Pete Kastanes Calls Into Hoppe Hour With Ryan Hoppe

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Door is closing. And now for something completely

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different. Happy hour. Happy hour. What's up?

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This is Hoppy Hour. I am your host, Ryan Hoppy.

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And from the Vanished Chicagoland online brand

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and the Vanished Chicago Stories, the podcast,

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the one and only Pete Kostanis is on Hoppy Hour.

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What's up, my man? I'm doing great. How about

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you? I'm doing great, man. I find you absolutely

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fascinating, Pete. I grew up in Chicago from

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1993 to 2014. Then I moved to Cleveland briefly,

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and then I moved to Tampa, and I've been here

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10 years. And I missed the city, but I don't.

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But I always love following Chicago pages that

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kind of remind me why I got into radio and podcasting.

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And I looked something up about 97 .9 The Loop,

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and you shared some post about two, three years

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ago, and I followed your page. Absolutely love,

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Pete, how you're keeping the Vanished Chicago

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memories that we have, the Vanished Chicagoland

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memories, you are keeping them alive. Oh, yes.

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I'm still doing this every day. People love it.

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I'm getting a lot of praise and getting a lot

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of followers, of course. It's just, it's my passion.

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I love doing it every day. So, um, what was the

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process? Obviously you can go to pages on Facebook

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and just create a Facebook page, but what was

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the process of just how did this brand explode

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so fast or did it take time or what, what was

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the whole process? Oh, okay. Well, I'll start

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at the beginning. Um, one day I was searching

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through Facebook and I noticed there was a, uh,

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a business page and it was called dispenses,

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capital of toys. I don't know if you remember

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that it was a big toy store out in, um, Oak Brook

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Terrace. And I look at it and I said, well, why

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is there a business page when it's not a business?

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You know, I think it was a trivia page. So I

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thought to myself, why don't I do something like

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that and celebrate all businesses that are gone?

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So I started, it was first called Chicago Extreme

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Businesses. So I started slowly and surely for

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a couple of years. And then someone reached out

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to me. It was from a local newspaper. And actually

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I like to do an interview with you. And I said,

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okay. And I, and then, so he interviewed me and

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then he published the interview online. And then

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that's when it took off. And I had like about

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32 ,000 likes in one day. And there's, I mean,

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yeah, I know. I was like, wait, wait a minute.

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Wow. And then, then that was my moment of being

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famous. for that. And then I've been interviewed

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on radio, interviewed on newspapers. I haven't

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been on TV yet. Not so far. Not yet. So now people

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associate with me with that. And it's been like

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that ever since. And it gets popular and popular

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and popular. And I still receive texts and emails

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from people. Can you please find me this? Can

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you post this for me? I get a lot of requests

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every day. That's the majority of my day of answering

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that. And then the media took notice and they

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love it. And it's wonderful. And let's see what

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else. So I created a group too. So right now

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I have about almost 240 ,000 members. Damn. And

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still growing. So what are some of the radio

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shows you've been on? I've been on WGN Radio,

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WBZ, WBBM. Yeah, I've been to three of those.

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I'm trying to think. There must be one more.

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Oh, I was on The Loop with Mancow. How was that?

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I grew up loving that guy, and I've DM'd him,

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and he's a fascinating cat. Not everybody likes

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him, but what was your experience with him? He

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was very quiet, and he liked me. I didn't talk

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to him much. But he was very interested, so that

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was good. As long as I was on the show with him,

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that was great. That was a very interesting experience

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for me. What did he have? Did he have women there?

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Because he's always got seven guests on. He had

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a few men. There was one girl there. Her name

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was Kathy. Oh, Kathy's awesome. Yeah, Kathy the

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Greek. Yeah, she's the one who contacted me.

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She asked me to appear. Yeah, she's very sweet.

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Very sweet person. And so, yeah, so that was

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my experience for Mancow. And I've been interviewed

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on the radio throughout the years, maybe once

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a year, maybe once or twice a year. And I had

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newspaper articles. I had one from the Sun -Times

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about a couple of years ago. And magazines. Yeah,

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I was interviewed by Chicago Magazine. Nice.

