Mike Stephen gets an update on the latest Chicago TIF numbers from Tom Tresser of the TIF Illumination Project, chats with local musician Carlo Basile about his local music with a worldwide influence, and previews the Back Fine Art Faire with Patricia Andrews-Keenan, founder of Pigment International. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

Mike Stephen discusses the work being done to avoid a transit fiscal cliff in Illinois with state representative Kam Buckner (26th) and John Greenfield, editor of Streetsblog Chicago. Then, John Howard Association executive director Jennifer Vollen-Katz discusses new “emergency” rules put in place to regulate communication with those who are incarcerated in state prisons. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

We learn about a new way to explore the state’s finances. (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen learns about a new way to explore Illinois finances through the Fiscal Futures Data Hub with UIC professor David Merriman, gets an update on the 100K Project, and discovers the Secret History of Chicago avant-garde jazz musician Henry Threadgill. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

Mike Stephen discusses the student loan debt problem in Illinois with Illinois Answers Project journalist Claire Murphy, gets the lowdown on new local music from AJ Rosales, and discovers the Secret History of the 1960s Chicago doo-wop group The Radiants. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.