Chicago's Almost Above-Ground Audio Magazine
Mike Stephen visits the Hope Chicago 2026 Goal Getter Conference at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Hope Chicago is a scholarship-focused nonprofit designed to provide students and their parents/guardians with the support they need to graduate from college debt-free. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.
Mike Stephen explores the controversy of Chicago Public Schools using public money to take students to a protest with Nick Kryczka, assistant professor of secondary education for social studies at the College of Education at National Louis University, and then chats with Injustice Watch senior reporter Dan Hinkel about how difficult it is to clear a wrongful conviction in Cook County. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.
Mike Stephen visits the Northern Illinois Scholastic Press Association conference to discuss the future of journalism with Prospect High School teacher Jason Block and Prospect seniors Tessa Trylovich and Stella Palm and then discovers the Secret History of jazz guitarist Eddie Condon. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.
Mike Stephen chats with Roya Samarghandi, chief advocacy and innovation officer at The Chicago Bar Foundation, about a new program that allows residents to get legal aid at their local library, explores the ongoing debate around public money for private schools with Chalkbeat Chicago’s Reema Amin, and gets the lowdown on a local organization that helps youth enter the workforce called Leaders in Transformational Education from CEO Candace Thier. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.