This week we learn about a unique Juneteenth celebration. (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen talks to Ted Williams, the creator of the musical 1619: The Journey of a People, about the impact of the show’s story, learns about the lack of an official onboarding process for newly-elected alderpeople from Dave Glowacz, staff reporter at Inside Chicago Government, and gets the lowdown on new walking tours highlighting local LGBTQ+ history from Mike McMains, founder of Tours With Mike. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

A delicious Italian beef from Johnnie’s in Elmwood Park. (Photo credit: Mike Stephen/WGN Radio)

Mike Stephen discusses the story of the Italian beef sandwich (and how it’s hard to get a good one outside of Chicagoland) with Los Angeles Times food columnist and Oak Park native Lucas Kwan Peterson, chats about the semi-independence of the Chicago City Council with Geoffrey Cubbage of the Better Government Association, and talks to Jonny Untch about being a local musician and educator. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our Apple Podcasts Page, Spotify, or our RSS feed.

OTL: Episode #226- Benefits of Downsizing the City Council?, South Loop Transformation, Group-Buying Through City Swarm

TO HEAR THE SHOW, PRESS THE “PLAY” BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST… (podcasting from the studios in the OTL Bunker, somewhere in Chicago) (broadcasting on the “city-swarmed” radio station WLUW-FM (88.7) Chicago) Mike Stephen looks at how a smaller city council could save Chicago money, discusses the South Loop’s decade of transformation and learns about CitySwarm, Chicago’s newest group-buying option. Emily Miller— Policy and Government Affairs Coordinator for the Better Government Association What would happen if Chicago decreased the size of its city council?  The BGA investigates this question to see if the city could save some money.  Emily discusses what they found out. Matthew Blake— Contributing Writer for the Chicago Journal Recently, Matthew wrote an article for the CJ that examines the transformation of the South Loop area.  He joins us to describe how that neighborhood has changed over the last decade. A Slice of the South Loop Lindsay Saewitz — Founder of CitySwarm There’s a new local online deal site that combines group-buying and social interaction called CitySwarm.  Lindsay tells us how this works and how it gets Chicagoans to explore their city.   OTL #226 local music provided by Goodbye Cleveland…