The 21st Show

Artificial intelligence is everywhere, from internet searches to event flyers to customer service phone calls. But what effect is it having on people who use it, and the way we interact with the world — and each other?

Joshua Johnson was the host NPR’s flagship talk program, 1A. He also had shows on MSNBC and NBC News Now. Today he’s delivering satirical news for The Onion.

Beyond that work, Johnson is also thinking through the ways Americans can better connect across some of our deepest divides. To that end, he created “The Resolution Game,” and gave a TED Talk earlier this year titled “Idiots Are Everywhere. Here’s How to Cope.”

James McBride is a man of many talents: musician, screenwriter, and an award-winning author. His latest novel, “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,” was a huge bestseller. He’s also written the memoir “The Color of Water,” about growing up in Brooklyn as one of twelve Black children raised by a white, Jewish mother.

McBride will be featured as part of the Great Authors at the Library series Thursday (Oct. 8, 2026) at the Champaign Public Library.

Among the most famous episodes in the Civil War is General William Sherman’s “March to the Sea.” It split the Confederacy in half and helped bring about the end of the war.

Less well known is that the march led to the emancipation of as many as 20,000 people who’d been enslaved. Although Sherman himself was quite racist, these men, women and children joined the march — effectively making up the rear guard of “Uncle Billy’s army.”

Their perspective is at the center of the book “Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman’s March and the Story of America’s Largest Emancipation,” by the historian Bennett Parten. Parten will be giving a talk on his book at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Oct. 7, 2026) at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

It's been one year since the Corporation for Public Broadcasting began winding down. That came after the Trump administration realized a longtime conservative goal of ending federal funding for public radio and television in America.

Since then, hundreds of NPR, PBS and independent stations across America have been working to carry on. We'll check in with the leaders from three Illinois stations: in Champaign-Urbana, Charleston, and Macomb.

It's been one year since the Corporation for Public Broadcasting began winding down. That came after the Trump administration realized a longtime conservative goal of ending federal funding for public radio and television in America.

Since then, NPR has had buyouts and layoffs and programming changes, but CEO Katherine Maher says as difficult as that's been, she hopes it's not led to noticeable differences for listeners.

The quinceañera is a rite of passage in Latina culture, marking the transition from girlhood to womanhood. It’s also the subject of a new book of essays about the tradition and its place in popular culture. We talked with the collection’s editors.

It’s been more than seven months since America and Israel escalated a decades-long conflict. We’ll talk with an Illinois-based Iranian-American scholar about the latest developments, and what the war means for the Middle East, America, and the world.

Collin Corbett was a Republican political consultant — until a few months ago. Now, he’s an independent candidate for governor. He joined us live for a conversation on Illinois politics and policy, and what it’s like campaigning outside the two-party system.

Composer Juri Seo was born in Korea, educated at the University of Illinois, and is now based at Princeton, in New Jersey. She returns to Illinois this week to premiere two new works.