![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ad420a_0400c1b1304144f5837ca4dd564183e8~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_652,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/ad420a_0400c1b1304144f5837ca4dd564183e8~mv2.jpg)
![Image of Peter Medlin, education journalist and podcast host of Teachers' Lounge at WNIJ, Northern Public Radio. He is in his kitchen holding his cat, a long haired orange and white cat named Jerbear who has an orange mustache. He has long blonde hair and a beard.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b9a723_75aeb226f78a4d2b89a201a9009e3059~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_335,w_3024,h_3361/fill/w_296,h_329,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/JERRY.jpg)
ABOUT ME
I am an education reporter for the station and host of WNIJ's Teachers' Lounge podcast. I am a graduate of North Central College where I was the news editor of their student-run news magazine and website “NCCLinked,” as well as a host for their pure rock radio station WONC. After graduating, I reported for Naperville Community TV, before hopping back into radio at WNIJ. I love comic books, writing, running and basketball; and can often be found playing with my cat, who is very cute and rules my apartment with an iron paw.
MY INTERESTS
EDUCATION
SPORTS &
POP CULTURE
Education has been my beat at WNIJ for a few years now, and while I was first inspired by my family connections to the field, both my mom and stepmom are educators, I've grown to be passionate about education as a field.
I love sports, so I love every chance I get to cover it professionally, as well as pop culture as a whole. I've mainly been covering high school and college sports, but every so often I get requested to come on to different radio shows to give my analysis on professional teams.
PODCASTING
Hosting Teachers' Lounge has been the highlight of my professional career thus far--I've interviewed so many fascinating educators and done so many interesting things with the podcast. I couldn't be more proud of the work I've done with Teachers' Lounge.
MY HOBBIES
![Image of Peter Medlin, education journalist and podcast host of Teachers' Lounge for WNIJ, Northern Public Radio. He is sitting on a cliff at Devil's Lake in Wisconsin, facing away from the camera, looking out at the lake. He is wearing a black baseball hat, red and black flannel shirt, shorts, and running shoes.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b9a723_e8eb39a338a84a81b007cb4d5a1110c3~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_114,w_3024,h_3804/fill/w_252,h_317,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/HIKING.jpg)
I love hiking and I've hiked all over the country, from the Appalachians in the east to Mt Rainer in the west. I mainly go out exploring the great outdoors with my dad and my brothers, but I often go for solo runs through the woods.
![Image of Peter Medlin, education journalist and podcast host of Teachers' Lounge for WNIJ, Northern Public Radio, and his father at a White Sox game in Chicago. He is wearing a denim jacket over a North Central College t-shirt, and his father is wearing sunglasses with a zip up sweatshirt over a blue Run MDI t-shirt.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b9a723_2b46939401e044bebd8f9e5a41756e1d~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_1249,y_0,w_2459,h_3024/fill/w_258,h_317,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/BASEBALL.jpg)
I love sports, but the sport I love most of all is baseball, and the team I love the most is the White Sox. I've been to countless games with my dad, a Cardinals fan, and I have more baseball trivia facts memorized than I care to disclose here.