Illinois Public Media News

For The 21st's weekly reporter roundtable, we’ll dig into JB Pritzker’s bid for re-election as governor and talk about his possible challengers.

While most people take shelter during a tornado warning, professional storm chasers are on the road trying to study and capture them with pictures or videos. A meteorologist and severe weather enthusiast joined us to talk about how they storm chase safely.

Alex Kotlowitz has been writing about violence in Chicago for decades — in film, in print and for This American Life. His latest book is called “An American Summer," and it follows people for whom gun violence has become a part of daily life. Plus, Oregon has America’s last Blockbuster store. But there are still video stores here in Illinois. Do you make the trip to rent a movie, or is it all streaming these days? 

Many have felt the need to grow or tackle passion projects during the pandemic and are now pushing back against this notion. To discuss the ways the pandemic has affected our perception of productivity, The 21st was joined by two journalists and a psychology professor. 

A new law in Illinois will ban police officers from using lies to get minors to confess to crimes during an interrogation. The 21st spoke with an attorney and police chief about how the long term effects of the new law.