In the Loop

Curtis Granderson has been in the big leagues for 13 years. Alberto Almora Jr. hasn’t even been in “The Show” for 13 weeks, but he arrived from the minors with incredibly high expectations. Cubs leadership expect he’ll be one of the core members of this team competing for championships for years to come. WBEZ sports contributor Cheryl Raye-Stout talked with Almora about everything from the fact that he’ll soon be a first-time father to the long process of getting to the majors after being drafted right out of high school.

On Sunday, a thousand supporters of Sanders protested Hillary Clinton’s candidacy in Philadelphia on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. As the DNC kicks off, Morning Shift sits down with U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois to talk about all of that and more.

Morning Shift talks with Walgreens CDO Steve Pemberton about how a more diverse workforce bolsters both creativity and productivity.

Now that the Republican National Convention in Cleveland is over, we shift our focus to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Morning Shift talks with Carol Ronen, Democratic committeewoman from the 48th Ward about the gameplan for this week’s convention and how Democrats from our region are planning to unify to take on Republicans in November.

Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson has never played for the Cubs or the White Sox, but the 13-year MLB veteran has always had a close relationship with Chicago. He was born in Blue Island, went to Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing and attended college at UIC. Granderson even lives here during the off-season.  When he returned to town for the Mets series against the Cubs, the guy they call “The Grandy Man” talked with WBEZ sports contributor Cheryl Raye-Stout about his work with kids and how he’s able to translate his love for the game to young people.

Researchers unveiled a new map of the most complex organ in the body: The human brain. It’s a major scientific advance that details 100 new regions of the brain for the very first time, a discovery that has many applications--from better understanding human intelligence to treating diseases. Morning Shift talks to Carl Zimmer, a science-writing professor at Yale University who also writes the “Matter” column for the New York Times.

We can try to go about life thinking we are free of prejudice and generalizations about other people, but we all hold implicit biases as part of our personality. Be it through where and how we were raised, the neighborhood we live in, or a particular life experience, there are unavoidable biases we have that can be hard to let go off. To take a closer look at how implicit bias affects our daily lives, and how it might have impacted the latest gun violence in America, Morning Shift talks to Robin Wright, Researcher and Facilitation Specialist at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.

No matter how much you understand soccer, it’s clear that goalkeepers play a unique role. Instead of dashing around the field, they patrol a relatively small area in front of the net. They wear different jerseys, and they’re the only players permitted to use their hands.To excel as a goalkeeper, you have to have killer reflexes, smarts and the willingness to fling your body any which way to stop the ball from getting past you. Morning Shift talks to Michele Dalton, keeper for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League about what it’s like to tend goal, how the Red Stars are doing this year and how the U.S. Olympic Women’s squad is shaping up for the games in Rio.

A brutal heat wave is making its way to Chicago.  The last time a similar heat wave hit the city was in 2013. Morning Shift talks to WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling about what’s causing the hot weather and what precautions we should take to stay cool and safe.

He poked fun at himself for being virtually unknown on the national stage. So, what message did Mike Pence send on Wednesday night? And was it a success?  Morning Shift talks to WBEZ Northwest Indiana reporter Michael Puente from the floor of the Republican National Convention about the man that could be the next Vice President of the United States, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.