In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

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.

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.

Morning Shift talks to Jason DeSanto of Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law and Chip Englander, a former campaign manager for Bruce Rauner, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio about the Second Presidential Debate. DeSanto is a former speechwriter and debate strategist for Democrats.

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.  

Look at the list of any TV critic’s anticipated fall shows and you're likely to find HBO's Insecure. The new comedy follows 29-year-old Issa Rae as she navigates life, work and romance, all while trying to break her “aggressively passive” attitude. In real life, writer and actress Issa Rae is more deliberate with her own career path. She joined the Morning Shift to give us some insight.

When Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he coined a phrase every American now knows by heart: “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In her new book America the Anxious, journalist and filmmaker Ruth Whippman explores how that last “unalienable right” — “the pursuit of happiness” — is turning many Americans into nail-biting worrywarts.

The last time the Cubs won 100 games in a season was in 1935. Much like today’s team, back then the Cubs had a good pitching staff and a couple of future hall-of-famers. They won the National League pennant after a monster September but ultimately lost the World Series to the Detroit Tigers. Morning Shift talks to baseball historian Stuart Shea about the 1935 Cubs roster and compares and contrasts it with this years’ crop of players.