The 21st Show

Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey explains why he's running for governor again and shares his thoughts on existing policies in the state.

In 1872, a group of men set out to take a census of Earth's oceans, but much of the life they discovered no longer exists. A new book examines their voyage and what it can tell us about our oceans' decline.

Artificial intelligence is all around us these days … from internet searches to event flyers to customer service calls. But what effect is it having on people who use it and the way we interact with the world?

State Representative Kelly Cassidy gives her take on former colleague Harry Benton's resignation amid sexual harassment allegations and Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch's handling of the case and his own questionable behavior towards the alleged victim.

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker is seeking a third term this fall. We'll talk with him about his nearly eight years on the job so far — and why he's asking you to give him another four.

When was the last time you got a really clear view of the night sky? There is an entire universe out there, but artificial lighting has cut us off from it.

Senator Tammy Duckworth discusses the Iran war and other changes happening in the Department of Defense, the voter registration changes President Trump is calling for in the SAVE Act, and the issue of why so many people feel left behind by the American economy.

The second Trump administration has tried to assert more control over elections … using false claims about election security as justification. We'll talk about security and safety at the polls headed into the midterms.

This spring, a reporter and photographer from the Chicago Sun-Times spent two weeks in Lithuania as the Pulitzer Center's 2026 Richard C. Longworth Media fellows, reporting a six-part series on Lithuania's deep Illinois ties — and its uneasy position on the front line of Europe's standoff with Russia.

Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch is facing criticism for his handling of sexual harassment allegations against fellow Democrat, Harry Benton.

A new series of film screenings in the Quad Cities focuses on movies that highlight Latino culture.

The Joliet Treatment Center is a prison that was dedicated to providing mental healthcare. But conditions have declined in the decade since it opened, and prisoners have set dozens of fires over the past few years in attempts to get help. An investigation takes a in-depth look into why.

Hundreds of workers are set to lose their jobs at the troubled Choate Mental Health Center in Southern Illinois. We'll talk about why and reflect on the history of abuse allegations at the facility.

The race to become the next U.S. Senator from Illinois. We'll talk with the Republican nominee, former party chairman Don Tracy Note: The video version of this conversation is taking longer than usual to post. It will be added here and on YouTube when available.

At the turn of the 19th century, bicycling was a significant force in American life. And the center of American cycling was arguably in Illinois. An author who has researched bicycling culture in Illinois joins the program. 

Much of the United States recently dealt with another round of smoke from Canadian wildfires. We'll talk about how we felt that here in Illinois and what might be in store for that kind of weather in the future.  

Illinois recently launched a state Department of Early Childhood. The secretary of the department discusses its role and how it's navigating ongoing shortages in staffing and availability for childcare across the state.

Illinois has an official state bee: The Black and Golden Bumblebee. What sets this species of bees apart from others and what is the state of pollinators across Illinois? 

Hundreds of Illinoisans have gotten sick this summer from the gastrointestinal disease cyclosporiasis. Two infectious disease specialists discuss what's happening, who's at risk, and what the role is of government in food safety. 

Actor Jonathan Butler-Duplessis attended high school and college in Champaign. After more than a decade in regional theater, he made his Broadway debut in Hamilton. He discusses his life, growing up in the C-U area, and his work.

Roughly 1,000 Black men were trained in Tuskegee, Alabama to serve as Army aviators in World War II. Nearly 100 were killed — and of those, 27 went missing. Most were never recovered, leaving a trail of unresolved grief that would haunt their families for decades. Their stories are the subject of a new book called “Forgotten Souls: The Search for the Lost Tuskegee Airmen" by Cheryl Whitlow Thompson. An award-winning investigative journalist, Thompson is currently a reporter and editor at NPR. She's also a native of Chicago and earned two degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The author of Growing up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World shares how to manage a generation that operates online all the time.

Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli Maoz Inon have written a new book called “The Future is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land.” They discuss why they choose peace over vengeance and how their personal losses motivate their advocacy.

He's a Normal, Illinois native who went to U. of I. and ended up writing music for Sesame Street. She's the puppeteer behind Abby Cadabby — and she just won an Emmy for it. They also happen to be married. Composer Paul Rudolph and puppeteer Leslie Carrara-Rudolph joined The 21st Show to talk about what makes Abby special, how to write music for Muppets, making instruments from found objects, and how puppetry can reach children who've been through tough times.