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Very nice. Yeah, it was very good. And it's amazing,

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you know, because a lot of people, you know,

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they love the page. They love that. And also,

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you know, they're also concerned about my health,

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of what's going on. So I get a lot of support.

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That's going to be awesome because I always feel

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like when you're facing cancer, why not be positive?

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You know what I mean? Yes. because I caught it

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early. And I always tell people, mostly men,

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because it's prostate cancer, please go see,

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if there's something wrong with you, if there's

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nothing right, please go see a doctor. It'll

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save your life. And some men are stubborn, but

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some do. And they thank me for that. You know,

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it's very touching. You know, it's almost the

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tears. You know, they tell me that, yeah, you...

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Well, what you said, you know, that you're very

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inspiring to do that. Now, growing up, well,

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for example, I interviewed Mark Giancarlo last

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year, and he said that Chicago radio and TV was

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like the Hollywood of Los Angeles. So everybody

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knew all the anchors. Everybody knew all the

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radio hosts. And I feel like it's not the same

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as it was back in the day. Who were some of your

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favorite TV and radio people from Chicago? Um,

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when I was growing up, I liked, uh, Bob Surratt

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and John Landecker. Um, who else? Uh, you know,

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there's so many, you know, as a matter of fact,

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Bob Surratt knows what I'm doing. That's, that's,

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that's, that's kind of cool. Yeah, it is. Um,

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but yeah, but right now, um, the people that

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like me a lot is the people from WGN TV. Yeah.

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Yeah. They, they like. They like what I do. And

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I do talk to them from time to time, you know,

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and, and let's see who else, but mostly some

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from WLS, you know, Chicago, you know, television.

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Yeah. I talked to a few people like that. Channel

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two, channel five, not much, not really. But

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whenever I post something on X or Facebook, they

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do see that and they reply or they like it. So

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that's cool. Yeah, so all of them know who I

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am, what I do, and it's wonderful. I feel like

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I'm in this group of them. Do you understand?

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Oh, no, I get it. There is the saying, you don't

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want to meet your heroes, but the one exception

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for me is Eddie Volkman from the Eddie and Jobo

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show. I grew up listening to Eddie and Jobo.

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I can't. specify enough how much I love the Eddie

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and Jobo show and I sat in on Eddie Volkman's

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show at Star 96 .7 back in like August and he's

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done some liners for me and it's so cool I bet

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you have the same feeling about Bob Surratt it's

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so cool when you actually meet a hero that's

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like a big supporter and fan you know oh yeah

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it's great and I do talk to Eddie on Facebook.

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He's great. I love Eddie. He is a wonderful man.

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Wonderful man indeed. Because I talk about his

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dad, you know, Harry Volkman. He did the weather.

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So Eddie, you know, sometimes he posts something

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and I say something funny. Yeah. And he starts

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laughing at me. Yeah, we communicate. You know,

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he's a wonderful man. He really is. He's a good

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guy. Where did you grow up in Chicago? Actually,

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I grew up in three neighborhoods. in Chicago,

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on the south side. One was South Shore. I lived

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there when I was six. Then I moved to Roseland

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for five years because my dad owned a property

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there. We lived in an apartment building above

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a shoe store. And then in 1974, I moved to Ashburn,

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that's on the south side, and lived there for

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about 25 years. Because I went to Bogan High

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School. I went there. And then in 1995, I moved.

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And then I moved to Oplon. So I'm a suburbanite.

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I've been a suburbanite. But most of my life,

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I've been a Chicagoan, a true Chicagoan. I'm

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from Arlington Heights. I went to Hersey High

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School, Thomas Middle School, Patton. And did

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you ever have any experience in the Heights?

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In Arlington Heights? Not really. But I used

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to work in Rolling Meadows. Oh, nice. At American

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Express Travel. I worked there for about 12 years.

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And I did, you know, Arlington Heights is nearby,

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you know. And so, yeah, I'm very familiar with

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the area. So that was the best job I ever had.

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And I worked as a ticketer. I issued tickets.

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And I still miss the job to this day. I really

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miss it. You know what's one thing that is the

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biggest difference about Florida and Illinois?

