In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

Mahbuba, a refugee from Afghanistan, didn’t have a way to communicate for the first six years of her life. Expressing herself as a deaf child was difficult. With no access to education in rural Afghanistan as a deaf girl, she didn’t experience language education until coming to Chicago. Reset talks with author and freelance journalist Elly Fishman who covered Mahbuba’s story. If you want to hear m...

Robberies in Chicago have increased more in the last five months than in any other consecutive five-month period since 2001. From July 1 to November 26, 2023, nearly 5,000 people filed reports of robbery with the Chicago Police Department. Reset speaks with the journalists behind the investigation, WBEZ data projects editor Alden Loury and Chicago Sun-Times staff reporter Sophie Sherry, to learn m...

Competing on a cooking show can be ruthless and cutthroat, but Chef Javauneeka Jacobs handles it with ease. Reset learns about the chef’s journey through the kitchen and into success — and her winning dish, Chef J’s Cassoulet Mexicano, which is being served at Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill through December.

Governor Pritzker halts construction on a migrant tent camp in Brighton Park, while criticism grows over new protocols for seating the public at City Council meetings. Reset breaks down these stories and much more with executive producer of City Cast Chicago Simone Alicea, Block Club Chicago reporter Quinn Myers and WBEZ Politics & Government editor Angela Rozas O'Toole.

Chicago Public Schools graduates take longer to complete college than students nationally, according to a study from the University of Chicago. Reset checked in with two co-authors of the study, as well as CPS’s director of College Pathways Brian Harris to hear about this issue – and discuss what efforts are needed to solve it. For more conversations like this one, check out our full catalog of in...

For those who often drive past the Leaning Tower of Niles, it might have lost its novelty. But for one Chicagoan the off kilter, domed, belltower structure was a new sight thanks to detours caused by construction on the Kennedy Expressway. So why is there a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Illinois? We speak with Reset’s architecture sleuth Dennis Rodkin to find out. If you liked this conve...

City officials faced pushback on construction of a winterized migrant shelter in Brighton Park from the community and health advocates even before an environmental study showed unhealthy levels of mercury at the site. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker nailed the coffin shut on this project citing health concerns. Reset hears from Alderwoman Julia Ramirez, 12th Ward, on the move and on what comes next.

We go to the movies for magic. To laugh, to cry, to care… at least that’s what Nicole Kidman says in the preview that runs before films start. We chat about our favorite flicks (and those that missed the mark!) with Brandon Pope, anchor at CW-26 and host of Season 4 of WBEZ’s Making Podcast, Michi Trota, Hugo Award winning editor and culture critic, and Cody Dericks, seasonal manager at the Music...

For many, a little extra cash each month could go a long way. So one local scholar and sociologist set out to understand what a no-strings-attached monthly stipend could do for Chicago residents. Reset sits down with Eve L. Ewing about her limited podcast series “Guaranteed,” which examines what $500 monthly cash payments are making possible for some residents.

Generally, seniors 65 and older – who are retired and no longer use employer-provided insurance – will need to choose between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. This can be a daunting choice, with tradeoffs to each. Reset learns about the different parts to Medicare and gets advice for thinking through the options with Mary Mitchell, columnist and director of culture and community engagemen...

The reporters on the seven-part series from City Bureau and the Invisible Institute found that Chicago detectives repeatedly brushed off family members' concerns, mishandled evidence and recorded inaccurate data that made finding missing people harder. Reset learns more from the duo behind the investigation, Trina Reynolds-Tyler, data director at the Invisible Institute, and Sarah Conway, senior r...

It’s challenging to become a classically trained professional ballerina, and people of color say they face more significant financial and accessibility challenges than their white counterparts when breaking into the field. Reset talks with Tatiana Chen, Shania Cook, and Rozhan Shabahang about being leads in A & A Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker and what it’s like to be part of the growing di...

From lions and a zebra born at the Lincoln Park Zoo, to spottings of snapping turtles, bats, and rats throughout Chicago, the reminder that wildlife is here, not just on TV, is all around. Reset revisits some of the biggest animal stories from this year with Seth Magle and Dave Bernier of the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Since the start of the AIDS epidemic, what’s changed? The medicine. What’s continued? The stigma. Reset brings together two people living with HIV in a conversation crossing generations and speaks with Dr. Sadia Haider of RUSH University Medical Center about efforts to educate heterosexual women about HIV transmission.

The Illinois primary is 109 days away. The Ed Burke trial is heating up. And the city of Chicago teams up with churches to house migrants. We’ll break down those stories and more in WBEZ’s Weekly News Recap with panelists Monica Eng, reporter for Axios Chicago, Michael Loria, reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, and Dave McKinney, WBEZ state politics reporter.

Federal investigators are taking aim at the role aldermanic prerogative has on the lack of affordable housing in Chicago. After a nearly five-year investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that alderpersons’ ability to veto affordable housing proposals has been “instrumental in creating Chicago’s patterns of segregation.” Reset learns more from Roderick Wilson, exec...

As winter sets in, a new partnership between the city and local churches called the Unity Initiative will house newcomers on a temporary basis in an effort to address the migrant crisis in Chicago. Reset checks in with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Michael Loria and Rev. Jonathan de la O of Starting Point Community Church. For more conversations like this, check out our full catalog of interviews at...

All eighth graders in Illinois public schools need to take this test to graduate. Traditionally, it’s been a 15 true-false question quiz covering the U.S. and Illinois constitutions. Now, more school districts are moving away from that version and opting for short answer questions that require more critical thinking. Reset discusses how civic education these days is focusing less on dates and fact...

Sports writer Rick Telander started writing poetry when he was hospitalized with a serious illness and thought about what kids who were in his situation might be going through. Reset talks with Telander about seeing his longtime side project come to fruition with the publication of Sweet Dreams: Poems and Paintings for the Child Abed. If you liked this conversation, check out our full catalog of i...

Nearly 26,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since August 2022. The post-Thanksgiving cold snap has highlighted just how important it is to find housing for the thousands currently sleeping in police stations, tents and the city’s airports. Reset gets the latest on the Johnson administration’s plans for a tent camp in Brighton Park and hears about other efforts to house migran...

Chicago-based Foxtrot Market and Dom’s Kitchen and Market — both upscale supermarkets with food service — will join forces. Reset talks with Virginia Lee, a market research expert and Food Institute writer, about what the merger means. To explore our full catalog of interviews, head on over to wbez.org/reset.

After having often felt like the only Native or queer person in a room, River Ian Kerstetter set out to make her own space with TIES Poetry, a series of open mics and readings celebrating Indigenous queer, trans and Two-Spirit writers. Reset talks with Kerstetter about the group and their own artistic journey. For more conversations like this, check out our full catalog of interviews at wbez.org/r...

Hospitalizations are nowhere near past years, but the virus is still here. Plus, two new vaccinations to protect babies against RSV were approved this year, but rollout has been spotty. Reset gets insight into the increase in cases and the state of vaccine access for COVID and RSV from infectious disease specialist Dr. Mia Taormina. For more conversations like this, check out our full catalog of i...

The latest season of the docuseries High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America continues tracing the development of American food and food culture by examining more (relatively) recent history: Reconstruction and the Great Migration. Reset learns more about the history of Black cooking in Chicago with James Beard award-winning chef Erick Williams and Dario Durham, co-host of...

The new book Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement introduces readers to a figure whose story has largely been overshadowed– until now. Reset learns more about how Moon shaped the Civil Rights Movement from author and historian Tanisha Ford. For more conversations like this, check out our full catalog of interviews at wbez.org/reset.