The 21st Show

As the United States marks its 250th birthday, the celebration has split into two: America250, the bipartisan effort Congress created in 2016, and Freedom 250, established by executive order from President Trump. The overlap has caused confusion — and some musicians backed out of the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., saying they weren't told about its ties to the Trump administration.

Several states, including Illinois, declined to participate. But the 21st state will be represented after all — by the Peoria Riverfront Museum.

Brian Mackey talks with museum president and CEO John Morris about how a downstate institution ended up filling in for Illinois, what visitors to its exhibit will see, and what it's like navigating a politically charged event. The Illinois exhibit is open through July 10 in Washington, D.C.

Gambling in Illinois used to mean a trip to a riverboat, a racetrack, or the lottery counter. Now it's in restaurants and gas stations — and on the phone in your pocket. Illinoisans lost more than $7.7 billion gambling last year, and a third of that money flows to state government.

But a recent investigation — "Addicted to gambling in Illinois," a joint project of the Illinois Answers Project and Capitol News Illinois — found the state invests relatively little in helping the hundreds of thousands of residents estimated to have a gambling problem.

Brian Mackey talks with reporters Casey Toner and Maggie Dougherty about what they found, from a Metropolis gas station that's taken in more than $223 million to the gap between gambling revenue and treatment funding. They're joined by Jimmy M., who has been in recovery from compulsive gambling for more than a decade and hosts the podcast “Gambling Recovery: Take Back Your Life.”

If you or someone you know is struggling, Illinois' helpline is 1-800-GAMBLER.

Many of us were taught Mary Lincoln was a spendthrift, a little crazy, and a drag on her husband’s greatness. We’ll challenge all that with journalist Lois Romano, who’s written a new biography of Abraham Lincoln's wife.

“I think once a narrative is formed, it’s really hard to shake it,” Romano told “The 21st Show.” “And her narrative was written 150 years ago, and it was written by men who just couldn’t stand her. And they projected onto her things that just weren’t there.”

The book is called “An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln.”

Technology developed by Illinois engineering professor Bill King has been incorporated into the cleats worn by soccer players at this year’s World Cup. We'll talk with him about what it is, how it was developed, and how the same tech has also made its way into colon cancer surgery and automobile tires.

Schools in Illinois discipline Black students at much higher rates than their white peers. Public radio education reporters Emily Hays and Peter Medlin dug into the data for two schools with the most extreme disparities: Kennedy Middle School in Rockford and Lanphier High School in Springfield. We'll talk about what they found, hear some of the stories behind the numbers, and learn about schools that are doing things differently.

Our drinking water has long had fluoride added in order to prevent tooth decay. But some states are banning it, and RFK Jr. is pushing the federal government in that direction. We’ll talk about the consequences of fluoride bans for our dental health.

Illinois aid-in-dying law is set to take effect in September. It’s meant to give terminally ill patients a medical way to end their lives. But opponents call it “assisted suicide,” and they’ve joined with disability advocates trying to block the law in court. We’ll hear from people on both sides of that debate.

It’s been a wild couple weeks for severe weather in Illinois. We’ll talk with reporters who’ve covered the aftermath of storms in Effingham and Charleston. We’ll also hear from an organization that’s been scrambling to place dozens of dogs and cats with foster homes after a tornado tore the roof off an animal shelter in Springfield.

Then, the bigger picture with a group of climate scientists. Illinois has had a record number of tornadoes this year, and the figure is still growing. They'll talk about what's behind that, and whether it's our new normal.

Illinois-natives Rafael and Whitney are a husband and wife duo known for their soul and R&B vocals and music. They will be performing at this year's Juneteenth festival at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, Illinois.

As Juneteenth approaches, the debate continues about whether descendants of enslaved Black Americans should receive reparations. In 2022, the city of Evanston, near Chicago, made history as the first U.S. city to implement a publicly funded reparations program for Black Americans. But should the relief go even further... perhaps, statewide?