If you haven’t been to any of Hannibal Buress’s recent shows, you probably know him as a stand-up comedian and actor from shows like “Broad City.” But he also happens to be a musician and a rapper. Last winter, he dropped a new single called “Knee Brace” under the moniker Eshu Tune. Since then, he’s been doing hybrid stand-up and musical performances on tour. During the last week of 2023, we’re commemorating the 50th anniversary of hip hop by returning to our most memorable episodes on the subje...
Dec 29, 2023•13 min
During the last week of 2023, we’re commemorating the 50th anniversary of hip hop by returning to our most memorable episodes on the subject. SoloSam is a Chicago rapper, producer, and chef with a cooking show series , a cookbook and B-EATS. It’s a bi-monthly party series that combines good food, good music and community. “If it wasn’t for food I wouldn’t have grown as a music artist, for sure,” he said. In this episode from August, we play some of his songs, learn about his Ghanian-Korean herit...
Dec 28, 2023•19 min
To round out 2023, we’re commemorating the 50th anniversary of hip hop by returning to some of our favorite interviews about the genre. Next year, the National Public Housing Museum will open in Chicago, and DJ Spinderella is curating the music room. WBEZ hosted an event with the museum back in August, so we took the opportunity to sit down with DJ Spinderella and Chicago-based singer Isaiah Sharkey. In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Sharkey and DJ Spinderella about how growing up in pub...
Dec 27, 2023•13 min
During the last week of 2023, we’re commemorating the 50th anniversary of hip hop by returning to our most memorable episodes on the subject. Ye – the artist formerly known as Kanye West — has been stirring up controversy for decades now, for better or for worse. We come back to our conversation with professor and Chicago native Jeffrey McCune Jr., who has written about, researched, and taught classes on Ye. He’s here to add even more nuance to how we think about the many different versions of Y...
Dec 26, 2023•24 min
Illinois politicians are weighing in on former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke's corruption conviction. Half of the counties in Illinois are reporting elevated numbers of hospitalizations due to COVID-19. Chicago’s animal shelters are at capacity as adoption rates slow.
Dec 22, 2023•4 min
Richard Hunt’s sculptures are all over the city of Chicago – at McCormick Place, Midway Airport, and too many more locations to list – and they’re all around the country too. With over 160 installations, Hunt is one of the most prolific creators of public art in America. He passed away on Saturday. He was 88 years old. In this episode, his friend and biographer Jon Ott explains why Hunt – born in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood in 1935 – was “one of the most important figures in art history.” “H...
Dec 22, 2023•21 min
Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke is convicted of federal corruption charges. Criminal charges dropped against more than two dozen U of C students who staged a sit in. CPS won’t provide bus transportation to students in elementary magnet and selective enrollment schools this year.
Dec 22, 2023•5 min
Former Chicago Alderperson Ed Burke has been found guilty of racketeering by a federal jury. Adjunct faculty at Columbia College Chicago have ratified a new contract that brings an end to a seven weeks-long strike. Soccer superstar Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will take on the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on August 31, 2024.
Dec 21, 2023•4 min
Grief – does it have to be sad? How do children grieve? What if you feel awkward talking about loss with a loved one who’s grieving? In this episode, we revisit a conversation between host Erin Allen and Julie Weatherhead, a grief counselor and co-founder of Got Grief House. They speak to these questions and more.
Dec 21, 2023•11 min
A new report details the impact extreme heat has on neighborhoods across Chicago. For Chicago area students who need help paying for college, this application season has been an especially anxious one because the FAFSA may not fully open until December 31. Today is the winter solstice, and Chicagoans will see only about nine hours and eight minutes of daylight.
Dec 21, 2023•5 min
The death of a boy living in a Chicago migrant shelter is drawing renewed scrutiny to shelter conditions. Healthcare workers and long COVID patients gathered in front of UIC Hospital today to call for stronger protections in healthcare facilities. Since the 1880s, fewer than half of Chicago Christmases have been white – defined as having at least one inch of snow on the ground on December 25th – and the chances of a white Christmas this year are slim.
Dec 20, 2023•4 min
Morgan Elise Johnson considers “The Triibe” – that’s the digital news publication she co-founded in 2017 – as part of the legacy of Black liberatory press. “And sometimes I know that our approach, I'm just going to say, it ruffles some feathers,” Johnson said. “We're very unapologetically Black about it. You know, and we're very much here for Black liberation.’” The latest issue of “The Triibe Guide” is one of the organization’s more recent contributions. It’s essentially the Black and Indigenou...
Dec 20, 2023•19 min
Conditions inside a migrant shelter in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood could be getting worse. A Democrat running for Cook County state’s attorney once prosecuted a boy for a murder that took place when he was 10 – his confession was later found to be coerced. Chicago area hospitals are seeing an uptick in the number of people hospitalized for respiratory illnesses.
Dec 20, 2023•5 min
Two women who worked as lifeguards at public beaches have sued the Chicago Park District. Volunteers say migrants in Chicago are scrambling to find housing ahead of a plan to limit how long they can stay in shelters. Planned Parenthood of Illinois is opening a new health center in Carbondale, which becomes its southernmost clinic in the state.
Dec 19, 2023•5 min
Since the war started between Israel and Hamas, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel students on college campuses across the United States have been embroiled in their own conflict. Shouting matches have erupted, and the University of Pennsylvania president stepped down after criticism of her response to antisemitic comments on campus. But, away from the angry shouting matches, a lot of students are grieving. In this episode, we hear how two students in the Chicago area — one Jewish, one Palestinian —...
