Illinois Youth Media

In this episode, we explore Americans’ experience with media news and entertainment. From listening to major World War II news over radio to watching the first music video on MTV, this podcast dives into the ways our media lives have changed over the past several decades. 

In this episode, we showcase how technology has transformed the fields of transportation, agriculture, and health care — three fields important to daily life. This episode explores advancements and the impacts that come with new technology in these fields, including the introduction of artificial intelligence technology. 

This episode explores the shifts in how technology has shaped our work, communication, and accessibility over the past century. 

This episode introduces listeners to Champaign-Urbana residents’ experiences with the emerging field of artificial intelligence. Included in the episode are the perspectives of two University of Illinois School of Information Science professors whose research focuses on the ever evolving field of human-computer interactions.

Part two of Over the Wall: Remembering Life Behind the Iron Curtain, “East meets West: Bomb Drills and Pirated Monopoly,” dives into Eastern bloc countries’ relationship with the West, exploring education, travel, and hearsay about what life was like on the other side to better understand the beliefs that the United States and Soviet Union had about each other. 

In part one of Over the Wall: Remembering Life Behind the Iron Curtain, “Back in the USSR: Daily Life in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc Nations,” takes listeners back to daily life in the former Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc countries and explores communist government control of housing, the economy, education, and travel. 

Our Journey: Stories of Desegregation and Community in Champaign-Urbana was created by seven African American girls from Franklin Middle School who spent their 2003/2004 school year working with public radio station, WILL, to collect oral histories from their elders and weave them into a compelling story of social and historical significance.

Honesty Smith interviews her brother, Envision Smith, about the difficulties he overcame in school.

In this final episode, Whispering As-salaamu Alaikum, we focus on how 9/11 impacted the lives of Muslims across the country and locally in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. We cover the struggles that many Muslims experienced due to 9/11 and how they have overcome these challenges and continue to thrive in America today.

In episode three of "800 Miles from Ground Zero: 9/11's Impact on Central Illinois," we learn some of the different ways in which the United States as a whole changed, including information about the PATRIOT Act, new flight and travel regulations, and homeland security.

One of the direct results of 9/11 was America intervening in the Middle East through the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Despite having strong support when they first started, the wars resulted in intense controversies throughout the United States. This episode features multiple veterans, anti-war activists, and experts to understand the different perspectives on the post-9/11 wars.

The first plane hit the World Trade Center in NYC at 7:46 CST in the morning in 2001. In this first episode of 800 Miles from Ground Zero: 9/11's Impact on Central Illinois listeners hear memories from this day and the weeks following from a variety of people currently living in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois who recount their experiences during a time that horrified, traumatized, and brought together...

War. Poverty. Politics. Economic and educational opportunities. These are some of the reasons people from around the world have come to central Illinois as asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants. Hear their stories of overcoming and persevering in Immigrants' Journeys: Challenges and Opportunities in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois a new documentary by Uni High.

Starting as a young activist in Iran, Professor Faranak Miraftab has overcome many trials and tribulations in her life, finding asylum in Norway at age 23 and eventually coming to Champaign-Urbana.

Prosper Panumpabi has always offered help to those who need it. Since coming to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo with his wife and six children over 15 years ago, he has worked hard to support other immigrants in their journeys to find a new home.