In the Loop

With the barrage of stories about sexual assault on campus, it can send a message that all consent is absent for college kids. It’s clearly a problem that continues to demand more action from college administrations so all students can feel safe. But as Vanessa Grigoriadis’s latest book shows, there are gray areas in the zone of consent. But she's quick to say stricter regulations on colleges should not be rolled back. We talk to Grigoriadis about her book Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus. 

With the barrage of stories about sexual assault on campus, it can send a message that all consent is absent for college kids. It’s clearly a problem that continues to demand more action from college administrations so all students can feel safe. But as Vanessa Grigoriadis’s latest book shows, there are gray areas in the zone of consent. But she's quick to say stricter regulations on colleges should not be rolled back. We talk to Grigoriadis about her book Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus. 

The Emmy Awards are this Sunday, and as good as the acting may be, it’s really about what they’re saying. Writing can make or break a sitcom. And it always helps when the writer can get into the mind of all kinds of people. A criticism so often heard about Hollywood is the lack of diversity, especially in the writers’ room. Even now, in 2017, there aren’t that many women at the table so imagine what it was like in the early ‘70s. Susan Silver was there. Silver wrote for shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and Square Pegs. She sheds details of those days in her latest book, Hot Pants in Hollywood: Sex, Secrets and Sitcoms, and gives us the juicy “behind the scenes” view.

The Emmy Awards are this Sunday, and as good as the acting may be, it’s really about what they’re saying. Writing can make or break a sitcom. And it always helps when the writer can get into the mind of all kinds of people. A criticism so often heard about Hollywood is the lack of diversity, especially in the writers’ room. Even now, in 2017, there aren’t that many women at the table so imagine what it was like in the early ‘70s. Susan Silver was there. Silver wrote for shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and Square Pegs. She sheds details of those days in her latest book, Hot Pants in Hollywood: Sex, Secrets and Sitcoms, and gives us the juicy “behind the scenes” view.

It’s gym class and you’re completely naked. You could be having a bad dream, or you could have just been a male student in a Chicago Public School swim class. For more than 50 years, high school gym classes in CPS required all male students to bare it all during swim instructions—a standard policy in Chicago and even cities across the country. WBEZ’s Curious City team recently dived into the question, “Why were boys required to swim naked in CPS?” WBEZ reporter Monica Eng shares her findings. 

It’s gym class and you’re completely naked. You could be having a bad dream, or you could have just been a male student in a Chicago Public School swim class. For more than 50 years, high school gym classes in CPS required all male students to bare it all during swim instructions—a standard policy in Chicago and even cities across the country. WBEZ’s Curious City team recently dived into the question, “Why were boys required to swim naked in CPS?” WBEZ reporter Monica Eng shares her findings. 

Writer and comedian Eric Barry recently attracted the wrath of Chicagoans for penning a “goodbye letter” explaining why he didn’t enjoy living in the city, from Midwestern attitudes to overpriced beer. Barry, who grew up in the Bay Area and now lives in New York City, talked to Sarabia about the letter, the backlash, and if he’s had a change of heart. We also took calls from listeners to hear what advice they’d give to recent transplants on how to embrace Chicago.

Writer and comedian Eric Barry recently attracted the wrath of Chicagoans for penning a “goodbye letter” explaining why he didn’t enjoy living in the city, from Midwestern attitudes to overpriced beer. Barry, who grew up in the Bay Area and now lives in New York City, talked to Sarabia about the letter, the backlash, and if he’s had a change of heart. We also took calls from listeners to hear what advice they’d give to recent transplants on how to embrace Chicago.

If you want to be brilliant, you’ve got to let yourself be bored. “Boredom” and “brilliance” are two words that normally don’t go together, but there’s a strong argument that embracing those seemingly dull moments in our lives can spark creativity. Morning Shift gets tips from Manoush Zomorodi, author of the new book, Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self, on the importance of putting aside our digital devices and letting our minds wander.

If you want to be brilliant, you’ve got to let yourself be bored. “Boredom” and “brilliance” are two words that normally don’t go together, but there’s a strong argument that embracing those seemingly dull moments in our lives can spark creativity. Morning Shift gets tips from Manoush Zomorodi, author of the new book, Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self, on the importance of putting aside our digital devices and letting our minds wander.