Good Time Engineers. Then we talk about alot more... How Snow Days happen, or Not... Rants on Soci…

We’re BAAACCKKK! Finally out with a new Podcast, and previewing our upcoming season. We start off with John & Bob recapping the wild #QueenofHearts ride at @Turner Hall, what’s been going on in their lives to explain the long hiatus, and get caught up on Bob’s kart racing career! Brought to you by Ageless Apparel -https://www.facebook.com/AgelessAp…

Meet the World Renowned.. (Disney World that is...) Kenny The Pirate! Recently Kenny and his daughter Jordan completed the #WDW47, riding every ride in Walt Disney World, all 47 of them, in one day! As a huge WDW fan myself, I had to know what that was like! Kenny is great guy, a great interview, and is a legend in the Disney community. He has a pl…

What was Christmas Morning Like? In this episode, we bring back fan favorite Emily Schneider and add my daughter Alison to bring you a panel on Christmas Toys from your past. The favorites, the over hyped, and those you wished for, and either got from Santa... or didn't. Plenty of classic toy commercials as well that inspired so many kids through t…

A Christmas present for you all. On Friday, 12/15, I had the honor of sitting in on the John Michael Marty show on WSMI radio. Truly a Christmas present to me. JMM reached out after finding the show on Facebook, and wanted to know "What's That Like?". At somepoint in the future, we will have JMM on the WTLPod! This audio is dirent from the show, an…

By John Knowles focusing on the interesting people, places, and events in Central Illinois

The show is 6 months old, and Bob the Producer had an idea, tell the story of how we got here, so Bob turned the tables, and interviewed John on how the show came to be, how it's evolved, and where it might be headed in the future! Then, in the spirit of turning tables, our past guests then come back to ask John some off the wall questions of their…

James Labonte is a photographer with a passion. His business Labonte Photograpy has taken photographs of 100s of locals for the last ten year. In the last few years, he's expanded to helping you learn the craft via classes to help you better use your own equipment. A real pro and veteran of the scene who is always improving. He's also the lead guid…

Kaylan Schardan of American Hauntings, our #1 downloaded guest, is back and talking more local haunted history. She dives heavy into some sites in Alton, and previews a Fall slate of Haunted Tours and Investigations in Carlinville! Glad to have her as the first returning guest. If you missed her first episode... don't fear... this isnt a sequel... …

Skip Talbot had a powerful tornado strike his hometown as a child, and it ignited a passion for life. We talk about the movie "Twister", his early chases, and his experiences in the Great Planes. We also talk about the day Storm Chasing lost it's innocence after the deaths of Storm Chasing Legends Tim Samaras, Carl Young, and Paul Samaras died chas…

Randy Bersch became a music festival promoter almost by accident. He wanted to have something cool with Steve Ewing of the Urge, and is partnering with Turner Hall to bring Steve and 11 other acts to Mount Olive for the first annual Turnerfest. https://www.facebook.com/Mt.OliveIL/ One of the performers that day is Adam Gaffney. Adam has a new band,…

In this episode, John is joined by Bronson Painter, a Glen Carbon police officer who also operates Metro-East Firearms Training, LLC. His company teaches Concealed Carry classes for Illinois residents seeking a Concealed Carry Permit. Bronson covers what the classes are like, what you learn, the legal issues, and practical instruction with firearms…

In this episode, the story of Turner Hall with Todd Overby with Cara & Gabe Dexheimer. They discuss the history of Turner Hall, the Mt Olive Homecoming, Bowling, Volleyball, Poley, and the $25,000+ Queen of Hearts Drawings! A fun conversation with the folks who run the hugging-est bar you've ever been to! moturnerhall.com facebook.com/turner.hall.5…

Pete Visintin is a driven individual that has the determination and will to succeed. He started Fight the Fight Clothing out of a family medical event that inspired him to help others in need. He also mentors local youth and allows them to enter the business world with real world experience. His journey is phenomenal and inspiring. fightthefightclo…