In the Loop

Have heard the story about those man-eating trees or about China’s plans to tear down the Great Wall? Don’t worry. They’re not true. They were fake news stories from the 19th century. Fake news is probably as old as the printing press but it got renewed attention during this year's heated presidential race. On election night, the top Google search result for election returns was a fake news site with fake numbers.  Now, with more fake news stories coming from the right, some are wondering whether they helped propel Donald Trump into office. Social media outlets like Reddit, Twitter and Facebook are reconsidering their roles in policing fake news.  For more, we turn to Washington Post reporter Abigail Ohlheiser, who wrote a series of recent columns called "What was fake on the Internet this election." 

Hundreds of Chicagoans, including Governor Rauner and Mayor Emanuel, are heading to Vatican City this weekend to witness Archbishop Blase Cupich's elevation to Cardinal.  Cardinal-elect Cupich has overseen 351 parishes in the area since 2014 and will join 6 of his predecessors in the Roman Catholic Church's highest ranks.  Morning Shift talks with author and reporter Michael O’Loughlin, who’s in Rome now, about Cupich and the significance of receiving that iconic red hat. 

Vocalo’s Ayana Contreras usually takes us on a trip into the history of soul music, but today, she’s talking with a contemporary artist that crosses artistic boundaries and genres.  Chicago singer and writer Jamila Woods  sat down recently with Ayana to talk about her music, her process, and her influences. 

Award-winning journalist Gwen Ifill passed away Monday at the age of 61 after battling cancer.  She was a political reporter for several newspapers, a book author, and most recently the co-host of the PBS NewsHour. Universally respected by her colleagues and the people she reported on, she’s been called “a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity.”  Morning Shift talks to Laura Washington, political analyst for the Chicago Sun-Times and ABC 7 Chicago, and Jill Hopkins, co-host of the Morning AMp on our sister station Vocalo, about Gwen Ifill’s extraordinary life and career and the impact she had as a trailblazing African-American woman in journalism. 

This week on the Morning Shift, we’re examining what’s next for various groups now that Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States. We speak to millennials of all political stripes about what a Trump presidency means to them and how it will affect how they engage politically.

Before the presidential election, Saturday Night Live featured Alec Baldwin doing an impression of Donald Trump, but that character was notably absent this past weekend during the show’s first episode since Trump became the President-elect. Was it a sign of the times?  Now that a new political era has dawned, what does that mean for the comedians and satirists who riff on the news of the day? Morning Shift talks with Anne Libera, professor of Comedy Studies at Columbia College and author of The Second City Almanac of Improvisation.

On the 20th anniversary of his passing we remember the Cardinal by talking to Steven Millies, history professor and author of the new book Joseph Bernardin: Seeking Common Ground.

Carol Moseley Braun’s resume is a series of “firsts”: first female African-American senator in U.S. history, first African-American senator from the Democratic party, the first woman to defeat an incumbent U.S. senator in an election, and the first woman senator from Illinois.  She loves talking about history, the feminist movement, and the role of women in politics. So she was the perfect guest for the post-election edition of WBEZ’s Nerdette podcast. 

Many women and young girls are still coming to terms with Hillary Clinton’s presidential election loss. Arguably one of the most qualified candidates to run for the office, Clinton’s loss has many asking “If she can’t break that glass ceiling, who can?”  So what’s ahead for women with political ambitions?  The Morning Shift talks with feminist writer Kate Schatz, author of Rad Women Worldwide and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to get their take on the future of women in U.S. politics. 

On this Veterans Day, Morning Shift speaks with Aaron Glantz, a reporter who has been covering veterans and domestic military issues for The Center for Investigative Reporting.  First, we look at how and why Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton when it came to garnering support from veterans. He beat her by a margin of two to one, taking veterans by a much larger margin than John McCain did in 2008. Then, we look at how the veterans health care system is doing after a bumpy few years.