Mike Stephen discusses the impact of the departure of the Chicago Housing Authority CEO with Block Club Chicago investigative editor Mick Dumke, learns about a crisis in Illinois’ Early Intervention Program from Start Early director of legislative affairs Jonathan Doster and speech pathologist Sarah Ziemba, and gives an update on the efforts to preserve the history of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

We explore the history of the No Games Chicago movement. (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen talks to community organizer Tom Tresser about his new book on the history of No Games Chicago and then talks to Maria Jose Luna, doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, about a new study that examines the inequities in mental health services for justice-involved youth. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

BUILD Chicago’s Mobile Mental Health Bus. (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio).

Mike Stephen learns about BUILD Chicago’s new Mobile Mental Health Bus with therapist David Rodriguez, discusses changes at the Acorn Theater and airs an interview he did there in 2013, and discovers the Secret History of blues singer Little Al Thomas. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

This week we explore Black organizing in Illinois pre-Civil War. (Used with permission from Northwestern University. All photos in the public domain.)

Mike Stephen discusses a new online exhibit that examines the role of the Black community in pre-Civil War Illinois with Northwestern University history professor and project director Kate Masur. Check out her book called Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction. Then, we hear from local tai chi teacher Arlene Faulk to learn her remarkable story of how she fought back against multiple sclerosis. She recounts her journey in the book Walking on Pins and Needles: A Memoir of Chronic Resilience in the Face of Multiple Sclerosis. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.