A special live 21st Show interview with U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, taped Tuesday evening at partner station NPR Illinois' annual Thank-You Fest in downtown Springfield. Budzinski, a Democrat from central Illinois, talked with 21st Show host Brian Mackey about government funding, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, climate change, and her impressions on nearly a year of working in Congress.

Several media and legal organizations spoke out at a University of Illinois Board of Trustees meeting in Chicago on Thursday, saying university policy is impeding reporting on sexual assault at the school.

The University of Illinois says reporters at the NPR station in Springfield must tell them when people come forward with stories of sexual misconduct. That’s because these public radio journalists are, in fact, university employees. Plus, Americans say they’d rather die at home than at a hospital. But it’s much more complicated than that, especially when there aren’t clear plans for end of life care. And, a new exhibition at Chicago’s Newberry library sets out to answer the question, “What is the Midwest? using historic maps, journal entries and photos from the past 200 years. 

Illinois Public Media will host an Illinois 13th Congressional District debate between Republican incumbent Rodney Davis and Democrat challenger Betsy Dirksen Londrigan on Thursday, October 18 in the WILL-TV studio.

Members of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) said that State Rep. Jeanne Ives’ disparaging comments about graduate workers last week are a distraction from a bigger issue. Ives, a Republican from Wheaton, is opposed to legislation that would expand union rights to graduate research assistants.