In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

Some see aldermanic prerogative as essential to making Chicago the city that works, while critics say it’s why Chicago is one of the nation’s most corrupt cities. Mayor Lightfoot campaigned on a promise to limit aldermanic powers, but are her reform efforts inciting a City Council revolt? Reset asks: What exactly is aldermanic prerogative? For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast. And...

After 15 months of COVID-19 shutdowns and attendance restrictions, city and state officials are now allowing music venues to operate at 100 percent capacity. Reset brings on two local venue owners to discuss their experience during the past year and what they are banking on for the future. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast. And please give us a rating, it helps other listeners f...

A vote to rename parts of Lake Shore Drive after Chicago’s first non-indigenous settler, John Baptiste DuSable, was once again delayed after an angry confrontation between the mayor and Ald. Jeanette Taylor. Meanwhile, in the western suburbs, neighborhoods continue to clean up following a fierce tornado. Reset goes behind the week’s headlines with local journalists. For more Reset interviews, subs...

Sleepaway camp is a right of passage for some kids and a significant milestone. While it’s exciting, it can also be worrisome. As families prepare to send their kids off to overnight camp, actor Jamie Lee Curtis and Audible are releasing season two of her kids podcast, Letters from Camp.

After a year of on-line life and learning, parents are struggling with how to unplug their kids from the technology that kept them connected during the pandemic. How to keep the battle over screen time from turning into a screaming match. Reset talks tech with Washington Post technology reporter Heather Kelley. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast. And please give us a rating, it h...

Investigators in Benton Harbor, Mich. are reopening the 30-year-old cold case of Black teen Eric McGinnis’s death, following the emergence of a new eye witness. Chicago author Alex Kotlowitz For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast. And please give us a rating, it helps other listeners find us. For more about Reset, go to wbez.org and follow us on Twitter @WBEZReset

Even as customers return to cabs and ride shares, companies are finding it hard to get drivers back behind the wheel. A.D. Quig of Crain’s Chicago Business explains why. Plus, we hear from riders and drivers. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast. And please give us a rating, it helps other listeners find us. For more about Reset, go to wbez.org and follow us on Twitter @WBEZReset

Reset brings on an infectious disease expert for our weekly check-in to provide clarity and answers to your questions, comments and concerns about COVID-19.

Lawmakers were back in Springfield dealing with energy, an elected school board and gun control. Meanwhile, Illinois rolls out a shot at big money in a special lottery for vaccinated residents. Reset goes behind the headlines with local reporters.

Reset checks in with members of the Humboldt Park Gators, Chicago’s only all-girls baseball team, as they compete against boys’ travel teams from the city and nearby suburbs this summer.

Overwork and long hours contributed to more than 745,000 deaths worldwide in just one year, according to a recent study from the World Health Organization. Reset dives into how overwork is deadly, and best practices for prioritizing one’s mental and physical health while not sacrificing professional success.

Affordable and quality childcare services are rare, sometimes costing as much as public university tuition. But this is not a new issue and has been challenging the industry before the pandemic. Reset brings on a reporter to talk more about how childcare services and providers are doing as the world slowly opens back up.

“Boystown” is the nickname first used in the 1980’s to describe Chicago’s North Side LGBTQ neighborhood around Wrigley Field. But LGBTQ activists are asking the name be dropped, arguing it excludes lesbian, transgender and other queer residents and visitors. Reset explores the debate over renaming “Boystown” to Northalsted.

Reset brings on an infectious disease expert for our weekly check-in to provide clarity and answers to your questions, comments and concerns about COVID-19.

Reset goes behind the headlines in our Weekly News Recap with host Sasha-Ann Simons.

So far this year in Chicago, 147 kids have been shot and more than 20 have been killed, according to the latest data from the Chicago Police Department. Reset talks to two organizations about the impact of gun violence on children and families in Chicago and solutions to the ongoing issue.

Fifteen states and Washington DC signed onto a memorandum of understanding to accelerate efforts for the electrification of trucks and significantly cut carbon emissions. Reset talks with experts and a community activist about how the effort will cut the current disproportionate number of deaths of people who live in marginalized communities. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast. A...

The McAninch Arts Center premiered their Frida Kahlo exhibit on Saturday in suburban Glen Ellyn. The museum and the town are ready to celebrate the exhibit, and the visitors will make their way to celebrate a summer of related events in what is being called “The Year of Frida.” Today on Reset, we talk to the director and the curator of the exhibit on what to expect at the exhibit and how Glen Elly...

Reset brings on an infectious disease expert for our weekly check-in to provide clarity and answers to your questions, comments and concerns about COVID-19.

New ethics laws, an elected school board for Chicago and a bill allowing college sports betting. The pandemic brought on a backlog of bills in Springfield. Reset gets a rundown on which bills did and didn’t make it through Springfield this week. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast. And please give us a rating, it helps other listeners find us. For more about Reset, go to wbez.org...

New language within a bill headed towards governor Pritkzer allows for rewording of government positions to make them more gender neutral. In Chicago, that means a change in title for the position from alderman to alderperson. Today on Reset, we bring on a politics reporter and an alderman to speak on the significance of the change in language. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast....

The name “Lake Shore Drive” is as Chicago as our famous 7-topping hotdog, but some aldermen want to honor Chicago’s first non-native Black resident by renaming part of the drive after Jean Baptise Point DuSable. WBEZ's Natalie Moore helps Reset take the pulse of listeners about the proposed change, which is expected to be voted on in City Council in June.

If you’re fully vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control says you can shed your masks and go back to many of the activities you stopped doing because of the pandemic. But how do we know who is fully vaccinated and who’s not? Reset brings on a bioethicist and opens the phones to listeners to discuss the COVID-19 honor system and other ethical challenges during the pandemic. For mo...

Reset brings on an infectious disease expert for our weekly check-in to provide clarity and answers to your questions, comments and concerns about COVID-19.

Clean energy, ethics, an elected school board and marijuana expansion — COVID-19 caused a backlog of bills in Springfield. Now legislators are frantically trying to finish up the spring session by Monday’s deadline. Reset gets an update on state legislation and finds out what’s been happening with police reform in Chicago, as well as a stalled plan to rename parts of the Outer Drive after Jean Bap...