Wednesday’s With Whit On WGN Radio

February may be the shortest month of the year, but for Whitney Reynolds, it is one of the busiest.

On this episode of Wednesdays with Whit on WGN Radio, Whitney gave listeners a behind-the-scenes look at what it means to produce a national season of the Whitney Reynolds Show while continuing to show up for the city she calls home.

Producing a post-produced talk show means the work begins long before viewers ever see an episode. Interviews are taped, edited, sent to post-production, reviewed multiple times, and strategically released. This season will premiere first in Chicago on Lakeshore PBS on April 13 at 6:30 p.m, before airing nationally on PBS’s World Channel. For Whitney, keeping Chicago as the first audience is intentional. The show may reach the nation, but its heart remains rooted here.

Whitney also reflected on a recent trip to New York, a city that helped shape her early career. Returning to visit the newly relocated Good Morning America studio, where she once interned at 21, offered perspective on growth and longevity in media.

While there, she also taped an episode with fashion designer Jeffrey Banks, whose decades-long career reflects persistence, reinvention, and craftsmanship. For Whitney, the visit reinforced the importance of continuing to evolve while staying grounded in purpose.

This weekend, she’s participating in the Polar Plunge benefiting Special Children’s Charities, which supports the Special Olympics and inclusive programming within CPS and Chicago Park District programs. What began as a personal commitment to daily cold plunges has turned into preparation for one of Chicago’s most spirited fundraising traditions.

She also shared a deeply personal moment surrounding a recent mammogram and how that experience strengthened her commitment to walking in the Glitz & Glamour fashion show benefiting A Silver Lining Foundation. The organization’s “Give a Mom a Mammogram” program provides free screenings to uninsured and underinsured women in Chicago. For Whitney, the cause became more tangible after navigating her own follow-up testing and recognizing the financial barriers many women face.

In addition, she spotlighted the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign and local nominee Monsey Shaw, who is raising awareness around cardiovascular disease. 

Wednesdays with Whit continues to offer listeners not just updates, but a look at how media, advocacy, and community work intersect. As Whitney shared on air, the goal is to be a strong voice of hope, not only on television, but in the everyday spaces where real change happens.

Catch Wednesdays with Whit on WGN Radio with John Landecker, and stay tuned for more updates from the Whitney Reynolds Show, where every story reminds us that hope is found in every season.