In the Loop

In his new book The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER, Dr. Thomas Fisher takes us back to the early, scary days of the pandemic, when almost everything was unknown and a violent summer ensued.

Reset talks with the doctor about his experience and how the pandemic exposed racial inequalities in the healthcare system.

Guest: Dr. Thomas Fisher, emergency medicine physician, UChicago Medicine

Producer: Sasha-Ann Simons, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons

Crowds are returning to airports for spring break travel, but will high fuel prices impact airfares? And is it time to drop the COVID travel restrictions? Reset hears from two travel industry experts.

Guests: Elaine Glusac, Frugal Traveler columnist for the New York Times

Joseph Schwieterman, Director of DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development

Producer: Andrea Guthmann, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons

Psychedelics are largely illegal throughout Illinois but ketamine is available for therapies.

Reset hears from the sponsor of a bill seeking to decriminalize plant-based psychedelics, and from a Chicago group about the psychedelic therapies they offer.

Guests: Representative La Shawn K. Ford - D, 8th District of Illinois, Judy Seals, nurse practitioner at Field Trip Health Center in Chicago

Producer: Brenda Ruiz, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons

Mayor Lightfoot reignites a monumental debate, announcing the statue of Christopher Columbus statue may return to Grant Park. Meanwhile, Democrats eye Chicago as a potential host city for the 2024 convention. Reset talks with WVON commentator and attorney Kimberley Egonmwan and Chicago Sun-Times chief political reporter Tina Sfondeles about the Chicago area’s biggest stories of the week.

Guests: Tina Sfondeles, Chicago Sun-Times chief political reporter, Kimberley Egonmwan, commentator for WVON and attorney

Producer: Andrea Guthmann, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons

Gov. JB Pritzker is pledging new resources to help fight the opioid epidemic in Illinois. Reset takes a closer look at the state’s plans and talks to two advocates working on the ground on the West Side of Chicago.

Guest: David Jones, Illinois’ new chief behavioral health officer, Luther Syas, director of outreach at the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force, Gail Richardson, outreach specialist at the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force

Producer: Nereida Moreno, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons

In July of 2020, city crews quietly and quickly removed the Christopher Columbus statue from Grant Park after protesters tried to pull it down themselves. Now, she says the statue may be returning to its pedestal. Reset talks to Northwestern University art professor Rebecca Zorach about how statues can help frame our understanding of history, and what should be done about monuments that are deemed problematic.

Guest: Rebecca Zorach, Professor of Art and Art History, Northwestern University

Producer: Andrea Guthmann, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons

Chicago’s City Council unanimously confirmed Nicole Lee as the new alderman of the 11th Ward at its Monday meeting. Reset gets an update on this and more from WBEZ reporters Becky Vevea and Mariah Woelfel.

Guests: Becky Vevea, WBEZ political reporter, Mariah Woelfel, WBEZ reporter city government reporter

Producer: Brenda Ruiz, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons

Hollywood wrapped its biggest night of the year with a bang, with plenty of surprises, laughs and drama.

From CODA winning Best Picture to the slap heard around the world, Reset recaps the highs and lows of the 94th Academy Awards with two film critics and a movie superfan.

Guests: Michael Phillips, film critic at the Chicago Tribune, Brandon Weiss, Music Box Theatre concessions, Robert Daniels, freelance film critic with RogerEbert.com and the New York Times

Producer: Meha Ahmad, Lynnea Domienik, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons

City Council enters a new era of electronic voting and area drivers line up for a mayoral candidate’s free gas. Get all the news of the week in a half hour on the Weekly News Recap.

Guest: Amanda Vinicky, WTTW political correspondent, Alex Nitkin, city hall reporter, The Daily Line

Producer: Nereida Moreno, Andrea Guthmann, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons

With a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced across the country— the majority of which target trans people — 2022 is being called “the worst year for LGBTQ and trans people.”

Reset talks through the recent deaths of two Chicago trans women and the violence their community faces on a regular basis.

Gust: Iggy V Ladden (they/them), licensed therapist, Founder of Chicago Therapy Collective

Aster Gilbert (she/they), Manager of the Training & Public Education Institute, Center on Halstead

Producer: Meha Ahmad, Brenda Ruiz, Andrew Meriwether

Host: Sasha-Ann Simons