Claim OwnershipIn the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons
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We’re unpacking the headlines and making the news make sense. Get connected with local experts, your neighbors and the stories shaping Chicago.
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President Trump’s goal of deploying National Guard troops to Chicago is on hold as the Supreme Court requests more information. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court blocked an order requiring Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino to report to court daily, and in Little Village, high school students staged a walk-out to protest ICE actions. In the Loop breaks down those stories and more with NBC 5 Chicago reporter Christian Farr, government finance and accountability reporter with the Illinois Answers Project at the Better Government Association Alex Nitkin and Jackie Serrato, editor of La Voz, the Spanish language news site of the Chicago Sun-Times.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
The government has been shut down for nearly a month, and millions of people are starting to feel the effects on federal programs like SNAP, WIC, Head Start and more. In the Loop talks with Brightpoint CEO Mike Shaver, Rolling Meadows resident and mother Wendy Mamola and Northwestern professor Terri Sabol about how a prolonged shutdown could impact the early childhood education and other services provided by Head Start.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
As federal agents continue to do immigration enforcement across the Chicago area, they frequently deploy chemical munitions like tear gas and smoke bombs on protesters. What’s inside these weapons? What are their health effects or environmental impacts? In the Loop hears from Dr. Monica Peek, physician and health disparities researcher and a national board member of Physicians for Human Rights and from Oscar Sanchez, co-executive director, Southeast Environmental Task Force.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
Unlike during the government shutdown in 2018-2019, the USDA is not using contingency funds to cover the cost of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. This means that nearly two million people in Illinois will have their benefits paused starting on November 1 if the government does not change course. In the Loop hears from Aubrey Lewandowski, a local SNAP recipient and from Nolan Downey, senior director of policy at the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
For our series What’s That Building, a haunting story from a small Illinois town that’s puzzled people for nearly 150 years. Two young girls, one living and one long dead, and a mysterious connection that defied explanation. It’s known as the “Watseka Wonder” and it all happened just 80 miles south of Chicago. We’ll dig into the eerie events of 1878, when a supposed spirit possession captivated the nation and find out what’s become of the two homes where it all took place.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
Some alders balk at Mayor Johnson’s budget. Meanwhile, Archbishop Cupich and lawmakers push back on immigration arrests as the Supreme Court considers allowing the National Guard in Chicago.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents arrested at least seven people in the predominantly Latino enclaves of Cicero and Little Village Wednesday, sparking outrage from residents and local leaders who characterized the actions as a “brutal escalation.”
Alderman Rodriguez, 22nd Ward, says ICE detained two of his staffers, both of whom are U.S. citizens.
In the Loop gets reaction from residents who witnessed the activity unfold as well as from an elected official and a community leader from Little Village. We’ll hear from: Eddie Guillen, community organizer, executive director of Community Innovation Center; Jerry Reyes, lifelong Little Village resident; Marcela Rodriguez, co-executive director with Enlace Chicago; and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th Ward.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
As federal immigration agents continue their aggressive actions in Chicago’s immigrant communities, residents are rolling up their sleeves and getting creative in their support for their neighbors. In the Loop checks in with Delilah Martinez, social entrepreneur, founder of the Mural Movement and owner of Valt Gallerie and Iraís Sosa, co-founder Sin Titulo and its project to help deliver groceries to folks who do not feel comfortable leaving their homes due to ICE and Border Patrol presence on the streets.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
Chicago faces a $1.15 billion deficit. To raise revenue, Mayor Johnson proposed a corporate head tax that would charge companies with 100 or more employees – who spend 50% of their time in Chicago – $21 per employee per month. This would raise an estimated $100 million annually and would be used to fund community safety and violence interruption. But some business leaders say it’s a “job killer.” In the Loop speaks with Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, Julie Dworkin, co-executive director of the Institute for the Public Good and Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association for different viewpoints on the corporate head tax.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
“A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power” lays out Jackson’s memorable presidential runs of the 1980s, his roots in Chicago and how his push for a “Rainbow Coalition” changed American politics. In the Loop checks in with first-time author and CNN news anchor Abby Phillip to discuss her new book.