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Let's say when Dominic's went out of business

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in 2013 and they closed a lot of their stores

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in 2004, the lot will remain empty for 20 years.

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In Florida, something gets picked up six months

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later. And that was the biggest thing I've noticed

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about the difference. I was always fascinated

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by dead malls. I loved Randhurst Mall. And I

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always loved, me and my friends, maybe we were

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smoking weed, but we would be hanging out in

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front of the empty Dominicks in Prospect Heights.

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It's something you don't think about until you

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move, Pete, is there's a lot of empty lots in

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Illinois. It's just fascinating. Yeah, there

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is. Most of Dominic's have been replaced. Uh,

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I know a couple on the South side that haven't.

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Uh, so I don't know what's going on, but, uh,

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yeah, but I miss the store. I really do. It was

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a great store. Dominic's pizza was the absolute

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best. Oh, okay. Uh, yeah, I never had the, I

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don't think I ever had their pizza. Uh, I've

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had jewel. It was $5. My mom couldn't afford

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like dominoes in that. So we would go there and

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I would get a fruit punch, uh, soda. It was the

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best. Oh, that's great. Yeah. That's good. That's

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a great memory. Phenomenal. Uh, the one thing

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I want to ask you, um, what's been. biggest difference

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in Chicago from when you were growing up to now,

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obviously I think the crime has gotten worse,

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but like, what's the big difference you notice

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in the city? Uh, I don't know. It keeps changing.

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Uh, you know, businesses come and go. They really

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do. Uh, you know, and, um, You know, department

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stores are gone, mostly, you know, downtown,

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which is a shame. You know, like Marshall Fields

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and Carson's. What's the other one? I get top

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of my head. There was Litton's and all that.

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And then, of course, yeah, there was, yes, of

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course, there was Sears. And then we had the

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other stores, like the discount stores, like

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Zare, Venture. Now we have Target and Walmart.

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But we had those when I was a kid, and they were

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great stores. So it evolves. Everything evolves

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like that. But most people want some of the stores

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back, especially Marshall Fields. They want it

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back. They want it back so badly. I do, too.

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But we don't know if it is going to come back,

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because whoever runs the store is stubborn. But

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I have a feeling once we bring back the name,

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it'll be wonderful. It'll be awesome. People

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will come back because they miss it. And I miss

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it too. So we'll see. What did you think of Sears?

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I'm not going to say which family member because

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it's easy to find online, but I have a family

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member that was the head executive for like the

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Midwest branch of Sears. And I remember around

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05, 06, when I was really beginning to pick up

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memories, she was always concerned because Amazon

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was coming around and just kind of doing its

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thing. What did you think of Sears and its prime

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and what happened to it? Let's see what happened.

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You know, back in the old days, like the 50s

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and the 60s and maybe early 70s, it was a wonderful

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store. Their, you know, their management was

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great. You know, customer service was so top

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notch. And then it just all of a sudden just

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declined, you know, and then when you go to Sears

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before it closed, you couldn't find a salesperson,

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you know. And it was like, what the heck? So

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true. But it's so nostalgic. People miss the

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store very much because whenever you need something,

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you go there. If you want a washing machine or

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you want to buy a Kenmore or a stove or a refrigerator,

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boom, there it is. You go and buy it and pick

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it up. And it was always available. It was right

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there. It was accessible like that. Now it's

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gone, which is a shame because they had the Tusken

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jeans. They had the diehard batteries, you know,

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and, of course, the Sears wish book. They come

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out every year for Christmas. Oh, that was awesome,

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you know. But I do post now and then, you know,

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about Sears stuff. because the last one closed

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in Woodfields, in Schaumburg. That was the way

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I got into Woodfield, was either that or Carson's.

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Yes. Carson's was a great store. Very good store.

00:15:05.179 --> 00:15:09.399
It was a little less expensive than Marshall

00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:14.019
Fields, but their quality was wonderful. It was

00:15:14.019 --> 00:15:18.000
top -notch. It was great. And like I said, if

00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:19.940
you need something at Carson's, you go right

00:15:19.940 --> 00:15:24.639
there. Pick it up. Buy it. Take it home. That's

00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.220
how it was. I love deep dish pizza, but I'm more

00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:31.720
of a thin crust fan. What is your take on Chicago

00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:37.159
pizza? Oh, I like all pizza. Deep dish is fine.

