Mike Stephen talks to Greg Jacobs, co-director of a documentary called The Road Up, that tells the story of overcoming obstacles to employment, learns about the issues surrounding Chicago’s last Black-owned bank with ProPublica journalist Mick Dumke, and talks to Kate Fagan about her new Holiday album. Happy new year from Outside the Loop! To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

Happy Holidays from Outside the Loop. (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen (with help from his youngest son Joey) plays some Holiday-themed clips from past years of the show.  Happy Holidays from Outside the Loop to you! To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

What is the future of tiki bars in Chicagoland? (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen discusses the future of the tiki bar with Streetsblog Chicago editor & Chicago Reader columnist John Greenfield and local playwright & script writer Hannah Ii-Epstein. Then we learn the Secret History of 1960s Evanston garage-rockers The Peep Show. And Mike announces a programming note and gives an update on the issue of the lack of public bathrooms in Chicago. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

Local journalism is key to a healthy democracy. (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen talks with University of Illinois professor emeritus Robert McChesney about a proposal to save local journalism and democracy and then chats with local singer-songwriter Peter Joly about his new album. And Mike gives an update on some segments that aired on the show recently. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.