Discipline does not necessarily equal disciplined.  The former can be arbitrary.  The latter requires a leader who uses thoughful analysis.  Kam Bucker joins Lissa & Thom for a conversation that focuses squarely on reducing crime and advancing education.  Since 2019, Buckner has served in the Illinois House of Representives, and now he wants to serve as mayor of America's 3rd largest city.

Casinos can't cure a pension crisis, just like a lottery can't 'win you' better schools.  That's just one of the warnings from Chicago's newest mayoral candidate. In this episode of the Crisis Cast, Lissa & Thom chat with urban visionary, Paul Vallas. He is passionate about community policing, and stops by our chat room to explain why he should be "CEO" of the nation's 3rd largest city.

How do you escape racial bias, when it is all around you?  Veteran sports journalist, Rich King, has a few answers. In this episode of the Crisis Cast, Rich reveals the lessons he learned from his life partner and his work partner.  Plus, Lissa & Thom dig for stories ripped from the pages of his book Ike and Me: What a Time it Was. You'll hear tales from the lockerrooms where Payton, Ditka, Jordan and Rodman roamed.

Her favorite color is green. Not forest green, but money green.  Ilyce Glink has been educating the planet on "smart money moves" for her entire career. In this episode, Lissa & Thom find hope in Ilyce's message on surviving times of recession.  From rising interest rates to the rising retirement age, there's a lifetime of wisdom in this conversation.

These are the lessons learned from investigating innocence.  Paul Ciolino convinced Governor George Ryan to re-think the death penalty in Illinois. Ciolino is a private investigator turned DNA expert who advocates for those wrongly convicted.  In this episode, Lissa & Thom dig into corrupt systems and the high profile cases Paul Ciolino has investigated.  You'll hear about his first hand encounters with Anthony Porter, Amanda Knox, Arturo Gatti, and more.

Raymond Lopez was born to serve his neighbors.  That passion turned real, when he became a Chicago precinct captain at age 18. Now, as the city's 15th Ward alderman, Lopez is so fed up with crime in his hometown he wants to be Mayor.  In this episode, Alderman Lopez tells Lissa & Thom exactly what ignited his frustrations -- and what's going wrong at City Hall.

At the core of the war in Ukraine, is how it reverberates differently throughout Europe. Italy imports 50% of its natural gas from Russia, and faces the threat of having it turned off by Vladimir Putin.  That's only a small piece of this enlightning visit to the chat room.  With Lissa in Rome and Thom in Chicago, we hear how confliction lives in the hearts of the Italians.  Lissa's cousin Daniela is a veteran journalist on the economic beat, and joins our chat room for some straight talk about life and liberty in Europe.

Ray Long, was cub reporter at the Statehouse in Springfield when he first encountered former Speaker of the Illinois House, Michael Madigan, during the 1980s.  Long’s book, The House That Madigan Built, is the definitive account of a machine politician who led a vast patronage army. In this episode, Lissa Druss and Thom Serafin excavate the crisis of ‘trust’ in government.