In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

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.

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.

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 average comedian talks to you. But W. Kamau Bell is far from average.  His aim is to talk with you and with his entire audience. Whether he’s doing live stand-up or performing on TV, Bell starts conversations about race, class and politics that are both uncomfortable and hilarious.  Bell is the star and host of CNN’s new 8-part series United Shades of America, where part of his job is to engage folks from Alaska to Florida in those very conversations.  He’s in town to perform a benefit for Housing Forward at the Merle Reskin Theatre at DePaul University, and he joins Morning Shift to lay out his unique perspective on our current cultural moment and where he thinks it’s headed.

Women in Illinois make 79 cents on the dollar for the doing the same work as men. That puts Illinois on par with the national average.  No doubt, it’s a fact you’ve heard before. So, what are we doing as a society, a state and as a city to address that issue?  A new report out this week has some recommendations. It’s called “Mayor’s Guide: Accelerating Gender Equality,” and it breaks down some of the arenas where men and women are still not equal: Economic security, workplace policies, and girls’ leadership and STEM to name a few.  Morning Shift talks with two guests about what Chicagoans can do on a personal and citywide level to accelerate gender equality.  Veronica Arreola is assistant director of the Center for Research on Women and Gender at UIC and the director of its Women in Science and Engineering Program. Anne Ladky is the executive director of Women Employed. She was co-chair of Mayor Emanuel’s Working Families Task Force, which made several recommendations last month. We also open the phones to listeners.

In 1970s North Carolina, two bitter foes formed an unlikely alliance to improve subpar public schools.  C.P. Ellis was a leader in the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan who wanted to keep Durham schools segregated. His arch nemesis Ann Atwater was a black civil rights activist pushing for desegregation. Ellis and Atwater’s differences seemed insurmountable, but they ended up working together toward a common goal.  Their story is told in the 2007 book Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson, which has been adapted for the stage in a show playing at the Provision Theater through June 6.  Morning Shift talks to the Provision’s founding artistic director Timothy Gregory and actress Felicia Field, who plays Ann Atwater, about bringing the story to audiences in Chicago.

Several aldermen lambasted the TSA at Wednesday’s City Council hearing. They proposed that Chicago take airport security measures into its own hands by joining the 21 other cities in a federal Screening Partnership program. Lawmakers also decided not to vote on an ordinance that would regulate the short-term rental market. That’s companies like Airbnb and VRBO. WBEZ's city politics reporter Lauren Chooljian stops by with an update on those and other issues the City Council tackled this week.