Illinois Public Media News

We revisit a conversation with Chicago author Kelly O’Connor McNees. Her novel, "Undiscovered Country," is a work of historical fiction about first Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her relationship with journalist Lorena Hickok. And, Gary Mills joins us to talk about the art of communication.

Because her body has never been found, there has never been a funeral held for Yingying Zhang. But a memorial service for the visiting scholar from China has being planned, and will involve her family.  The service is planned for Friday, August 9 at 1 PM at First Baptist Church at Savoy, 1602 S. Prospect Avenue in Savoy.

The University of Illinois is hosting a workshop this week aimed at building bridges between scientists and Indigenous communities. Organizers say the goal is to train Indigenous and Native American scientists, and members of their communities in genomics.

Last year, 54 journalists were killed while doing their jobs. Hundreds more are in jail. And press freedom is being threatened, even in democracies. We’ll speak with the director of the Committee To Protect Journalists, Joel Simon. Plus, whether it’s color, class, creed or ideology, a lot goes into how we form our identities. But what’s the difference between identity and a label? We’re revisiting our conversation with author Kwame Anthony Appiah. 

It's the second and final of the July Democratic debates. The second set of 10 candidates is making their case as to why they should be the next president of the United States. Follow NPR's live coverage for real-time fact checks and analysis of their remarks.