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**Doors open at 5:30 pm
Description:
Sometimes the right choice looks really wrong to most people. For Anthony Ponce, the right choice was quitting his prestigious job as a news anchor to drive a Lyft full-time. Through this transition, he struck out on his own and created a podcast called “Backseat Rider,” which has Anthony interviewing a diverse group of Chicagoans who are passengers in his Lyft.
Anthony Ponce is a veteran Chicago journalist. In July 2016, he received national attention when a video went viral, announcing he quit his job as an anchor/reporter at NBC to become a full-time Lyft driver and to launch Backseat Rider. In his new role, Anthony brings audiences the wide-ranging, hilarious, touching, sometimes bizarre, and always real conversations he has with his passengers. “Listening is a lost art form,” he told CNN. “What I think is missing right now in our national dialogue is aggressive listening.”
Anthony graduated from Indiana University and has a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University. He lives on the North Side of Chicago with his wife, Maggie, and son, Theo.
Erika Maldonado is the main anchor of Univision Chicago News, joining the team in July of 2004 as a General Assignment Reporter. Erika began her career in her native Venezuela as a News Anchor for both radio and television. Her excellent work covering politics, education, hard news, religion, and community has been honored with 5 Emmy awards and 21 nominations, 1 "Studs Terkel Community Media" award and 2 nominations to "Peter Lisagor" awards.
Erika studied at Florida International University and has an MA in Investigative Journalism and a Cum Laude BA in Mass Communications.
