First Friday Club of Chicago podcast

Beyond the Loop: Reinvesting in Chicago's Hidden Gems and Forgotten Neighborhoods   Despite making up the majority of Chicago's landmass, the South and West sides for decades have suffered from severe disinvestment. But is there change afoot? Lee Bey, from the Sun-Times will highlight the wealth of historic architecture, parks, and streetscapes on the South and West sides, and plans to finally bri...

Achieving a transformative reduction in gun violence in Chicago is the goal of Chicago CRED ... engaging directly with those most at risk of shooting or being shot, and giving them a reason to put down their gun. Through partnerships with local business leaders, community organizers, and other nonprofit groups, Arne Duncan aims to provide outreach, therapeutic, education, and employment opportunit...

In a world increasingly marked by division and discord, Jesuit priest Father  Gregory Boyle  offers a transformative vision of community and compassion. Over the past thirty years, Fr.  Boyle  has transformed tens of thousands of lives through his work as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program in the world. The program runs on two unwavering principles: We are all...

Recording Our Lives is an Act of Love   Twenty years ago, Jacqueline Stewart founded the South Side Home Movie Project, a living testament to the resilience, creativity, and everyday beauty of the South Side in the 1950s and '60s. The scenes of graduations, birthdays, and moments of community togetherness and pride prove to all Chicagoans that what we share is greater than what divides us. Stewart...

There is no denying the feeling you get when you enter a house of worship: a sense of mystery, peace, awe, and delight. Whether majestic or modest, sacred spaces are carefully designed to transport us to a spiritual place for quiet mediation as well as bold contemplation about the meaning of life. In this talk, WTTW program host Geoffrey Baer looks at the architecture and history of some of Chicag...

Jon and Sandy Miller, founders of the Sounds Good Choir, which meets in multiple Chicagoland locations, have found that the message of hope through music can reach everyone, regardless of one's faith background. Making music together fosters a sense of renewal and purpose, especially in a choir that strives for not only musical excellence, but also community building. The Millers also lead Good Me...

Nancy Hughes Moyer may not have the connections like Cardinal Gregory who presented on October 3rd. Instead, she has connections of a different kind. Nancy is in the trenches every day, in real time ... working to make connections for vets and others who need help here in Chicago and throughout Illinois. The daily decisions and challenges are constant but so too are Nancy's rooted values in her fa...

It all began when Wilton Daniel Gregory, a fifth grade student at St. Carthage grade school, informed his parish priest that he wanted to be a priest. Told by the priest that he was not even a Catholic, young Wilton Gregory responded with a question that began a amost amazing journey: "Then what do I have to do? He became a Catholic. He went to the seminary for 12 years. He made a stop as a deacon...

Sr. Helen Prejean got into her ministry against the death penalty almost by accident in her early forties, with a decision to write to a prisoner on death row. She credits "Sneaky Jesus" for this idea, which changed her life. Her 1993 book, Dead Man Walking, made into a movie, brought her onto the national stage. Today Sister Prejean is still the most prominent voice against the death penalty in t...

Press Under Pressure Traditional media faces adversity on all sides. Younger generations have turned to social media and podcasts, often one-sided, where misinformation can run wild. Everyone feels bombarded, our heads spinning. Given these realities, can America's media still be a force for truth in this fractured time? Hermene Hartman, with her decades as a pioneer in Chicago media, will look fo...

On the home front: Habitat for Humanity confronts Chicago's housing crisis Chicago's severe housing deficit is undermining our city's vitality. Join us as Jennifer Parks shares the history of Habitat and how the impact of current projects in three Chicago neighborhoods are playing a small but critical role in righting this wrong.

When Jahmal Cole began volunteering at the Cook County Jail in 2013, he quickly realized many of its youngest occupants had never once been out of their neighborhoods.  This observation would prove to be an important catalyst in establishing My Block, My Hood, My City. Today, you can find Jahmal Cole and his team providing opportunities for teens to step outside their comfort zone to explore new c...

Lester Munson - The Menace of Sports Gambling

Jack Shea: The Challenge of Christmas - Unwrapping Our Spiritual Gifts

Two of Chicago's most prominent journalists take us through the resulats of the election and what it means for our democracy.

Hope at the Border: What the Church looks like when it's at its best

A confident, reassuring presence during Gov. Pritzker's daily covid briefings, Dr. Ngozi Ezike in 2022 left the Illinois Department of Public Health to lead Sinai Chicago. And, while steering this major, 105-year-old Chicago healthcare institution, she's keeping her eye on the broader picture. "Understanding health care is more than what happens with doctors and nurses," she says. "We have to see...

Mary Meg McCarthy is the Executive Director of Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center

"The Sacredness of Storytelling" Through the power of stories that speak to the heart, Otis Moss III tackles the theme of democracy—and what we can do in this moment, when we fear that ours is coming apart at the seams. "Appropriate storytelling leads to appropriate action," he says. "If you don't have the right story, you repeat the last chapter over and over again--you never get to a new one." T...

Shermann 'Dilla Thomas: "Everything Dope About America Comes From Chicago" : Chicago's Urban Historian Shares his passion for teaching people about the city he loves. Also, a special performance from the Leo High School Choir.

Join us to hear how the Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul traces his commitment to social justice back to his Haitian immigrant parents and his childhood on Chicago's South Side

Howard Reich, son of Holocaust survivors and journalist for the Chicago Tribune, was handed a simple assignment to interview Elie Wiesel, best known for his famous Holocaust memoir Night and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Daily phone calls and multiple in-person meetings with Wiesel would eventually turn Reich's "simple" assignment into four years of intimate conversations which ended shortly...

Arts in Chicago: Remaining Relevant Barbara Gaines, founder and recently retired Artistic Director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, has been instrumental in bringing outstanding stage productions to Chicago for 37 years. Beginning in 1986, with an inaugural performance on a pub's roof top in Lincoln Park, Barbara's creativity, intelligence and hard work provided the catalyst needed to showcase Chic...

Violence in Chicago - Do We Want a Solution or a Band-Aid? Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina parish has long been an impassioned voice against injustice in its many forms in our city and our nation. He will address what Chicago must do to stem the tide of gun violence that so stubbornly afflicts our city.  Father Pfleger has consistently spoken out against gun violence during his decades at St....

Sports in our changing culture: Why we still lavish faith, hope, and love on America's second religion Certain questions in sports have more serious ramifications than the ever-popular "How 'bout dem Bears?"  Consider the meteoric rise of sports gambling, or the now acknowledged risk of severe brain injuries in football.  Not to mention the middle class being priced out of most tickets—and now out...