This week, I’m joined by one of CNN’s “Heroes of the Year,” “Blues Doctor” Daniel Ivankovich. Wikipedia explains his work better than I can: He’s the “leader of the Bone Squad, a group of medical professionals who treat the city’s uninsured and underinsured.”
We visit the long-standing White Palace Grill on Roosevelt (it’s been there since 1939!) for delicious diner food and a conversation that includes:
*Getting the call from CNN
*The bizarre transformation fo the South Loop into a home for Whole Foods and Bed, Bath and Beyond
*Why he doesn’t practice on Chicago’s North Shore: “I probably would have slit my wrists”
*His work in the “war zone” (“Chicago is home to five of the most challenged communities in America”)
*What would happen if he switched to the dark side: “I have paralytic agents at my disposal… I could drop you in the blink of an eye.”
*The worst of what he’s seen
*What the blues mean to him
*Chicago’s role in the blues
*His band, Chicago Blues All-Stars (we even end the show with a full song from the band: “Mad Hatter’s Blues”)
Note: There is infrequent coarse language in this episode.
