Category: 4-FrequentNewsStreams

We go to the movies for magic. To laugh, to cry, to care… at least that’s what Nicole Kidman says in the preview that runs before films start. We chat about our favorite flicks (and those that missed the mark!) with Brandon Pope, anchor at CW-26 and host of Season 4 of WBEZ’s Making Podcast, Michi Trota, Hugo Award winning editor and culture critic, and Cody Dericks, seasonal manager at the Music Box Theater and film critic for the website Next Best Picture.

For many, a little extra cash each month could go a long way. So one local scholar and sociologist set out to understand what a no-strings-attached monthly stipend could do for Chicago residents. Reset sits down with Eve L. Ewing about her limited podcast series “Guaranteed,” which examines what $500 monthly cash payments are making possible for some residents.

Generally, seniors 65 and older – who are retired and no longer use employer-provided insurance – will need to choose between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. This can be a daunting choice, with tradeoffs to each. Reset learns about the different parts to Medicare and gets advice for thinking through the options with Mary Mitchell, columnist and director of culture and community engagement for the Chicago Sun-Times, and Tricia Neuman, executive director of KFF’s Program on Medicare Policy.

The reporters on the seven-part series from City Bureau and the Invisible Institute found that Chicago detectives repeatedly brushed off family members' concerns, mishandled evidence and recorded inaccurate data that made finding missing people harder. Reset learns more from the duo behind the investigation, Trina Reynolds-Tyler, data director at the Invisible Institute, and Sarah Conway, senior reporter at City Bureau.

It’s challenging to become a classically trained professional ballerina, and people of color say they face more significant financial and accessibility challenges than their white counterparts when breaking into the field. Reset talks with Tatiana Chen, Shania Cook, and Rozhan Shabahang about being leads in A & A Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker and what it’s like to be part of the growing diversity in ballet.

From lions and a zebra born at the Lincoln Park Zoo, to spottings of snapping turtles, bats, and rats throughout Chicago, the reminder that wildlife is here, not just on TV, is all around. Reset revisits some of the biggest animal stories from this year with Seth Magle and Dave Bernier of the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Since the start of the AIDS epidemic, what’s changed? The medicine. What’s continued? The stigma. Reset brings together two people living with HIV in a conversation crossing generations and speaks with Dr. Sadia Haider of RUSH University Medical Center about efforts to educate heterosexual women about HIV transmission.

The Illinois primary is 109 days away. The Ed Burke trial is heating up. And the city of Chicago teams up with churches to house migrants. We’ll break down those stories and more in WBEZ’s Weekly News Recap with panelists Monica Eng, reporter for Axios Chicago, Michael Loria, reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, and Dave McKinney, WBEZ state politics reporter.

Federal investigators are taking aim at the role aldermanic prerogative has on the lack of affordable housing in Chicago. After a nearly five-year investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that alderpersons’ ability to veto affordable housing proposals has been “instrumental in creating Chicago’s patterns of segregation.” Reset learns more from Roderick Wilson, executive director of Lugenia Burns Hope Center; and Monica Dillon, resident of the 41st ward and member of Neighbors for Affordable Housing. For more Reset news delivered straight to your inbox, visit wbez.org/resetnews.

As winter sets in, a new partnership between the city and local churches called the Unity Initiative will house newcomers on a temporary basis in an effort to address the migrant crisis in Chicago. Reset checks in with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Michael Loria and Rev. Jonathan de la O of Starting Point Community Church. For more conversations like this, check out our full catalog of interviews at wbez.org/reset.