To continue our series on Illinois mayoral races, we dove into an election coming up in Carbondale. A local business owner and the current mayor pro tempore are both vying for the seat, and both candidates joined us to discuss their policy platforms.

The 21st is starting a new series highlighting mayoral races happening across Illinois, starting with Springfield. Both candidates and a journalist who's been following the story joined us to discuss policy platforms, how people in Springfield are talking about the election, and more.

There’s an idea gaining popularity in urban planning circles that people should be able to live a short walk or bike ride’s distance from everything they need. To talk about 15-minute cities, The 21st was joined by a professor of urban planning and a city administrator.

As we reach the midpoint of the Illinois Legislature's session, we decided to check in with two political reporters to see what's been going on in both chambers of the statehouse.

To discuss the evolution of ways to break the fast of Ramadan, The 21st was joined by a reporter who followed the story and the director of the Middle Eastern and North African Cultural Center at the University of Illinois.

Since 2019, Illinois' attorney general has been Kwame Raoul. He joined The 21st to discuss issues ranging from Illinois' assault weapons ban to retail theft and cash bail.

The impact of votes to allow slavery in Illinois, the debate surrounding them, and the region’s long history of slavery still resonates two centuries later. The 21st spent the entire hour discussing it with a panel of historical researchers.

Our Midwestern past is far more diverse than many of us realize, particularly when it comes to religious diversity. It’s the subject of a new book by a professor of religious studies, who is a descendent of Syrian Midwesterners.

A married, Millennial, Muslim American couple traveled the length of Route 66 for a limited series on PBS.

In order to make way for an expansion of the Rockford Airport, last week, a bulldozer plowed its way through part of Bell Bowl Prairie in Rockford. The 21st was joined by two environmental advocates and a journalist who has been following the story.