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The 21st Show

The 21st Show

The 21st Show

The 21st Show

Millions of Americans are in relationships with people who have different political views. University of Illinois researcher Emily Van Duyn has spent years exploring how people navigate those relationships — and how those relationships, in turn, shape their politics.

Van Duyn joins us to talk about her new book, Hearts Divided: How Politics Shape Our Closest Connections. We discuss how couples handle political disagreement, what happens when kids and in-laws enter the picture, and what these relationships reveal about the state of American democracy.

The 21st Show

Leaving prison is supposed to mean a person's debt to society has been paid. But for many people coming home from Illinois prisons, the first problem is figuring out where to sleep that night.

The Home for Good Act (House Bill 624), would create a statewide program offering rental assistance, support services and new housing for people leaving state prison who are found to be at risk of homelessness. It narrowly passed the Illinois House this spring but stalled in the Senate. Backers hope to revive it during the fall veto session.

Three advocates for the bill, including two men who served time themselves, talk about what reentry actually looks like and why they say housing is the place to start.

The 21st Show

Illinois House Democrats expanded their supermajority in last week's election — and now they're looking for a new leader. Speaker of the House Emanuel “Chris” Chris Welch says he won't seek another term as speaker after 26 House Democrats called for change, following months of criticism over his handling of sexual harassment allegations against former Rep. Harry Benton and complaints about how he runs the caucus.

Capitol News Illinois Statehouse reporter Ben Szalinski joins us to explain how we got here, who might be in line to replace Welch, and what lawmakers hope to get done during their brief fall veto session, including regulating data centers and a possible deal to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois.

The 21st Show

From “da Bears” in Chicago to “Hahvahd Yahd” in Boston, our accents shape how the world hears us — and how it judges us. Linguist Valerie Fridland explores how and why in her new book, "Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents," which traces how American speech patterns took shape over centuries and why they're still shifting today.

Weather Realness

Satellites can track hurricanes but it can’t see what’s happening inside hurricanes. That's where the hurricane hunters come in. 

The 21st Show

A year after his first visit to The 21st Show, retired U.S. diplomat Eric Whitaker returned to talk about the world as it is now.

The former ambassador to Niger grew up in DeKalb and North Aurora and studied at the University of Illinois. He says the U.S. has "unilaterally diplomatically disarmed," pulling back from alliances while China and Russia move into the space it left behind.

Whitaker talked about the war with Iran and what Tuesday's midterm elections could mean for Congress' role in foreign policy. He also discussed the Sahel, where Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are run by military juntas and Russian forces reportedly helped put down an attempted coup in Niger this summer. And he defended U.S. food aid and the work of USAID, which the Trump administration has dismantled.

Plus, what he's hearing from friends still in the Foreign Service, where he says morale is down after a wave of departures, and his advice for Illinois students who hope to join it.

The 21st Show

Democrats won decisively across the country Tuesday, and Illinois was no exception. Gov. J.B. Pritzker won a third term, defeating Republican Darren Bailey for the second time. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won the race to succeed U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.

Chicago Tribune political writer Dan Petrella joins The 21st Show to sort through the results. Topics include where Stratton fits in a changing Democratic Party, Pritzker's national ambitions and the money he's spent helping candidates around the country, what's next for Illinois Republicans, Democratic gains in the General Assembly (and DuPage County), and another round of wins for the movement to split Illinois in two.

Plus, listeners from across the 21st state shared their reactions, along with what they want Democrats to do with their new power in Washington.