In the Loop

With every new device and software update, our smartphones become even more powerful, so what are we missing?  Morning Shift talks with a tech reporter about tips and tricks to get even more out of our smartphones. We also open the phones for listeners to chime in with questions and comments.

White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier joined the team this year after five seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. As he gets settled in Chicago and at U.S. Cellular Field, he sat down with WBEZ sports contributor Cheryl Raye Stout for a heart-to-heart on growing up in a blue-collar community in New Jersey, winning the home run derby at last year’s All Star game and staying driven on and off the field. He also gives us some insight into why he chose a Frank Sinatra tune as his walk-up song.

Music played a huge part in the Vietnam war. For the troops overseas, it was a taste of home. For folks back in the states, it could be a patriotic soundtrack or a call to dissent. Music also told the stories of what the returning soldiers saw, thought and felt during their service. And no genre did all those things more powerfully than soul music. With Memorial Day coming up, Vocalo’s Ayana Contreras brings us the Vietnam War in soul.

The man who murdered Steve Young’s son 20 years ago is scheduled to get out of prison Wednesday. Young reflects on how forgiving the killer has helped him to get through the last two decades without his son.

After planes hit the World Trade Center towers on the morning of September 11, 2001, Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley jumped into action. He called for a voluntary evacuation of downtown, and soon businesses were sending their employees home from work.  One of those evacuees was a musician from the Pullman neighborhood who began to wonder how long it would it take to evacuate city residents if a disaster did hit downtown Chicago.  WBEZ’s Curious City recently investigated his question, and reporter John Fecile joins Morning Shift to explain what he learned.

Disaster can strike at any time. That may sound cliche, but there are millions of Americans who take that possibility very, very seriously.  They are ready with food, water, so-called bug-out bags and sometimes weapons, and they’re not just survivalists living in rural Idaho or Montana. Plenty of so-called “preppers” live in the heart of big American cities and in the suburbs.  So, who are these folks, and what can we learn from them? We’ll be joined by Lisa Bedford, author of the book Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Disasters & Worst-Case Scenarios, and Waysun Johnny Tsai, founder of the C.U.M.A. Survival School. We also open up the phones to listeners for their questions and comments.

In her new book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that getting a leg up in today’s society isn’t based on natural aptitude, test scores or physical ability.  Instead, it’s based on good old-fashioned grit, which she describes as the drive to pursue one’s long-term goals despite setbacks along the way. WBEZ’s Jenn White talks with Duckworth about the concept of grit and why she thinks it’s so crucial to success.

In the latest installment in our Working Shift series, we talk to Chicago’s favorite TV meteorologist Tom Skilling.  His broadcast career has spanned half a century, including 37 years at WGN alone. Skilling has the weather game down. He joins Morning Shift host Tony Sarabia to answer all your questions and give a little bit of insight on what it’s like to predict the weather.

Scientists have found a way to get rid of the carriers of Zika virus and malaria. Just think about it--a world without mosquitoes. That would mean summer nights without bug spray, no more swatting and itching and, of course, no more Zika or malaria.  But the big question is, should these scientists rid the world of mosquitoes? In a new article in Smithsonian, writer Jerry Adler explains the research and explores the pros and cons of a world with no mosquitoes.

The Republican party in Illinois held its convention over the weekend in Peoria. WBEZ’s Tony Arnold and Lauren Chooljian join Morning Shift with an update on what happened.