#wbez chicago

[lordoftheringsmusical]

Mike Davis interviews the cast and creative team of The Lord of the Rings at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater for WBEZ Chicago.

Topics:

bringing the epic classic to the stage

making such a big story feel intimate

adapting the score for actor-musicians

📸 Timothy Hiatt

[tardisman14]

About to see Peter Sagal interview Tom Hanks

[filmnoirfoundation]

Eddie Muller talks with Robert Loerzel, WBEZ Chicago about NOIR CITY Chicago, August 6-12 at the Music Box Theatre.

Passes, tickets, and schedule for NOIR CITY Chicago.

[guy60660]

Nicole Album | WBEZ

[thoughtportal]

This week, we talk about Netflix’s reinvention of the video store, the right way to board a plane, and the art of advice-giving with Chicago Sun Times’ new advice columnist Ismael Perez and Brandon Pope, who hosts WBEZ’s Making podcast and On the Block from Block Club Chicago and WCIU.

Then, author V.E. Schwab talks about the latest installment in her “Shades of Magic” fantasy series, The Fragile Threads of Power. This will be her fourth time on Nerdette, because her books are just that good. You may know her from her bestselling novel The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or one of her other 23 published books.

[consideratesea]

you Ira Glass sounding motherfucker

[jdunlevy]

Why “Chicagoland”

WBEZ’s Curious City looks into “Chicagoland,” the term, its origins, purpose, and definition—its boundaries.

Chicago Tribune publisher Robert R. “Colonel” McCormick commissioned James O’Donnell Bennett to write a series of Chicago region travel articles.

That’s how the word made its first appearance nearly 100 years ago in the July 27, 1926 edition of the Chicago Tribune. Across the front page was a story by O’Donnell Bennett titled “Chicagoland’s Shrines: A Tour of Discoveries.”

The subhed for that first story was notably “Our Own Midwest, Scenic and Historic, Revealed.” Chicagoland was the Midwest with Chicago at its center, a Tribune-defined region Tribune readers identified with or would-be Tribune readers wanted to identify with, a region invented and boosted to sell newspapers.

Curious City argues that this early Chicagoland major gave way over time to a more localized, more suburbanized, near-Chicago Chicagoland minor—even though one of their own exhibits, the fantastic Chicago Tribune 1927 Special Detailed Road Map of Chicagoland, shows that the Chicagoland minor existed alongside the Chicagoland major essentially from the very start. The point stands, though, the the idea of “Chicagoland” being a term that could be applied to the Midwest has largely faded.

I’ve generally disliked the term, but I can see its usefulness as potential a way for us suburbanites to accurately express where we’re from without saying we’re “from Chicago”—a geographic rounding or exaggeration that drives actual Chicagoans crazy.

[reasonsforhope]

Last Wednesday [October 18], WBEZ (91.5 FM) reported that a civic leader of St. Louis visited the Chicago Mayor’s Office to discuss a program whereby migrants from Venezuela could be brought to the Gateway to the West in order to ease the migrant crisis gripping the Windy City just as winter temperatures arrive.

It’s estimated that 20,000 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, have arrived in Chicago this year, and finding them places to stay has been challenging.

The WBEZ report details that St. Louis is currently in a decline of population and employees, and some in the city believe the migrants and the city would be better off long-term if they moved there.

The International Institute of St. Louis announced the new Latino Outreach Program last month with the aim of both attracting and accommodating migrants arriving from Latin America.

Karlos Ramirez, vice president of Latino Outreach for the International Institute, told WBEZ the as-yet unconfirmed agreement “could be the potential for a great relationship between both cities,” adding that “if the [migrants] are going to be in a better place, St. Louis is going to be in a better place, and Chicago is going to be in a better place, I think everybody wins.”

Ramirez says that any next step would have to include sharing details and practices between Latino Outreach and its partners with their counterparts in Chicago.

Fox News 2 reached out to the St. Louis Mayor’s Office for comment, and the representative shared a statement released previously in response to the WBEZ report.

“While the City has not had direct conversations on welcoming more migrants from Chicago, the City of St. Louis has had a longstanding cooperative relationship with the International Institute to welcome immigrants and refugees to the St. Louis area.”

Other migrant welcome programs in the city, such as the Arch Grants program, saw great success in Afghans fleeing the country in August of 2021, and the International Institute modeled its efforts for Latino Outreach on this success.

-via Good News Network, November 6, 2023. Video via Fox 2 St. Louis, October 20, 2023. Note: Fox local affiliate networks are not the same as Fox News, and many are editorially independent/not The Actual Worst.

Note: If you're in St. Louis, you can check out the International Institute of St. Louis to get involved or call your local representatives to support!

