Illinois Public Media News

Two insects may make your summer more miserable. Today, we talked with two entomologists about the emergence of cicadas and the Asian Tiger mosquitoes in Illinois this year.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about “Antifa,” short for “anti-fascist.” And in the wake of the Trump administration’s threat to designate it as a terrorist organization, false rumors of Antifa-led violence have taken hold right here in Illinois. We took a closer look at what Antifa is, and what it isn’t.

Now that COVID-19 testing is widely available in Illinois, anyone can go. To help us understand what COVID-19 test results tell us, we talked with the program director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at SIU Medicine in Springfield. 

Today on the 21st, we check in with reporters around the state for the latest on COVID-19 and protests over police violence from across the state, we have a conversation about pride and rebellion and we see what a year without corn dogs and state fairs looks like.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor J.B. Pritzker and other state leaders have cancelled the 2020 Illinois and Du Quoin State Fairs. The 21st talked with a concession owner whose corn dogs have been a staple at state fairs for decades.