Author: WBEZ Chicago

May 7 is the deadline to acquire a Real ID before the new federal guidelines are enforced. DMVs all across the country are seeing unprecedented demand. Illinoisans are experiencing long lines and even longer wait times. Last year, the “Get Real, Illinois” campaign launched to encourage residents to “get real” well in advance of the deadline. However, only around 30% of Illinois residents have Real IDs. Despite the looming cutoff, state officials are reminding Illinoisans not to panic. Reset learns more about the Real ID mandate from Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Illinois saw a drop in drug overdose deaths in 2023, according to newly released data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. And in Cook County, that trend seems to have held in 2024 as well, according to preliminary data from the county coroner’s office. Reset talks with Fanya Burford-Berry, a community worker at West Side Heroin Opioid Task Force, where they provide outreach to hear what’s led to this decrease and what’s needed to bring the numbers down even further and WBEZ reporter and anchor Araceli Gomez-Aldana. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Russia and China are no fans of his. Egypt wouldn’t even let him in the country. As the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth spent 30 years investigating and standing up to the world’s most ruthless oppressors. During that time, he exposed war crimes, confronted authoritarian regimes and, on more than one occasion, found himself in the crosshairs. Reset checks in with Roth about his new book Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments, and how he found shame to be a useful tool in holding governments accountable. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

To mark Women’s History Month, we learn about Jackie Bross, a 1940s Chicago factory worker who had the audacity to wear men’s pants to work in a time when it was considered cross-dressing and illegal. Her court case in 1943 eventually led to an ordinance that allowed women to wear pants as long as it wasn’t concealing their gender. Reset gets the story from professor of history at University of Illinois at Chicago Jennifer Brier. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

The four members of Chicago band The Orchard all met in high school. It wasn’t until their college years that they started to play music together. The group practiced and covered songs by artists like Velvet Underground in a barn near a friend’s orchard, hence the name of the band. They are inspired by the sounds of ‘50s country and classic Americana, describing its sound as “barn rock.” You can get a taste of that barn rock in The Orchard’s latest EP ‘County Fair.’ Reset sits down with the band. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

While House Republicans took aim at Democratic mayors over immigration issues, and former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel criticized Democrats, hinting he may run for political office again. Meanwhile, the Highland Park mass shooter pleaded guilty. Reset breaks down these stories and much more with WTTW News correspondent Nick Blumberg, Washington Post national and breaking news reporter Kim Bellware and WBEZ city politics reporter Mariah Woelfel. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

With artificial intelligence, or AI, becoming more accessible, artists’ intellectual property is increasingly under threat. Creative work is being mined by AI without the consent of the artists.A team at the University of Chicago are creating software to combat AI’s ability to use artists’ work. The ethics of AI continue to come into question while more people are tantalized by its ability to mine images and information. So, what’s the deal? Reset sits down with journalist Kelley Engelbrecht who has been reporting on the issue of intellectual property and AI, as well as the head of the team creating this protective software, Ben Y. Zhao, to learn about AI theft. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Santa Masa Tamaleria in Chicago’s Dunning neighborhood uses non-GMO corn from Northern Mexico to make the dough for their tamales and tortillas. Opening this restaurant was a long held dream for the chef-couple. Reset hears how owners Jhoana Ruiz and Danny Espinoza made their dream a reality, and how the threat of tariffs is impacting them. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Preservation Chicago has released its 2025 list of endangered buildings. Reset learns about the importance of these buildings from Jonathan Solomon, a partner in the Chicago firm Preservation Futures and associate professor at the School of the Art Institute and Adam Natenshon, director of operations and communications at Preservation Chicago. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.