It's the official policy of the U.S. government to work toward putting people on Mars. Debates about that usually focus on cost and national priorities. Less considered is what life on Mars would do to the people who go there. That, however, is the subject of a new book by scientist Scott Solomon. It's called Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds. Solomon was raised in Champaign, attended University High in Urbana, and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, novelist Shelby Van Pelt now makes her home in Wheaton, Illinois. Her debut novel, "Remarkably Bright Creatures," has been a huge hit, reportedly selling more than two million copies. It's also being made into a movie by Netflix. We'll talk with Van Pelt about her life and work.

Fraud is all around us, from pyramid schemes to spam phone calls. Illinois-based forensic accountant Kelly Richmond Pope writes about why people do it — and how we can better protect ourselves — in her book “Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories and Secrets from the Trillion Dollar Fraud Industry.”

From the BIlly Goat to the Black Sox, the idea that the Cubs and White Sox were cursed is a key part of Illinois baseball lore. Author Addy Baird explores those stories and more in her new book, The Magical Game: The Spirit and History of Baseball's Superstitions, Rituals, and Curses.

There are still people working to partition Illinois into two states — and more voters are being asked to support the idea. We'll talk with a reporter who's done a deep dive into the New Illinois movement.

From Amish settlements in the rural Midwest … to the last Shaker community in Maine … Kevin Williams has spent three decades documenting the lives of people dedicated to simple living. He's collected those experiences in a new book called “Not So Simple.”

Illinois farmers are filing for bankruptcy at a rate that's climbed for three years running — a trend that echoes the 1980s farm crisis, which is part of what led to Farm Aid's founding in Champaign-Urbana.

Jennifer Roscoe spent 34 years at WCIA-TV — all of them at the same central Illinois station — before signing off last month. She joins The 21st Show to talk about her career, which started with a 1992 internship at WCIA and spanned major changes in the industry, and how Americans consume news.

From “da Bears” in Chicago to “Hahvahd Yahd” in Boston, our accents shape how the world hears us — and how it judges us. Linguist Valerie Fridland explores how and why in her new book, "Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents," which traces how American speech patterns took shape over centuries and why they're still shifting today.

To close out the show ahead of the Fourth of July, we're featuring the first three voices in a new Illinois Public Media series, "America at 250: The Questions Before Us.” It asks Illinoisans what they think are the most important questions facing the country at the United States Semiquincentennial.

Two powerful earthquakes struck Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in quick succession last week — a magnitude 7.1 followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5. As of air time, more than 2,200 deaths have been linked to the quakes, with more than 40,000 people still unaccounted for. Alvaro Bello grew up in Venezuela and still has friends and family there. he works with The Immigration Project, an organization accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice to help immigrants with paperwork, though he joins us today as a private citizen. Bello talks what he's heard from contacts in Venezuela, the scale of the destruction, and how Venezuelans in Illinois are responding.

Illinois drivers between the ages of 79 and 86 are no longer required to take a driving test every year, under a new law that just took effect. The change, part of what's called the Road Safety & Fairness Act, was pushed by AARP Illinois and the Illinois Secretary of State's office. Illinois had been the only state in the country with a rule requiring road tests for drivers in this range based solely on age. Secretary of State personnel can still require a driver to take the test if they notice signs of trouble, and family members can report concerns about a loved one's driving. We'll talk with Ryan Gruenenfelder, Senior Director of Advocacy and Outreach for AARP Illinois, about why the organization pushed for the change, what crash data shows about older drivers' safety records, and how drivers of any age can stay safe on the road.

You may not know his name, but if you've been to a Bulls, Bears, Fire or Fighting Illini game, you know his voice. Champaign's Tim Sinclair has taken his stadium announcing talents to the World Cup, providing English-language PA announcements at games in Mexico. He joins us to talk about learning name pronunciations on the fly, deciding when to announce a goal during lengthy VAR reviews, and what it's like doing this job on the world's biggest stage.

The U.S. men's national team faces a must-win World Cup round-of-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina tonight. Alex Calabrese, who covers soccer for Men in Red 97 Media and MLSsoccer.com, joins us to preview the game, catch us up on how Illinois-connected players have fared in the tournament so far, and break down what the Chicago Fire's signing of Robert Lewandowski means for the club.

Fourteen new Illinois laws take effect today, covering everything from to-go cocktails to a new Department of Early Childhood. Capitol News Illinois Statehouse reporter Ben Szalinski joins us to walk through what's changing — including a statewide public defender and new reporting requirements on jail contraband. We'll also check in on where things stand with the hundreds of other bills still awaiting Gov. J.B. Pritzker's signature, from new limits on rental "junk fees" to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that touches on how Illinois counts mail-in ballots.

