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Posts published in “Latest News”

Mass Shootings In Chicago Twice As Frequent As Any U.S. City

In the wake of a second mass shooting in just four days, Chicago's mayor says the city is like others in the U.S. dealing with this problem. But a WBEZ analysis finds Chicago has more than twice as many mass shootings as any other U.S. city. Host: Odet...

Incarcerated Say Guards Beat Them At Illinois Prison

At an Illinois prison, evidence of abuse in a camera blind spot went ignored for years: “Those officers thought … ‘We can completely get away with this.’ ” Host: Lisa Labuz; Reporter: Shannon Heffernan

Five Questions with Ross A. Slotten, MD, author of “Plague Years”

June 2021 marks a grimly significant anniversary: forty years ago this month, the CDC reported the first US cases of the disease that would come to be known as AIDS. Ross A. Slotten, MD—a Chicago-based family practitioner—has been deeply involved with the fight against HIV/AIDS since the beginning of his medical career in the 1980s. In Plague Years: A Doctor’s Journey through the AIDS Crisis—praised by Nature as a “powerful, humane, and stylish memoir”—Slotten provides an intimate yet comprehensive view of the disease’s spread alongside heartfelt portraits of his patients and his own conflicted feelings as a medical professional, drawn from more than thirty years of personal notebooks. We asked Ross a few questions about the book. The acknowledgments page for Plague Years points out that this book emerged from a memoir writing course at StoryStudio Chicago. How is the finished book different from your initial vision for it, and is there anything from earlier drafts that you were sad to have to cut from the final version? Initially, I intended to write something more academic. When I showed an early version of the book to an editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, she thought that a […]

The post Five Questions with Ross A. Slotten, MD, author of “Plague Years” appeared first on The Chicago Blog.

Chicago Seniors Begin To Find Normalcy After Pandemic

At The Admiral at the Lake, residents are emerging from life in lockdown. Fitness classes, choir practice and field trips are all back on as normalcy returns. Host: Mary Dixon; Producer: Courtney Kueppers

Does Hurricane Season Even Matter Here In Chicago?

For WBEZ’s weekly climate conversation, atmospheric scientist Scott Collis explains the predictions for an above-normal hurricane season - and how hurricanes affect us here in Chicago. Host: Lisa Labuz; Producer: Lauren Frost

Travel Picks Up, But O’Hare’s ‘People Mover’ Won’t Be

Travelers are returning to O'Hare, but the airport's "people mover" is still out of service. Chicago Tribune business reporter Sarah Freishtat details the construction delays plaguing the elevated trains. Host: Lisa Labuz; Producer: Mark LeBien

Illinois Finally Reopens, But Are We There Yet Mentally?

Chicago and Illinois move to Phase Five reopening on Friday. Dr. Burnett-Zeigler, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences with Northwestern University, details how to handle it all. Host: Araceli Gomez Aldana; Producer: Lauren Frost

Announcing the Recipients of the 2021-2022 Mellon University Press Diversity Fellowships

The University of Chicago Press along with the University of Washington Press, the MIT Press, Cornell University Press, the Ohio State University Press, Northwestern University Press, and the Association of University Presses (AUPresses) are excited to announce the recipients of the 2021-2022 Mellon University Press Diversity Fellowships. These fellowships are generously funded by a four-year, $1,205,000 grant awarded to the University of Washington Press from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the continued development and expansion of the pipeline program designed to diversify academic publishing by offering apprenticeships in acquisitions departments. This second grant builds on the success of the initial 2016 grant from the Mellon Foundation, which funded the first cross-press initiative of its kind in the United States to address the marked lack of diversity in the academic publishing industry. Please join us in welcoming the 2021-2022 Mellon University Press Diversity Fellows: Chad M. Attenborough joins the University of Washington Press from Vanderbilt University, where he is a PhD candidate studying black responses to the British abolition of the slave trade in the Caribbean. While completing his research, Chad worked for Vanderbilt University Press as a graduate assistant where his passion for publishing developed in earnest and […]

The post Announcing the Recipients of the 2021-2022 Mellon University Press Diversity Fellowships appeared first on The Chicago Blog.

NCAA Athletes Could See Endorsement Deals Soon In Illinois

Student athletes at Illinois colleges and universities may soon be able to sign endorsement deals. The Student Athlete Endorsement Act passed both the Illinois House and Senate and awaits Governor Pritzker's signature. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Chery...

Xavier Ramey On 2020’s Civil Unrest: “The Backlash Is Real”

A year ago, Chicago activist Xavier Ramey talked to WBEZ about the civil unrest following George Floyd’s murder. Natalie Moore followed up with him to get his thoughts on racial progress, the future of the city and the increase of diversity trainings i...

Why Aldermen Are Wary Of Speedy Storefront Sign Permits

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to make it easier for businesses to get storefront signs. Under a proposal submitted last month, a permit could be issued without a full City Council vote. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Becky Vevea

How Illinois Benefits From ‘Prairie State’ Grasslands

Over the weekend, some places in the midwest celebrated National Prairie Day. State Climatologist, Doctor Trent Ford explains the surprising ways Illinois’ grasslands can affect our lives for the better. Host: Lisa Labuz; Producer: Lauren Frost

Illinois Gov. Pritzker Says Energy Deal Still Possible

The governor touted a stalled green-energy plan in an interview with WBEZ, and touched on an elected Chicago school board and his possible reelection. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Dave McKinney

Six Questions with Sujit Sivasundaram, author of “Waves Across the South”

This is a story of tides and coastlines, winds and waves, islands and beaches. In Waves Across the South, Sujit Sivasundaram offers a fresh history of revolution and empire which centers on island nations and ocean-facing communities, turning the familiar narrative of the Age of Revolutions and the origins of the British Empire on its head. Waves Across the South has been praised for the awe-inspiring depth of its research, as well as its captivating storytelling. We asked Sujit Sivasundaram a few questions about his work. To start us off, what is the Age of Revolutions? How does Waves Across the South reconceptualize it? Usually, the Age of Revolutions is an Atlantic story, encompassing for instance the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and other uprisings in the Caribbean and Latin America. These events are taken as a pivotal origin point for our modern condition: for ideas of rights and belonging, a system of nation states as well as the application of reason and reform, for instance with respect to labor or governance. Waves Across the South moves this story to the Indian and Pacific oceans. In this vast oceanic zone, there was a pattern of indigenous creativity, unrest, revolt, and association; this was a first wave. There was then a response […]

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