The 21st is Illinois's statewide news talk show. Produced by Illinois Public Media and airing on six NPR member stations in across Illinois.
The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes significant changes to the way we create and pay for energy.
Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski shares her views on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and how it will impact her constituents.
Red Lobster's CEO Damola Adamolekun talks about his personal life experiences, what made the restaurant chain so iconic, and how it plans to make a comeback amid closings nationwide.
Nowadays social issues and politics can be very polarizing. Many tend to view those who disagree with them as hateful or ignorant with lots of assumptions. Sociologist Ilana Redstone takes a deep look into this with her book: “The Certainty Trap: Why We Need to Question Ourselves More— and How We Can Judge Others Less.”
A research scientist who has studied what makes people susceptible to misinformation around climate change, a journalist covering climate politics, and a climate scientist weigh in on the conspiracy theories surrounding weather.
On the Friday, July 11, 2025 edition of The 21st Show, we took our program on the road to Vermilion County, which sits on the Illinois/Indiana border. The weather broke just in time for host Brian Mackey to be aboard a hot air balloon.
A new book looks into the intersection of religion and American politics and how so many white evangelical Christians came to embrace Donald Trump.
The newly enacted Big Beautiful Bill Act will require states to cover some or all of the costs of providing SNAP benefits and Medicaid, tighten work requirements and essentially reshape who qualifies for help and for how long. So what does this all mean for Illinoisans who are at risk for losing critical support?
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is changing the country's vaccine policies- from childhood vaccinations to COVID immunizations. Many experts are raising concerns about what that could mean for public health.
A new book offers lessons from a culture that’s mastered the art of savoring simple pleasures while maintaining deep connections in family and community.
It’s been one year since a Sangamon County sheriff's deputy shot and killed Sonya Massey in her home just outside Springfield. The killing sparked protests locally and became national news anmd many called for better police accountability. So what’s changed since then, what hasn’t, and where do we go from here?
Over an extended Independence Day weekend, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law. The legislation has many components — making his 2017 tax cuts permanent while also aiming to cut federal spending on Medicaid and SNAP benefits.
Like every Democrat, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi voted against the "Big Beautiful Bill" Act and he joins the program to explain why.
Climate change not only impacts our environment, but it also influences our brains, according to the author of "The Weight of Nature".
Agriculture is a key part of the Illinois economy, but recent changes to federal food funding are putting pressure on some farmers and the communities that rely on their products.
Japanese company Nippon Steel accquired U.S. Steel last month. What does this mean for over 900 steel workers in Granite City, Illinois?
The issue of abortion is often framed in religious terms usually by people who oppose the procedure. However, Illinois philosopher Peter Wenz says there are religious arguments in favor of abortion. His new book is called “Abortion Rights as the Free Exercise of Religion: The Constitutional Case for Choice". Wenz joins the program today.
A few dozen southern Illinois communities have faced a substantial portion of the state's reported sewer overflows. This is the subject of a new investigation from the Illinois Answers Project.The reporter behind the story joins the program today.
A journalist covering agriculture weighs in on what has transpired so far after the Federal Trade Commission as well as several states, including Illinois, sued farming equipment manufacturer John Deere earlier this year. We also talk about what to expect from the upcoming trial.
The Forgottonia Project was a podcast created by a social studies teacher and the incoming Dean of Students at Spoon River Valley High School in Fulton County. The goal is to teach students living in the western part of Illinois and other rural areas about the history of where they live and also to hear from rural voices that might otherwise be ignored. The teacher joins the program today as well as two students who participated in the project.
For this week's Friday Reporter Roundtable, we're focusing on the Metro East, from the fate of Granite City Works to flooding.
For the first time in more than four decades, a sitting Illinois governor will be seeking a third term. On top of that, the debate's continuing over whether JB Pritzker might seek even higher office. A longtime chief politics reporter for the Chicago Tribune discusses what Pritzker's decision means for Illinois in this week's Politics News Roundup.
A historian and author who has written about World War II joins the program to speak about VE Day 80 years later.
What is the scent of that sound? Or put a different way, what does a scent sound like? That is a question that has been thoroughly considered by the co-founders of Clue Perfumery in Chicago. We talk with them about the creative process.
