Claim OwnershipIn the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons
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Federal agents step up immigration raids. The Cubs make it to the playoffs. Former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar dies at 79. Kim Bellware of the Washington Post, WBEZ’s Sarah Karp and Mitchell Armentrout of the Chicago Sun-Times break it down for us.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
While many efforts continue to educate immigrants and citizens alike on “Know Your Rights,” many people have already been detained by ICE. So, what are people doing right now to support them and their families?
In the Loop sits down with local organizations who are supporting those who have been detained, hears what it was like in detention and what’s next as the city continues to see increased activity by ICE.
We check in with Kabataan Alliance Midwest and Tanggol Migrante Chicago member Louise Macaraniag, Organizing Communities Against Deportation leadership and growth organizer Evelyn Vargas and Midwest Immigration Bond Fund co-vice president and immigration lawyer Lee Vanderlinden.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
We’re six months out from the statewide Illinois primary, and the main showdown is shaping up to be the Democratic race for Dick Durbin's Senate seat.
Political analysts suggest this rare open-seat race will favor Democrats, though that’s not assured. So far, nine Democrats have entered the race, with three notable candidates – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Congresswoman Robin Kelly and current Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton – rising to the top.
On this episode of In The Loop, host Sasha-Ann Simons and our panel of Illinois politicos size up the candidates and break down the race to replace outgoing Senator Dick Durbin in D.C.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
As heightened immigration enforcement continues, we learn how the city’s chief executive is working to keep residents safe. In the Loop sits down with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to learn how he’s balancing national attention with the day-to-day needs of the city residents. Plus, he answers callers’ questions.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
Chicagoans are living longer — at least nearly as long as they did pre-pandemic, according to new data from the Chicago Department of Public Health. Meanwhile, the life expectancy gap between Black and non-Black Chicagoans is narrowing, but according to CDPH, there’s still a long way to go.
In the Loop finds out more about how far the city has come in improving the health and longevity of residents and what challenges may lie ahead.
We check in with Ayesha Jaco, executive director of West Side United; The Rev. Marshall Hatch, senior pastor, New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church; and Dr. David Ansell, professor of medicine at Rush University Medical Center and author of The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills.
For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.
WBEZ’s new show “In the Loop” is your place for Chicago-area news and culture. Host Sasha-Ann Simons and executive producer Dan Tucker break down what to expect. Check this feed every weekday afternoon to stay In the Loop.
As the summer winds down, we wanted to share some highlights of conversations we’ve had on Reset over the last few months. From our immigration series to conversations with music legends to sitting down with Sasha's mom, we’re looking back on an eventful season.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
In 1991, a high-profile and controversial Supreme Court confirmation hearing led Carol Moseley Braun to run for the U.S. Senate. “The good people of Illinois saw fit to elect me,” Moseley Braun says. That’s when she became the first Black woman to serve in the upper chamber. At the same time, Braun was the first woman senator to represent the state of Illinois in Congress. Braun details her childhood, that journey to Congress and the international success that would follow in a new memoir, “Trailblazer: Perseverance in Life and Politics.” Reset sits down with Carol Moseley Braun to learn more about her Chicago upbringing and storied career.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
In the early hours of April 16, 1983, 23-year-old Karen Schepers of Elgin went missing after a night out with co-workers. And over four decades later, the Elgin Police Department’s Cold Case Unit takes this missing persons case on again.
The detectives behind the case document their investigation in the first season of the “Somebody Knows Something” podcast.
Reset sits down with Elgin Police Department Chief Ana Lalley, detectives Christopher Hall and Andrew Houghton, and Sergeant Matt Vartanian to learn more about their work and the pod.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
The National Guard was deployed to Washington, D.C. earlier this month as a part of President Donald Trump’s effort to mitigate crime in the capital. And Chicago could be next.
City and state leaders, such as Gov. JB Pritzker, have made their message clear. “Do not come to Chicago.”
Since then, the White House has issued a press release of its own. A bullet-pointed list of crime statistics and headlines.
Reset will go behind those headlines and fact-check the White House’s claims that Chicago residents want the National Guard in the city with WBEZ criminal justice reporter Chip Mitchell and Northwestern professor Andrew Papachristos.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
As students return to campuses across the nation, a new documentary explores the legacy and new challenges faced by historically black colleges and universities. Reset learns more from Brandis Friedman, WTTW anchor and co-producer of the documentary “Opportunity, Access & Uplift: The Evolving Legacy of HBCUs.” We also hear from Felecia Commodore, associate professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Illinois has been a leader in the data center boom, with more than 220 across the state. However, those centers use up tons of water, often from the same sources that local communities rely on for drinking water. Advocates that work to protect the Great Lakes (and local drinking water) are raising the alarm on the burden this could put on Illinois municipalities in the short and long term. Reset gets the details from Jen Walling, executive director, Illinois Environmental Council; and Joel Brammeier, president, Alliance for the Great Lakes.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
The historic Charnley-Persky House in the Gold Coast is a rare two-fer co-designed by a pair of architecture giants: Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan. The building at 1365 N. Astor St., which is often called the first modernist house in the world, was designed in 1891 when Sullivan was 35 years old and his employee Wright was 24. In this episode of What’s That Building?, Sasha Ann Simpons and Dennis Rodkin tour the Charnley-Persky House for a closer look at this unique property.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Chicago-based emergency room physician Dr. Thaer Ahmad is one of the dozens of health care workers from the area who have traveled to Gaza to provide humanitarian aid since the October 7, 2023 attacks. Ahmad and his colleagues are sharing their experiences with Illinois lawmakers in an effort to highlight the starvation in Gaza and to stop weapon transfers to Israel. Reset hears from Dr. Ahmad, WBEZ city politics Mariah Woelfel and Ertharin Cousin, former executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme.
Chicago’s Inspector General urges City Council to police bad behavior. Democratic legislators return to Texas for a redistricting vote. Former Northwestern football coach reaches settlement with the university. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul files more lawsuits against the Trump administration and politicians push for Southwest side communities to be declared disaster areas after flooding.
Reset dives into these and other top local stories with City Cast Chicago executive producer Simone Alicea, FOX 32 political correspondent Paris Schutz and WBEZ education reporter Sarah Karp.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
The first wind phone was created in Japan by Itaru Sasaki after losing his cousin to cancer in 2010. He installed a disconnected rotary phone in his garden as a way to connect with his cousin after their death.
In 2011, after a tsunami hit the coast of Japan, destroying cities and leaving hundreds of people missing, Sasaki then relocated the phone booth on a hill overlooking the ocean to give others a way to connect with their lost loved ones.
And now in 2025, one mother in Geneva, Ill., wants to bring a wind phone to the far western suburb.
Reset learns more about this effort and navigating grief. We’ll hear from Elaine Haughan, who lost her son James in 2021; Liam Jackowiec, best friend of James Haughan; and Neal Parker, with the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, which invites visitors to use the wind phone they have available by its butterfly garden.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
The Trump administration is considering reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug. This change could have major implications for cannabis businesses in Chicago.
Reset sits down with Cannabis Business Association of Illinois’ executive director Tiffany Ingram, nuEra’s Jonah Rapino and Umi Dispensary’s Akele Parnell to understand how this reclassification could impact the local industry and what it could mean for consumers.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Famous for its grandeur and colossal size, the Uptown Theatre celebrates its 100-year anniversary. Over the last century, the Uptown has seen its highs and lows, but after being shuttered in 1981, the “palace” now needs a $190-million revamp.
Robert Loerzel’s new book, The Uptown: Chicago’s Endangered Movie Palace, relives the glory days of the theatre through photos and archives. Many, like Loerzel, hope the Uptown Theatre will be restored to its former purpose and splendor through the help of donor and state funding.
Reset hears more about the Uptown Theatre’s history and future from Loerzel, Preservation Chicago executive director Ward Miller, and David Syfczak, caretaker for the Uptown Theatre for the last 30 years.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Since HIV and AIDS were first declared an epidemic in the 1980s, numerous non-profit, private, and federal organizations have been created to combat the disease.
But many Black-LED HIV and AIDS organizations struggle to cover operating costs as they work on prevention, education, and case management.
As the Trump Administration makes drastic cuts to HIV/AIDS prevention funding, organizations that serve the communities on the frontlines of this crisis face an uncertain future.
On today’s Reset, we hear about the current state of the HIV-AIDS fight in Chicago, and why we see a funding gap between Black-led and other organizations.
Today’s panel: Timothy Jackson, director of policy and advocacy for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago; and Hannah Peewee, associate director of communications for Taskforce Prevention and Community Services.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
Ordering wine and learning how to pair it with meals and summer produce can be intimidating – but it doesn’t have to be! We talked to a chef, master sommelier and a food writer to learn how to pair what wine with what food, and how to do it in the least pretentious way possible.
Today’s panel: Maggie Hennessy, WBEZ contributor and food writer; Paul Virant, owner Gaijin, Vistro Prime and Petite Vie; Martin Beally, master sommelier, director of wine, beverage and ops integration at Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurants.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
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