In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

For the first 100 days of the Trump administration, WNYC Radio is producing a national call-in show called Indivisible that’s airing on public radio stations across the country, including WBEZ. The host on Wednesday nights is Charlie Sykes, a long time voice on conservative radio who calls himself a “contrarian conservative.” He is anti-Trump and worried about the direction the country and his Republican party are headed. Morning Shift spoke with Sykes about what he’s hoping to accomplish with the program and his take on the current state of American discourse.

Since the inception of the NCAA basketball tournament in 1939, the Northwestern men’s team has never received an invitation. Not once. But after a strong season last year and a stronger start this year, the Wildcats are hoping it’s finally their time to play on college basketball’s biggest stage. Last week, WBEZ sports contributor Cheryl Raye-Stout sat down with Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips to discuss the basketball program’s recent success -- and its chances.

Morning Shift talks to Saunders about the debut novel he’s published at the age of 58 as well as his take on the Trump administration and how it came to be. 

Bird of An Iron Feather was popular with critics and viewers but it only lasted one season. Critic and Chicago cultural historian Lee Bey is putting the show back on the radar. He joins us to tell us more about the show’s history and why it resonates today.

Morning Shift talks to Reuters reporter Dave McKinney, formerly of the Chicago Sun-Times, about Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s backstory and his important role in some of the most significant decisions in Illinois state history, including how the state deals with pensions. His recent deep dive on Madigan and his influence is called The Man Behind The Fiscal Fiasco In Illinois.

How do you know if your anxiety-linked habits are compulsive? And what can be done about it? Morning Shift talks to Sharon Begley, senior science writer for the Boston Globe and author of Can’t Just Stop: An Investigation of Compulsions, as she breaks down the neuroscience behind OCD and why it's more common than ever.

Four years ago, the world was introduced to a special new voice. Valerie June busted out of her native Tennessee in a huge way, knocking people out with her unique brand of music that incorporates soul and country, folk and blues, R&B and spirituals. Her upcoming album The Order Of Time explores just that -- the one constant in life, the one thing humans can’t stop, the one thing that heals all wounds. June joins us to talk about the new album and her life in music ahead of her show at Chicago’s Park West.

One hundred years after the birth of Gwendolyn Brooks, Sandra Jackson-Opuku and Quraysh Ali Lansana have put together a collection of essays, poetry and artwork inspired by the Chicago poet.  The two co-editors are also both poets-- Jackson Opoku also writes novels and Lansana is a faculty member of the writing program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They join Morning Shift to talk about the book and how Brooks influenced their own lives.

Morning Shift checks in with WBEZ reporter Michael Puente about the latest from the Indiana Statehouse.

During the high pressure 2016 presidential election, we watched as rallies went from name calling into something more dangerous: physical violence. This sense of unrest and uncertainty got us thinking: what does fear to do the body?