In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

Morning Shift talks with Walgreens CDO Steve Pemberton about how a more diverse workforce bolsters both creativity and productivity.

Researchers unveiled a new map of the most complex organ in the body: The human brain. It’s a major scientific advance that details 100 new regions of the brain for the very first time, a discovery that has many applications--from better understanding human intelligence to treating diseases. Morning Shift talks to Carl Zimmer, a science-writing professor at Yale University who also writes the “Matter” column for the New York Times.

We can try to go about life thinking we are free of prejudice and generalizations about other people, but we all hold implicit biases as part of our personality. Be it through where and how we were raised, the neighborhood we live in, or a particular life experience, there are unavoidable biases we have that can be hard to let go off. To take a closer look at how implicit bias affects our daily lives, and how it might have impacted the latest gun violence in America, Morning Shift talks to Robin Wright, Researcher and Facilitation Specialist at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.

No matter how much you understand soccer, it’s clear that goalkeepers play a unique role. Instead of dashing around the field, they patrol a relatively small area in front of the net. They wear different jerseys, and they’re the only players permitted to use their hands.To excel as a goalkeeper, you have to have killer reflexes, smarts and the willingness to fling your body any which way to stop the ball from getting past you. Morning Shift talks to Michele Dalton, keeper for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League about what it’s like to tend goal, how the Red Stars are doing this year and how the U.S. Olympic Women’s squad is shaping up for the games in Rio.

A brutal heat wave is making its way to Chicago.  The last time a similar heat wave hit the city was in 2013. Morning Shift talks to WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling about what’s causing the hot weather and what precautions we should take to stay cool and safe.

He poked fun at himself for being virtually unknown on the national stage. So, what message did Mike Pence send on Wednesday night? And was it a success?  Morning Shift talks to WBEZ Northwest Indiana reporter Michael Puente from the floor of the Republican National Convention about the man that could be the next Vice President of the United States, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

In some arenas, the 2016 GOP platform has moved significantly to the right since the last time around in 2012.  Morning Shift talks to Wall Street Journal reporter Richard Rubin about what’s new in the platform when it comes to trade, LGBT issues, the economy, transportation and more.

In the latest installment in our series What’s That Building? Dennis Rodkin of Crain’s Chicago Business brings us the story of the Gary Aquatorium, a beach pavilion in Gary’s Marquette Park that’s been there since before the town in Northwest Indiana was incorporated. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994 due to its rich history.

The song says “the blues had a baby and they called it rock ‘n roll.” But the blues really had triplets: rock ‘n roll, jazz and of course, soul. And when you talk about a city as steeped in these traditions as Chicago, you know there are a ton of artists that put some soul into their blues, and some blues into their soul. Ayana Contreras digs up a stack of the latter-local soul artists that leaned toward the blues.

There’s a common thread among the big name preachers supporting Republican nominee Donald Trump. Many of them come from a booming Christian movement known as prosperity gospel. The televangelist-led faith is even playing an important role in this week's Republican National Convention with one of its own, Pastor Mark Burns, speaking. Morning Shift talks to Kate Bowler, author of Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, about what prosperity gospel is and how it's influencing this year’s election.