In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

Calling all Chicago history buffs: the city’s newest museum is spotlighting an undertold story of Chicago’s past. It’s also now open in the only surviving building of the historic Jane Addams homes, Chicago’s first public housing development. Architecture expert Dennis Rodkin takes us inside. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

The U.S. and Canada have co-managed the Great Lakes for more than a century, but rising political tensions could change chat. What does this mean for the immediate and longterm future of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem? Reset finds out with Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ reporter on climate change, and Alaina Harkness, CEO of Current, a water innovation hub. For a full archive of Reset in...

The 35th annual James Beard Foundation Awards will take place June 16 at the Lyric Opera – and Chicago makes its mark among the nominees. Reset gets the latest with WBEZ arts and culture reporter Courtney Kueppers. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

The Chicago Teachers Union reaches tentative contract deal with Chicago Public Schools. Teen violence in Streeterville has alder calling for earlier curfew. Jewish students at DePaul sue the university over alleged antisemitic attack. Reset dives into these and other top local stories with ABC 7 News anchor Ravi Baichwal, WBEZ senior education editor Kate Grossman and Better Government Association...

The Art Institute's Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris: A Friendship with Mary Reynolds explores a pivotal moment in Kahlo’s career. Reset sits down with Caitlin Haskell, Gary C. and Frances Comer senior curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, one of the curators behind the exhibition to learn more about the two artists’ friendship and their connection to the surrealist art movement. This exhibition wil...

President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on all imports worldwide on April 2. At the same time, Gov. JB Pritzker wrapped up a trade mission trip to Mexico City to strengthen trade relationships between Illinois and Mexico. Reset takes a closer look at the local impact of U.S. tariffs, and what Illinois is doing about it. Cécile Shea with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs weighs in. For a ful...

"BAUBO UNEARTHED,” is an art exhibition in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood that fuses myth, history, and contemporary practice to pull lessons of joy and resistance. Drawing on the ancient figure Baubo — whose irreverent humor disrupted grief — it embodies her spirit to challenge sorrow and imagine more compassionate futures. Reset sits down with the artist and curator of the show Stephany Colun...

Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union have been negotiating a contract for nearly a year. This week, a key CTU bargaining committee approved the tentative deal, bringing the teachers one step closer to a final contract. Reset hears what’s in the contract – and how it impacts schools – from WBEZ education reporter Sarah Karp. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez...

About 1 in 4 Illinois residents depend on Medicaid. Congressional Republicans are pushing legislation that would likely lead to significant cuts in federal funding for Medicaid programs around the country. From lost coverage to lost jobs, the looming cuts could impact millions in Illinois alone. Reset checks in with U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D–IL), whose district has one of the highest numbers of M...

In 2024, Chicago was named the rattiest city in the US by Orkin Pest Control for the TENTH year in a row. The city’s budget for its ‘Bureau of Rodent Control’ is almost $15 million annually. And they’re trying something new. Starting in [[[]]], bait boxes with rat ‘birth control’ will be placed in alleys throughout Wicker Park and Bucktown to try to curb the growth of rat populations. Reset checks...

With the weather warming up, it’s time to exit hibernation. And what better way to get outside and give back than cleaning up your neighborhood with people in your community? There are a number of ways to get involved, so Reset checked in with Sophie Rallo, executive director and founder of Garbage Gals, Kirstin Quigley of LoveBlue Chicago and Katherine Tellock, executive director and founder of C...

In her new book, The Portable Feminist Reader, writer and cultural critic Roxane Gay has compiled writings by ancient, historic and modern feminist voices. It explores the state of American feminism, its successes and failures, and what feminism looks like in practice. Gay recently joined Reset host Sasha-Ann Simons to discuss the anthology in front of a live audience at the Athenaeum Center in Ch...

In the final installment of our Women’s History Month series, we go inside the lives of immigrant women who found their way to Hull House upon arrival to Chicago, and their homes in the surrounding neighborhoods. Reset speaks with Chicago professor and historian Jennifer Brier and Liesel Olson, director of the Hull House Museum, to honor the unnamed remarkable figures that helped shape Chicago. Fo...

