Illinois Public Media News

We discussed the war in Ukraine and the response from the Ukrainian community here in Illinois to the reinvasion of the country by Russia, plus some of the economic effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and what that means here in Illinois. The 21st was joined by reporters from WBEZ and the Quad City Times, an assistant professor of political science, and the vice president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America Illinois Division.

The past month’s forecast has brought a series of weekly storms, snowfalls and snow squalls across the Midwest, and while winter brings with it the drudgery of shoveling, slippery ice and travel inconveniences, there are people who welcome winter and take full advantage of the snowfall. To talk about the trails and his passion for skiing, The 21st was joined by the man behind the volunteer-led efforts to groom the cross country ski trails in Peoria.

Our two guests today are friends on the frontlines — both pulmonologists who’ve treated some of the most critically ill COVID patients and supported each other along the way. They have a new podcast called "Get Better" in which they talk not only about their experiences during the pandemic, but also where they learn about other topics — ranging from mental health to gender-affirming care.

Today on The 21st, we talked about something we all have: Personality. One of our guests wanted to see if her personality could actually be changed, and she gave herself three months to do it through a series of activities. She joined us, along with one of the experts she consulted, to talk about how her experiment played out and what she learned along the way. 

Years ago, lawmakers created a position in the General Assembly that’s supposed to have the responsibility for investigating allegations of wrongdoing among legislators and staff. It’s called the Legislative Inspector General. The 21st was joined by Illinois' new legislative inspector general to talk about how he plans to serve and what his goals are for his new position.