Illinois Public Media News

Around the country, books about race, gender, and sexuality are facing challenges, so to what’s behind it, and how it impacts which lived experiences get shared in classrooms, we were joined by the editor of an independent editorial book site, as well as professors of library science and comparative literature. 

The Illinois wine industry is pushing to change a prohibition-era law to raise the maximum number of gallons of wine that Illinois wineries could sell themselves directly to restaurants. To talk about it, we were joined by the general manager of an Illinois winery and the executive director of a non-profit for vintners.

A trio of bills in Illinois would increase parental access to what’s being taught in Illinois schools by requiring teachers to do things like post their lesson plans online. The 21st was joined by a two journalists who've been following the story and a professor of information science.  

The Born Again Labor Museum in Carbondale features art focused on worker’s rights, and it’s also a community event space for local labor rights organizations. To tell us more about the history of labor organizing in Southern Illinois and about the Born Again Labor Museum, we were joined by the museum's co-founders. 

Because of the "felony murder rule," hundreds of people in Illinois prisons are thought to be serving life sentences for murder even though they didn’t kill anyone. The 21st was joined by someone affected by the rule, as well as two reporters following the story and the co-director of the Center for Wrongful Convictions.

We revisit a conversation with someone who tried to change her personality in three months and one of the experts she consulted along the way.

Early Saturday morning, state lawmakers in Springfield approved a $46.5 billion budget for Illinois. We broke down the details with two statehouse reporters.

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.

As part of the April 6, 2022 celebration of WILL-AM's 100th anniversary, we hear from WILL alums Niala Boodhoo and Jeremy Hobson.

April 6, 2022 marks a century of broadcasting at Illinois Public Media. We looked back at the early years and WILL-AM's state and national impact on public media.