In 100 days, the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics will bring the best athletes in the world together in February 2026. Every member of Team USA has a unique story about how they got to the top of their sport, and it takes a team of people to bring those stories to the world. We close Season 1 of The Takeaway with Alex podcast with a conversation between Alex Maragos and Mike McGovern about how those Olympics stories are told. McGovern, a photojournalist, has covered four Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016, Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo 2020) and Maragos has reported on two (Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024). Together, they will lead NBC Chicago’s coverage of the Olympic Games in Italy this winter. In this episode, they discuss some of their favorite Olympic memories, the extensive planning and collaboration that an Olympics assignment requires, and the ability to deal with the unpredictable stories that every Olympic Games provides. 

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With the 2025-26 NBA season about to begin, Chicago Bulls TV play-by-play man Adam Amin takes us through the storylines for the Bulls this season. With a young core of Matas Buzelis, Coby White and Josh Giddey; Amin talks about the steps forward he hopes to see the team take at the United Center this year. The Bulls will just be one part of his very busy fall. In this episode of The Takeaway with Alex, Amin takes us through a week of his life in the fall: the game prep, the travel, the meetings, the broadcast. Balancing baseball, football, basketball in the span of several months has its own challenges, but Amin says he loves the variety and the pressure of describing and detailing games to tens of millions of people every week. Adam also dives into his love of music, and his regular runs on the turntable as a professional DJ. He shares how it got started and has now turned into more than a hobby. 

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Daylight Saving Time is an annual ritual that can be disorienting, confusing and controversial. With the time change coming up, The Takeaway with Alex sat down with Meteorologist Kevin Jeanes to dig into the law that’s been on the books for decades, how we arrived got this idea, and why people want to get rid of it. Daylight Saving Time has big effects beyond just adjusting our clocks, sleep and schedules. Kevin talks about what it does to traffic safety, energy use and how we think about our weather.

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From the earliest days of the United States, there has been a debate about where the power should lie: with the states or with a central U.S. government? Now, that debate is playing out in Chicago and the suburbs. As the Trump administration gears up to send in federal troops to bolster "Operation Midway Blitz" and its mass deportation program, state and local officials are fighting back. To help explain the legal and logistical possibilities of all of this, we're joined on the Takeaway this week by Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson and former general Richard Hayes who once served as the highest-ranking member of the Illinois National Guard. 

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For 50 years, the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa has fascinated and frustrated the FBI and millions of Americans. The famous former head of the Teamsters Union was last seen July 30th, 1975 – and while the mob connections to Hoffa were clear, the lack of an equally clear cause and manner of death has led to thousands of theories and tips. In this episode of The Takeaway with Alex, NBC Chicago’s Chuck Goudie takes us back to that summer day outside Detroit in 1975 to walk through the twists and turns of a story he’s covered from the beginning. Goudie also reveals what former FBI agents and mob figures are now telling him about how they think Hoffa's last moments were spent.

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The Netflix documentary, “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys,” chronicles the highs and lows of the 90’s Cowboys from the perspectives of those who lived it — and willed it into existence. Across eight episodes Jerry Jones, Jimmy Johnson, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Barry Switzer and many others in the Cowboys universe describe what made that time and those teams so special. Often compared to “The Last Dance,” the seminal documentary on the power of the 1990’s Chicago Bulls, “America’s Team” shows how not just the Cowboys but the whole NFL evolved throughout the decade. On this episode of The Takeaway with Alex, Dave Wannstedt, the Cowboys defensive coordinator for the ascent of that dynasty, shares more of his perspective, including some details about the Jerry Jones-Jimmy Johnson relationship that didn’t make it into the final cut of the series. 

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Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah has led to a renewed conversation about political violence in the United States. The 31-year-old had millions of followers on social media, was very close with President Donald Trump and his son Don Jr., and had built Turning Point USA into the leading conservative organization for the digital age. He had strong views on many divisive political topics -- the 2ndAmendment, gender, immigration, religion in American life – and relished debating it all in public. In this episode of The Takeaway with Alex, NBC Chicago political reporter Mary Ann Ahern describes how his upbringing in the Chicago suburbs shaped his views and his path to political stardom. She also talks about the reaction to the assassination from Democrats, and what the future of political discourse looks like with fear of continued violence.

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The Chicago Bears come into the 2025 NFL season with a new coaching staff, new offensive line and new playmakers – but will it lead to more wins? Will Ben Johnson’s offense turn Caleb Williams into an elite quarterback? Heading into Week 1, these are just two of many questions fans have about what to expect from the 2025 team. The Bears finished the 2024 season with a 5-12 record, featuring a 10-game losing streak in the middle of the year. With so much to fix and so many new pieces on this team, former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt joined The Takeaway with Alex to discuss what he wants to see from the offense and defense, what real progress looks like for a team that finished 5-12 last year, and what will determine this season being a success or failure. Wannstedt, who spent six seasons on the sidelines for the Bears, breaks down how Johnson’s offense will help Williams in year two under center.

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President Donald Trump's threat to send the National Guard to Chicago has Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and other Democrats outraged in opposition. They say there are better ways to address the crime that the president hopes to solve. But is the move even legal? If troops hit the streets, what can they do? On this episode of The Takeaway with Alex, NBC Chicago Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern and law professor Harold Krent dissect the legal and political angles of the president's plan. The president says the guard will help quickly cut down on Chicago's crime problems. Democrats dismiss the idea as authoritarian theater. Ahern also discusses how the issue animates Democrats and a path to a possible Pritzker presidential run in 2028. Krent also notes the differences and similarities to National Guard deployments in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles earlier this year. 

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Months after voting out former Mayor Tiffany Henyard, Dolton is looking for a new school superintendent. Kevin Nohelty was the highest paid school superintendent in the state of Illinois, making over $500,000. Then he suddenly retired, after Regina Waldroup started digging into Nohelty’s past performance as a school administrator. She found Nohelty had a pattern of alleged financial problems – both professionally and personally. She also found that in the years Nohelty has been in charge, Dolton School District 148 has gone from solid finances to now being on a “watch list,” the lowest financial rank the Illinois State Board of Education can give to a district. In this episode of The Takeaway with Alex, Regina talks about Nohelty’s administrative record and what it means for taxpayers in the south suburbs.

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