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a montage including a headshop of white man with graying hair and beard wearing a fleece jacket, and the cover of the book, which features green vines and what appears to be a life-like clay mask that's cracking up
Author photo: Kris Julien / Book cover: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The 21st Show

George Packer on ‘The Emergency’

George Packer is best known for his journalism. He's been a staff writer at The Atlantic magazine since 2018, and before that spent 15 years at The New Yorker. He’s also written books on American politics and foreign affairs. His previous books include The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq (2005) and The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America (2013).

Now, for the first time in decades, he’s written a novel, The Emergency. It’s about what happens when a government collapses, and new ways of life take root in a society. This is an allegorical story — Packer never specifies the time and place, and some aspects of their lives will be familiar to us (cars, advanced medicine) while others are kept deliberately strange (the absolute lack of digital technology).

Among the big questions posed by The Emergency are what happens to the social contract when society is upended? What should we do with our personal codes when the new order deems them outmoded? And how does one respond when the revolution is happening not just out in the streets, but at our own dinner tables?

 

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Passengers board Amtrak’s Train 41 at Union Station in Chicago's West Loop.
Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times

The 21st Show

The state of rail travel across Illinois

There's a lot of passenger rail projects underway across Illinois with some pushing full-steam ahead and some in railway limbo. 

 

The 21st Show is Illinois' statewide weekday public radio talk show, connecting Illinois and bringing you the news, culture, and stories that matter to the 21st state. Have thoughts on the show or one of our episodes, or want to share an idea for something we should talk about? Send us an email: talk@21stshow.org. If you'd like to have your say as we're planning conversations, join our texting group! Just send the word "TALK" to (217) 803-0730. Subscribe to our podcast and hear our latest conversations.  

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PT6pb0
Find past segments, links to our social media and more at our website: 21stshow.org.

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Air Traffic Controllers stand outside distributing leaflets explaining how the federal government shutdown is impacting air travel at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Romulus, Mich.
AP Photo/Paul Sancya

The 21st Show

Government shutdown is over, but air travel for holidays could still be extra hectic

The historic government shut down just ended, but improvements in air travel are not expected right away. Air traffic controllers are increasingly calling in sick resulting in the cancellation of more than 10,000 flights in the last few days.

 

The 21st Show is Illinois' statewide weekday public radio talk show, connecting Illinois and bringing you the news, culture, and stories that matter to the 21st state. Have thoughts on the show or one of our episodes, or want to share an idea for something we should talk about? Send us an email: talk@21stshow.org. If you'd like to have your say as we're planning conversations, join our texting group! Just send the word "TALK" to (217) 803-0730. Subscribe to our podcast and hear our latest conversations.  

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PT6pb0
Find past segments, links to our social media and more at our website: 21stshow.org.

Listen
Courtesy of Black Marshal Publishing

The 21st Show

‘Off My Neck’: Former U.S. Marshal for Central Illinois describes barrier-breaking career in new memoir

Robert Moore was the second Black U.S. Marshal for Central Illinois. He also served in many other roles in law enforcement at a time when opportunities for Black people were limited. Moore's self-published memoir expores his pioneering career.

 

The 21st Show is Illinois' statewide weekday public radio talk show, connecting Illinois and bringing you the news, culture, and stories that matter to the 21st state. Have thoughts on the show or one of our episodes, or want to share an idea for something we should talk about? Send us an email: talk@21stshow.org. If you'd like to have your say as we're planning conversations, join our texting group! Just send the word "TALK" to (217) 803-0730. Subscribe to our podcast and hear our latest conversations.  

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PT6pb0
Find past segments, links to our social media and more at our website: 21stshow.org.

Listen