00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:39.019
Thin crust is fine. As a matter of fact, one

00:15:39.019 --> 00:15:41.980
of my favorites is Dietl and Nick's. That's on

00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:44.159
85th and Pulaski in Chicago because I used to

00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:46.419
live in that old neighborhood. I went there maybe

00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:49.820
a couple years ago. People flock there. all the

00:15:49.820 --> 00:15:53.240
time because it's a very unique, they don't accept

00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:58.000
cash and, um, it's something different. It's

00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:01.860
very good. And, uh, but pizza, I love, you know,

00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:05.379
if it's thin crust, thick crust, deep dish stuffed,

00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.700
I'm all for it. I'm not, the only, my favorite,

00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.360
uh, toppings is just sausage and pepperoni. Oh,

00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:17.100
you don't like, um, fruit, no, no, uh, fruit.

00:16:18.230 --> 00:16:20.090
Fruit? Oh, on the pizza? You mean like pineapple?

00:16:20.350 --> 00:16:24.450
Yeah, yeah. I tried it once, but you know, it

00:16:24.450 --> 00:16:27.350
tastes strange, but you know, I have an open

00:16:27.350 --> 00:16:30.529
mind. I'd like to try it again. It's not bad,

00:16:30.669 --> 00:16:33.629
but I'm not going, like I've had pineapple pizza

00:16:33.629 --> 00:16:36.090
be dropped off in my radio jobs over the years

00:16:36.090 --> 00:16:38.429
and it's like edible, but I would never order

00:16:38.429 --> 00:16:43.210
it. You know what I mean? I think so. No, you

00:16:43.210 --> 00:16:45.970
know, but I'll try it someday, you know, but.

00:16:47.149 --> 00:16:49.629
We have some good pizza places, especially near

00:16:49.629 --> 00:16:53.470
my house. So you can't find it anywhere else.

00:16:53.529 --> 00:16:55.830
Yeah. What are your favorite memories of like

00:16:55.830 --> 00:16:59.870
Chicago sports over the years? Well, sports,

00:16:59.889 --> 00:17:03.350
I'm not much of a sports fan. Oh, really? Not

00:17:03.350 --> 00:17:06.869
really. But when I go to a game, like for example,

00:17:06.869 --> 00:17:10.210
I've been to a Hawks game and I've been to the

00:17:10.210 --> 00:17:14.150
Cubs. And if you're there, the experience of

00:17:14.150 --> 00:17:19.019
watching the game, is great. I love that. On

00:17:19.019 --> 00:17:22.160
TV, it's kind of dull, but when you're at the

00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:25.579
game with the crowds and you see the players,

00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:29.279
that's kind of exciting. That's very exciting.

00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.759
I had a good time there. I really did. It's not

00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:35.039
the same on TV because you have the announcers,

00:17:35.059 --> 00:17:37.759
they're talking, and they have the commercials

00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:41.019
and all that, but when you're at an actual game,

00:17:41.220 --> 00:17:43.420
it doesn't matter what sport, the Bulls, the

00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:47.519
Hawks, the Bears, There's nothing like it. There's

00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:51.440
nothing like it. I cannot ask a person who's

00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:54.299
from Chicago that grew up in the 70s, I cannot

00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:57.039
ask them and I cannot interview them without

00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:00.380
asking this. What was your experience with disco

00:18:00.380 --> 00:18:03.339
demolition? Were you at it? What's your experience

00:18:03.339 --> 00:18:07.440
with it? Well, here's the story. It happened

00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:12.380
in July 1979. The thing is, me and my family,

00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:16.670
we were in Greece. Oh, wow. Yeah, we were in

00:18:16.670 --> 00:18:19.529
Greece and I had no idea what was going on. But

00:18:19.529 --> 00:18:23.150
my brother received a letter from his friend

00:18:23.150 --> 00:18:27.650
in Greece and told him about it. And we had no

00:18:27.650 --> 00:18:30.809
idea. And when we came back like late August,

00:18:31.250 --> 00:18:34.690
my old neighborhood, everyone was talking about

00:18:34.690 --> 00:18:37.769
it. The kids in high school that I went, you

00:18:37.769 --> 00:18:40.799
know, Bogan. They went to that, and they said,

00:18:40.859 --> 00:18:43.140
Pete, you missed the biggest thing you ever had.

