Illinois Public Media

Entertainment

From left: Bill Odenkirk wrote and executive produced

Bill Odenkirk’s new play asks whether we’re alone in the universe

  “We Interrupt This Program,” runs this weekend at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign. The play will also be broadcast on Illinois Classical (WILL-FM 90.9 Urbana) on Halloween night. “The 21st Show” spoke with two of the people involved in the production: Bill Odenkirk is the play’s writer and executive producer. And Sarah Edwards is a producer and moderator. Listen now. 
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Illinois Classical
Illinois Classical 90.9

Your home for Classical and more in Central Illinois.
Prairie Performances
Shown from left to right: Shulamit Ran, Arlene Sierra, and Josh Graham

The University of Illinois New Music Festival
This week, we are looking at the University of Illinois’s 2026 New Music Festival. You can hear works from this year’s guest composers, Shulamit Ran and Arlene Sierra, as…
Dialogue
woman looking up

The State of Black voters ahead of the 2026 Midterm Election
Two years after Kamala Harris lost the race for US president, we examine how Black voters are feeling ahead of the November 2026 elections.
The 21st Show
President Trump is wearing a dark-blue suit, white button-down shirt and red USA hat; he looks toward the camera and points behind him; the image was taken at night, so the construction project appears out of focus as a series of color blobs in the background.

What Trump can — and can’t — do to the midterms
With just weeks until the Nov. 3 midterm elections, many people are worried about what could happen — from federal agents at polling places to the president trying to…
The 21st Show
Both Pritzker and Bailey are wearing dark blue suits with white dress shirts and neckties (Pritzker's is light blue, Bailey's is burgundy). Pritzker is holding a pen and making a point. Bailey, wearing clear-frame classes, is talking back.

Recapping the only debate in the Illinois governor’s race
This week in Chicago the two major-party candidates for Illinois governor faced off in their only debate: Democratic incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and his second-time…
The 21st Show
The book

From Illinois to Rome, how we got an ‘American Pope’
NPR’s Daniel Burke and Scott Detrow spent a year researching the backstory of how an altar boy from Illinois became the leader of the global Catholic Church.To do that, they…
Prairie Fire

The Morrow Plots
The Morrow Plots at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is celebrating 150 years as America's longest continuous agricultural experiment.
Mid-American Gardener

Late-Summer Garden Bounty: Dahlias, Vegetables and Beautiful Blooms
Shane and Chuck join Tinisha with an abundance of garden produce and beautiful blooms. And Kelly stops by to discuss caring for mums.
State of Change

Small gestures to make a big difference in preserving our planet
We visit a zero-waste general store, a garden bringing a community together in a Chicago food desert, a program protecting pollinators, and advice to increase sustainability…