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WBEZ Chicago
On Background: WBEZ's Politics PodcastEpisodes
WBEZ Chicago
On Background: WBEZ's Politics Podcast
A weekly Government podcast
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What the heck just happened, Chicago? Lori Lightfoot won the mayor’s race by a gargantuan margin. City Council veterans got the boot. Here’s what Tuesday’s results might mean for the future of the city.Reporting by Becky Vevea, Claudia Morell a
Lori Lightfoot was catapulted into the spotlight in the fallout from Laquan McDonald’s murder. But before that, she was hardly a household name in Chicago. WBEZ’s Claudia Morell zooms in on three pivotal moments in the life of the unlikely mayo
There are a lot of ways people describe Toni Preckwinkle. Progressive pioneer. Party boss. Prickly county board president. But the image of her in the race to become Chicago’s next mayor doesn’t tell the entire story of her long career. WBEZ’s
There have been so many soundbites and headlines about the remaining two candidates for Chicago Mayor. But maybe you find yourself still wondering: Who exactly are these people?This week we’re taking a break, because next week we’ll have two ep
The plans to build a mini-city along the North Branch of the Chicago River have been winding their way through the byzantine City Council process for the last year. The $6 billion project, known as Lincoln Yards, is one that Mayor Rahm Emanuel
A decade ago, Illinois politicians legalized video gambling in hopes of generated much-needed money for the state. But like so many stories in Illinois, this one didn’t turn out to be that simple. WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos and ProPublica Illinois
It was an election for the history books. With no incumbent on the ballot and 14 candidates for mayor, just a third of all registered voters in Chicago cast ballots this week and the results are in. WBEZ’s Becky Vevea, Dan Mihalopoulos, Claudia
It’s the final countdown! Chicago’s municipal elections are next Tuesday. Voters will get to pick from 14 candidates to be the next mayor and pick someone to represent their neighborhood too. This week, WBEZ’s team of political reporters will a
Newspapers, unions, and even celebrities are throwing their weight — and in some cases, money — behind their choice for Chicago’s next mayor. This week, the WBEZ politics team digs in to a time-honored political tradition: endorsements. Do th
How the heck is a Chicago voter supposed to make sense of a mayor’s race with 14 candidates? Well, you’ve got about two weeks to figure that out. So WBEZ has cooked up a nifty way to help you choose which candidate you most align with, and our
A second alderman is in the crosshairs of federal authorities. Last week, Ald. Danny Solis (25th) was revealed to be wearing a wire in the case against powerful Alderman Ed Burke (14th). This week, a series of stories from the Chicago Sun-Times
We all hate them. But parking and traffic camera tickets generate millions for the city of Chicago every year. A WBEZ/ProPublica Illinois investigation reveals that system puts a huge burden on the very people who can least afford it. We look a
There are hundreds of neighborhoods in the city of Chicago and 15 candidates vying to represent all of them. Many communities have been left behind in the city's economic growth and dozens of prominent neighborhood activist groups want that to
A handful of the races for alderman this February are especially hot races. That's in part because they touch on issues deeply important to Chicago right now.Issues like the Obama Presidential Center (20th Ward), rapid gentrification (25th War
Federal authorities have charged Chicago’s longest-serving alderman with a single count of attempted extortion. The charge comes a month after the FBI raided Ald. Edward Burke’s City Hall and neighborhood offices. The WBEZ politics team takes a
Nearly two dozen candidates scrambled to get into the race to become Chicago’s next mayor. Now, some are struggling to stay in it. We'll break down the strange battle to get on the ballot that all campaigns seem to love talking about and update
This week, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel put forward a road map for his successor to fix the city’s beleaguered pensions. The directions include: legalizing pot, opening a casino in Chicago, borrowing money, and changing the state constitution. WB
In the time it has taken for a child to grow up in Chicago, city leaders have either closed or re-staffed some 200 public schools — nearly a third of the entire district. A new WBEZ investigation looks at the 70,000 children - 90 percent of the
Alderman Ed Burke is one of the 50 members of Chicago’s City Council. He’s also the longest tenured, and arguably the most influential. So why did FBI agents raid both of his offices on Thursday, covering his doors with brown butcher paper and
It’s a Chicago tradition: Monday was the first day candidates could submit signatures to get on the ballot for the Feb. 26 citywide elections. It’s a day that officially kicks off campaign election season in Chicago, and it was a bleary-eyed, s
We’ve spent months talking about which candidates might win in Tuesday’s election. Well, now we know. So let’s talk about how they’re going to govern, and what challenges lie ahead. Buckle up.Each week at On Background, WBEZ’s team of political
The counties surrounding Chicago have been reliably Republican for most of the last century. But that could be shifting as demographics change and political boundaries move. WBEZ’s Becky Vevea talks with reporters Carrie Shepherd and Dave McKin
In his first term, leading one of the nation’s most racially diverse states, Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s appointees to government boards and cabinet positions were overwhelmingly white and male. That’s according to an investigation
The WBEZ politics team hosted a live version of On Background at the Chicago Cultural Center on Tuesday, and today we’re bringing you the best parts of that program. The show featured a sharp panel of reporters, a packed house, and lively discu
There’s been a lot of talk of who will control Congress and which governor will run the state of Illinois for the next four years, but there are dozens of other races on your November ballot. Every statewide office (besides Illinois' two U.S. s
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