City Cast Chicago

Chicago is set to get blasted with dangerously cold temperatures this week, which only highlights the desperate need to safely house people who are homeless. Pilsen resident Andy Robledo is trying to help by building large orange ice-fishing tents more suited to cold weather. Producer Simone Alicea went out with Robledo to Humboldt Park where volunteers were building the tents, and talked to some...

Chicago City Council gave the Bally’s Casino its official stamp of approval, but will they do the same with a plan to bring NASCAR to Chicago? Plus, bigger fines for blocking bike lanes, and check if your Starbucks is open this morning. Several stores in the area are planning to strike starting Friday. And of course we’ve good news like a WWE show, a South Side art exhibit, and some holiday tradit...

In a joint statement published this week, Chicago’s daily newspapers, TV news stations, and online outlets pushed back on a city policy that blocks real-time access to police scanners. The Office of Emergency Management said encrypting transmissions on a 30-minute delay will “enhance officer safety and prevent suspects from gaining a tactical advantage by listening to live incidents and investigat...

If your holiday travels take you through O’Hare International Airport, consider this list for places to eat and drink. Writer Matt Kirouac recently compiled the list of best restaurants at the airport for Thrillist. Lead producer Carrie Shepherd and Kirouac talk about how to stay fed and happy while you’re traveling. For a list of best places to eat at Chicago’s other airport, Midway, check out th...

This time of year, publications are releasing their “Best Of” lists, and in Chicago, that often means: “Best Restaurants.” One place that may not be on the list is a sort of hidden gem that offers a fancy, affordable meal with excellent service and views of Millennium Park. The Dining Room is the teaching restaurant for students at Kendall College. City Cast Chicago talks to students and instructo...

Chicago’s tourism arm, Choose Chicago, has a goal of about 54 million visitors for 2023. That means leisure and business travelers pumping money into the economy. Choose Chicago President and CEO Lynn Osmond says the agency's goal is not just about driving tourism to the Loop, but the city is also focusing marketing efforts on getting tourists to the neighborhoods. Host Jacoby Cochran talks to Osm...

November’s general election saw the fourth-lowest midterm voter turnout in Illinois in 40 years. So what can we expect in Chicago’s municipal elections? Hooligan Magazine founder Rivka Yeker and Chicago Tribune reporter A.D. Quig talk with host Jacoby Cochran about that story and more, including upcoming sticker shock for COVID treatments and vaccines, potential job cuts at Howard Brown Health, an...

We met up with Lincoln Square neighbor Gretchen Eng to discuss her favorite things to do, see, and eat in the North Side neighborhood. Gretchen's Recs: Spoon Thai Cafe Selmarie Luella’s Southern Kitchen Miku Sushi Taqueria el Asadero Jimmy’s Pizza Gather Bistro Campagne Gene’s Sausage Shop & Delicatessen Merz Apothecary  Vom Fass Timeless Toys Neighborly Old Town School of Folk Music  Banjo after...

Dario Durham and Sara Faddah come from very different food traditions. Faddah is originally from Jordan, and cooks the Arab foods her grandmother made. Durham is a born and bred Chicagoan, and grew up on soul food. So when they started dating in 2019, they started exploring each other’s food cultures and building their own list of favorite dishes and restaurants as a couple. They then decided to e...

Across Chicago, cars have crashed into cyclists in the bike lane more than 400 times between 2020-22, according to an investigation by the Illinois Answers Project and Block Club Chicago. So what can city and state officials do to make Chicago streets safer for cyclists? Kyle Lucas and Michael Podgers with Better Streets Chicago tell us four things that have to happen. A spokesperson from Mayor Lo...

Season three of “South Side” premieres Thursday on HBOMax. The comedy follows various characters — from workers at a rent-to-own store to wannabe rappers to cops — as they make their hustle on Chicago’s South Side. Creators Diallo Riddle (who plays Allen Gayle), Sultan Salahuddin (Simon), and Bashir Salahuddin (Officer Goodnight) tell host Jacoby Cochran about what inspired the show and how they s...

The filing deadline for the February municipal election was Monday. One name that won’t be on the ballot for the first time in over 50 years is Southwest Side 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke. The indicted alderperson decided to quietly bow out of the race as he faces a federal corruption trial and an unfavorably redrawn ward. We are joined by WTTW politics reporter Heather Cherone and WBEZ’s host of The R...

