Illinois Public Media News

Many feel that in their slice of America, they are not free to say whatever they want about politics. Yet, while the blue-city Republican and the red-state Democrat might feel isolated, they are not alone. We were joined by a University of Illinois professor who studied one such group of political outliers to talk about what she found. 

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.

Before Roe v. Wade recognized a constitutional right to abortion, Illinois women still found ways to end their pregnancies.

One hundred years ago, 23 union mineworkers, strikebreakers, and others were killed in what became known as the Herrin Massacre in southern Illinois’ Williamson County.

With one week to go until the June 28, 2022 primary election, we're talking with politics reporters abuut the status of campaigning and early voting.

Robert Allerton and John Gregg were gay men and partners but they could not be accepted that way in mid-century America. So they told people they were father and son. Their relationship is the subject of the book, An Open Secret: The Family Story of Robert and John Gregg Allerton.

We talked about why Caterpillar and Boeing are moving their headquarters out of Illinois.

The author of "Last Call at the Hotel Imperial" joined us to talk about the achievements, missteps, and legacies of the American journalists who birthed the modern foreign correspondent.

In his book America’s First Black Town: Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915, University of Illinois professor Dr. Sundiata Cha-Jua chronicles the Illinois town founded by people fleeing slavery in Missouri.

The 21st was joined by the author of a book exploring the myth of the model minority and the students who take extreme measures to cope, as well as a clinical social worker and a student who shared her own experiences with the pressure often placed on Asian American students.