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City Cast Chicago

David Plotz

City Cast is committed to tracking–and publishing–demographic information about our podcast guests. Diversity is a 

, and accountability is another. We want to have podcast guests who are diverse in race and ethnicity, gender, economic background, and geography. Tracking and publicizing guest demographics is a way to hold us accountable for representing the diversity of Chicago.

So are we living up to our values? How diverse is our podcast guest pool, really?

This is the fourth year of data we have about City Cast Chicago’s guests. (

.) We ask each of our podcast guests a few questions about their gender identity, racial/ethnic identity, and neighborhood. About 90% of guests responded in 2025. The following data encompass a total of 108 guests who appeared on the podcast between Nov. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2025. (We did not count City Cast Chicago staffers who appeared on the podcast.)

We then used census data to compare our podcast guests to the broader city and metro populations. This helps us see how well we’re reflecting the community we’re serving.

As you can see in the chart, City Cast Chicago’s guests broadly mirrored the population of the city and region. We had a higher percentage of Black guests than the city and metro area, and about the same percentage of white and Asian-American guests as the city. City Cast Chicago had fewer Hispanic guests than you'd expect based on Chicago’s population–only 14% compared to 23% for the metro area.

We also asked about gender identity. A 64% majority of our guests identified as female, the highest percentage in the City Cast network. About 33% identified as male and 3% identified as non-binary.

Learn more about guest diversity on other City Cast podcasts here.

This is the fourth year of data we have about City Cast Chicago’s guests. We ask each of our podcast guests a few questions about their gender identity, racial/ethnic identity, and neighborhood.

How Diverse Were City Cast Chicago’s Podcast Guests in 2025?

News and updates about the City Cast Chicago podcast and Hey Chicago newsletter.

City Cast Chicago Announcements

Announcements

Welcome to City Cast Chicago Neighbors, our newly-revamped 

 that helps deepen your connection to Chicago. Here’s everything you need to know about our growing Neighbor community.

What It Means to Be a City Cast Chicago Neighbor

At City Cast Chicago, our team brings you the stories that matter — right here in our own backyard. We dig deep into the conversations shaping our communities with the people who give the city its heartbeat. In a time with increasing rhetoric and a barrage of national headlines, we spotlight the conversations impacting our neighborhoods, and celebrate the neighbors who make Chicago unique.

Because better neighbors make for better cities.

 And City Cast Chicago Neighbors are the best.

Your membership directly supports local journalism and the stories you rely on to better understand Chicago. Here’s what else you get:

 You’ll get access to regular events like special insider tours, local volunteering meetups, happy hours with other City Cast Chicago Neighbors, and other Neighbors-only events where we share ideas about how to make the city better for everyone.

submit your favorite local business or organization

 to be mentioned on the show and in the Hey Chicago newsletter. It’s your chance to shine a light on the local spots making a difference.

 right in your inbox every Monday, so you can make the most of your time in the city.

 A special feed just for Neighbors where you can listen to the City Cast Chicago podcast without advertisements.

 and help us build a better city, one good neighbor at a time.

Join the growing community of City Cast Chicago Neighbors

Here's everything you need to know about our new membership program, expanded benefits, and member exclusives.

What Is City Cast Neighbors?

City Cast is committed to tracking — and publishing — demographic information about our podcast guests. Diversity is a 

This is the third year of data we have about City Cast Chicago’s guests. (

.) We ask each of our podcast guests a few questions about their gender identity, racial/ethnic identity, and neighborhood. About 90% of guests responded in 2024. The following data encompass a total of 103 responding guests who appeared on the podcast between Nov. 1, 2023 and Oct. 31, 2024. (We did not count City Cast Chicago staffers who appeared on the podcast.)

As you can see in the chart, City Cast Chicago’s guests broadly mirrored the population of the city and region. We had a higher percentage of Black guests than the city and metro area, and about the same percentage of white and Asian-American guests as the community. City Cast Chicago had fewer Hispanic guests than you'd expect based on Chicago’s population–only 17% compared to 23% for the metro area–but that represents a significant improvement over 2023, when only 12% of guests were Hispanic.

We also asked about gender identity. A 63% majority of our guests identified as female, the highest percentage in the City Cast network. About 35% identified as male and 2% identified as non-binary.

This is the third year of data we have about City Cast Chicago’s guests. We ask each of our podcast guests a few questions about their gender identity, racial/ethnic identity, and neighborhood.

How Diverse Were City Cast Chicago’s Podcast Guests in 2024?

When we launched City Cast in 2021, we committed to tracking–and publishing–demographic information about our podcast guests. Diversity is a 

This is the second year of data we have about City Cast Chicago’s guests. (

.) We ask each of our podcast guests a few questions about their gender identity, racial/ethnic identity, and neighborhood. About 95% of guests responded in 2023. The following data encompass a total of 145 responding guests who collectively made 213 podcast appearances from Nov. 1, 2022 through Nov. 9, 2023. (We did not count City Cast Chicago staffers who appeared on the podcast.)

We then used census data to compare our podcast guests to the broader city population. This helps us see how well we’re reflecting the community we’re serving.

As you can see in the chart, City Cast Chicago’s guests broadly mirrored the population of the city and region. We had a higher percentage of Black guests than the city and metro area, and about the same percentage of white and Asian-American guests as the community. But City Cast Chicago had about half the Hispanic guests you’d expect based on Chicago’s population–only 12% compared to 23% for the metro area.

We increased the percentage of Hispanic guests between 2022 and 2023, but not as much as we hoped to. There are understandable reasons for this shortfall: Many Hispanics and Latinx people are immigrants, and immigrant communities are traditionally hard for journalists outside those communities to access. Some may not consume much English-language media. As a result, Hispanic/Latinx residents of Chicago may be less likely to know City Cast Chicago and be part of the community we’re building. But we need to keep pushing to get more excellent Hispanic/Latinx guests on City Cast Chicago.

We also asked about gender identity. A 53% majority of our guests identified as female, with 43% identifying as male and 4% identifying as non-binary.

Learn more about guest diversity on other City Cast podcasts here

Diversity is a core City Cast Chicago value, and accountability is another. Here's how diverse our City Cast Chicago podcast guests were in 2023.

How Diverse Were City Cast Chicago’s Podcast Guests in 2023?

Support City Cast Chicago today and be a founding member forever.

Announcements

How Diverse Were City Cast Chicago’s Podcast Guests in 2025?

What Is City Cast Neighbors?

How Diverse Were City Cast Chicago’s Podcast Guests in 2024?

Latest articles

How Diverse Were City Cast Chicago’s Podcast Guests in 2023?

City Cast Chicago Founding Members