The 21st—Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Today on The 21st: the history of Sears' tax breaks in Illinois, accents from around the state, and the environmental effects of staying at home during the pandemic.

People call Amazon.com “the everything store,” but not long ago, that distinction went to an Illinois company: Sears, Roebuck and Co. But keeping that company in Illinois came at a cost of half-a-billion dollars in tax breaks. We’ll talk to a reporter who investigated whether it was worth it.

Then, can you differentiate a Quad Cities accent from one in Chicago, or maybe Carbondale? Yes, Illinois has accents, and we’ll explore them with a linguist.

And with billions of people staying home across the globe during the pandemic, we’ll ask Illinois scientists about the positive — and negative — environmental effects.