00:18:43.259 --> 00:18:45.779
Well, I was not supposed to go. My mom wanted

00:18:45.779 --> 00:18:48.900
to go to Greece, and I didn't want to go anyway,

00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:52.500
but we did, and we stayed for two months. And

00:18:52.500 --> 00:18:54.619
so I missed the entire disco demolition, and

00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:57.279
I talked about it on my podcast, and I do post

00:18:57.279 --> 00:19:00.559
pictures of that. On the podcast, I explained

00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:05.640
my experience of not knowing about it, and that

00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:09.490
was fascinating. It's a shame I missed it. No,

00:19:09.630 --> 00:19:12.490
I was born in 93, so I didn't get to hear The

00:19:12.490 --> 00:19:14.349
Loop and it's Hate Day, but I've heard a lot

00:19:14.349 --> 00:19:18.230
of it online. But Jonathan Brand, Johnny B's

00:19:18.230 --> 00:19:22.549
second run on 97 .9 The Loop in 05 and then when

00:19:22.549 --> 00:19:26.849
Dahl was on Jack FM and WCKG, both of those guys,

00:19:26.869 --> 00:19:30.690
dude, define radio for sure. Oh, that was great

00:19:30.690 --> 00:19:35.440
times. I listened to WCKG all the time. I listen

00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:37.319
to all radio stations, you know, where there's

00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:39.519
rock music. That's my favorite type of music.

00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.500
So, uh, when I was growing up, uh, when I was

00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:46.640
in high school, we had, uh, we had the loop and

00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:50.920
we also had WMET. That was 95 and a half FM and,

00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:57.720
uh, also WLS FM. Then, uh, yeah, B -96. I did

00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:01.000
listen to B -96 in the early eighties. And that

00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:03.400
was a, that was a fun time. That was a fun time.

00:20:03.460 --> 00:20:06.680
I love that. I used to listen all the time because

00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:11.119
music was changing. So, and, uh, and I was there

00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:15.740
when WLSFM turned into WDAI and it turned into

00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:19.720
the disco station. Yeah. And then it went back

00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:22.400
to rock about a couple of years later. So I was

00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:24.980
there when I listened to all of that. You know

00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:26.920
what I've, you know what I've heard about? Um,

00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:32.190
Z 95 is what I've heard about too. Yes. I did

00:20:32.190 --> 00:20:34.710
listen to that. I really did. It wasn't very

00:20:34.710 --> 00:20:39.130
long, but yeah, I remember that very well. Well,

00:20:39.210 --> 00:20:41.230
from what I've read, cause I'm a huge, like how

00:20:41.230 --> 00:20:44.589
you love the past about Chicago. I love radio

00:20:44.589 --> 00:20:46.589
and Chicago radio. So I've listened to a lot

00:20:46.589 --> 00:20:49.369
of stuff online and I believe it was, his name

00:20:49.369 --> 00:20:52.289
was Jason Barsky came to Chicago and tried to

00:20:52.289 --> 00:20:54.390
take out Eddie and Jobo, but that was kind of

00:20:54.390 --> 00:20:56.789
when Eddie and Jobo were first beginning. Cause

00:20:56.789 --> 00:20:59.730
Eddie was doing mornings. by himself for a few

00:20:59.730 --> 00:21:01.869
years, and he told me, and he said it on my show,

00:21:01.970 --> 00:21:04.890
and he told me in person, that having Jobo was

00:21:04.890 --> 00:21:07.809
the perfect kind of like, almost like devil to

00:21:07.809 --> 00:21:10.869
angel on your shoulder, because Eddie's a very

00:21:10.869 --> 00:21:14.089
clean -cut, classy guy, and Jobo's a little more

00:21:14.089 --> 00:21:18.190
unpredictable, you know? Yeah. Yeah, I did listen

00:21:18.190 --> 00:21:20.210
to those guys. Actually, I'm friends with them.

