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Alex Wysocki, Kay Weidner and Hannah Velasco underneath The 21st Show logo

America @ 250: The Questions Before Us

 The 21st Show offers a preview of America @ 250: The Questions Before Us, a new series produced with the Illinois Student Newsroom that brings together the voices of east-central Illinois residents. As the nation approaches its 250th birthday, participants reflect on what it means to be American and consider the challenges, opportunities, and questions that will shape our future.
IPM Newsroom
True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power from Independent Lens
Illinois Classical
Illinois Classical 90.9

Your home for Classical and more in Central Illinois.
Evening Concert

The Evening Concert on Illinois Classical
Music by Beethoven, Ives, Blitzstein, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, and others
Dialogue
three teenagers in graphic

‘We’re not speaking up loud enough’: Three teens share candid thoughts about youth gun violence in central Illinois
In the first half of this year, gun violence has taken the lives of four teens in Champaign. Several more have been injured. And many of the suspects are also teenagers. 
The 21st Show
still images from a video interview: at left is a white man with brown hair, a black button-down shirt, and a podcast microphone in front of his face; at left is a white woman with long blond hair, a black blouse, and a spray of red carnations in a vase in the background

What your accent reveals about you
From “da Bears” in Chicago to “Hahvahd Yahd” in Boston, our accents shape how the world hears us — and how it judges us. Linguist Valerie Fridland explores how and…
The 21st Show
the Declaration of Independence for the backdrop for three portraits: a middle-aged white man with brown hair and wearing a dark collared shirt; an older woman with red hair and a pink jacket, and a younger Latino woman with a floral pattern embroidered on her black blouse.

Previewing a new series: ‘America at 250’
To close out the show ahead of the Fourth of July, we're featuring the first three voices in a new Illinois Public Media series, "America at 250: The Questions Before Us.”…
The 21st Show
a white building has one wall complete missing, giving it a horrible doll-house appearance; inside you can see six floors' worth of people's lives: kitchen appliances, tables and chairs, and a painting of a tree and birds on a wall above an orange sofa

After earthquakes, Illinois man worries over countrymen in Venezuela
Two powerful earthquakes struck Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in quick succession last week — a magnitude 7.1 followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5. As of air…
Prairie Fire

Prairie Fire: Season 3 - Episode 7 - May 2026
For this month's Prairie Fire, students from the University of Illinois’ College of Media spent a semester producing five short documentaries highlighting food, skating,…
News Local/State
man smiling at camera

Behind The Mic: Meteorologist Ed Kieser returns to Illinois Public Media
Meteorologist Ed Kieser is teaming up with Andrew Pritchard to provide forecasts and breaking weather information. He was Illinois Public Media's fulltime meteorologist from…
State of Change

Small gestures to make a big difference in preserving our planet
We visit a zero-waste general store, a garden bringing a community together in a Chicago food desert, a program protecting pollinators, and advice to increase sustainability…