The 21st Show

We talked about the Illinois State men's and women's basketball teams, which competed in the 2026 National Invitation Tournament. 

For the first time in 21 years, Illinois Men's Basketball is playing in the NCAA Final Four Tournament after beating the Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend. 

Is the U.S. facing an “epidemic of loneliness?"

Tax season is looking a little different this year, because of new tax policy created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The Food Pyramid was introduced to the public in 1992 by the federal government to serve as a guide for a healthy and balanced diet. The current Food Pyramid is now inverted. Two nutrition experts discuss present day nutrition guidelines.

The penny is history, and retailers across the country are trying to figure out how to adapt. Meanwhile, a settlement between credit card companies and merchants could mean new fees, or even declined cards, at the checkout. We’ll talk about what it all means for the way we pay.

Here in the Midwest, many of the landscapers who mow our lawns, trim our trees, and rake our leaves are Mexican immigrants. Anthropologist Sergio Lemus writes about his experience with that work, and the stories and struggles of those who come to America seeking a better life. His new book “Los Yarderos: Mexican Yard Workers in Transborder Chicago.”

Canada geese are a fact of life in many parts of Illinois. But the creatures can be a safety risk and a danger to public health. We'll talk with the creator of the Goosinator, a device that aims to get rid of geese (in a humane way), and the head of parks and rec in Moline, Illinois.

With the weather getting warmer again, it’s time to consider spring and summer travel plans. We’ll talk about popular destinations in the 21st state and beyond with Illinois-based travel content creators Jay and Himani Patel, known on social media as “Couple of Patels.”

Money from super PACs flooded into Illinois for the Democratic primary — much of it aimed at defeating progressives by misleading voters about their records. We’ll hear from a candidate on the receiving end of such an attack: congressional candidate Robert Peters, whom a crypto PAC labeled a “corporate pawn” despite being endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. We’ll also put these kind o...

Customer service is increasingly the domain of AI chatbots. What impact is this having on security and how are consumers engaging with this service?

Christian Mitchell served three terms in the Illinois House and four years as Deputy Governor. Now he’s Governor Pritzker’s running mate in the November elections.

Self-driving cars were once a vision of the future. Now, the company Waymo is hoping to put its autonomous rideshares on the streets of Illinois. A panel of experts weigh in on what's happening with self-driving cars in the state, how they work, and why some people have concerns with the technology.

Roughly 1,000 Black men were trained in Tuskegee, Alabama to serve as Army aviators in World War II. Nearly 100 were killed — and of those, 27 went missing. Most were never recovered, leaving a trail of unresolved grief that would haunt their families for decades. Their stories are the subject of a new book called “Forgotten Souls: The Search for the Lost Tuskegee Airmen" by Cheryl Whitlow Thompso...

Spring has officially begun. At Eckert’s Farm in Belleville, visitors can find an upcoming season dedicated to the colorful flower, check out the Tulip Trail and enjoy a stroll along through thousands of different pigments of tulips.

Saunas have always been around in some form, but there’s more and more sauna businesses opening up, and content creators online are sharing all sorts of health claims associated with saunas. A health expert offers some tips.

He was sentenced to five years in federal prison — but now he’s back in business and has collected more than $1.5 million from the same state agency he defrauded.

It’s the official policy of the U.S. government to work toward putting people on Mars. Debates about that usually focus on cost and national priorities. Less considered is what life on Mars would do to the people who go there. That, however, is the subject of a new book by scientist Scott Solomon. It’s called Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds. Solomon was raise...

We are talking to some of the athletes that represented Team USA in the 2026 Winter Olympics with ties to the 21st state. Speedskater Ethan Cepuran is originally from the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn. He joins the program today.

There's been a lot of focus on how the ongoing war with Iran has affected gas and oil prices, but fertilizer prices have also severely risen. A market analyst explains what this means for the agriculture industry and farmers in Illinois.

Small businesses often turn to non-bank lenders to borrow money, but hidden terms mean those businesses often have to pay back more than what they borrowed in the first place.

A political writer discusses the results of many big races across the state last night and what they mean for the general election in the fall.

There are deep divides in American politics, but one thing a lot of people agree on is their distaste for white liberals. Conservatives think they’re left-wing nut jobs, progressives think they’re corporate shills, and many people of color are suspicious that they’re at best tepid allies. All this is the subject of a new book by UIC historian Kevin M. Schultz: “Why Everyone Hates White Liberals (I...

The annual NCAA Division 1 Men’s and Women’s Basketball tournament is back. Can AI beat the odds and make a better bracket than humans?

Tomorrow is Primary Election Day in Illinois. Voters will decide who will represent the major parties in this fall’s elections, from county boards to the governor’s race. Two journalists covering local politics and the statehouse outline the keys races and candidates.