When City Cast Chicago first talked to Dion Dawson in 2021, he said, “Englewood was everything that I needed it to be.” Dawson is the founder of Dion’s Chicago Dream, which delivers free fresh produce to families across Chicago. He gives host Jacoby Cochran recommendations of things to eat, see, and do in the South Side neighborhood where he grew up. Dion’s Recs: Viaduct murals at 58th and Halsted...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently boasted that Chicago is the 4th best city in the U.S. for startups. The Chicago Innovation Awards are one way companies get their ideas to the rest of the world. Earlier this month, Chicago Innovation gave the “Up and Comer” award to a company called Joe and Bella, which makes adaptive apparel aimed at older adults. City Cast Chicago’s Carrie Shepherd talked t...

Chicago once had the second highest population of Polish people in the world outside of Warsaw, and many called Jackowo, which is the Northwest Side neighborhood Avondale, home. Back in March, we talked to Mary Wisniewski and Joanna Marszalek, who have both lived in Jackowo and shared their stories of family, migration, and Polish bakeries. They wrote “The Death (and Possible Rebirth) of Jackowo,”...

Chef Charlie Trotter opened his eponymous restaurant in Lincoln Park in 1987, pushing Chicago to a new culinary level. Some of today’s best chefs trained under the groundbreaking — and mercurial — chef. The documentary “Love Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter” talks to friends, family, and Trotter-trained chefs about what it was like to learn from him and how things started to chan...

Mexico and Poland faced off Tuesday as part of the World Cup. Both countries have large populations in the Chicago area, prompting speculation on social media that it could be the “Battle of Archer Ave.” So how did it play out? City Cast headed to a bar in Pilsen and one in Niles to watch the game with fans.  Some News: In honor of Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month, The Chicago Public Library put...

In addition to mayor and alders, Chicago voters in February’s municipal election will elect civilian police district councils. Those are representatives of the public tasked with providing some sort of oversight of police. Each district elects 3 members, which means a total of 66 councilors the city. Chicago Reader editor Jim Daley breaks down what the councils will do. Plus, Isaac Troncoso from t...

The City Cast Chicago team is ringing in the holiday week with another round of Re: VIEWS where we break down films that really star Chicago. Today, re-watching “Planes Trains and Automobiles,” by the late, great Chicago filmmaker John Hughes. Chicago is always a consistent presence in Hughes’ films. What’s your favorite movie starring or featuring Chicago? Send us your pick and we might Re: VIEW...

Host Jacoby Cochran is back behind the mic for the latest edition of our weekly news rewind. Today, we’ve got some great friends of the show in the building: WTTW’s politics reporter Amanda Vinicky, and Axios Chicago’s Justin Kaufmann. They discuss everything from property taxes and weed dispensaries, to GOP leadership changes and constitutional amendments. Plus, the trio offers some advice for pe...

Humboldt Park is the center of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community. But that pride extends to other neighborhoods, like Hermosa, a little northwest of Humboldt. City Cast Chicago lead producer Carrie Shepherd takes a tour of both neighborhoods with Joshua Smyser-DeLeon, host Paseo Podcast, which highlights stories by, from and about the Puerto Rican community. Good News: Hike Your Way Through Fall: O...

Animal shelters have struggled to find enough homes for all the dogs and cats that people got during the pandemic but then had to give up. But what about other pets, like birds, lizards, and snakes? That’s where Jessica Katz comes in. She runs the Chicagoland Exotic Animal Rescue out of her apartment in Andersonville. Producer Simone Alicea got to meet some of the animals Katz is helping find home...

City Cast Chicago is bringing you a preview of another podcast, "Some of My Best Friends Are," from Pushkin Industries. Harvard professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad and journalist Ben Austen are friends, one Black and one white, who grew up together on the South Side of Chicago. On the podcast, Khalil and Ben, along with their guests, have critical conversations that are at once personal, political, a...

To get their new house in Rogers Park, Joe Bergantino and Ricky Gonzalez wrote the owner a letter promising to retain the house’s funky spirit. It’s known as the “Candyland House” because of its pink, yellow, teal, and white striped exterior and interior. Bergantino and Gonzalez have been renovating the house and documenting it on their Homos with Hammers Instagram. City Cast Chicago’s Carrie Shep...

The story of public housing in Chicago is often a one-sided narrative about deteriorating buildings, crime-ridden corridors, drug trafficking and public aid. But for the last 15 years, former Chicago Housing Authority residents and advocates have sought to shed light on the full stories of these once-vibrant communities by creating the National Public Housing Museum. Leaders recently broke ground,...