In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

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

Coronavirus cases continue rising across Chicago and Illinois. A Loretto Hospital executive at the center of a vaccine scandal resigns. Plus, Evanston becomes the first city in the U.S. to offer Black residents reparations. Reset breaks down the week’s top stories in our Weekly News Recap with host Sasha-Ann Simons. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast and please leave us a rating....

In the era of COVID-19 and deep inequality, local governments say community engagement has become essential to delivering equitable outcomes. Reset talks with Chicago and suburban elected officials on how they’ve changed the way they seek residents input before making decisions. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast and please leave us a rating. That helps other listeners find us. F...

U.S. Landfills are at 85 percent filled, and that is a big problem because we’ll continue to keep on making trash, but won’t have anywhere to put it. Today on Reset, we have an innovator who is breaking down and recycling our waste using an unlikely method-mushrooms! For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast and please leave us a rating. That helps other listeners find us. For more abou...

While anti-Asian attacks and violence have increased at an alarming rate in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, experts and advocates say these attacks aren’t new. Reset talks to a historian and two activists about the long history of systemic racism and discrimination against Asian communities in the U.S. and ways to support Asian American and Pacific Islander communities moving forward.

Cook County residents haven’t had to worry about it for a year, but the reprieve is over: jury duty is back. After a long delay due to the pandemic, jury trials are starting back up today in Cook County. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx joined Reset for more on what her office will be focused on — from violent crimes to carjackings — as jury trials resume. For more Reset interviews, subscribe...

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. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast and please leave us a rating. That helps other listeners find us. For more about the program, go to the WBEZ website or follow us on Twitter at @WBEZreset.

Gov. JB Pritzker unveils his plans to reopen the state and expand vaccine eligibility. Illinois lawmakers begin the redistricting process. Plus, a shooting spree in Atlanta sparks fear and anger in Chicago-area Asian communities. Reset breaks down the biggest news of the week in our Weekly News Recap with host Sasha-Ann Simons. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast and please leave...

The Atlanta shootings on Tuesday have sparked fear and anger in Chicago-area Asian communities. Six of the eight victims were of Asian descent — a reminder of the ongoing wave of anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination across the country. Over the last year, nearly 3,800 incidents of racism and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the U.S. have been reported to Stop AAPI...

A new program from the Illinois Housing Development Authority is looking to help those Illinoisans most burdened by student loan debt in an effort to boost homeownership in the state. We talk to the head of the IHDA about the program and why this is a priority. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast. And please give us a rating, it helps other listeners find us. For more about Reset,...

Over the years, Mexican-American poet and best-selling author Sandra Cisneros has earned many awards and accolades. Now, she has a new honor to add to the list: the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s Fuller Award for lifetime achievement. Reset talked to Cisneros about receiving the award, her relationship with Chicago and her love for the city's writing community For more Reset interviews, subscribe...

The House Theater and Hubbard Street Dance are two well-known members of Chicago’s arts community. And each has recently named a new artistic director. Reset talks with them about the big task of navigating House and Hubbard out of the choppy waters of the pandemic.

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

Each week, WBEZ and Reset take you inside the biggest local and state stories from the last 7 days with help from 2 great guests. This week, WBEZ’s Patrick Smith and Block Club Chicago’s Dawn Rhodes break down everything from COVID-19 vaccine distribution to the stimulus package to what Chicago is doing about a rash of police suicides. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast and pleas...

For the final entry in this edition of our Closing the Gap series, Reset explores disparities in mental health care and how the coronavirus pandemic is changing the way we think about this issue. We look at how local government — past and present — has handled mental health policy. Plus, Ald. Rosanna Rodriguez Sanchez discusses her push to reallocate city dollars away from police and into public m...

Today, or closing the gap series looks at cultural and racial disparities in accessing and providing quality mental health care, especially for family therapy. Reset hears from an expert on how to bring equity into treatment. Then, research shows that the entire human body holds vital answers to healing from mental trauma. Two experts share with Reset their experience with the healing power of Mov...

Reset continues our weeklong series Closing The Gap with a focus on the availability-or the lack of it-of mental health treatment in Chicago. We look back at the city’s decision to close 7 clinics under Mayor Daley, then half of the 12 remaining clinics during the Emanuel administration. Then we talk to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who was among those who raised concerns about the 2012 closings a...

After a year of social isolation, record job losses, and more than half a million deaths in the U.S. alone, experts say the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to a national mental health crisis. For our ongoing series Closing the Gap, Reset explores disparities in mental health care, how the pandemic is impacting our bodies and minds and what resources are available in the Chicago region. We’ll also intro...

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

Reset breaks down the biggest local news stories of the week with a couple of great journalists. Host Sasha-Ann Simons is joined this week by Paris Schutz of WTTW-11 and Mary Ann Ahern of NBC-5 For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast and please leave us a rating. That helps other listeners find us. For more about the program, go to the WBEZ website or follow us on Twitter at @WBEZrese...

These days… there’s a lot to be afraid of. The pandemic, for one. Losing a loved one. Lack of job security. Trying something new. Spiders. But what do you do when fear creeps up on you? How do you fight the thing you’re afraid of? In her new book, Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual, Chicago best-selling author Luvvie Ajayi [uh-JAH-ee] Jones talks about how to confront and overcome...

Actor Daniel Kaluuya accepted a Golden Globe on Sunday for his role as Fred Hampton in the new biopic Judas and The Black Messiah. In his acceptance speech, Kaluuya called for people to learn more about Hampton's life, not just his death. Reset brings on a leading expert on the Illinois Black Panther Party and Fred Hampton for his take on how well the movie treats Hampton’s story. For more Reset i...

After laying low at his Florida estate for a month, Trump blasted the Biden administration, and promised to stay in the Republican Party for a possible 2024 run for presidency at ;ast weekend’s CPAC convention Reset checks in with Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger about how much power Trump still holds over the Republican Party and what’s next for Republicans, nationally and in Illinois. For mor...

A group of Black Chicago Police officers have formed a professional organization to lend their voices to solving long-standing tensions between law enforcement and communities of color. Reset hears from two founding members of the Black Public Safety Alliance, which had its official launch over the weekend. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast and please leave us a rating. That hel...

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.