00:21:20.390 --> 00:21:24.049
I'm friends with Jobo on Facebook. Jobo's hilarious.

00:21:24.170 --> 00:21:29.450
Amazon package of the day. I love it. Every day

00:21:29.450 --> 00:21:33.029
you get to see what Jobo bought on Amazon. And

00:21:33.029 --> 00:21:36.430
I love the comments. He never responds, but he'll

00:21:36.430 --> 00:21:38.690
post something to like troll people. And then

00:21:38.690 --> 00:21:42.450
like 70 Karens will be like Jobo. It's amazing.

00:21:42.809 --> 00:21:45.650
Oh, that is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

00:21:46.890 --> 00:21:49.670
Now in your whole lifetime, before I let you

00:21:49.670 --> 00:21:51.769
go, what is your absolute favorite thing about

00:21:51.769 --> 00:21:57.880
Chicago? My favorite absolutely thing, you know,

00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:03.599
this is kind of strange because, you know, I

00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.359
have the page. I love doing that. That's my passion.

00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:10.299
But, you know, every year, you see, I'm a comic

00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:12.420
book fan. Yeah. I'm a huge comic book fan. And

00:22:12.420 --> 00:22:16.079
I go to, what's it called, Fan Expo in Rosemont

00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:19.759
every August. Oh, nice. Yeah. I go every year.

00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:22.829
I've been doing that for almost 30 years. I was

00:22:22.829 --> 00:22:25.490
going there. I just loved it because it's a great

00:22:25.490 --> 00:22:28.869
place to escape, you know, look at comics. They

00:22:28.869 --> 00:22:32.069
have celebrities there. It's like my Disneyland

00:22:32.069 --> 00:22:35.549
there. That's what it is. And, you know, I'm

00:22:35.549 --> 00:22:37.750
61 years old. I'm still doing this stuff, you

00:22:37.750 --> 00:22:40.589
know, but I enjoy it. I really do because I'm

00:22:40.589 --> 00:22:44.890
a huge fan of that. And, you know, other things

00:22:44.890 --> 00:22:47.009
like in Chicago, you know, we have so much culture.

00:22:47.390 --> 00:22:50.210
There's so many beautiful things to see, so many

00:22:50.210 --> 00:22:53.089
things to learn. That's what's great about that.

00:22:53.789 --> 00:22:57.069
And you meet the people. The people are wonderful.

00:22:57.349 --> 00:22:59.730
They really are. Now, before I let you go, do

00:22:59.730 --> 00:23:02.210
a quick plug. Tell everybody about everything

00:23:02.210 --> 00:23:07.829
you're up to. Okay. I run the page. It's called

00:23:07.829 --> 00:23:10.230
Vanish Chicago Land. I also have a group, the

00:23:10.230 --> 00:23:13.869
same name. I also have a podcast. It's called

00:23:13.869 --> 00:23:17.180
Vanish Chicago Land Stories, the podcast. You

00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:22.160
can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon

00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.779
Music, any app that has podcasts. I also have

00:23:25.779 --> 00:23:29.900
a YouTube channel. You can find the podcast as

00:23:29.900 --> 00:23:32.599
well. You can do a search engine. I say this

00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:34.660
every time I do a podcast. I tell them where

00:23:34.660 --> 00:23:37.019
you can find them, where you can find the podcast.

00:23:37.099 --> 00:23:40.000
You can listen anywhere, on your phone, your

00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.619
desktop, your car, any place. So that's what

00:23:44.619 --> 00:23:48.119
I do. Well, Pete, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt

00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:50.960
you, but it's been a lot of fun having you on

00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:55.279
the show. I'm coming to Chicago in May for my,

00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:58.859
I can't believe it, my 2007 born cousin is graduating

00:23:58.859 --> 00:24:01.799
high school. So I decided I had like a free plane

00:24:01.799 --> 00:24:04.319
ticket kind of deal to like fly out. And I was

00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:06.200
like, why not fly out for that? So I'm going

00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:09.539
to be in Chicago for my cousin's high school

00:24:09.539 --> 00:24:11.359
graduation. So if you're free, I would love to

00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:14.150
get coffee and meet you. Oh, that'd be wonderful.

