The 21st Show

The Trump administration is continuing to ramp up pressure on Iran — with what’s said to be the biggest buildup of American naval power in the region in decades. Last summer, the president claimed a “spectacular military success” after bombing nuclear sites there, but last week, Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, went on Fox News and said the country was “probably a week away from having in...

Two candidates vying for the GOP nomination in the 1L-13 congressional race discuss many issues surrounding domestic policy including the economy, healthcare, ICE agents, and a potential national ban on abortion at the IL-13 Republican Candidate Forum sponsored by Illinois Public Media, the Champaign County NAACP, and the League of Women Voters.

Steve Botsford is seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate race. He’s worked in the world of finance and in government. Botsford shares his views on reforming ICE, Medicare for All, and how AI should be regulated by the government.

Jesse Jackson was one of the last living connections to the Civil Rights era of the mid-20th century. He died last week at the age of 84 in Chicago. Despite his national prominence, he was also involved in causes in Illinois. A panel of Illinois-based Black leaders discuss their personal connections with Jackson and his role in the Civil Rights movement and in politics.

How did Evangelical Christians come to not only vote for Donald Trump, but embrace him as a heroic figure? Historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez says it was a long time in coming, and that Trump is not a betrayal of evangelical values, but a fulfilment of them. We’ll talk with Du Mez ahead of delivering the annual Thulin Lecture this week in Urbana.

If you are among the tens of millions of people who caught Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, you might’ve noticed a moment when the jumbotron featured a toad. Turns out it’s the Puerto Rican Crested Toad, which is native to the island and an endangered species. It’s also the subject of conservation efforts at the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington. We’ll talk with them about their work on Bad Bunn...

You might’ve heard of doulas — usually women who support other women in getting through the process of childbirth. But there are also doulas whose work focuses on the opposite end of our lifespans. They’re called death or end-of-life doulas. We’ll talk with two of them about their work. Darnell Lamont Walker is based in Georgia and Michigan; his new book is Never Can Say Goodbye: The Life of a Dea...

The 21st Show is Illinois' statewide weekday public radio talk show, connecting Illinois and bringing you the news, culture, and stories that matter to the 21st state. Have thoughts on the show or one of our episodes, or want to share an idea for something we should talk about? Send us an email: talk@21stshow.org. If you'd like to have your say as we're planning conversations, join our texting gro...

Governor JB Pritzker addressed a variety of topics in his 2026 State of the State Address. Two policy experts share their takeaways and analysis of the speech.

Governor JB Pritzker is delivering his annual State of the State address in which he plans to share his vision for taxes and spending in government. It comes after an intense year in which Illinois saw the Trump administration make multiple attempts to cut funding for programs in blue states.

Jeannie Evans is an antitrust enforcement lawyer and one of the Republicans running in next month’s U.S. Senate primary in Illinois. She talks about her Christian upbringing, advocating conservative viewpoints during her time at Harvard Law School, and AI and technology. 

NPR Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep talks about his new book on Abraham Lincoln and how he’s preparing to cover a fraught year in American politics. 

Cairo, Illinois, spent seven years as a “food desert” — until 2023, when residents banded together to open a co-op grocery store. But as of January, the store is closed. We’ll talk about what went wrong, and what lessons organizers are taking from the experience.

Trans people have been much discussed in American politics — from sports to bathrooms to health care. But their representation in elected office has been minimal. We’ll talk with several Midwestern trans women looking to change that by running for office themselves.

We continue our conversations with candidates in the primary elections for U.S. senator from Illinois. Today is our tenth interview, with attorney Sean Brown, who's running in the Democratic primary.

In 2023, NPR's Aisha Harris joined The 21st Show to talk about the culture that shaped her, the intersection of her identities as a Black woman and a critic, and more. Her book, “Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me” is now available in paperback.

Tristan Ahtone is a member of the Kiowa Tribe and editor-at-large at Grist. His award-winning investigation “Land-Grab Universities” revealed how the 1862 Morrill Act turned nearly 11 million acres of Indigenous land into seed money for land-grant universities — including the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Allen C. Guelzo has written many books about the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. The most recent is “Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment,” which explores Lincoln’s ideas about democracy and how they led America through the Civil War. Guelzo is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the Abraham Lincoln Association’s annual banquet this Thursday in Springfield...

Another conversation with a candidate for the U.S. Senate: R. Cary Capparelli is seeking the Republican nomination. He works in marketing, teaches geography, and is the son of a longtime Illinois Democratic state legislator. He's previously run (unsuccessfully) for offices ranging from the Illinois House to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District — as both a Democrat and a Republican. We'll ta...

In 2023, researchers from the Middle West Review asked 11,000 people from 22 states their perceptions of Midwestern identity. Almost 94 percent of Illinoisans who responded said yes, they live in the Midwest. But Midwestern identity stretches farther than that. For example, more than half of the people from Wyoming who responded said yes, they too live in the Midwest and consider themselves to be...

In the spring of 2025, Chase Bandolik ran 416 miles from Cairo, Illinois north to Beloit, Wisconsin (near the northern Illinois border). We talk with him about the journey.

Global warming is continuing to make big changes to our weather, and the ways we experience the seasons. This winter, we've been seeing wild swings in the temperature already. We'll talk about what this means, what's going on, and how Midwesterners are reckoning with change.

Casey Chlebek is one of the half dozen Republicans running in the primary for the U.S. Senate race in Illinois. Born and raised in Poland before immigrating to Chicago, Chlebek shares his own story of immigration while pitching ideas for immigration reform as well as his thoughts on cultural Marxism.

Tom Burrell revolutionized advertising in the 1970s, shifting the industry from racist depictions of African Americans to positive and realistic portrayals. Jason Chambers' new biography, Advertising Revolutionary: The Life and Work of Tom Burrell, highlights Burrell's significant contributions to advertising, emphasizing his role in integrating African American culture into mainstream media​​.

As we continue our series of U.S. Senate candidate interviews, we sit down with Awisi Quartey Bustos, who has extensive experience working in government as well as private sector. She discusses the economy, the need for reforming ICE, and why her past roles working for the state are valuable.