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Worker rights organizations held a rally in Pilsen on today’s May Day, asking President Joe Biden to issue work permits for all immigrants. Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, is on the list of America's eleven most endangered historic places, released by The National Trust for Historic Preservation. A descendant of Chicago brewing legend Conrad Seipp is resurrecting his recipes for modern taste buds.

Bril Barrett started tap dancing at a young age. His whole family pitched in to pay for lessons and drive him to classes. Now, he’s a 2024 National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow.
But Barrett isn’t just a dancer. He’s also an educator, historian and self-proclaimed “tap-tivist.” He uses his work to educate students and audiences on the origins of tap.
“I tell people ‘When you don’t know a lot about history, start with your own,’” Barrett said. “That just creates a continuous stream of ownership and connection to the art form.”
In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Barrett about tap, improvising and the importance of understanding our roots.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is defending his administration’s call for $210 million to help state workers lose weight. A document that helped kick off the Civil War now lives in Springfield. The first-ever Conservation Day took place at the Illinois statehouse yesterday.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to re-launch a guaranteed income program that pays low-income residents $500 dollars a month. Paul Vallas is asking a federal judge to go easy on former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke when he faces sentencing later this year. Two dozen LGBTQ+ advocates are urging Chicago’s mayor to restore capacity for this year’s Pride parade to previous levels.

Black homeownership in America lags behind white homeownership by a rate of about 44% to 72%, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors.

That gap creates issues not just for Black people, but for broader society, said former Chicago Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara.

“When you have those kinds of assets in your life, it gives you way more options and way more ability to care intergenerationally for the well being of your family and to invest in your community,” Novara said on the Rundown podcast earlier this year.

Novara is now with the Chicago Community Trust, and on Wednesday she will join UChicago's Dr. Robert J. Chaskin, current Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda and Rundown podcast host Erin Allen for a conversation about addressing the racial wealth gap through housing policies at City Club of Chicago.

Ahead of that event, we’re revisiting this episode on the value of homeownership, the historical barriers to it (and the modern ones), and a few solutions that are in the works to help level the playing field.

This episode was originally published on Jan. 30, 2024.
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Chicago government officials will try to spend down hundreds of millions in federal grant money before it expires at the end of the year. Illinois lawmakers are heading back to Springfield today after their last break of the spring session. The Illinois Department of Corrections is proposing moving the Logan women’s prison onto the same site as the Stateville men’s prison.