City Cast Chicago

Oprah Winfrey—aka “The Queen of Talk”—covered everything from veganism to the L.A. Riots to Dr. Phil (yeah, she had some misses, too) over 25 years of her classic talk show, which started here in Chicago in 1986. “Oprahdemics,” a Radiotopia from PRX podcast that digs into the enormous cultural impact of Oprah’s talk show, digs into the icon as a cultural syllabus.Host Jacoby Cochran sits down with historians and co-hosts Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson and Dr. Leah Wright-Rigueur to talk about some of the Oprah show’s most iconic moments, and which ones didn’t age so well. Check out The Other Art Fair Chicago April 21-24 in Fulton Market.AND! Get 30% off The Other Art Fair with the Code: CITYCAST (One word)Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

Friday, April 15, would have been Harold Washington’s 100th birthday, and centennial celebrations continue this week. More than 30 years after his death, Chicago’s first Black mayor is still lauded as the leader who rocked the Democratic machine that had reigned supreme at City Hall. In addition to galvanizing Black voters in 1983, he built a coalition of Latinx, LGBTQ, and progressive white Chicagoans. Journalist Laura Washington (no relation) worked in Mayor Washington’s office. She tells Jacoby what made the former mayor so magnetic, unifying, and special. We also look ahead as candidates, including incumbent Lori Lightfoot, gear up for another mayoral campaign to see what Washington’s legacy can tell us about today.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

Earlier this week a man opened fire on a New York City subway train shooting 10 people and injuring 13 more. This tragedy, alongside four recent incidents of violence on or near CTA trains and buses, has renewed conversations about safety on public transit. Today, City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran is joined by the Chicago Tribune’s Stephanie Casanova and The Marshall Project’s Ghazala Irshad to look back on this story and others. We also discuss rising price of groceries, the Bulls’ playoff matchup against the reigning NBA champs, and these cute, colorful birdhouses in Roscoe Village. Come hang out with us at Karaoke Storytellers this Sunday! Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

City Council members have a lot of meetings. But how many of the full council, committee, and subcommittee meetings do they actually attend? WBEZ, The Daily Line, and Crain’s Chicago Business analyzed records from 526 meetings between May 2019 and December 2021, charting our alders’ attendance. The highest attendance rate was 93%, and the lowest was 54%. Guess which of those rates belonged to freshman alders and which were from Council veterans. WBEZ’s Claudia Morell and The Daily Line’s Erin Hegarty break down the numbers with City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran and discuss if they will have any impact on next year’s election cycle.Here's where you can check your alder's score.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

In Ukrainian culture, “pysanky” is a centuries-old form of decorating eggs. In fact, it predates Easter itself. Using eggs, beeswax, and dyes, artists "write" colorful and elaborate art works embedded with deep meaning. When celebrating a wedding, moving to a new home, or simply praying for good fortune, Ukrainians are likely to receive a few pysanky eggs from family and friends. City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran talks with Anna Chychula, a Ukrainian-American artist, about the history of pysanky and how the celebration of this cultural tradition during the Easter season brings the community together as war between Ukraine and Russia continues.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

The temperatures are rising, spring is here and baseball is back! The White Sox (2-1) have their home opener today against the Seattle Mariners. They beat the Tigers in Detroit in the first series this season. The Cubs (2-1) also won at Wrigley Field against the Milwaukee Brewers in their opening series. But despite the similar starts, the two teams couldn’t be more different this season. The North Side Cubbies are in rebuild mode, while the South Side sluggers are chasing championship dreams. Here to talk about the crosstown rivals with City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran are WBEZ’s Cheryl Raye Stout and Herb Lawrence of the new CHGO White Sox Podcast.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

Chicago and Las Vegas have emerged as top candidates to potentially host the Democratic National Convention in 2024. Chicago most recently hosted the convention in 1996, when Bill Clinton became the presidential nominee. And the city hosted several party conventions before that, including the 1968 DNC marked by police riots in Grant Park and the Republican National Convention of 1860, where Abraham Lincoln was named the presidential nominee. On the other hand, the 2024 DNC would be Vegas’ first. Jacoby talks with City Cast Las Vegas Host Dayvid Figler about whether either city is a fit.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmLeave us a voicemail: (773) 780-0246

The city announced that nearly 4000 E-Scooters are returning to streets next month. Divvy, Lime, Superpedestrian and Spin are the providers responsible for a safe, smooth, and equitable rollout. Speaking of rollout, a new casino is coming to Chicago, and community meetings were held this week in the South Loop and River West. There's also a new bill in the Illinois House that, if passed, would require life rings along the lakefront, plus a new reimbursement program for Chicagoans buying security cameras. City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran catches up on these stories and more with CBS Morning Reporter Marissa Parra and CW Chicago TV Host Brandon Pope. And we’ve got some great moments of joy, including Karaoke Storytellers, Art on the Mart (which starts tomorrow), and Pope’s new WCIU and Block Club Chicago TV show, “On The Block.”And don't miss Marissa's story about the friendship between a trash collector and a 3-year-old in South Loop!You can catch Jacoby's 2020 Snap Judgment episode here.For more of the latest happenings in Chicago, sign up for our daily newsletter right here on our website: chicago.citycast.fmFollow us on Twitter! @CityCastChicagoCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

For ten years, Evanston writer Peter Baker had been working on his first novel, and he was eager to get it out into the world. So he wasn’t skeptical when he received an email from his agent in the fall of 2020 requesting a copy of his manuscript as a Microsoft Word file. He sent it along. Then he got a call from his agent asking why he'd sent his novel to him. That's right, Baker had been scammed by “The Spine Collector,” as the FBI has called him. "The Spine Collector" is allegedly a 29-year-old in London who attempted to con writers, including well-known authors like Margaret Atwood and Anthony Doerr, into sending him their unpublished manuscripts. Baker talks with City Cast Chicago Host Jacoby Cochran about what happened when he inadvertently sent his debut novel to the “Spine Collector," and how that event affected him as a writer. Baker's novel, PLANES, will be released May 31.Some Good News:Art EXPO is back at Navy Pier's Festival Hall starting tonight.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

The Obama Presidential Center isn’t the only major development hoping to call Jackson Park home. For years, Tiger Woods’ design firm TGR Design has proposed a PGA-caliber golf course on the South Side. The proposed 18-hole course would combine the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses, complete with new facilities, practice holes, and a $30 million underpass at 67th and South Shore Drive. But it could also mean the loss of affordable greens, removal of trees, and potential destruction of the South Shore Nature Sanctuary as it currently exists. We talk with Tracy Raoul, Chairperson of Jackson Park Golf Association, Emily Dupree, the Hyde Park resident behind the Twitter profile Save Our Sanctuary.Rendering of course from TGR DesignsFull statement from Chicago Park District:"As the City’s leading greening stewards, the Chicago Park District is committed to preserving and expanding the city’s parkland and tree population within our 8800-acre footprint. Our commitment is underscored by the fact that we plant 3000 trees annually and converted nearly 1100 acres of underutilized space to valuable parkland over the past decade. These investments improve our communities and greatly contribute to the lives of children and families throughout our city. As with any capital endeavor that requires the removal of trees, the District is committed to replacing each tree as part of the project scope.The Jackson Park/ South Shore document released is a draft proposal and any references related to reducing the tree count has not been considered or approved by the Park District, and therefore should not be considered a finalized plan.”  It's the last day to let us know what you think of our daily newsletter, and enter to win a $100 Visa gift card! You can find the survey here.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246