R. Buckminster Fuller was a visionary designer, inventor, and futurist who is now the subject of a new biography, Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller, by an Illinois-based writer.

Ellen Jovin is a guru of grammar who's traveled the country, setting up a table to answer language questions from all kinds of people.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign journalism professor Nikki Usher talked about their book, News for the Rich, White and Blue, How Place And Power Distort American Journalism, which argues that news is increasingly geared toward people who are rich, white, and lean Democratic. This segment originally aired October 27, 2021.

In their new book "Distraction: Girls, School, and Sexuality," two Illinois State University professors explore the way regulation and school practices sexualize school-age girls from pre-school through adulthood. They joined The 21st to talk about the value placed on the education of kids of different genders, as well as the burdens forced on young women in schools and the effect of labeling girls as a "distraction." 

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign journalism professor Nikki Usher talked about their book, News for the Rich, White and Blue, How Place And Power Distort American Journalism, which argues that news is increasingly geared toward people who are rich, white, and lean Democratic.