Mayor Johnson’s first aldermanic appointment is approved and a Chicago City Council committee advances a measure banning Jan. 6 participants from city jobs. Reset dives into these and other top local stories in the Weekly News Recap with Quinn Myers, Block Club Chicago reporte; Brandis Friedman, WTTW “Chicago Tonight” anchor; and Tom Schuba, Chicago Sun-Times reporter.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Ready for some mandolin? How about music played on the balafon, a kind of West African marimba? Those are just two of the instruments taking center stage this month in concerts around Chicago as artists like Sierra Hull and Winard Harper come to town. Reset gets a roundup of shows you don’t want to miss this month from Mark Guarino, WBEZ contributor, author of Country & Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Chicago has a major rogue tow operator problem. Rogue towing operators prowl crash scenes, take vehicles away, and then stick drivers with massive fees to get their cars back. More than 500 predatory tows were reported in the Chicago area in 2023. But now, a new proposed ordinance making its way through City Council could crack down on the problem, and would allow drivers and insurers to sue rogue tow truck drivers. Reset finds out more about this issue from Mitch Armentrout, Chicago Sun-Times reporter.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Earth Day is an opportunity to think about the environment around us. From park cleanups to film festivals focusing on climate change and environmental issues, there’s plenty to choose from. Reset gets ideas of ways to plug in from the founder and executive director of the One Earth Film Festival Ana Garcia-Doyle, Community Relations Manager at the Chicago Park District tMaria Stone and the director of Loyola University Chicago’s Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility Karen Weigert.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Extremism in America has been on the rise.
Last episode, we looked at extremist groups in Chicago and how they terrorized select groups of people and influenced housing policy in the city during the 1950s. But what does extremism look like today? Curious City host Erin Allen talks with Odette Yousef, a national security correspondent focusing on extremism at NPR, about why it’s less about fringe groups and more about ideology that has permeated our culture.
“January 6 was a good example of how everything has changed,” she says. “That to me was really a milestone in terms of how extremism looks in this country, because I think we have long expected it to come out of small cells or groups. And here it was just everyday Americans who had gotten really kind of radicalized until the point where they participated in the violence that day.”
She also talks about how extremism has shown up in Chicago and how the city compares with other large American cities.
Michael Shannon is an Oscar-nominated actor, known for his movies like “The Shape of Water” and “Revolutionary Road,” and the TV show “Boardwalk Empire.” Now, he’s enjoying the view behind the camera as he makes his directorial debut in the new film “Eric Larue.” It tells the story of Janice, the mother of a teenage boy who shot and killed three of his classmates and how she tries to cope with the fallout, guilt and hostility.
Reset sits down with Michael Shannon and screenwriter Brett Neveu.
The stock market has been showing the effects of President Trump’s tariffs on imports over the past week. But those effects certainly aren’t confined to the money markets. To learn more about the impact on Chicago-area businesses, Reset sits down with Elliot Richardson, president of Small Business Advocacy Council; Bruce Wesley, owner of Wesley’s Shoe Corral; and Mark Doyle, founder of Rags of Honor and Veteran Roasters.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Love triangles, amnesia, cliffhangers, blackmail – there’s no trope or plot device that soap operas haven’t seen – or invented. But who invented the soaps themselves? Turns out, the genre got its start in Chicago. It’s a piece of broadcast and pop culture history that is getting its due in a new podcast from WBEZ. Reset gets the inside story with Natalie Moore, host of “Stories Without End,” a WBEZ Making podcast.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Calling all Chicago history buffs: the city’s newest museum is spotlighting an undertold story of Chicago’s past. It’s also now open in the only surviving building of the historic Jane Addams homes, Chicago’s first public housing development.
Architecture expert Dennis Rodkin takes us inside.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
