Illinois Public Media News

What would something named a “corpse flower” smell like? It smells like meat, gone bad or, more pointedly, a rotting corpse. The plant species is pretty rare across the globe and one of them is right here in Illinois, at the Nicholas Conservatory and Gardens in Rockford.

A group of Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL15), are calling for legislation that would cut funding to universities that stock abortion medications in campus health centers. The 21st spoke to a women’s health expert to cut through some of the politicized terms in the ongoing abortion debate.

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.

A Native American city, larger than Paris and London at the time, was in Illinois. New research might shed some light on why it was abandoned and also challenge our misconceptions about Indigenous societies.

The 21st was joined by one of the lead authors of the recently released report about Illinois’ climate change. They talked about the future of our state’s agriculture, human health and ecosystems. 

Although changing people’s thoughts while they are dreaming is still science-fiction, being able to communicate with them while dreaming appears to be possible after all.