In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

Monica Eng and Louisa Chu, co-hosts of the Chewing Podcast, talk about the history of Chinese food in Chicago, and Monica softens her stance on Americanized Chinese food.

Illinois state politics gurus Amanda Vinicky (WTTW) and Tony Arnold (WBEZ) bring us the latest news out of Springfield in our Friday News Roundup

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, we hear from the folks behind Truth Racial Healing, and Transformation Greater Chicago. They’ve planned events across the area to help people better understand each other, and to help individuals heal from racial trauma.

For decades, the Chicago Police Department’s field training program has been in shambles. But officials say they’re turning it around. Reset takes a look at CPD’s efforts to overhaul the program that could determine the future of policing in Chicago.

Chicagoan Chris Redd talks about wanting to be a rapper and a wannabe gangster before finally finding himself as a standup comic, and eventually a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

The City Council, The County, and The State are all on the agenda, as WBEZ state politics reporter Dave McKinney, Daily Line managing editor and City Hall reporter Heather Cherone and A.D. Quig, government and politics reporter at Crain’s Chicago Business join us for the Friday News Roundup

Is Chicago’s decade-long building boom slowing down? And, as temperatures and sea-levels rise, so does the interest in Cli-Fi, or Climate Change Fiction

6 community organizations are trying to win $10 million to advance their work investing in the future of certain Chicago neighborhoods

Today on Reset , Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker discusses his first year in office. We talked about legal cannabis, a graduated income tax...and why he wanted to expand gambling statewide. We also hear Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton about her work to make criminal justice in Illinois more fair and equitable.

After 41 years as a legislator in Springfield, including the last decade as Senate President, Chicago Democrat John Cullerton is bowing out of politics to honor a long-standing promise to his wife to spend more time with family. Reset talks with Cullerton about some of the biggest moments in his political career, the ongoing federal investigations into Illinois lawmakers and what challenges and op...

Many people born and raised in Chicago, and many newbies to the city, are told to not go to the South or West sides of the city. Many of those who say it have never actually been to those neighborhoods, or know anyone from those neighborhoods. We’ll look at what happens to a neighborhood and the people in it when their community is on an unofficial “do not visit’ list.

WBEZ’s, Tony Arnold, Better Government Association CEO David Greising, and Shia Kapos of Politico talk about the biggest local news stories of the week on our Friday News Roundup

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle talks about her priorities for the the new year, and Reset’s Sustainability Contributor Karen Weigert looks back at the biggest environmental stories of 2019

The state will distribute 75 new recreational marijuana dispensary licenses by May 1. Reset takes a look at how minority business owners are working to enter the legal cannabis industry.

Why the United Methodist Church is preparing to split, and a new book chronicles the history of Chicago’s famed theater scene

Pot. Weed. Grass. Doobie. Mary Jane. Whatever you want to call it, marijuana is legal in Illinois. That’s the biggest story in a week of big stories we cover as we begin a new year on the Friday News Roundup.

Homicides and shootings were down in Chicago in 2019 compared to recent years. We’ll get the numbers and the reasons behind them. Plus we’ll hear from a group of 8th grade girls from the city’s South Side are the state chess champs.

Looking for something to read as the weather turns cold? Our panel of book experts and our listeners talk about the favorite things they read in 2019

Historian Dominic Pacyga takes us inside his new book, American Warsaw: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Polish Chicago

Author Leila Taylor takes us into the dark heart of the American Gothic, analyzing the ways it relates to race in America in the twenty-first century.

Matthew Sherman talks with Natalie Moore about his new book “Newcomers: Gentrification and Its Discontents”, a history of gentrification in Chicago, San Francisco, and Brooklyn over the last 60 years.

A new book by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor looks at how a mix of federal policy and private industry perpetuated the segregation lines in cities like Chicago

Mayor Lori Lightfoot blocks a six-month delay on recreational weed sales starting Jan.1. Cook County Board proposes a 3% pot tax. Plus Gov. JB Pritzker signs a pension consolidation bill, Reset breaks down these stories and more in WBEZ’s Chicago and Illinois News Roundup. GUESTS: A.D. Quig, government and politics reporter at Crain’s Chicago Business Claudia Morell, WBEZ City Hall reporter Lolly...

Reset talks to Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois’ 5th district, who was one of the 230 house votes in favor of impeachment.

A WBEZ investigation found multiple prisoners have been denied eye surgery because of a “one good eye” policy. Also, survivors of crime in Illinois are some of the least likely in the United States to apply for victim compensation and services. Reset  finds out why from two crime victims advocates.