City Cast Chicago

The Inspector General’s office has a broad mandate. Their job is to “promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in city government.” Basically, that means trying to clean up bad behavior in a city that is known for political corruption. Joe Ferguson led that office for 12 years, through three different mayors, a federal investigation of Chicago’s Police Department, and numerous scandals that have revealed racism, sexism, political patronage, and resulted in indictments of sitting alder people. He retired this month. Ferguson tells us how he kept pushing for more transparency and better government (even when it seemed like nothing would change), and answers the question: Is Chicago really more corrupt than other cities?Guest: Joe Ferguson — Former Inspector General, City of ChicagoRelated Links:OIG Public Information PortalRelated News Links:Chicago Creative Worker Assistance ProgramFollow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

Many people rely on public restrooms during the day, including delivery and ride-share drivers, cabbies, and people who are unhoused. Last year during the height of the pandemic, access to public restrooms decreased as businesses and many public buildings like libraries and park field houses closed. That got Chicago Tribune investigative reporter Emily Hoerner wondering how many public restrooms are in Chicago and who’s most affected when they can’t access those spots. We talk to Hoerner about her investigation.Guest: Emily Hoerner — Investigative Reporter, Chicago TribuneHere’s the Tribune’s map of public restrooms. Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police have competing lawsuits over the vaccine mandate for city employees. Despite a judge ordering union President John Catanzara to stop encouraging officers on social media not to report their vaccine status, the back-and-forth continued this week as 21 Chicago police officers were placed on no-pay status for failing to comply. WTTW host Brandis Friedman joins host Jacoby Cochran and producer Simone Alicea to talk about the drama. They also discuss efforts to reform state parole laws, the Chicago Sky championship parade and a couple more moments of joy!Guest: Brandis Friedman — Host, WTTW's Chicago Tonight and Black VoicesSome stories mentioned today:The Chicago Sun-Times' latest on the court battle over the vaccine mandateThe Associated Press' look at how police use force against children, following the ProPublica/Nashville Public Radio investigation into one Tennessee county.WTTW on a proposal to reinstate parole in IllinoisSimone's City Cast Chicago map (plus her poll on "The Nightmare Before Christmas")Block Club Chicago's profile of FroSkateFollow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

On a chilly November night in 1987, Chicagoans watching the 9 p.m. news on WGN were met with a disturbing sight. They saw a person in a rubber mask bouncing in front of a spinning metallic background over some garbled sound. Two hours later, Doctor Who fans saw something similar on WTTW. Someone had hacked into the stations’ broadcast signals. But to this day, we have no idea who did it…or why. The new film “Broadcast Signal Intrusion” was inspired by the real-life Max Headroom mystery. It stars Harry Shum Jr. and was directed by Jacob Gentry. Ahead of the film’s theatrical release tomorrow, Shum and Gentry tell us why the incident remains fascinating for internet sleuths and why the videos are so unsettling.Guests: Harry Shum Jr. — Actor/Producer, “Broadcast Signal Intrusion"Jacob Gentry — Director, “Broadcast Signal Intrusion”“Broadcast Signal Intrusion” is out in select theaters tomorrow. It’s also one of the virtual offerings from the Chicago Film Festival, available through Sunday.A little bit of news, y’all:A public viewing for the late historian Timuel Black will take place today in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood.The Chicago Public Library is screening Halloweentown I & II Saturday in the East Side neighborhood.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

When there’s an emergency, the last thing you want to worry about is whether an ambulance will show up. But the Chicago Fire Department has just 80 ambulances for a population of nearly 3 million people. While the department says that’s sufficient, the latest audit from the city’s watchdog shows CFD is failing to meet national standards for medical response times. A long wait for an ambulance could mean life or death, so why doesn’t the department add more to its fleet? CBS Chicago investigative reporter Dana Kozlov has spent years asking the city that question. She explains the scope of the problem and why it persists. Dana Kozlov — Investigative Reporter, CBS Chicago  Check out Dana’s 2020 investigation into the city’s ambulance shortage. Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

The Avalon Regal Theater in South Shore pays homage to two old venues that served as entertainment hubs for Black Chicagoans. From the 1920s to the 1960s, the Regal Theater was where the biggest names in music, from Louis Armstrong to Aretha Franklin, performed. The Bronzeville venue closed in 1968, and the building was demolished five years later. And, the Avalon Theater in South Shore has been everything from a Church to a movie theater. Jerald Gary is the entrepreneur and neighborhood booster who is trying to bring the excitement of those former spots into one, new destination for music, comedy, and live theater. It’s a pricey venture, but Gary tells us why he thinks it’s so critical.Guest: Jerald Gary— Owner, The Avalon Regal TheaterFollow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

Now that the Bears have inked a deal to buy the old Arlington racetrack in suburban Arlington Heights, fans are waiting to see if the football team will really move. The Bears ultimately want a new stadium — either on the lake or in the burbs —and it’s estimated a new stadium could cost about $2 billion. Most, if not all, of that would likely fall on taxpayers. But football stadiums don’t actually make money for cities, according to University of Chicago sports economist Allen Sanderson. In fact, he calls them “economic losers.” He explains why and what we can learn from past changes to Soldier Field. Guest: Allen Sanderson — Professor, University of Chicago Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

A 14-year-old student and a 45-year-old security officer were shot and injured Tuesday as classes were letting out at Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Bronzeville. The shooting is prompting renewed questions about school resource officers. Host Jacoby Cochran reflects on that along with Block Club Chicago’s Jamie Nesbitt Golden and WCIU’s Brandon Pope. They also look at the rest of the week’s news, including electric scooters coming back to Chicago, the continued success of the Chicago Sky, and their opinions on scary movies ahead of Halloween.Guests: Jamie Nesbitt Golden — Bronzeville and Near South Side reporter, Block Club ChicagoBrandon Pope  — Reporter/Anchor, WCIU Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

Timuel Black died yesterday at the age of 102, and while 102 seems like a lot, his accomplishments could fill multiple lifetimes. Black’s family migrated to Chicago during the first wave of the Great Migration, something he spoke about extensively and even wrote about in his first book. His family’s journey, his upbringing in Chicago, and his encounter with Nazi camps during World War II inspired a life of activism and work that helped the movement towards desegregation and civil rights in Chicago. Host Jacoby Cochran sat down with WBEZ's Natalie Moore to talk about Black’s legacy, the intersection of scholarship and his lived experience, and her personal connection to one of the city’s most prominent Chicagoans. Guest: Natalie Moore — Reporter, WBEZTo learn more about Black's life and legacy, check out his 2019 memoir "Sacred Ground: The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black"Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

Facebook’s outage on Oct. 4 was one of the longest in company history. But it wasn’t just memes and Insta stories that users lost for nearly six hours. People around the world rely on the messaging service WhatsApp to talk with family and even to do business. We hear from an international student at the University of Illinois and a woman living in Ecuador who has family in the Chicago area about how the outage affected them. And TechCrunch reporter Amanda Silberling explains what happened, how WhatsApp became so integral to international communication, and what we can learn from the outage.Guests: Amanda Silberling — Reporter, TechCrunchBrooke Stevenson and Tarkan Bolat — WhatsApp usersFollow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm