Stay ConnectedChicago’s daily news podcast, fresh every weekday morning. Host Jacoby Cochran brings you timely conversations with news and culture makers; activists and artists; bus drivers and students; those who love and hate this place. City Cast Chicago is a smart and delightful new way to connect with the city we share. Learn more and subscribe to our newsletter at chicago.citycast.fm.
Named Best Podcast by Chicago Reader 2022
City Cast host Jacoby Cochran recently joined the podcast Album ReBrews to drink beers from Funkytown Brewery and talk about Saba’s latest release Few Good Things. Jacoby and hosts Sarah Beidatsch and Zac Emry dissect songs from the album and discuss how they connect to the artist’s Chicago roots, especially in Austin on the city’s West Side.
A little bit of news: The Daily Line talks ward remap at Hideout Wednesday
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Early voting in the June primary begins Thursday in Chicago, and is already underway elsewhere in the state. There are six candidates running on the Republican ballot, and there’s already some big money being pumped into the race. WTTW’s Amanda Vinicky tells host Jacoby Cochran more about the people and issues shaping the race, including the big question of whether candidates are too conservative or not conservative enough.
Some Good News:
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This week, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill requiring all firearms, gun kits, and 3D-printed guns to have a visible serial number, effectively banning “ghost guns,” while alderpeople got their questions and complaints in about the future Chicago casino. Host Jacoby Cochran breaks down these stories and more with Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Corli Jay and The Daily Line editor and City Hall reporter Alex Nitkin.
Stories This Week:
Lightfoot pushing for Friday vote on casino
Illinois becomes first Midwest state to ban 'ghost guns'
City Council committee votes down 'Water For All' ordinance
How Morgan Park High School's 2022 basball season was nearly washed away
The South Side is getting a facility to turn food waste into natural gas
Equiticity May Ride Series: The Musicality of North Lawndale
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Whether your summer plans include sitting on the beach, taking a road trip, flying, or just staying home — you might be looking for something good to read. “Nerdette” host Greta Johnsen — who’s already read about 50 books so far this year — is here with her summer reading recommendations. She says they all fall into the theme of being transported somewhere, from a residential school for deaf children to 1920s New York to an African safari to a more ghostly Chicago.
Greta's List:
True Biz by Sara Novic
Trust by Hernan Diaz
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley
This Thing Between us by Gus Moreno:
What’s on your summer reading list? Let us know at chicago@citycast.fm or (773) 780-0246
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This week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed an executive order authorizing police to immediately enforce a 10 p.m. curfew for Chicago minors, who also aren't allowed in Millennium Park past 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday without a “responsible adult.” This is Lightfoot’s response to the death of 16-year-old Seandell Holliday, who was shot and killed near the Bean over the weekend. The mayor says these measures will help curb violence downtown, but research in other cities shows that curfews have little effect. How do young Chicagoans feel about being kept out of the city’s “jewel” of a park? Host Jacoby Cochran speaks with Assata Lewis, a restorative justice coordinator with youth violence prevention group GoodKids MadCity. She tells us this curfew will do little to reduce violence, indiscriminately criminalizes Chicago’s teens, and ignores alternative solutions like GKMC’s proposed Peace Book ordinance.
A little bit of news: You can get another round of free at-home COVID tests in the mail at covid.gov/tests.
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After nearly 30 years at the helm, Joyce Kenner is retiring as principal of Whitney Young high school. The CPS selective enrollment school is routinely ranked among the top in the country, and you probably know some of their alumni like Michelle Obama. As the school year winds to a close, Kenner talks with host Jacoby Cochran at the school’s West Loop campus about her legacy, the culture she sought to build for students, and the role of selective enrollment schools in a district marked by inequities.
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Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson most recently made headlines as the giver of free gas, but have you wondered where he gets his giveaway money? The story starts with a global, but Chicago-based company: McDonald’s. Wilson started as a custodian at a McDonald’s in 1970, moving up to manager, and eventually franchise owner, setting the stage for him to make his fortune. Even though not every McDonald’s franchise owner had the same success as Wilson, the company did try to entrench itself in Black America beginning in the late ’60s by offering franchise ownership. But those opportunities had strings attached and allowed the company to create a narrative about its involvement in civil rights that veers from the truth, according to historian Marcia Chatelain. Chatelain is a Chicago native and author of “Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America,” which won a 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History. She tells Jacoby how McDonald’s did it.
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The 2022 Bears schedule is now official, which means plenty of fans will be booking their flights across the country. But what's the best trip for every Chicago sports team? Jacoby Cochran was invited on CHGO Sports' latest episode of THE Chicago Sports Podcast to share his dream destinations.
City Cast producer Simone Alicea is in the host chair this week to dig into some top stories around Chicago. She’s joined by two of the hosts of one of her favorite podcasts, “Hello from the Magic Tavern,” an improvised comedy chat show set in a fantasy world. Arnie Niekamp plays a fictional version of himself who fell through a magical portal in Chicago, and Matt Young plays his wizard co-host. Some of the stories they get into this week are the big names on the new advisory board at The Second City and the return of iO after it was previously announced it was permanently closing. Also, new fish at the Shedd, COVID numbers back on the rise, and Simone, Arnie, and Matt’s moments of joy.
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Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District was redrawn last year to include more of Chicago’s Northwest Side, including gentrifying neighborhoods like Logan Square and Avondale and longtime Latinx areas like Hermosa and Belmont Cragin, to western suburbs including Wheaton and Glen Ellyn. Two Democratic candidates have some name recognition as current office holders: Gilbert Villegas is 36th Ward alderman, and Delia Ramirez is the 4th District state representative. We talk to WBEZ politics reporter Mariah Woelfel about the issues each candidate is focusing on and what she’s hearing from voters ahead of the June 28 primary.
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