Illinois Public Media News

For more on how Ruth Bader Ginsburg conducted herself as a Supreme Court justice, we’re joined by David Franklin, who clerked for Ginsburg in 1999 and 2000.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday, September 18, 2020, inciting many conversations — one of them being about who would take her spot on the bench. A key player in that fight will be Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. He’s a member of the Judiciary Committee, which typically holds hearings on Supreme Court nominees.

 For people of the Jewish faith, the High Holy days in non-pandemic times are an opportunity to gather together at the synagogue and sing. But this year, the traditional blowing of the Shofar will be virtual. We’ll talk with two Illinois Rabbis about celebrating Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in a pandemic year. 

While the danger of the wildfires may seem far away, some of our very own fellow Illinoisians have been deploying to help fight the flames in California and Colorado.

There are hundreds of people who’ve been waiting years for their cases to come to trial in Cook County. The 21st spoke to a Chicago Sun-Times reporter who recently wrote about these issues to hear more of the implications of justice being delayed. 

The 21st checks in with the leaders of Knox College in Galesburg and Bradley University in Peoria about how their campuses are handling the fall semester amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Big Ten conference this morning announced it would resume playing football the weekend of October 24th. The 21st spoke to collegue, managing editor and Morning Edition host for WILL in Urbana Brian Moline to get a few more details on the plan.

The University of Illinois System has one of the most comprehensive reopening plans in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen told us more about how school testing is going, students returning to campus and Big Ten football resuming.

Illinois is one of America’s leading agricultural states. The 21st speaks to the author of “Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It” about the challenges facing our food system & agriculture.