In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard’s six-book magnum opus My Struggle has earned comparisons to Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time.  The autobiographical novel has been translated into dozens of languages and turned its author into an international literary sensation, but it’s not without controversy.  Knausgaard told his life story in detail without changing names and alienated many friends and family in the process. Jenn White talks to Knausgaard about his epic novel (or is it a memoir?) and what he might write next.

Due to the statute of limitations, Dennis Hastert couldn’t be sentenced for sexually abusing high school students. Will that be enough closure for the victims? We take your calls and use the Hastert case as a jumping-off point to discuss.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Wednesday in a hush-money case where he was accused of sexually abusing four teens while he was a high school wrestling coach in Yorkville, IL. Hastert admitted to abusing one of the boys and the judge called the Republican lawmaker a “serial child molester.”  NPR’s David Schaper and Chicago Magazine's David Bernstein break down the emotional testimony from survivors, and the judge's ultimate decision to put Hastert behind bars and require him to undergo sex offender treatment.

Afro-Spanish singer Concha Buika started out as a drummer but found that no one in Spain wanted a female drummer so she switched to singing. She deploys her smoky voice in everything from flamenco and Spanish gypsy music to jazz, soul and pop. On her latest album Vivir Sin Miedo, which translates to “To Live Without Fear,” Buika sings in English more than Spanish for the first time.  The Latin Grammy-nominated artist performs in-studio before her show, Thursday night at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Soul musicians and singers from St. Louis have a long history of making their way to Chicago, from Little Milton to Fontella Bass. Today, St. Louis soul singer Coultrain has come to Chicago as part of a residency through Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation. On this week’s Reclaimed Soul, Ayana Contreras will talk with him about his residency, career, and the various music connections between St. Louis and Chicago, and she joins Morning Shift for a preview.

The number of women breaking into male-dominated trades is on the rise. That means more female electricians, carpenters, plumbers and construction workers. Jayne Vellinga from Chicago Women in Trades explains how her organization is providing women the training and resources they need to gain more traction in these fields, and K. Sujata from the Chicago Foundation for Women explains how the inequity in pay for tradeswomen compares with gender pay gaps in other industries.

The Emanuel administration announced a new pilot program over the weekend to address chronic homelessness with permanent housing. It seems like a common sense approach, but this “housing first” model is something new for Chicago. WBEZ’s Odette Yousef joins us to explain how the program will work and how homeless advocates and the homeless themselves are reacting to the plan.

A federal grand jury has indicted some of the agents that brought White Sox star first baseman Jose Abreu from Cuba to the United States. Not only did he have to leave his family behind, but he was forced to pay his smugglers an astounding $5.8 million for a chance at a better life and a career in Major League Baseball. We talk to Cuban baseball historian Peter Bjarkman about what the indictment reveals about the price Cuban ballplayers pay in order to make it to the United States.

Ka-chunk-chunk! That’s the sound of you driving over one of Chicago’s notorious potholes.  The undercarriage of your car is scraped up, your glasses are askew, your trousers are soaked in piping hot coffee, and worst of all, you’re the only one who saw the whole thing go down. OUCH.  Well, now there’s an outlet for all of your sorrow and your pain.  WBEZ listeners call into Morning Shift to describe the potholes that tripped them up and all the problems that ensued as a result.  We also check in with mosaic artist Jim Bachor, perhaps the only Chicagoan with the power to make you smile when you see a pothole. That’s because Bachor fills them with meticulously crafted marble and glass mosaics depicting simple delights like popsicles, ice cream cones and bouquets of flowers.

Best bookstore in Chicago with a cat? Well, that would be Selected Works Used Books and Sheet Music.  The cat in question is Hodge, a popular fixture among the stacks in the shop on South Michigan Avenue. This feline has such a following that he’s even inspired literature. The Secret Life of Hodge, the Bookstore Cat chronicles Hodge’s fictional adventures as he reads novels, watches YouTube videos and navigates his relationships with two female cats. We talk with the book’s author Suzanne Erfurth.