[copperbadge]

Hi Sam! Have you heard about WBEZ's Fast and Curious 5K? The combination of running and Chicago trivia looks like it might be your sort of thing.

I hadn't! It's uh. Conceptually interesting, but also a bit bare bones on how that works, and seems very first-time-event-organizer, which makes me leery. The PR for it is identical everywhere and very short on detail -- it's unclear whether you're doing trivia as you run or just like, a few quick questions at the finish line. It seems like it has to be the latter, since there are timed run options, but choosing a lane based on how well you think you'll do at trivia seems to indicate it's ongoing on the course. Both sound like nightmares in terms of crowd management.

I think the issue for me is that when I'm running I want to be running so that I can focus on when I'll be able to stop running. Like, I can see how there's a kind of runner who would really enjoy it, but an interrupted run isn't for me, and after I run what I want to do is hydrate and take selfies with my finisher medal :D I might go check it out just to see what the scoop is but it's not something I'd register for based on the information available.

[cactusspatz]

January recs

Alright, I’ve got multiple Murderbot Diaries recs from last month, and one each for MCU (Black Widow+Spider-Man), Due South, The Hands of the Emperor, and Star Trek AOS. Enjoy!

Acceptable Mission Cost by i_have_loved_the_stars_too_fondly (Murderbot, gen)

The planetary leader of Preservation is taken hostage by a corporation and held for interrogation. Lonely and homesick, she starts talking to the SecUnit assigned to guard her cell. When it's ordered to kill her, it can't bring itself to follow through.

Yessssss, awesome alternate first meeting where Murderbot is assigned to guard Mensah! Some heavy plot reliance on coincidence but the feels are excellent.

@Perihelion: Fuck you ART by Sparrowlicious (Murderbot, gen)

And that's how I accidentally started a social feed account with a cult following. It's not my fault humans have an obsession with my opinions.

aka Murderbot discovers space twitter and commits crimes against corporate entities (ART is helping!)

I’m not usually a fan of social media fics done this far from their origin (i.e. Space Twitter is just like modern Twitter!), but Murderbot and ART’s friendship in this story is impeccable and hilarious.

Iterative User Testing by Ostentenacity (Murderbot, gen)

Murderbot's buffer is becoming a problem.

Funny but sweet story about Murderbot working on its social interactions (and also reprogramming its brain a little with ART? Friendship is magic!).

The Peter Tingle by igrockspock (MCU, Peter/Yelena)

Yelena's bored and she's got three options:    (1) Start a fire.    (2) Start a brawl.    (3) Talk to Peter Parker.

Completely unexpected but completely delightful pairing! Shenanigans, banter, grief, Peter being a nice young man who does math in bars and also dresses up in spandex, and Yelena finding someone she can be a little vulnerable with. (set after Hawkeye and No Way Home)

This Canadian Life by SpaceTimeConundrum (Due South, Fraser/RayK)

Today on our program we’re bringing you a three act investigation into a true Chicago legend. It’s a larger-than-life tale of murder, exile, culture shock, and the incredible power of human kindness as we ask the question: did Chicago have its own Canadian superhero in the ‘90s? The answer may surprise you. From WBEZ Chicago, it’s This American Life.

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!! Great outsider POV in a way, and fun post-canon content that also follows up on some minor characters and the ripple effects of Fraser being Fraser.

Absurdly Discreet by breadandroses (The Hands of the Emperor, Artorin/Kip)

"Being seduced by someone who turns out to be a spy isn't a crime," Ghilly said. "It is when you're the Sun-on-Earth's personal secretary," Cliopher replied dryly.

  — The Hands of the Emperor, Chapter 63

Sharp look at that barely mentioned incident from the book, and the DEVOTION. The PINING. GAH.

the ship in port is the safer one (but it's not the reason it was made) by KiaraSayre (Star Trek reboot, gen)

The Enterprise's first mission is a boring one. Luckily, the ship more or less makes its own trouble, including: stills, toilet paper, lighting issues, awkward crewmembers, lunchroom seating politics, and, of course, the Admiralty.

Or: How Jim Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Chain Of Command.

Very fun and creative story about the Enterprise going on a shakedown cruise, Jim learning some valuable lessons about personnel management, and the dangers of a genius crew with too much time on their hands.

[rapeculturerealities]

Crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics | WBEZ Chicago

https://www.wbez.org/stories/crisis-pregnancy-centers-outnumber-abortion-clinics/8a973ba6-2a89-45c2-aa04-5043d4d2804d

In Illinois, it might be common for women to encounter a crisis pregnancy center before an abortion provider because the centers are in far greater supply throughout the state, according to a WBEZ analysis of data provided by CPC Map Project at the University of Georgia and from the Abortion Finder directory.

