There was the Rockford Peaches, women’s pro baseball team of the 1940s that was celebrated in the movie "A League of Their Own." But there was also a pro softball league at the time that had Chicago fans going wild.
Chicago just saw its most violent non-holiday weekend so far this summer. This comes just three months after local violence prevention groups learned the Department of Justice grants those groups depended on. Despite all that, however, community violence intervention efforts in Chicago are growing, with shootings and homicides down during the first half of 2025.
Reset digs into how Chicago can keep up momentum despite federal funding cuts with Vaughn Bryant, executive director of Metropolitan Peace Initiative; Garien Gatewood, deputy mayor of community safety for the city of Chicago; Michael Harris, outreach worker at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago; and Katie Hill, executive director, University of Chicago Crime Lab.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
While Ford City Mall in West Lawn faces demolition and going the way of many of its mall brethren, two other suburban shopping centers in the area are thriving. A “reader’s choice” report from USA Today says Oakbrook Center in the western suburbs and The Fashion Outlets of Chicago in Rosemont are among the best in the nation.
Reset looks at what makes these and other Chicago-area shopping centers great and discusses how local malls are changing to draw visitors at a time when malls nationwide have been in decline.
Our guests: Amanda Lai, Director of Food Industry Practice at McMillanDoolittle;
Meha Ahmad, Reset senior producer; Rachel Herzog, Crain’s Chicago Business commercial real estate reporter.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
An ongoing Sun-Times investigation tracking items at Jewel, Mariano’s, Target and Walmart shows most common grocery purchases cost more today in the Chicago area than they did when President Trump came into office promising lower prices. And local shoppers are struggling to keep up.
Reset learns more about how Chicago residents and business owners are adapting to higher prices and what comes next.
Our guests: Stephanie Zimmermann, Chicago Sun-Times consumer investigations reporter; Amanda Lai, director of food industry practice, McMillanDoolittle; Errol Schweizer, publisher of The Checkout Grocery Update; and Sana Syed, senior director of strategic initiatives at IMAN, which runs the Go Green Community Fresh Market.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Congress cuts federal funding for public media. Chicago Public Schools lays off nearly 1,500 staff. Disgraced former congressman Jesse Jackson prepares for a possible comeback. And Chicago City Council fails to override a mayoral veto of the “snap curfew.” Reset breaks down those stories and more with AXIOS Chicago reporter Carrie Shepherd, WBEZ education reporter Sarah Karp and Block Club Chicago reporter Quinn Myers.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson joined Reset host Sasha-Ann Simons in-studio for a public forum answering live questions from listeners including everything from how community members can have greater input into development projects in their wards to whether bike lanes will be built on the West Side of Chicago.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
What would win in a race between a car, bike and the Chicago Transit Authority?
Over the past few years, Chicago has been abuzz with road construction projects. There are more protected bike lanes, pedestrian refuge islands and curb bump-outs across the city. As we learned in our last episode, that also includes the installation of miniature traffic circles in residential areas. It’s all in service to make the roads safer by slowing cars down.
Safer streets is a win, but it doesn’t necessarily satisfy the urge to get somewhere fast. Cycling and public transportation are viable alternatives, but sometimes it’s hard to separate yourself from the convenience of driving somewhere.
In this episode, the Curious City team puts the different modes of transportation to the test in a good old-fashioned transit race. From the Garfield Park Conservatory to Navy Pier, who will win? Car, bike or public transportation?
Plus, Midwest correspondent for the Economist, Daniel Knowles makes the case for why we should rethink our relationship with cars, and answers why the fastest isn’t always the best.
“People will always drive if it's the most convenient or the quickest way,” said Knowles, author of “Carmeggedon: How Cars Make Life Worse and What to Do About It.” “You can't exhort people to change, you have to kind of change the incentives.”
With tariffs leading to higher prices on everything from clothing to electronics, is this an opportunity to rethink what we buy, and how often we buy it?
In Chicago, a range of businesses and groups are helping residents rethink the typical consumer mindset by reusing items, and even buying locally.
Reset learns more about the “circular economy,” how it works in Chicago, and how it could help your wallet – and by extension, the environment. We checked in with Jonathan Pereira, executive director Plant Chicago; Bob Shea, founding director of Devices 4 the Disabled; and
Karen Weigert, director of Loyola University Chicago’s Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
They use up massive amounts of electricity and water, strain state resources, and get hundreds of millions of dollars in tax subsidies. So what benefits do data centers actually bring to Illinois residents?
Reset digs into this question with Sarah Moskowitz, executive director of Citizens Utility Board, and Brett Chase, environmental reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
In a new exhibition, Chicago’s Floating Museum pays homage to Bronzeville’s Mecca Flats through its Floating Monuments series. Built in 1892 as a hotel for visitors to the World’s Fair, the Mecca Flats was later converted into apartments that served Chicago’s African American community on the South Side.
But by the 1950s, the building was demolished to make way for the Illinois Institute of Technology’s S.R. Crown Hall. Now, the Floating Museum is honoring the Mecca Flats’ contribution to Chicago's culture with an inflatable replica of the apartment building.
Reset examines the history of the Mecca, the legacy of urban renewal and the displacement of Black residents with Faheem Majeed, artist and co-director of the Floating Museum, and
Rebekah Coffman, curator of religion and community history architecture at the Chicago History Museum.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
