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
In Ukrainian culture, “pysanky” is a centuries-old form of decorating eggs. In fact, it predates Easter itself. Using eggs, beeswax, and dyes, artists "write" colorful and elaborate art works embedded with deep meaning. When celebrating a wedding, moving to a new home, or simply praying for good fortune, Ukrainians are likely to receive a few pysanky eggs from family and friends. City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran talks with Anna Chychula, a Ukrainian-American artist, about the history of pysanky and how the celebration of this cultural tradition during the Easter season brings the community together as war between Ukraine and Russia continues.
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The temperatures are rising, spring is here and baseball is back! The White Sox (2-1) have their home opener today against the Seattle Mariners. They beat the Tigers in Detroit in the first series this season. The Cubs (2-1) also won at Wrigley Field against the Milwaukee Brewers in their opening series. But despite the similar starts, the two teams couldn’t be more different this season. The North Side Cubbies are in rebuild mode, while the South Side sluggers are chasing championship dreams. Here to talk about the crosstown rivals with City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran are WBEZ’s Cheryl Raye Stout and Herb Lawrence of the new CHGO White Sox Podcast.
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Chicago and Las Vegas have emerged as top candidates to potentially host the Democratic National Convention in 2024. Chicago most recently hosted the convention in 1996, when Bill Clinton became the presidential nominee. And the city hosted several party conventions before that, including the 1968 DNC marked by police riots in Grant Park and the Republican National Convention of 1860, where Abraham Lincoln was named the presidential nominee. On the other hand, the 2024 DNC would be Vegas’ first. Jacoby talks with City Cast Las Vegas Host Dayvid Figler about whether either city is a fit.
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The city announced that nearly 4000 E-Scooters are returning to streets next month. Divvy, Lime, Superpedestrian and Spin are the providers responsible for a safe, smooth, and equitable rollout. Speaking of rollout, a new casino is coming to Chicago, and community meetings were held this week in the South Loop and River West. There's also a new bill in the Illinois House that, if passed, would require life rings along the lakefront, plus a new reimbursement program for Chicagoans buying security cameras. City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran catches up on these stories and more with CBS Morning Reporter Marissa Parra and CW Chicago TV Host Brandon Pope. And we’ve got some great moments of joy, including Karaoke Storytellers, Art on the Mart (which starts tomorrow), and Pope’s new WCIU and Block Club Chicago TV show, “On The Block.”
And don't miss Marissa's story about the friendship between a trash collector and a 3-year-old in South Loop!
You can catch Jacoby's 2020 Snap Judgment episode here.
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For ten years, Evanston writer Peter Baker had been working on his first novel, and he was eager to get it out into the world. So he wasn’t skeptical when he received an email from his agent in the fall of 2020 requesting a copy of his manuscript as a Microsoft Word file. He sent it along. Then he got a call from his agent asking why he'd sent his novel to him. That's right, Baker had been scammed by “The Spine Collector,” as the FBI has called him. "The Spine Collector" is allegedly a 29-year-old in London who attempted to con writers, including well-known authors like Margaret Atwood and Anthony Doerr, into sending him their unpublished manuscripts. Baker talks with City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran about what happened when he inadvertently sent his debut novel to the “Spine Collector," and how that event affected him as a writer.
Baker's novel, PLANES, will be released May 31.
Some Good News:
Art EXPO is back at Navy Pier's Festival Hall starting tonight.
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The Obama Presidential Center isn’t the only major development hoping to call Jackson Park home. For years, Tiger Woods’ design firm TGR Design has proposed a PGA-caliber golf course on the South Side. The proposed 18-hole course would combine the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses, complete with new facilities, practice holes, and a $30 million underpass at 67th and South Shore Drive. But it could also mean the loss of affordable greens, removal of trees, and potential destruction of the South Shore Nature Sanctuary as it currently exists. We talk with Tracy Raoul, Chairperson of Jackson Park Golf Association, Emily Dupree, the Hyde Park resident behind the Twitter profile Save Our Sanctuary.
Rendering of course from TGR Designs
Full statement from Chicago Park District:
"As the City’s leading greening stewards, the Chicago Park District is committed to preserving and expanding the city’s parkland and tree population within our 8800-acre footprint. Our commitment is underscored by the fact that we plant 3000 trees annually and converted nearly 1100 acres of underutilized space to valuable parkland over the past decade. These investments improve our communities and greatly contribute to the lives of children and families throughout our city. As with any capital endeavor that requires the removal of trees, the District is committed to replacing each tree as part of the project scope.
The Jackson Park/ South Shore document released is a draft proposal and any references related to reducing the tree count has not been considered or approved by the Park District, and therefore should not be considered a finalized plan.”
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During a public safety press conference Monday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced efforts to invest in the development and expansion of block clubs citywide. Lightfoot’s idea is that stronger block clubs will contribute to neighborhood security and morale. For a century, Chicago has had an enduring, complicated, and nostalgic relationship with these small volunteer-based community groups. They began to assist African-Americans moving to Chicago from the South, but they’ve also been used to foster white solidarity in support of segregation. Block clubs have also led beautification efforts, and block parties across Chicago neighborhoods. City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran talks with Dr. Amanda Seligman, author of Chicago’s Block Clubs: How Neighbors Shape The City, about the history of these clubs.
Some Good News:
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In 2018, three guards brutally beat Larry Earvin at Western Illinois Correctional Center, where Earvin was incarcerated. He died weeks later. One of the guards pleaded guilty, and the other two are on trial right now in Springfield. Earvin’s death was the beginning of WBEZ’s investigation into Illinois prisons, which is explored in this season of the podcast, “Motive.” City Cast Chicago's Jacoby Cochran talks to reporter and host Shannon Heffernan about what she uncovered, and what she hopes listeners will take away when talking about incarceration and punishment.
Public meetings for Chicago casino finalists
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This week, South Side Weekly’s Chima Ikoro and freelance journalist and professor Arionne Nettles break down the big stories of the week and the ones that need more hype, plus offer their moments of joy. We highlight the new season of WBEZ's podcast “Motive” investigating abuse in rural Illinois prisons, discuss the death of two Black transgender women, and reflect on separate incidents of police violence during the summer of 2020 and how recently obtained photos and videos challenge CPD’s official narratives. Chima and Arionne leave us with some poetic and sweet moments of joy!
Check back on Monday when WBEZ reporter and Motive host Shannon Heffernan joins us.
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This week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot asserted the Christopher Columbus statue would eventually return to Grant Park. The city removed the statue in July 2020, a week after police clashed with protesters demanding its removal. While the Mayor has placed the blame on “vigilantes who attacked officers,” the Chicago Reader and South Side Weekly report that newly-obtained images reveal that police officers indiscriminately arrested and attacked protesters. Now, one of the police officers who was struck a protester is facing termination, despite the objections of CPD Superintendent David Brown. The Reader’s Jim Daley walks us through what happened back in 2020, and what's next.
News:
The city could have its new Inspector General. Listen to Jacoby's interview with former IG Joe Ferguson who retired last October.
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