City Cast Chicago

Earlier this week, after 19 children and 2 adults were gunned down at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded, “I hate to say this — there are more people that are shot every weekend in Chicago than there are in schools in Texas.” This repugnant, racist, and unempathetic response was met with quick scrutiny. Co-hosts of the movement building podcast AirGo, Damon Williams and Daniel Kisslinger join host Jacoby Cochran to offer their own criticisms of using Chicago as a political scapegoat for politicians unwilling to offer common sense solutions to gun violence. The trio also break down Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 10 p.m. curfew for minors, the environmental justice fight to end “sacrifice zones,” and we’ve got some more book-themed good news you definitely want to stick around for! Want to know more about AirGo? The hosts recommend these episodes:Damon: Angela DavisDaniel: The Abolition Suite Vol. 2: Mariame KabaSome Good News:South Side Book FairFollow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

The El Milagro tortilla brand is strong in Chicago. You can find it in almost every grocery store, and you can often see people line up around the block of El Milagro factories, waiting to get hot, fresh tortillas. But in recent months, we all paid a little more attention to the workers in those factories as they became more vocal on calling out unsafe work conditions and low pay. Host Jacoby Cochran talks to Pedro Manzanares, a 52 year old who’s been working at El Milagro for 18 years, and City Bureau reporter Sarah Conway about labor organizing in food production companies across Chicago. A little bit of news: Early voting has been moved again, now to Tuesday, May 31. Check out our episode with the Chicago Board of Elections for everything you need to know about primary voting.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

In 1961, Abraham Bolden became the first Black Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail. Bolden says when he left Chicago and moved to D.C., it was like going from “heaven to hell,” and he faced constant racism from other agents. He says he also heard other agents say they wouldn’t protect President John F. Kennedy if there was an assassination attempt on his life because of Kennedy’s work on integration. Bolden spoke up, but ended up setting off a 50-year fight for justice. From his Auburn Gresham home, the 87-year-old tells host Jacoby Cochran what happened and how he got clemency from President Joe Biden last month.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

City Cast host Jacoby Cochran recently joined the podcast Album ReBrews to drink beers from Funkytown Brewery and talk about Saba’s latest release Few Good Things. Jacoby and hosts Sarah Beidatsch and Zac Emry dissect songs from the album and discuss how they connect to the artist’s Chicago roots, especially in Austin on the city’s West Side.A little bit of news: The Daily Line talks ward remap at Hideout Wednesday Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

Early voting in the June primary begins Thursday in Chicago, and is already underway elsewhere in the state. There are six candidates running on the Republican ballot, and there’s already some big money being pumped into the race. WTTW’s Amanda Vinicky tells host Jacoby Cochran more about the people and issues shaping the race, including the big question of whether candidates are too conservative or not conservative enough. Some Good News:Jacoby on Album ReBrewsFollow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fm

This week, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill requiring all firearms, gun kits, and 3D-printed guns to have a visible serial number, effectively banning “ghost guns,” while alderpeople got their questions and complaints in about the future Chicago casino. Host Jacoby Cochran breaks down these stories and more with Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Corli Jay and The Daily Line editor and City Hall reporter Alex Nitkin. Stories This Week:Lightfoot pushing for Friday vote on casinoIllinois becomes first Midwest state to ban 'ghost guns'City Council committee votes down 'Water For All' ordinanceHow Morgan Park High School's 2022 basball season was nearly washed awayThe South Side is getting a facility to turn food waste into natural gasChicago Full Moon JamEquiticity May Ride Series: The Musicality of North LawndaleFollow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

Whether your summer plans include sitting on the beach, taking a road trip, flying, or just staying home — you might be looking for something good to read. “Nerdette” host Greta Johnsen — who’s already read about 50 books so far this year — is here with her summer reading recommendations. She says they all fall into the theme of being transported somewhere, from a residential school for deaf children to 1920s New York to an African safari to a more ghostly Chicago. Greta's List:True Biz by Sara NovicTrust by Hernan DiazThe Lioness by Chris BohjalianWhen We Fell Apart by Soon WileyThis Thing Between us by Gus Moreno:What’s on your summer reading list? Let us know at chicago@citycast.fm or (773) 780-0246Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

This week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed an executive order authorizing police to immediately enforce a 10 p.m. curfew for Chicago minors, who also aren't allowed in Millennium Park past 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday without a “responsible adult.” This is Lightfoot’s response to the death of 16-year-old Seandell Holliday, who was shot and killed near the Bean over the weekend. The mayor says these measures will help curb violence downtown, but research in other cities shows that curfews have little effect. How do young Chicagoans feel about being kept out of the city’s “jewel” of a park? Host Jacoby Cochran speaks with Assata Lewis, a restorative justice coordinator with youth violence prevention group GoodKids MadCity. She tells us this curfew will do little to reduce violence, indiscriminately criminalizes Chicago’s teens, and ignores alternative solutions like GKMC’s proposed Peace Book ordinance.A little bit of news: You can get another round of free at-home COVID tests in the mail at covid.gov/tests.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

After nearly 30 years at the helm, Joyce Kenner is retiring as principal of Whitney Young high school. The CPS selective enrollment school is routinely ranked among the top in the country, and you probably know some of their alumni like Michelle Obama. As the school year winds to a close, Kenner talks with host Jacoby Cochran at the school’s West Loop campus about her legacy, the culture she sought to build for students, and the role of selective enrollment schools in a district marked by inequities. Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246

Mayoral candidate Willie Wilson most recently made headlines as the giver of free gas, but have you wondered where he gets his giveaway money? The story starts with a global, but Chicago-based company: McDonald’s. Wilson started as a custodian at a McDonald’s in 1970, moving up to manager, and eventually franchise owner, setting the stage for him to make his fortune. Even though not every McDonald’s franchise owner had the same success as Wilson, the company did try to entrench itself in Black America beginning in the late ’60s by offering franchise ownership. But those opportunities had strings attached and allowed the company to create a narrative about its involvement in civil rights that veers from the truth, according to historian Marcia Chatelain. Chatelain is a Chicago native and author of “Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America,” which won a 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History. She tells Jacoby how McDonald’s did it.Follow us on Twitter: @CityCastChicagoSign up for our newsletter: chicago.citycast.fmCall or Text Us: (773) 780-0246