Illinois has strengthened its protections for LGBTQ people in recent years. But just across the border, the picture looks different: Iowa has stripped gender identity from its civil rights law, Missouri's Supreme Court has upheld a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, and Indiana's governor has declared June "Nuclear Family Month." All of it comes as a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows states to exclude transgender women and girls from female sports teams — and as national polling shows support for LGBTQ rights slipping from its peak. We talk with LGBTQ advocates from across the region — in the Quad Cities, St. Louis, and Evansville, Indiana — about what's changed, how their communities are adapting, and what Pride means as the political climate shifts.

As the United States marks its 250th birthday, the celebration has split into two: America250, the bipartisan effort Congress created in 2016, and Freedom 250, established by executive order from President Trump. The overlap has caused confusion — and some musicians backed out of the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., saying they weren't told about its ties to the Trump administration. Several states, including Illinois, declined to participate. But the 21st state will be represented after all — by the Peoria Riverfront Museum. Brian Mackey talks with museum president and CEO John Morris about how a downstate institution ended up filling in for Illinois, what visitors to its exhibit will see, and what it's like navigating a politically charged event. The Illinois exhibit is open through July 10 in Washington, D.C.

Gambling in Illinois used to mean a trip to a riverboat, a racetrack, or the lottery counter. Now it's in restaurants and gas stations — and on the phone in your pocket. Illinoisans lost more than $7.7 billion gambling last year, and a third of that money flows to state government. But a recent investigation — "Addicted to gambling in Illinois," a joint project of the Illinois Answers Project and Capitol News Illinois — found the state invests relatively little in helping the hundreds of thousands of residents estimated to have a gambling problem. Brian Mackey talks with reporters Casey Toner and Maggie Dougherty about what they found, from a Metropolis gas station that's taken in more than $223 million to the gap between gambling revenue and treatment funding. They're joined by Jimmy M., who has been in recovery from compulsive gambling for more than a decade and hosts the podcast “Gambling Recovery: Take Back Your Life.” If you or someone you know is struggling, Illinois' helpline is 1-800-GAMBLER.

Many of us were taught Mary Lincoln was a spendthrift, a little crazy, and a drag on her husband's greatness. We'll challenge all that with journalist Lois Romano, who's written a new biography of Abraham Lincoln's wife. “I think once a narrative is formed, it's really hard to shake it,” Romano told “The 21st Show.” “And her narrative was written 150 years ago, and it was written by men who just couldn't stand her. And they projected onto her things that just weren't there.” The book is called “An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln.”

Technology developed by Illinois engineering professor Bill King has been incorporated into the cleats worn by soccer players at this year's World Cup. We'll talk with him about what it is, how it was developed, and how the same tech has also made its way into colon cancer surgery and automobile tires.

Schools in Illinois discipline Black students at much higher rates than their white peers. Public radio education reporters Emily Hays and Peter Medlin dug into the data for two schools with the most extreme disparities: Kennedy Middle School in Rockford and Lanphier High School in Springfield. We'll talk about what they found, hear some of the stories behind the numbers, and learn about schools that are doing things differently.

Our drinking water has long had fluoride added in order to prevent tooth decay. But some states are banning it, and RFK Jr. is pushing the federal government in that direction. We'll talk about the consequences of fluoride bans for our dental health.

Illinois aid-in-dying law is set to take effect in September. It's meant to give terminally ill patients a medical way to end their lives. But opponents call it “assisted suicide,” and they've joined with disability advocates trying to block the law in court. We'll hear from people on both sides of that debate.

It's been a wild couple weeks for severe weather in Illinois. We'll talk with reporters who've covered the aftermath of storms in Effingham and Charleston. We'll also hear from an organization that's been scrambling to place dozens of dogs and cats with foster homes after a tornado tore the roof off an animal shelter in Springfield. Then, the bigger picture with a group of climate scientists. Illinois has had a record number of tornadoes this year, and the figure is still growing. They'll talk about what's behind that, and whether it's our new normal.

Illinois-natives Rafael and Whitney are a husband and wife duo known for their soul and R&B vocals and music. They will be performing at this year's Juneteenth festival at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, Illinois.

As Juneteenth approaches, the debate continues about whether descendants of enslaved Black Americans should receive reparations. In 2022, the city of Evanston, near Chicago, made history as the first U.S. city to implement a publicly funded reparations program for Black Americans. But should the relief go even further... perhaps, statewide?

High school classes can be hard — and so are the first couple years of college. A group of teenagers in southern Illinois did both at the same time —  and simultaneously earned high school diplomas and associate's degrees.