For a full archive of In The Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
Federal agents arrested immigrants across the Chicago area and detained U.S. citizens, including a teen protester and will extend their stay at Great Lakes Naval Base. Lawmakers in Springfield condemned ICE raids and explored state responses to federal agents in Illinois. Mayor Johnson pitches a corporate head tax in his budget address.
Reset breaks down these stories and much more with journalists Alex Nitkin with the Illinois Answers Project, City Cast Chicago’s Jacoby Cochran, and Violet Miller with the Chicago Sun-Times.
For a full archive of In The Loop interviews, head over to www.wbez.org/intheloop.
A high school choir from Auburn Gresham made it all the way to the finals in the national competition show ‘America’s Got Talent’ last month. Now they’re back in Chicago and back in class. In the Loop checks in with members Derrick Davis, Bernard Freeman, Kevin Wilson and Tyshawn Brown about their journey to Los Angeles, the “brotherhood” they enjoy in the choir and what comes next for each of them.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
Since President Trump announced at a White House news conference on Sept. 22 that pregnant women's use of acetaminophen, sold under the brand name Tylenol, might raise the risk of autism in their children, claims about the drug have been circulating online.
But this isn’t the first time moms have been blamed for their children's autism. In fact, an early theory of autism revolves around the term “refrigerator mothers.”
In the Loop discusses this history of parental shame and uncovers the genetic components of autism with psychologist Dr. Latha Valluripalli Soorya at Rush, and J.J Hanley, a film producer and local mother of an adult with autism.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop
In an op-ed in the Sun-Times, public health experts call for maintaining medical facilities as “sanctuaries that protect human life,” and outline steps to protect patients from immigration enforcement. In the Loop talks with Dr. Linda Rae Murray, professor, University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Public Health and former chief medical officer of the Cook County Department of Public Health, and Dr. Claudia Fegan, national coordinator for the Physicians for a National Health Program and former chief medical officer of Cook County Health.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop
Chicago legal advocates and volunteers in communities are quickly responding after ICE arrests to protect immigrants’ rights. In the Loop talks with Resurrection Project chief program officer Erendira Rendon, National Immigrant Justice Center director of litigation Keren Zwick, Pilsen Rapid Response Network organizer Diego Morales of PUÑO and Southwest Rapid Response organizer and CPS teacher Kat Zamarron.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
The Texas National Guard arrived in the Chicago area, then a judge granted a temporary restraining order on deploying the guard in Illinois. Meanwhile, ICE arrests and raids continued and the Chicago area began to feel the effects of the ongoing federal government shutdown.
In The Loop dives into those and other top local stories with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mark Norkol, Fox 32 political correspondent Paris Schutz and Borderless Magazine editorial director Mauricio Peña.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
You might mistake a recent video released by the Department of Homeland Security for an action movie trailer.
It shows Border Patrol agents in military fatigues entering an apartment building in South Shore and arresting people alleged to be connected to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.
Reporting from WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times and other outlets confirm that U.S. citizens were detained for hours, some of them in handcuffs and zip ties. None of that was shown.
In the Loop talks to Jim Warren with NewsGuard and security affairs expert Robert Pape of UChicago about whether or not the federal government’s videos of immigration raids – such as the one in South Shore – amount to propaganda about Chicago crime and immigrants.
For a full archive of In The Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
A government shutdown is underway. The National Guard has arrived in the Chicago area, and immigration enforcement has escalated in recent weeks. In the Loop host Sasha-Ann Simons and the show’s listeners ask Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson about his plan to create “ICE-free zones” and get his thoughts on the federal deployment of National Guard troops, among other topics.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
The Trump administration has paused $2.1 billion in federal funding for infrastructure projects in Chicago, including the long-awaited extension of the Red Line. In the Loop discusses the impact of this pause on residents, public transit and the environment with Greater Roseland Chamber of Commerce executive director Andrea Reed, UChicago Harris School of Public Policy research professor Justin Marlowe and In the Loop sustainability contributor Karen Weigert.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/in-the-loop.
President Trump called National guardsmen from Illinois and Texas to Chicago, and they could arrive any day now. In the Loop checks in with Illinois Veterans for Change chair Jesse Rojo and About Face: Veterans Against the War member Aaron Hughes, an Illinois National Guard veteran, about the President’s decision to send troops to Chicago and other U.S. cities.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
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