In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

In Illinois, the average annual cost of child care is more than a year of college tuition. Economic Policy Institute’s Elise Gould and Voices for Illinois Children’s David Lloyd visit the Morning Shift to talk about why child care costs so much and what options parents have as they weigh the quality of care against the bottom line of affordability.

In his new book Bobby Kennedy: The Making Of A Liberal Icon, journalist Larry Tye tracks Kennedy’s political maturation from his days working for Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy to his time as Attorney General in his brother John’s administration to his years as a U.S. Senator representing New York.  Morning Shift talks to Tye about Kennedy’s early years and how a kid who was so often overshadowed by his older brothers became so revered by a generation of left-leaning Americans. 

In 2010 Chicago’s Theater Oobleck decided to put music to the words of 19th-century French poet Charles Baudelaire, and it did not shy away from the hits. The group picked Baudelaire’s most famous work: Flowers of Evil. The 1857 book of poems deals with sex and death, melancholy as well as sacred and ‘profane’ love.  Theater Oobleck has approached the poems in a series of ‘episodes’ over the years, calling the shows Baudelaire in a Box. Episode 9: Unquenched kicks off on October 5. Morning Shift talks to some of the performers about the show and hears them play some of the music. 

If Monday’s presidential debate has you feeling hopelessness, angry or anxious, you’re not alone. After weeks of writing about politics, Slate columnist Michelle Goldberg had trouble sleeping and developed nightmares about the campaign. So she decided to “sublimate” her anxieties into her work and reached out to therapists to see if others were also feeling the stress. Turns out they were.

Comedian Aparna Nancherla has brought her humor to many mediums. She’s a stand-up comic, has a YouTube series, and has written for shows like Late Night with Seth Meyers and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. But like many comedians these days it was Twitter that really brought her a big audience. She’s been listed by Time magazine and College Humor as one of the funniest people tweeting. She also somehow manages to make her mental health candid, light-hearted and funny. We talk to Nancherla about walking the line of sad and funny.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened its doors to the public for the first time over the weekend. Among its more than 36,000 artifacts are everything from Harriet Tubman’s shawl to Emmett Till’s casket to Chuck Berry’s red Cadillac. The museum’s mission is to memorialize and educate people about the full scope of the black experience in America. Here in Chicago, the DuSable Museum of African American History has a related mission more focused on our city. Morning Shift talks to Leslie Guy, chief curator at the DuSable, about the collections at the new national museum and the DuSable as well as the impact the national museum could have on future generations of Americans.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will face off Monday in the first of three Presidential debates. Pundits expect Trump to try and convince viewers that he’s not a bully, and has substance. Experts think Hillary Clinton will have to work on gaining trust from the public and conveying likeability. Whatever the candidates’ strategy, we know from the campaign it will be an interesting showdown. We talk to Jason DeSanto from Northwestern University about what he expects and his predictions for how they’ve prepared. He’s been a speechwriter and advised candidates.

A Black Lives Matter chapter out of Savannah, Georgia, has developed its own theory on how to reduce gun violence in Chicago and other large American cities. The idea is that getting a large group of clergy, upper-middle-class African-Americans and social activists to move to a struggling neighborhood could act as a catalyst to improve the area and reduce crime.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's much-anticipated public safety speech Thursday night at Malcolm X College focused on enforcement, investment and prevention. The mayor reiterated the city's plan to hire more police officers and upgrade technology at the Chicago Police Department. Emanuel also doubled-down on the need for stricter gun laws, job creation and the expansion of mentor programs.

The mayor announced a plan to increase the number of police on the streets of Chicago, as well as creating and expanding mentoring programs in the city’s toughest neighborhoods. So what do the communities most affected by this plan have to say? We are joined by WBEZ’s West Side reporter Chip Mitchell, who will tell us how community groups are reacting to the mayor’s speech and to break down the specifics of his police proposals, including giving the Chicago Police Department more resources to fight crime.