JB Pritzker announced his 2026 run for office, being the first Illinois governor to seek a third term since 1991. In his announcement, Pritzker touted his administration’s accomplishments over the last two terms, and slammed President Trump for his attacks on Illinois. Questions still remain about Pritzker’s future presidential aspirations. Reset learns about what we know so far with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mitchell Armentrout.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
In the face of expanded ICE raids, we get a view into what happens in immigration courts and ways advocates are ramping up efforts to connect immigrants to legal resources and Know Your Rights trainings. Reset sits down with immigration lawyer Carlina Tapia-Ruano and spokesperson Brandon Lee of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Early LGBTQ+ history can be hard to find. Photos, letters, literature and other artifacts have been destroyed or hidden away, in acts of homophobia, out of a fear of repercussions, and even by witting and unwitting family members.
“I think a lot of LGBTQ people, when they were passing away, their materials were being destroyed by family members that didn't understand them,” said Jen Dentel, the community outreach and strategic partnerships manager at Gerber/Hart, a large LGBTQ+ library and archive in Chicago. “And so having a space by us, for us, where we would collect and preserve the history became really important.”
As we learned in our last episode, some queer women boldly operated sapphic establishments in Chicago during the 1920s and ‘30s. However, there was very little written about these places. Often, the only evidence of their existence came in the form of old newspaper articles reporting on the sudden closure of these businesses at the hands of Chicago police.
In this episode, Dentel and Erin Bell, Gerber/Hart’s operations director, take us on a tour of this LGBTQ+ library and archive. They uncover archival treasures of the past, reveal unexpected moments in local gay history and explain the mission of the archive: to preserve queer history as a means of achieving justice and equality.
A Black student experienced racist bullying while attending Wildwood Elementary IB School. Reports show that CPS and the school administration took limited action to protect her. Reset dives deeper into this story with Chicago Public Media reporters Sarah Karp and Nader Issa.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
The Chicago based show, It’s Ok To Ask Questions which streams on Peacock showcases in-depth conversations with movers and shakers in the LGBTQ+ community about their lives, how the twists and turns of life affect their relationships and what motivates their work. Reset learns more about how these stories can create dialogue with Matthew Rodrigues, host of It’s Ok To Ask Questions.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
It’s not hard to find the LGBTQ+ hangouts in Chicago these days, but at one point it was. There’s a history of lesbian nightlife that goes back more than 100 years.
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Illinois has become a “haven” of sorts for people in states with abortion bans. In 2024, roughly 35,000 patients travelled to Illinois for abortion care.
Reset discusses how these bans increase wait times that can leave people in dangerous positions with executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund Megan Jeyifo, obstetrician gynecologist at UI Health Dr. Erica Hinz and the risks facing out of state patients with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mitchell Armentrout.
Could “granny flats” help ease Chicago’s affordable housing crisis? Many advocates and even political leaders think so – the problem is, they’re banned in Chicago.
And political gridlock makes legalizing them easier said than done.
Reset finds out what the process of building Additional Dwelling Units is like and what’s getting in the way of expanding this housing option across the city with a panel of guests: Brian Peterman, a Lakeview resident who built an ADU on his property; his mother-in-law Louise D’Agostino, who lives in the ADU, and Alex Nitkin, government finance and accountability reporter with the Illinois Answers Project of the Better Government Association.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Chicago’s queer neighborhoods have a long historical lineage in Chicago. From the early underground gatherings in Towertown to the rise of Boystown. Reset sits down with a Chicago queer history scholar Professor Jennifer Brier of UIC to trace how these communities formed, adapted, and flourished in the face of discrimination and displacement, revealing how geography, activism, and culture shaped Chicago as a hub of queer life in the Midwest.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
There wasn’t always a “B” in LGBTQ. For years, bisexual people were overlooked, misunderstood, or excluded from both queer and straight spaces. As part of our Pride Month series, Reset explores the ongoing fight for bisexual rights and visibility with co-founder of the Bisexual Queer Alliance Chicago Michael Oboza and queer performing artist Juju Minxxx.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
