WBEZ News

If you happen to be on a Red Line train platform this summer and hear some Jazz music floating through the air, you’re not crazy. This summer, Jazz bands are billed to play monthly at different Red Line train stations along your evening commute. HOST: LANE

Cesar Chavez is now a figure many are distancing themselves from. He was a civil rights icon who died in 1993. The shift follows a New York Times investigation back in March that alleges sexual misconduct. Now many Chicago communities are trying to remove his name from public view. And in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side, young advocates are asking what all of this means for th...

Illinois lawmakers wrapped up their spring legislative session early today [MON] after passing a $56 billion dollar state budget. But there was huge news in what didn’t pass. Tops on that list was a package designed to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois instead of moving to northwest Indiana. HOST: ALEX

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has left Rome after meeting with Pope Leo the 14th at the Vatican. There’s been a lot of talk about sports and food themed gifts the mayor and his delegation gave the Chicago-born pontiff. They also discussed their Christian beliefs. Sun-Times religion contributor Cathleen Falsani spoke with Johnson about his faith and spirituality ahead of his meeting with the Pope....

It has been a whirlwind 24 hours for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson in the Italian capital of Rome and in neighboring Vatican City. After flying in yesterday morning, the Mayor raced to a meeting with one of the world’s most prominent religious leaders, the Chicago-born Pope Leo. And Johnson did not come empty-handed – or alone. HOST: LABUZ

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson met with the Chicago-born Pope Leo the 14th today in Rome. WBEZ City Hall reporter Mariah Woelfel is in Rome covering the mayor’s historic Vatican visit. HOST: LARA

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is traveling to Rome this week to meet with Pope Leo the 14th. Before he left, he repeated his now common catchphrase: JOHNSON: Everything dope, including the pope, comes from the greatest freaking city in the world. Well, that includes deep dish pizza, which the Chicago-born pope has a soft spot for. There’s plenty of pizza in Rome, but can he get his fix of the Chic...

Theater students from Northwestern University are bringing a playful, interactive show to an unlikely setting … Chicago’s pediatric hospitals. HOST: LABUZ

Now, we head to Rome, Italy, where Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected to meet with Pope Leo the 14th this week. WBEZ City Hall reporter Mariah Woelfel is at the Vatican to cover this historic, but largely symbolic meeting. HOST: LABUZ

The Second City has been a Chicago comedy staple for more than six decades. The company has an illustrious history, fueled by its reputation as the training grounds for Saturday Night Live. The list of famous alums includes Tina Fey, Steve Carell, and Stephen Colbert — just to name a few… HOST: LABUZ

“The pen and the pulpit.” Those are the tools that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he and Pope Leo the 14th possess to push back against the quote- “God forsaken” policies of the Trump Administration. And that’s the message Johnson is rehearsing as he takes flight to Rome this week and ascends to the highest stage of his political life: A 1-on-1 meeting with the world’s most famous Chicagoan, “...

Illinois passed a law last year that requires public colleges and universities to establish protocols for what to do if immigration agents come on campus. It came in the aftermath of Operation Midway Blitz, as Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents descended on some local campuses in the fall. But a WBEZ and Sun-Times report finds that many Illinois schools still don’t have protocols in place....

Memorial Day is Monday. And the long weekend kicks off the summer fest season in Chicago. Sueños Music Festival is back for its fifth year in Grant Park. It celebrates Latin music and culture. HOST: LANE

The Declaration of Independence turns 250 this summer. Commemorations are beginning to sweep the performing arts world, including one by a Chicago group called the Newberry Consort. HOST: DEGMAN

Singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra has carved out a space as a leading voice in modern folk music. And the singer-songwriter recently found a home right here in Chicago, playing with a group of local musicians. HOST: LANE

Hot dogs are not just a Chicago thing. They’re very much a Gary, Indiana thing too. And now the smash-hit TV show “The Bear” is putting a spotlight on one of Gary’s best-kept secrets… a hot dog joint nearly as old as the city itself. HOST: LABUZ

For decades, Aadam Jacobs obsessively documented Chicago’s indie rock scene. He was a fixture at local venues, recording shows religiously in the 80s, 90s and beyond. For a while, the future of Jacobs’ personal archive was uncertain… much of it lived in his home, on shelves or in boxes… and tape *quality* degrades over time. But over the past few years … a team of volunteer audio archivists began...

Cook County is known as the wrongful-conviction capital of America. The National Registry of Exonerations lists 215 murder cases cleared here since 1989. Brown University sociologist Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve is out next week [5/19] with a book about them. She writes that wrongful convictions stem from something more pernicious than shoddy law enforcement. HOST: LANE

A calm has returned to Chicago this spring. Groups of U.S. Border Patrol agents are no longer making surprise visits to Michigan Avenue or marching through neighborhoods like Little Village or Back of the Yards. But volunteer responders who warn residents about immigration enforcement activity say they remain on high alert. And they’re using this time to adapt their strategies and prepare for what...

The Chicago Bears’ search for a new stadium is now approaching five years. It seems like a resolution may be coming soon. But many question marks remain around what the team – AND the Illinois and Indiana state legislatures – want to see happen. Sun-Times reporter Mitchell Armentrout is here to help us break through the noise and bring us up to speed on how we got here. HOST: DEGMAN

The popular annual Kilbourn Park plant sale on Chicago’s north west side is celebrating its 30th anniversary this weekend with over 15,000 plants for sale. But this year, along with the regular stock of tomatoes, herbs, and annuals… there are also many native plant species on offer — reflecting a growing trend across the country in favor of more climate change resilient gardens. WBEZ’s Juanpablo R...

Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney is known for his poignant observations on race. He won an Oscar for co-writing the movie Moonlight, based on one of his plays. This spring, his new work Windfall premieres at Chicago’s Steppenwolf. HOST: LANE

The principal of an all-boys Catholic school high school on Chicago’s South Side won the prestigious Golden Apple Award yesterday (Mon). But as WBEZ’s Sarah Karp found out, it was more than an individual award. It was a moment to celebrate his school’s resurgence. HOST: MELBA

Earlier this year, the world’s most famous classical music concert featured Florence Price, a late Chicago composer. But was it really her music? HOST: LANE

During the Trump administration’s deportation campaign in Chicago last fall, immigration agents took away a mother on the Southwest Side. Her three children were all U.S. citizens. They were left to fend for themselves. And they did for nearly four weeks … … until a 27-year-old woman — a stranger — stepped in to help. WBEZ’s Chip Mitchell sat down with her. HOST: LARA