00:24:14.390 --> 00:24:16.269
Yeah, that'd be great. We can get together. We

00:24:16.269 --> 00:24:18.390
could talk, you know, that'd be, that'd be awesome.

00:24:18.529 --> 00:24:21.029
I will definitely hit you up, Pete. It's been

00:24:21.029 --> 00:24:23.349
a lot of fun having you on the show and thank

00:24:23.349 --> 00:24:25.309
you for everything you've done for the city of

00:24:25.309 --> 00:24:27.750
Chicago, because it's very hard. It's called

00:24:27.750 --> 00:24:30.210
vanished Chicagoland for the right reason. It's

00:24:30.210 --> 00:24:32.190
sometimes hard to find the memories, but when

00:24:32.190 --> 00:24:34.230
you see it on Facebook, you're like, you kind

00:24:34.230 --> 00:24:38.910
of get that like dopamine hit. Oh, never heard

00:24:38.910 --> 00:24:42.859
it that way before, but thank you. And, uh, I

00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:46.279
appreciate that. I really do. It's a wonderful

00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:50.539
thing. I just love doing it. Pete, keep up the

00:24:50.539 --> 00:24:52.519
good work. Thank you for calling into Hoppy Hour

00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:55.720
with Ryan Hoppy. Oh, well, thank you, Ryan. I

00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:57.619
enjoyed talking to you. All right. Have a great

00:24:57.619 --> 00:25:01.259
day, and I will see you in May. Okay. That's

00:25:01.259 --> 00:25:03.640
a date. All right. Sounds good. All right. See

00:25:03.640 --> 00:25:07.799
you, bro. Okay, Brian. Bye. And that was Pete

00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:11.740
Kostanis of the Vanished Chicagoland brand and

00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:14.420
Vanished Chicagoland Stories, the podcast, as

00:25:14.420 --> 00:25:16.000
he called it in the Hoppy Hour. Now, I grew up

00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.599
in Chicago from 1993 to 2014. I listened to,

00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.559
I was huge in the radio. I listened to Eddie

00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:25.819
and Jovo, Jonathan Brandmeier, Drex, Steve Dahl.

00:25:27.529 --> 00:25:31.170
Rover, Opie and Anthony, Roe and Gary. Can you

00:25:31.170 --> 00:25:33.390
tell I liked radio? So I interned at Dance Factory

00:25:33.390 --> 00:25:36.470
Radio and was on air with Lewis 2 Live. Then

00:25:36.470 --> 00:25:40.509
I was on WNUR 89 .3 FM. I snuck into Northwestern

00:25:40.509 --> 00:25:43.170
University while going to the Illinois Media

00:25:43.170 --> 00:25:46.529
School, which is great. Then I was on WHCM 88

00:25:46.529 --> 00:25:50.460
.3 Harper College Radio. And I also interned

00:25:50.460 --> 00:25:52.619
with Steve Dahl, who's the GOAT. So here's the

00:25:52.619 --> 00:25:54.359
thing, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

00:25:54.460 --> 00:25:57.240
is my show is built for you, Chicago. I have

00:25:57.240 --> 00:25:59.380
two versions, one where I do radio interviews

00:25:59.380 --> 00:26:02.559
and talk to people like Pete, and I've interviewed

00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:06.119
Mark Giniograko. I have a whole archive of it.

00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:08.599
So here's the deal. Go to every single major

00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:11.240
platform that has a podcast and search up Hoppy

00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:16.059
Radio, H -O -P -P -E Radio. And I'm on all social

00:26:16.059 --> 00:26:19.019
media at Ryan Hoppy Radio. This has been Hoppy

00:26:19.019 --> 00:26:21.880
Hour. I am your host, Ryan Hoppy, and I expect

00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:22.920
you to tune in, Chicago.