In the Loop

In June, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump questioned a U.S. District Court judge’s ability to treat him fairly in a case “...because he’s Mexican”. Judge Gonzalo Curiel was actually born and raised in East Chicago, Indiana. So how long does someone have to live here to be considered “an American”? Will some always be treated as outsiders? The Morning Shift listens to your stories.

This week’s story from WBEZ’s Curious City answer this question from a listener: “What happened to Little Italy? I’ve heard stories of Richard J. Daley having a dispute with my Italian ancestors and (bada bing!), there were suddenly hospitals, public housing, and a college dropped on their heads.”  Morning Shift talks to WBEZ reporter Monica Eng who investigated this question. She found that rumors that Daley specifically targeted Italian Americans for failing to support him are largely unfounded, but that it’s true that his ultimate decision to put the University of Illinois at Chicago atop Little Italy, displacing thousands, changed the character of the neighborhood forever. 

In the latest installment of Working Shift, we talk to Paul Becker, a Chicago-based violin maker who started crafting string instruments at age 14. He now manages the family business, Carl Becker & Son, which goes back four generations. Morning Shift talked with Paul Becker about the art of violin making, and why his work will live long after he's gone.

Most election forecasts rely heavily on polling data, but that’s not the case for a method known as “The Key to the White House,” developed in the early 1980s by American University history professor Allan Lichtman. According to Lichtman, debates, advertising, endorsements and even political platforms also do not have much influence on who wins the presidency.  Instead, the winner is largely determined by whether the populace is satisfied with how the President’s party has performed.

Chicago Cubs fans have reason to celebrate as the Chicago Cubs clinched the National League Division series with a 6-5 win against the San Francisco Giants in Game 4 Tuesday night. The Cubs will go on to face either the Washington Nationals or the Brooklyn Dodgers at Wrigley Field this weekend. We talk to WBEZ sports contributor Cheryl Raye-Stout about what this win means for the Cubs.

After 12 hours of talks Monday, the Chicago Teachers Union and the school board reached a tentative minutes-before-deadline deal that would allow schools to be open Tuesday. Morning Shift talked to WBEZ’s education reporters Sarah Karp and Becky Vevea about the last-minute deal and what it means for Chicago teachers.

Before the 2012 presidential election, statistician Nate Silver correctly predicted the presidential winner in all 50 states, proving wrong other polling firms that were underestimating then-candidate Barack Obama’s performance. This week, Silver’s polling-analysis website FiveThirtyEight has Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency at 83.4 percent to Donald Trump’s 16.6 percent. Morning Shift’s Tony Sarabia spoke with Silver on Monday to break down the science of political polling and how this election may be upending some of the theory.

A new report offers more insight into why women and men experience the workplace differently.  While more women are asking for raises to match their male colleagues, they’re still getting them less often. They may start their careers side by side, but that path widens as the job titles get bigger.  We talk with Virginia Simmons from McKinsey and Company about the findings and what can be done to curb them.

In his book To Protect and Serve: How To Fix America’s Police, former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper discusses the ways in which police and the communities they serve can best work together. Now that the Chicago City Council has signed off on replacing the agency that investigates police misconduct with a new organization with more community input, Morning Shift checks in with Stamper for his reaction and analysis of the current moment in policing in Chicago.

Writer and educator Jeff Chang’s work has always focused on the intersection of culture, music and art. His first book Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation details the birth of hip hop from artists with a need to share the economic, class and social ills, especially within communities of color. For his latest collection, We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation, he hones in on issues of race that continue to turn into prejudice and violence.