In the Loop

Mayor Lightfoot relaxes restrictions on bars and restaurants, suburban parents are demanding their schools reopen, and House Speaker Mike Madigan is refusing the governor's request to tell a panel of lawmakers what he knows about the Com Ed allegations swirling around him. Those are some of the stories we unpack with our panel of journalists this time around on WBEZ's Weekly News Roundup  

The U.S. is reckoning with growing calls to rethink and reform American policing, particularly around practices that use force on civilians. We talk to two policing experts to discuss factors that lead to undue force and some possible alternatives.

Suburban school districts in Illinois are putting plans into motion to switch students from all-remote classes to in-person or hybrid learning. And that leaves parents, teachers and students with more questions than answers. Reset checks in with WBEZ education reporter Susie An, and hears from teachers and parents on this issue.

Wynton Marsalis has created a new extended piece-part music and part spoken word-that critiques the tribalism encouraged by some world leaders to keep the masses suspicious of each other, while they take all the money and power. Reset learns more about Marsalis’ new extended work, The Ever Fonky Lowdown.

Reset checks in with Doug Cassel of the University of Notre Dame to discuss the law school’s legacy and legal philosophy. We also hear from WBEZ’s Patrick Smith for more on Judge Barrett’s background. 

Amid nationwide calls for racial justice and alternatives to policing, more cities are looking to shift non-emergency calls to crisis intervention teams.

Reset takes a look at one community-based public safety system that’s seen success in Eugene, Ore., and how other cities are exploring the model.

NASA has released the details of their Artemis lunar exploration program, which plans to send the first woman and the next man to the surface of Earth’s moon by 2024.

Reset brings on the first-ever woman to lead NASA’s human spaceflight programs to learn more about the agency’s plans, and what this mission might mean for women interested in space.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson says that the inconvenient truth of race and racism has exploded the myth that there are no castes in America since Day 1. And she describes the artificial hierarchy that determines everything from respect to resources, who gets the benefit of the doubt and who is considered beautiful in her new book “Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents”.

Contract negotiations continue between the Chicago Police union and members of the Lightfoot administration. Governor JB Pritzker warns of statewide budget cuts if Congress fails to act on coronavirus relief. Plus, a former state senator pleads guilty to federal tax evasion. We break down the biggest news of the week in our Weekly News Roundup, this week with host Becky Vevea of WBEZ.

The newest season of WBEZ’s Motive podcast explores how America's white supremacist movement recruits young people, and how the playbook started in Chicago’s punk music scene.
We’ll hear from the podcast’s host and one of its lead subjects for a preview of season three.