Author: WBEZ Chicago

Mary Mitchell, former columnist and director of culture and community engagement retired in 2019 but returned to the Sun-Times a year later. This time around, she says she’s leaving “for real.” Reset sits down with Mitchell to reflect on her career and what she’s learned about herself and Chicago in the process. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Reset wraps a summer “What’s That Building?” series about Chicago’s incredible music venues at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Lincoln Square. Sasha-Ann Simons and Dennis Rodkin explore this old library turned music school and venue and dive deep into the history of its exterior as well as what lives inside. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Long-term stress can have many negative outcomes for parents in the U.S., so much so that the U.S. surgeon general says it’s time to start treating parental stress as a public health issue. Reset discusses some of the biggest challenges parents face today and how communities are coming together to support parents and children with Rosalia Salgado, mother of two from Hermosa and a community healer with Community Organizing and Family Issues and Teri McKean, parent and director of Crisis and Support Operations at NAMI Chicago. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

After 11 years, The Onion is bringing back its print edition. Subscribers are now able to enjoy deeper layers of the most pressing (fake) stories on paper, not just on screens. Reset learns more about covering the “political circus,” the website’s evolution and The Onion’s path back to print in a conversation with the editor-in-chief, Chad Nackers. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

The Chicago Jazz Festival happens every year over Labor Day weekend. Reset gets the rundown with an organizer, Frayne Lewis, DCASE senior policy analyst, and two artists taking the stage this weekend: Lynne Jordan, jazz and blues singer and jazz pianist and composer Miguel de la Cerna. Click here to see the full schedule for the Chicago Jazz Festival. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Attorneys for former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan request evidence be thrown out ahead of his upcoming corruption trial. Demolition begins on local landmark to make way for Chicago's riverfront casino. Local radio host resigns from high school coaching duties after controversial comments. Reset goes behind those headlines and more with a panel of local journalists that includes Natalie Moore, WBEZ race, class and communities editor, Becky Vevea, bureau chief of Chalkbeat Chicago and Mitchell Armentrout, Chicago Sun-Times reporter covering government and politics. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

What do you think of when you hear the word design? Maybe fashion, photoshop or video games? What about urban planning, street art and choreography? The Design Museum of Chicago on the corner of Michigan and Randolph has thought a lot about this question – they hope to contextualize and humanize how design shapes our day-to-day lives. Reset host Sasha-Ann Simons and production intern Ellie Gilbert-Bair visited the museum. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

Planning out the week’s meals, making a shopping list based on that plan, and then dedicating time to prepare veggies, starches and proteins can help avoid the dread of having to figure out what’s for dinner when you’re already hungry. Plus, it helps keep costs in check at the grocery store. Reset discusses the benefits of meal prepping and gets tips for keeping it interesting with Lisa Counts, executive chef at The Chopping Block and Jenny LeFlore, creator of Mama Fresh. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

With the two political conventions behind us, we take a look at the candidates' records on climate issues. From the three Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump affecting the court’s rulings on environmental cases to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act under President Biden. Reset discusses what this could mean for the Chicago area and what to keep an eye out for moving forward with Karen Weigert, Reset sustainability contributor and 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.