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One Chicago woman’s health journey: six lung collapses, then a rare disease diagnosis
A Chicago writer was diagnosed with thoracic endometriosis in 2021. Before that a doctor told her, “That’s so rare. No one ever gets that.”. Thirty million people live with a rare disease in the United States. And for many of them, it often takes years to get a diagnosis.
An ancient female ballplayer is highlighting an exhibit at a Chicago art museum
“The Ball Game” was an ancient, Mesoamerican sport and spiritual ritual that has fascinated archeologists for centuries. The National Museum of Mexican Art currently has on display a stone-carved statue of a female ballplayer – complete with knee pads, a headdress, and holding a severed head – as part of an exhibit that is reimagining the role women played in the ancient Huasteca civilization.
What’s That Building? Former Little Village firehouse
In Little Village, an old fire station has stood empty and unused since its modern replacement opened three blocks away in 2011. The building finally heads toward a new use as a youth arts center filled with performance and studio spaces, an indoor garden made from an old spiral staircase and disco balls.
For ‘Empire’ and ‘Morning Show’ writer Joshua Allen, the big test is a new play in Chicago
The Rogers Park theater is as dark as the drama. As The Prodigal Daughter brings its tale of Chicago’s 1919 race riots to its powerful close, the sold-out audience takes a collective breath as the lights come up. This is a unique crowd. The playwright, Joshua Allen, is there....
Goodbye for now!
As y’all probably know, we’re calling this the “goodbye for now” episode of Nerdette because this is our last episode as a production at WBEZ. So, we thought it was the perfect time to call up Nerdette co-creator Tricia Bobeda and Nerdette Recaps co-host Peter Sagal to play our favorite game, Burden or Delight.
City Council ethics chairman concerned about Mayor Brandon Johnson’s use of the city’s do-not-hire list
The chair of the City Council’s ethics committee wants department officials to testify on the city’s do-not-hire list after the placement of former staffers of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office “raised a lot of real questions and concerns.”. Ald. Matt Martin, 47th Ward and chair of the...
When Magic Happens Final Bow
There are not enough words to describe the journey of bringing to life When Magic Happens. Week after week, we have brought stories that made us think, laugh, and cry, and we are so grateful for our When Magic Happens family for rocking with us. To our magical guests, we...
Folk-pop duo Finom draws heavily from Chicago’s music influences, from Wilco to free jazz
When Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart sing together, Cunningham’s alto and Stewart’s soprano become a singular voice that’s unlike either. “That is Finom,” Cunningham said. “That character wouldn’t exist if we didn’t blend together.”. The Chicago duo has together and separately served as...
Nerdette Book Club: More with Amor Towles, LIVE!
May’s Book Club selection is the fabulous short story collection Table for Two by Amor Towles. It was amazing to get to talk to Amor in front of a LIVE audience in Chicago a few weeks ago. Since we were only able to share about half of that conversation in the podcast feed, we decided to bring you more from our chat and dive even deeper into the book in this episode!
Children of migrants are facing challenges in Chicago schools
Segregation, “language deserts” and even a lack of school buses are making learning and going to school a nearly impossible task for migrant students, according to a new investigation from Block Club Chicago and Chalkbeat Chicago. Reset digs into the web of issues in CPS and beyond. GUESTS:...
Chanel Beads is mixing up pop music with a unique digital flare
The Brooklyn-based band combines hard-hitting drum machines with dreamy strings and vocals. Inspired by the term “free jazz,” the mind behind the band wants listeners to find their own meaning in his music. Reset chats with the group’s frontman ahead of their show at Lincoln Hall on Saturday,...
Uptown was once a vibrant hub for Chicago’s Native American community
WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter. Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, known for vibrant cultural communities. One Curious City listener wanted to know if Native Americans currently have a neighborhood enclave in the...
‘This is what Chicago sounds like’: A peek behind the scene of Vocalo’s series
Every so often on The Rundown podcast we bring you episodes of “Chi Sounds Like,” a series that gives you an intimate, firsthand look into the lives of artists, activists and other off-the-beaten-path Chicagoans. Today, we hear from photographer Ken Cook Jr., who left Chicago’s West Side, realized...
Indie extraordinaire Andrew Bird finds new melodic direction in jazz standards
Look for the gray audio player embedded throughout this story and press play to hear samples from Sunday Morning Put-On. Wes Anderson has nothing on Andrew Bird’s life in Chicago in the mid-1990s. Before becoming an indie rock darling, Bird spent his 20s living in The Sovereign, a 1920s-era apartment-hotel in Edgewater where Russian mobsters hogged the steamroom and the “gym” was a collection of Schwinn bikes stacked on cinder blocks.
The Chicago City Council is pushing to keep ShotSpotter technology despite Mayor Brandon Johnson’s effort to get rid of it
In a protest vote to curb Mayor Brandon Johnson’s power, the Chicago City Council passed a measure Wednesday aimed at saving a controversial gunshot detection technology contract Johnson plans to nix. After the vote, Johnson was dismissive of the stunning rebuke of his authority — arguing the measure lacks...
New Summer EBT program to benefit food-insecure families
Every school day, thousands of kids in Illinois shuffle into cafeterias for free breakfast and lunch. But when school lets out for the summer break, they can lose access to those consistent meals. Enter: Summer EBT. It’s a new federal benefits program that’s expected to help alleviate that issue with...
Chicago schools’ plan to be safe without police
Since Chicago’s Board of Education voted in February to remove school resource officers from CPS, the district has released its new police-less safety plans – which includes implementing alternative discipline practices like restorative justice. Reset checks in with an education reporter to get the latest on the plan...
For Latham Zearfoss, change is a chance for discovery
Latham Zearfoss is a Chicago artist and a cultural liaison at the Chicago Park District, where he helps build out cultural programming across the city. Today, he explains his dynamic journey to this work as a part of Vocalo’s Chi Sounds Like series.
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