What are the potential impacts of cutting the funding for Illinois Humanities? (Photo credit: Mike Stephen?WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen discusses the potential impact of federal funding cuts for Illinois Humanities with executive director Gabrielle Lyon and Macomb-based singer-songwriter Chris Vallillo and then chats about the future of journalism with Prospect High School multimedia teacher Jason Block and seniors Claire Wynkoop and Kenny Munao while attending this year’s Northern Illinois Scholastic Press Association conference. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

Posted 2 weeks ago Tagged

Mike Stephen talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning local journalists Sarah Conway of City Bureau and Trina Reynolds-Tyler of the Invisible Institute about the importance of the Freedom of Information Act and then gets an update on a proposed bill to regulate homeschooling in Illinois from Capitol News reporters Beth Hundsdorfer and Molly Parker. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

Posted 1 month ago Tagged

What is the future of the Chicago Reader? (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen talks to Amber Nettles, the publisher of the Chicago Reader, and Salem Collo-Julin, the paper’s editor in chief, about the dire financial situation of the publication and its future and then discovers the Secret History of the local 1960s garage rock band The Monteras. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

Posted 3 months ago Tagged

Re-mapping Chicago neighborhoods might be a good thing. (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen gets an update on the effort to re-map Chicago community areas from Emily Talen, director of The Urbanism Lab at the University of Chicago, discusses the state of local food journalism Mike Gebert, editor of Fooditor, and reflects on the good work of the soon-to-be-sold Quimby’s bookstore in Wicker Park. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

Posted 5 months ago Tagged