Author: WBEZ Chicago

Gov. JB Pritzker took to the Illinois House floor in Springfield on Wednesday to deliver his State of the State address. In it, he presented his budgetary priorities and legislative plans, including regulating prescription drug prices, and he discussed how to address the state’s $3.2 billion deficit. Reset digs into the main takeaways of the governor’s budget address with WBEZ statehouse reporter Mawa Iqbal and Ralph Martire, executive director, Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Illinois grocers are scrambling to meet egg demand as farmers try to contain an avian flu outbreak, all while dealing with tariffs and end of USAID. Reset hears from Investigate Midwest editor-in-chief Ben Felder, ChiliTrout Farm owner Chad Troutman and Kakadoodle Farms owner Marty Thomas about how they and other farmers are coping. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

President Trump directed federal agencies to fire probationary workers on Thursday, Feb. 13. Federal workers are typically on probation for a year or two after being hired. There are roughly 82,000 federal workers based in Illinois according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Reset gets the latest from Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mitch Armentrout and gets reaction from former federal worker Anthony Stanford. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the country. It’s driven by policy decisions over the decades, but it’s also reinforced by personal networks and perception rather than experience. A new book, titled “Don’t Go: Stories of Segregation and How To Disrupt It,” uses first-person testimonials to explore how racist messaging can perpetuate this dynamic. Reset sits down with co-authors Tonika Johnson and Maria Krysan to hear how this book came to be, and how it could inform disrupting segregation. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Is the American Dream achieved at the expense of the American Negro? That’s the question that civil rights icon James Baldwin and conservative leader William F. Buckley debated in the Cambridge Union on February 18, 1965. A new play at DePaul’s TimeLine Theatre’s is bringing that question to modern audiences, capturing the relevance of the debate 60 years later. Reset sits down with the two lead actors, Teagle F. Bougere and Eric T. Miller, to find out what it’s like to reenact a haunting historical discussion and how the play resonates with the current moment. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

“A Raisin in the Sun” is a Chicago classic. The play by Lorainne Hansberry tells the story of a Black family looking to move out of a cramped South Side apartment and defy social and political limits to realize their dreams. There would be no “A Raisin in the Sun” without Lorraine’s father Carl Hansberry, a real estate broker turned civil rights activist who helped end restrictive covenant laws that prevent certain people from buying and living on a property. Reset learns more about Carl Hansberry with Gabrielle Randle-Bent, dramaturg, University of Chicago professor and associate artistic director at the Court Theatre. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

What is the purpose of schools? Most people would say to teach children to meet their potential and to prepare them for the world. But in her new book “Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism,” Chicago author and sociologist Eve Ewing presents readers with an exhaustively researched history of how U.S. schools have been a place where separation and inequality have been enshrined by design. Reset checks in with Ewing to explore the role of schools in America and a better way forward. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

’Tis the season of love. Whether you’re dating, single, newly wed or married for years, everybody could use a little advice on love and relationships. Ahead of Valentine’s Day, Reset checks in with love guru and psychologist Alexandra Solomon, who is also the host of the podcast “Reimagining Love.” For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

From jerk chicken to fresh squeezed juice to sweet treats, Chicago Black Restaurant Week offers something for everyone, not to mention an opportunity to explore a new restaurant. Reset checks in with founder Lauran Smith and participating restaurateur Dave Clausell, owner of Jerk Yard Chicago. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.