Illinois Public Media News

Illinois-based Quaker Oats is ending its Aunt Jemima brand, saying it was based on a racial stereotype. Meanwhile, others are working to preserve the legacy of the real-life Chicago woman on whom the character was based.

Like all live performers, from actors to musicians, people who perform drag have had to adapt and change during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 21st was joined by two central Illinois drag performers to talk about different ways that drag artists have had to adjust to performing in the pandemic.

From school and work pressures to the distractions and anxiety that come with having access to social media and everything else on their phones, it can be hard to get sleep as a teenager. In a survey a few years back, 58% more teenagers were “severely sleep deprived” than in 1991.The 21st was joined by two psychotherapists who wrote a book on this sleepless generation and what can be done to help.

Despite the loss of millions of people, mask mandates, and more, neuroscientists say we will forget the pandemic. 

Host Brian Mackey often cites a report from Moody’s Investors Service suggesting central and western Illinois will see the greatest rise in "extreme heat days" in the country. Today he dug into his archives to share, for the first time, an interview with the author of the report.

There’s been a renewed interest in the mental health benefits of mushrooms, and some states are working to decriminalize them. 

DCFS is charged with investigating abuse and neglect. But charges of “neglect” can tear families apart, mostly for being poor.

There's a cultural heritage of "Illinois Country French," also known as "Missouri French," in our state. This Illinois Creole culture is fading, but today we were joined by one of the few speakers left in Illinois, who's been working to keep the heritage alive.

R. Buckminster Fuller was a visionary designer, inventor, and futurist who thought we could make a better world through technology. Now he's the subject of a new biography, Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller, by Illinois-based writer Alec Nevala-Lee.

Illinois Wesleyan University Professor Edgar Lehr and a team of Peruvian scientists recently discovered a previously unknown species of lizard in the Andes Mountains. But his trip was cut short when the team realized drug traffickers were nearby and had begun following their movements.