Mark Turcotte has been selected as Illinois' next Poet Laureate. His four year term begins July 1. He joins the program to talk about how his lived experiences have shaped his writing, his Native American identity and what he hopes to accomplish as Poet Laureate.
The book “Murder The Truth: Fear, The First Amendment, And A Secret Campaign To Protect The Powerful" looks at right wing politicians effort to overturn the New York Times Company vs. Sullivan precedent, and in so doing weaken the American press. The author of the book joins the program today.
A panel of Middle East and geopolitics experts share their reactions to the U.S. targeting Iran's buclear facilities over the weekend and an analysis of the repecussions.
Ella Jenkins died last year at the age of 100 and now she’s the subject of a new biography. It’s called “This is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the Long Civil Rights Movement.” The author of the book joins the program today to discuss Jenkins' life, career, and her influence on children's music.
The fall of Michael Madigan continued last week, as the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and Democratic powerbroker was sentenced to more than seven years in prison. There are questions about what happens next in the trial of a state senator that ended with a hung jury. Also, a jury found a former January 6 defendant guilty of reckless homicide in a 2022 car crash.
Olga Khazan is a staff writer for the Atlantic. She descibes herself as neurotic. Khazan spent a year writing the book “Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change.” The project made her question if she could indeed change her personality. Khazan joins the program today.
Protests swept across the country last week in response to ICE officers raiding communities and detaining undocumented immigrants.But the protesting movement itself didn’t appear last week. There is a long history of organizing especially within Latino communities, which have long led the fight for immigration justice efforts.
Over the weekend, protests took over cities across Illinois and around the nation – under the banner “No Kings Day.” An Illinois Public Media News reporter who covered the rallies in downtown Urbana joins the program.
A former Democratic congressman who led the Illinois National Guard talks about the legality, politics, and practicality of calling in the National Guard to push back against protestors.
In the spring of 2025, Chase Bandolik ran 416 miles from Cairo, Illinois north to Beloit, Wisconsin (near the northern Illinois border). We talk with him about the journey.
Illinois Gov. Pritzker went to Washington this week to defend the state's sanctuary policies. In our Friday politics roundup, we talk about that, immigration enforcement actions in Chicago, and protests against ICE.
We check in on the latest news out of the Peoria region in our Friday reporter roundup.
This week, Republicans in Congress moved a step closer to their long-held goal of ending federal support for public media. We talk about it with the president of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council.
The book "Eve" explores human evolution with a particular focus on the female body and its author joins the program today.
Business owners who offer safe spaces to their local LGBTQ communities in downstate Illinois discuss what these spaces mean to people in the current political environment.
Next week is Pollinator Week. It was created in 2007 and was designed to bring attention the importance of our pollinators. That includes bees, beetles, flies, moths and even bats. How important are they for plants? Also, they play major roles in our ecosystems, in agriculture and even in our health.
There has been reporting to suggest that his spring has been one of the windiest on record for the country overall, with some states setting a new record themselves. Climate and energy experts explain the sudden increase in windy conditions.
Meta recently signed a 20-year deal with the nuclear plant owned by Constellation Energy in Clinton, Illinois. An energy expert discusses the complexities of this agreement, what it means for the future of nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, and the region.
For decades, we've known Black drivers in Illinois get pulled over at rates higher than white drivers. A new analysis from the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, along with WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, has found those disparities extend to the state's public college campuses, too.
We talk with the organizers of Rockford's South Main Mercado, which takes place this Sunday from noon to 7 p.m.
How did education across Illinois fare in the budget? We asked the correspondent for an Illinois based education focused news service. We also covered President Trump's attempt to claw back money for foreign aid and public broadcasting, a new travel ban and Japan's Nippon Steel investing in US Steel and what that means for Granite City's steel mill.
Our Friday, June 5, 2025 Reporter Roundtable covering stories making headlines in Springfield, including the latest on the Chatham afterschool crash and new plans to business in downtown booming.
What happens when money is deducted from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to in part, fund subsidies for farmers? What does that mean for Illinois? The state is a leading producer of soybeans, corn, and more — ranking fifth nationally in the exportation of agricultural products to other countries.
President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" calls for big cuts to social welfare programs including Medicaid. How will this impact Illinoisans?
The head of an organization that advocates for the state's utility consumers gives her take on why electric rates are increasing, what it means across Illinois and what people can do to keep their rates low.