The Rundown | Chicago News

By WBEZ Chicago

In one bite-sized episode every weekday, we'll keep you informed, tickled, geeked, and pondering on Chicago's news, culture and people. Each episode starts with a quick news roundup from the WBEZ n

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FAQs about The Rundown | Chicago News:

How many episodes does The Rundown | Chicago News have?

The podcast currently has 2,021 episodes available.

The Rundown | Chicago News episodes:

January 07, 2026 Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Mayor Brandon Johnson touted figures that show in 2025, fatal shootings
were at the lowest level since 1965. Shooting incidents actually dropped by 34
percent from the previous year. For the second year in a row, Chicago Public
Schools’ watchdog found a high-profile basketball team fielded players that were
fraudulently enrolled in the school. Retiring U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky is
endorsing a candidate in the wide-open primary campaign to nominate a potential
successor.
Plus, a large mural hung above the main bar for decades at the now-shuttered Berlin
nightclub in the Lakeview neighborhood on Chicago's North Side. The artist reflects
on the story of how the mural came to be.
...more
10min
January 06, 2026 Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Workers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago’s Streeterville
neighborhood are demanding safer practices in providing emergency care. SEIU
Healthcare Illinois says workers are unhappy that the hospital understaffs its
emergency rooms, resulting in high wait times for patients with urgent needs. The
Chicago Bears look to snatch their first playoff win in 15 years when they face the
Green Bay Packers on Saturday. The Grant Park Music Festival announced its season
lineup, which has a strong focus on American composers.
Plus, New Year's resolutions are in full swing, and many people have committed to
Dry January or year-round sobriety. A 2024 Gallup survey shows alcohol consumption
is at its lowest point in almost 90 years in the U.S., and it’s leading to a boom in
the non-alcoholic drink industry.
...more
7min
January 05, 2026 Monday, January 5, 2026
Some Illinois lawmakers are calling for accountability after the Trump
administration's arrest of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. A new
Northwestern Medicine study found the highest rates of gestational diabetes in
American Indian and Alaska Native groups. Chicago Bears Quarterback Williams got a
franchise passing record, but he says his focus is on the upcoming playoffs.
Plus, a family fled Ukraine to settle in Illinois, but are now being caught up in
the Trump administration’s deportation blitz.
...more
9min
January 02, 2026 Friday, January 2, 2026
Homicides and opioid deaths dropped in Cook County in 2025, and the news
comes as Chicago had its lowest number of homicides in 60 years. One new Illinois
law that went into effect at the start of the new year will regulate how employers
use artificial intelligence when hiring new workers. Melissa Nunez and Elizabeth
Branske were chosen in a raffle out of nearly a thousand couples to receive Cook
County’s first marriage license of 2026.
Plus, in the U.S., Black men who start college are up against a huge deficit of
resources when it comes to finishing and getting their degree. In the majority-Black
Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, just one in four who make it to campus
graduate within six years. Three generations of Black men with ties to Austin who
have helped each other overcome this disparity.
...more
13min
December 31, 2025 Wednesday, December 31, 2025
We’re looking back at a story from earlier this month about the best
Chicago albums of 2025. Our colleagues at our sister station Vocalo nominated their
annual picks for the best in new Chicago music. Chicago has always been an eclectic
music town where artists borrow from the city’s traditions of blues, jazz and soul.
Some of this year’s best local albums blend the genres and even transcend them.
...more
8min
December 30, 2025 Tuesday, December 30, 2025
We’re revisiting a story from the WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times arts and culture
desk, in which our bookish colleagues share some of their favorite new books of
2025. Their recommendations range from a wide breadth of genres, including a novel
that explores the complexities of friendship and family as well as a memoir
detailing New York City nightlife in the '90s.
...more
7min
December 29, 2025 Monday, December 29, 2025
In a town full of foodies, Chicago pizzamaker Jonathan Goldsmith’s pies
rise to the top at his restaurant, Spacca Napoli, located in Ravenswood on Chicago’s
North Side. The eatery spent several years on the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand list
and an Italian-based website ranked it among the best pizza in the world in 2023.
At the beginning of 2025, the restaurant was named the best pizza in town at the
local Banchet Awards. Days later, Goldsmith underwent surgery for stomach cancer. As
the year wraps up, we checked back in with Goldsmith to see how his recovery is
going and took a look back at the restaurant’s journey.
...more
5min
December 26, 2025 Friday, December 26, 2025
This holiday season, the Evanston Symphony Orchestra hosted a new kind of
concert. The so-called “barrier-free” performance was designed for people with
disabilities and their loved ones. That includes accessible parking, an ASL
interpreter and a sensory-free room where people could retreat if they got
overwhelmed. About a hundred attendees of all ages poured into the performance at
the Evanston Township High School Auditorium, where volunteers encouraged the
audience to participate in a singalong performance and shake jingle bells.
...more
6min
December 25, 2025 Wednesday, December 24, 2025
Faith leaders were denied access to pray with detainees at the Broadview
ICE facility today. Illinois is part of a multi-state coalition suing the Trump
administration for targeting gender affirming care. A holiday-themed pop-up in
Humboldt Park takes inspiration from a Puerto Rican Christmas tradition. And Jake
Connelly, a 13-year-old from Arlington Heights, is the newest star of the hit
Netflix series “Stranger Things." Plus, one Curious City listener wanted to know:
What customs associated with Christmas are distinctly Chicago traditions? Well,
Curious City goes behind the scenes of one long-time local tradition: "A Christmas
Carol" at the Goodman Theatre.
...more
10min
December 23, 2025 Becoming Bovino
Who is Gregory Bovino?
For months, the Border Patrol Commander-at-Large led agents through Chicago on an
aggressive immigration enforcement campaign, while making sure his noticeably
uncovered face was in front of as many cameras as possible.
But there’s very little information online about Bovino’s background, his
experience, or his rise to overnight prominence.
So our team went digging – to his hometown in North Carolina, and to California
where his Border Patrol career got started.
In “Becoming Bovino,” Sun-Times investigative reporter Lauren FitzPatrick and WBEZ
investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos sit down with WBEZ’s Patrick Smith to share
what they found about Gregory Bovino – from his upbringing, to his efforts to keep
himself in the limelight.
...more
35min

FAQs about The Rundown | Chicago News:

How many episodes does The Rundown | Chicago News have?

The podcast currently has 2,021 episodes available.

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