In the Loop

In this latest edition of Reclaimed Soul on the Morning Shift, Jenn White talks to Ayana Contreras about soul music that came out of Gary, Indiana.  Close to Chicago, yes, but the city of Gary put its own unique stamp on soul music. The full two-hour version of Reclaimed Soul airs on Thursday nights on Vocalo from 8 to 10 P.M.

Now that Clinton has the official Sanders seal-of-approval, what’s next for the legions of young Democrats who backed the Vermont Senator?  Morning Shift talks with a number of Bernie supporters about their plans and how they see this presidential contest playing out. We also open the phones for comments from listeners.

Meet the anti-delegation Trump delegates of Illinois. They love Donald Trump and his message, and they want him to be president, but they won’t be attending the Republican convention in Cleveland to cast their ballots for him.  Morning Shift talks to WBEZ state politics reporter Tony Arnold about how factors like time, money and the fractured state of our politics have produced delegates who may not actually cast a ballot for the presumed nominee.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence is among five men on the shortlist to become Donald Trump’s running mate.  Trump and Pence appeared together at a rally near Indianapolis Tuesday night, and while Trump didn’t make an announcement, it certainly did seem like a tryout.  Morning Shift talks to WBEZ Northwest Indiana reporter Michael Puente about what a Pence vice presidential candidacy would mean for a Trump ticket and for the state’s political future.

Here in Illinois, there are over 29,000 people on the sex-offender registry. Being on that registry means following myriad laws and restrictions. As five anonymous offenders get ready to makes their case that the laws violate the Constitution, Morning Shift talks to Rep. Mike Zalewski, who wants strict but clear sex offender laws and lawyer Adele Nicholas, one of the attorneys for one of the anonymous offenders.

In our series The Movie That Made Me, Morning Shift talks to interesting people about the single movie that had the biggest impact on his or her life. In this latest installment, Jenn White talk to Glynn Washington, host of the public radio show Snap Judgment about his pick. The 1978 musical The Wiz is a re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz featuring an all-black cast. The movie blew Washington away as a 9-year-old and continues to do so to this day, even though he still questions a 30-something Diana Ross as Dorothy.

WBEZ sports contributor Cheryl Raye-Stout talks with former Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who played with the Chicago White Sox for so long that he says some of the younger players on the team didn’t know he had ever played for another club. He’s currently on the Atlanta Braves, but his time in Chicago, especially winning the 2005 World Series, holds a special place in his heart.

In the latest installment of the Morning Shift’s “Working Shift” series, we talk to someone who has seen computers swoop in and attempt to replace her position. Stacey Shapiro, owner of The Script Girl, is one of many professional scribes and calligraphers pushing to keep the art of handwriting alive. Morning Shift host Tony Sarabia sits down with Stacey to talk about the history of calligraphy and the importance of cursive writing in schools.

The city’s plan for constructing new public schools and annexes for existing schools is exacerbating racial and economic segregation among CPS students. That’s one of the chief takeaways for a recent investigative report from WBEZ reporters Becky Vevea and Sarah Karp.

For generations, food halls were the bane of the long road trip.  Hidden away in rest stops on the side of the road, these bastions of culinary depression would feature restaurants that you would not see anywhere else. Sbarro;. Auntie Annie’s Pretzels, some random teriyaki chicken place.  But food courts are being revitalized into cool places where you can get some legitimately good eats. To look at where this trend came from, and where it is going, we talk to Louisa Chu and Nick Kindelsperger, two food journalists from the Chicago Tribune.