Dec 19, 2023•10 min
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says Texas’ governor is in part to blame for a 5-year-old migrant child’s death. After six weeks of trial, a federal jury has been sent to deliberate the corruption case against Ed Burke — one of the most powerful aldermen in Chicago history. A strike that disrupted classes at Columbia College Chicago for six weeks may be coming to an end.
Dec 19, 2023•5 min
A federal jury is now deliberating the federal corruption case against former Chicago Alderperson Ed Burke. The death of a 5-year-old boy who was staying at a migrant shelter in Pilsen is raising questions about conditions inside these facilities. The Columbia College Faculty Union says a tentative agreement has been made with the administration that ends a 49-day strike with adjuncts.
Dec 18, 2023•4 min
Five years from now, when you think of Chicago in 2023, what might come to mind? Maybe Brandon Johnson’s victory in the mayoral race, the statewide elimination of cash bail or the escalating migrant crisis. Maybe the Northwestern football hazing scandal or the giant snapping turtle affectionately nicknamed Chonkasaurus. We couldn’t possibly cover it all, so we’re closing out 2023 by looking back on the most memorable moments of the year. In this episode, host Erin Allen and The Rundown newslette...
Dec 18, 2023•19 min
Migrants are now subject to a 60-day limit on how long they can live in Chicago city shelters, but a WBEZ analysis finds that a majority of migrant shelter stays have been longer than that. Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke’s fate could be in the hands of a federal jury as soon as today. Fewer people are donating toys to the Salvation Army in the Chicago area this holiday season, yet there is greater need this year.
Dec 18, 2023•5 min
Attorneys for former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke are asking the jury to find him not guilty and send him home for his birthday later this month. A transgender Chicago man has filed a federal lawsuit against his former employer and union, saying they denied him gender-affirming care. Metra will offer discounted rides to anyone who receives assistance through SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – starting in February.
Dec 15, 2023•4 min
Where are recently-arrived migrants to Chicago living? And how do they get there? The answer to the first question is churches, police stations, city-run shelters, hotels, apartments, and – still for many – outdoors. The answer to the second question is just as complicated. “A lot of folks are having some success walking around neighborhoods and just looking for for-rent apartment signs, and then they try and go and talk with the landlord there,” said Chicago Sun-Times Reporter Michael Loria. “S...
Dec 15, 2023•18 min
Gun advocates remain optimistic despite recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to preserve Illinois’ gun ban. A mental health program for migrants in Chicago shelters could be a model for other cities. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced his strategy to reduce crime by using a community-driven approach.
Dec 15, 2023•5 min
The U.S. Supreme Court is leaving Illinois' Assault Weapons ban in place. The Chicago City Council blocked a resolution for voters to weigh in on the city’s sanctuary city designation. Starting December 31, anyone who works in Cook County can use paid leave at work for any reason.
Dec 14, 2023•3 min
In 1982, Carlos Tortolero left his teaching career to start a museum. The National Museum of Mexican Art opened its doors in Pilsen five years later, and it has stayed in the same building ever since. The museum champions Mexican artists from both Mexico and the U.S. “We represent a culture without borders,” Tortolero said. Now, with the museum on solid financial footing, he plans to retire at the end of 2023. In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Tortolero about his work, legacy and hopes f...
Dec 14, 2023•15 min
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says nearly all of the city’s police stations are no longer being used to shelter migrants. A Chicago City Council vote maintains Police Board authority over the most severe officer discipline cases – but the city could end up in a risky court fight about it. Closing arguments continue today in the federal corruption trial of former Chicago alderman Ed Burke.
Dec 14, 2023•5 min
Attorneys are making their closing arguments to the jury in the federal corruption trial of former Chicago alderman Ed Burke. The Chicago City Council voted to delay a plan to expand paid leave for workers. Google revealed its latest renovation plans for the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago, plans that would keep the building’s signature 17-story open atrium.
Dec 13, 2023•4 min
When there are so many things going wrong in the world, figuring out where and how to contribute can be overwhelming and paralyzing. Author Omkari Williams suggests thinking small. “I care about a lot of things, but I don’t care about everything,” Williams said on The Rundown. “But that’s perfect, because I don't need everything to be my thing. I need people to care about things that are not important to me so we can fix all the things.” Williams is the author of “ Micro Activism: How You Can Ma...
Dec 13, 2023•22 min
Chicago’s City Council today is taking up whether to allow police officers to challenge their most serious discipline cases behind closed doors. A new headquarters and $10 million for a Chicago innovation center focused on clean energy research. Former Chicago Alderman Danny Solis told a federal jury yesterday he secretly recorded his old colleague for the feds in order to “save” himself.
Dec 13, 2023•5 min
Former alderperson Danny Solis took the witness stand today in Ed Burke's federal corruption trial. The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report on last month's crash of a CTA Yellow Line into a piece of snow removal equipment. A proposal to bring rail service between Chicago and downstate Peoria has taken another step forward.
Dec 12, 2023•4 min
Berlin nightclub in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood closed permanently in November after four decades in business, amid stalled negotiations between the bar’s owners and its unionizing employees . In asking some of the people who worked there, danced there and made memories there, it’s obvious that Berlin was more than just a bar. “It felt like a secret almost,” said All The Way Kay, who DJed at Berlin for over 15 years. “It felt like something that you wanted to hold very, very close to you bec...
Dec 12, 2023•23 min
