WGLT's Sound Ideas - Full Episodes

Jewel Upshaw was watching her son's basketball game on the internet when he collapsed. Hear more about Upshaw's fight to expand defibrillator use and training with GLT's Eric Stock. Plus, the twin cities has a weekend of drama offerings. Community Players opens Peter and the Starcatchers. And the Coalescence Theater Project opens 'The Dying Breed,' with the help of the prairie pride coalition at the Normal Theater. Hear from the directors of both works, Brian Artman and Joe McDonnell. And

GLT's Charlie Schlenker talks with Illinois State University President Larry Dietz about the big new freshman class. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist visits Illinois Wesleyan to talk about her chronicle of a transgender youth. You'll meet two young community servants being honored at Sunday's Why I See You service awards. And Eric Stock visits a new exhibit at the McLean County Museum of History that tells the story of local working men and women.

An Illinois Issues Forum...Solutions for the State of Illinois. The panel discussion is on helping Higher Education meet its challenges. It took place in Normal. The forum is supported by AARP of Illinois.

Listen to the four-part GLT series Skipping School, about the state's teacher shortage. We explore why teachers are leaving the profession, the financial hardship faced by new teachers, how the job has changed through the years, and how today's students have different, more demanding needs.

In this Labor Day edition of Sound Ideas we bring you the autobiographical stories of people who stood up in the most recent Next to normal Story Slam. The theme of the evening organized by Devon Lovell and held at the McLean County Arts Center was Re, as in remember, rewrite, rethink, and any other RE word you'd care to think.John Poling from Clinton gives us aremembrance of a career past. Chris Kauffman remembers a story about her first day of marriage to Mark Austill and the comedy and

NPR Illinois news director Sean Crawford hosts an Illinois Issues forum in Carbondale, focused on the November election. The event is supported by AARP Illinois.

GLT's Eric Stock talks to McLean County officials ahead of an event that will mark International Overdose Awareness Day. We talk to retiring Project Oz leader Peter Rankaitis about his decades of service to community youth. And GLT's Charlie Schlenker talks to Illinois Wesleyan President Eric Jensen about fall enrollment and the new school year.

Healthcare futurist Jeff Bauer says the Affordable Care Act has missed the point. Bauer tells GLT's Ryan Denham the U.S. isn't spending too much on healthcare, but is spending it on the wrong things. Plus, State Representative Dan Brady talks about the prospects for a higher education funding formula. And Chris Kauffman tells her personal story of tragedy and hilarity on the first day of her wedded life. It's a Next To Normal Story Slam entry.

Unit 5 Superintendent Mark Daniel says his district will be asking voters to approve a property tax hike. Daniel explores the potential for a 2020 referendum with GLT's Mary Cullen. Plus, fiscal conservative Bloomington Council candidate Donna Boelen says she wants to cut city personnel costs without cutting the number of employees. Boelen talks about her ward two race with Ryan Denham. IWU President Eric Jensen says the institution has made some progress on recouping enrollment. And the Mayor

Bloomington Schools Superintendent Barry Reilly says there's a lot of new energy in District 87...partly because there are a lot of new teachers. More on the State Farm effect on District 87 and the start of the new school year with Eric Stock. Plus, the early political trends just after statehood in Illinois still linger today. IWU Political Scientist Jim Simeone talks about independent producerism. A new food pantry targets one segment of the community that might not have access to nutritious