Voters in Chicago are choosing between two candidates for mayor, and two very different wings of the Democratic Party.  One contender is conservative, for a Chicago Democrat, and backed by the police union. The other is a progressive, who once called to defund the police. Why does the Chicago mayoral election matter outside of the city limits?  

The Economist’s Daniel Knowles profiles the candidates. We learn about a notoriously powerful Chicago mayor. And former education secretary Arne Duncan explains how the city is failing many of its children, and what the new mayor will need to do to help. 

John Prideaux hosts with Idrees Kahloon and Jon Fasman. 

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Thanks to the Richard J. Daley Oral History collection, University of Illinois Chicago Library for the use of some of the audio in this episode. 

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