Brooklynn Skye has been a staple in the Chicago music scene for years and has played with the likes of noname, Sistazz of The Nitty Gritty, The Celestials! and more. And now, she’s embarking on her solo career, and just dropped her latest single “NVR MET YOU.” Reset sits down with the Chicago born-and-bred artist to learn more about her journey, music and evolution. For a full archive of Reset int...

Trump administration cuts $153 million in Illinois mental health and substance abuse services. Mayor Brandon Johnson struggles to find money for a $175 million pension payment. Also: can you name 1,000 things you love about Chicago? Reset goes behind the headlines in the Weekly News Recap. This week’s roundtable includes Simone Alicea, City Cast Chicago executive producer; Alex Nitkin, government...

The Yukon building is a two-story structure built in 1898 by the Boston-based real estate investor who also put up the Rookery, the Monadnock and the Marquette in Chicago. The Yukon was always meant to be a temporary building, and yet has stood for more than 120 years. Now, the property taxes are delinquent and at least three tenants have vacated their spaces in recent months. How much longer can...

The City Fresh Market opened in 2004 to serve the Yugoslavian community with grocery items that were hard to find. “The desserts were a big reason my family would make the trip to the store when I was a kid,” says one of the managers. Reset tries some of the offerings – from borek to slices of dobos torte – and explores the role grocery store bakeries play in the community with WBEZ producers Lynn...

Chicago Public Schools and a suburban school district are under a civil rights investigation from the Department of Education. And the center of the investigation? School locker room policy. The investigation, announced last week, comes after politically conservative groups filed complaints about trans students being allowed to change in the locker room that lines up with their gender identities....

From free admission days at several museums, to day trips, to visiting a park in a new neighborhood, there’s a lot to offer in a short timeframe. Reset gets ideas from Kameron Stanton, co-founder Black People Outside; Tori Levy, staff writer of Secret Chicago; and WBEZ engineer Dave Miska. Listeners also weighed in on places to go and things to do. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over...

Until about 100 years ago, death was revered as a natural and sacred part of life. The rise of the funeral industry at the turn of the century, coupled with modern society’s longevity obsession, made death foreign and scary. Death doula and former hospice nurse Suzanne O’Brien has been at the bedside of thousands of dying patients across the world. She’s on a mission to remind us that death is not...

Some college students are saying their summer and post-graduation plans are in jeopardy, as research grants, PhD projects, jobs and internships are being canceled or rescinded in the wake of anti-DEI policies and pulled funding from Washington. Additionally, groups like the PhD Project – which helps students from underrepresented groups to secure graduate degrees in business – have become a target...

Tariffs on foreign goods threaten increased costs for U.S consumers. Grocery prices are on the rise, and fears of a recession loom. It’s a lot to digest, and a lot of money potentially flying out of your wallet. So what actions can we take to make sure our personal finances are in order to weather economic uncertainty? Reset gets tips and answers to your finance questions from Christine Benz, dire...

Last week, the Chicago Sun-Times lost 20% of its workforce, as public media faces funding threats from Washington. So what’s ahead for one of the largest non-profit media companies in the country? Reset sits down with Melissa Bell, CEO of Chicago Public Media, to learn how this will affect what readers and listeners can expect from CPM’s newsrooms. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over...

Throughout Women’s History Month, Reset has been taking deep dives into the lives of unsung remarkable Chicago women. In this week’s segment, we look at Fanny Barrier Williams, a lesser-known contemporary of Ida B. Wells who played a role in Black women’s clubs. To learn her story, Reset sat down with Jennifer Brier, a local historian and history professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago....

Reset checks in with a panel of Chicagoans — whose jobs were considered essential during the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020 – for their reflections on the fifth anniversary of the lockdown. They also discuss how that “essential” label has transferred to today. The panel included Sharif Nassr, founder and CEO of the children’s nursery Caterpillar Care Chicago; Hannah Chavez, who was employed as a Whole...