Overall, there are nearly three times as many crisis pregnancy centers in Illinois than abortion providers, the analysis shows. Among the state’s 102 counties, there are 42 counties with crisis pregnancy centers and no in-person abortion providers. Only 12 counties in Illinois have abortion providers, and 23 of the state’s 36 abortion providers are in Cook or DuPage counties.

Michele Landeau, who runs Hope Clinic, an abortion provider in downstate Granite City, has also seen patients who’ve made prior visits to crisis pregnancy centers. In times of crisis, patients sometimes choose what’s closest, Landeau said. “If I find out that I’m pregnant, unexpectedly, and I Google, you know, abortion near me, and a crisis pregnancy center comes up first, and they’re 15 minutes away. And then an abortion clinic comes up second, and they’re four hours away, I’m gonna go to the crisis pregnancy center, of course.”

[knitmeapony]

[pandemic-info]

It’s likely you know someone dealing with long COVID | WBEZ Chicago

Severe fatigue, cognitive impairment and post-exertional malaise are just a few of the many symptoms associated with long COVID. It can last weeks, months and even years. Having this condition is also somewhat common. “It’s generally a minimum of 10% of COVID infections lead to long COVID,” said Hannah Davis, the co-founder of the Patient-Led Research Collaborative. With COVID hospitalizations on the rise for the first time this year, we speak with Davis and Pulitzer-winning science journalist Ed Yong. They both say that what frustrates a lot of COVID long-haulers is the lack of public knowledge about the condition… and the misconceptions surrounding it. “If you are listening to this and you find yourself thinking, ‘I don’t know anyone with long COVID,’ I guarantee that you do,” Yong said.

[urbs-in-horto]

Edgewater Historical Society presents:

Unearthing the Mysteries of the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge 1 p.m. Saturday, July 13, 2024 Chicago Public Library Edgewater Branch Betty A. Barclay Community Room 6000 N. Broadway

Robert Loerzel has been delving deeply into the early years of the Green Mill – and related things, like the development of the Uptown neighborhood – in a history posted on his website, robertloerzel.com. He also reported on this topic for WBEZ’s Curious City program. Find out some of the secrets he has uncovered about the beginnings of this beloved jazz club.

[thoughtportal]

Spots we’re avoiding in our private maps of the world.

[mightyflamethrower]

Chicago businesses are already boarding up their storefronts downtown ahead of Monday’s opening of the Democratic National Convention in anticipation of mass rioting and violence.

Plywood shielding first began showing up Thursday morning as the city’s shopping district opened for business.

“As we know, this city has a poor track record when it comes to protecting businesses,” Scott Shapiro, owner of Syd Jerome, told Chicago’s WLS-TV.

Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News

“We felt it was more prudent to board up, since our customers and their employers have told them to stay home throughout the convention for their own safety,” Shapiro added.

It makes perfect sense for Shapiro to take precautions. His store was one of those destroyed during the riots in 2020.

The retailer added that he does not fear peaceful protesters, but is wary of “the people that embed themselves and take advantage of those protests for their own agenda.”

Shapiro is right to worry. News outlets have reported that violent protest groups are organizing. Some expect domestic terror organization Antifa as well as violence-prone pro-Hamas groups to target the Windy City and many worry that members are being bused into the city from outside.

He is far from the only one to board up his business. Plywood barriers are going up all across the Loop area and the rest of Chicago’s downtown retail sector.

Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News

One boarding company told the media that they have had 40 calls this week alone to begin boarding up the city’s retail businesses.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) is warning protesters that violence and property damage will not be tolerated.

CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling warned that the First Amendment does not act as cover for “criminal acts.”

ABC7 reported that Snelling told CNN:

There is a distinct difference between the riot and a peaceful protest, or people who are simply actually exercising their first amendment rights. The first amendment for tat [sic] actions does not include rioting, it doesn’t include criminal acts … It doesn’t include breaking the law. It doesn’t include violence, vandalism, those things that we are not going to tolerate in our city. But if people are showing up here to exercise their first amendment rights, they’re doing it peacefully lawfully, we’re going to protect their rights to do that.”

“The minute that starts, we have to put an end to it,” Snelling said of violence and rioting, according to Chicago’s WBEZ radio. “When people become comfortable committing acts of violence and vandalism, that’s when it turns into a riot.”

Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News

Still, the CPD has also specified use of force rules, such as restricting use of batons to body and leg strikes and not the head or neck. And many officers have been notified of extended hours for next week, sparking worries of fatigue and overwork.

“We’re going to have to extend hours; there are going to be day-off cancellations,” the superintendent told the media. “But there [are] also wellness plans in place for our officers to make sure that, cognitively, our officers are effective when they’re responding.”