The Block Club Chicago Podcast

The Block Club Chicago Staff offers their summer bucket lists for 2024!

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Who we are

Block Club Chicago is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news organization d…

Queer Fam Pride Jam returns June 2nd for its second annual edition. The LGBTQ+ family-friendly celebration will kick off Pride Month with drag performances, DJ sets, dancing, crafts, face painting, a…

Alderpeople voted 34-14 on Wednesday to pass legislation to upend Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to phase out ShotSpotter this year. Johnson later said the vote “did nothing.” A majority of alderpeople…

Two years after busloads of migrant children began arriving in Chicago, many have landed in schools where most don’t speak Spanish. Custodians and kindergarten teachers are taking on the role of tran…

Chicagoans took more than twice as many bike trips last year as they did in 2019, with increases of nearly 200 percent in some parts of the South Side, according to recent estimates.

But that growth i…

Mayor Brandon Johnson said the proposed $4.7 billion stadium and surrounding green space will be open to Chicago’s kids and teens, but some organizers who work with youth question what that access wi…

Mayor Brandon Johnson is finishing up his first year in office. The Block Club Chicago team examined his campaign promises, and analyzed which ones have been met, are being worked on, or have been le…

Distinguished film, television, stage actor and producer (and South Side native) Harry Lennix joins 'On The Block' to discuss performing back in Chicago, and how he is turning a building on South Cot…

In Pullman, A roughly 150-year-old home the Chicago Housing Authority owns has sat vacant since 2005. Facing criticism, the CHA pledged to rehab it and others six months ago — but work hasn’t begun a…

The rare double brood of Cicadas is getting close to emerging across Chicagoland, and Janelle Iaccino from Rose Pest Solution fills us in on what we need to know. She's also getting ready to make a c…

Chicago Kalbi in Albany Park looks like an unassuming neighborhood spot until you see the lineup of stars on the wall, including Ichiro, who once ate there six nights in a row.

Host - Jon Hansen

Report…

A City Council committee revved up discussions Wednesday over dropping Chicago’s default speed limit from 30 to 25 mph.

Transit experts and leaders with the Chicago Department of Transportation testif…

State lawmakers proposed new legislation on Monday that would overhaul public transportation in northeastern Illinois by merging CTA, Metra and Pace under a single agency. 

Host - Jon Hansen

Reporter -…

35 Foxtrot and Dom's stores closed abruptly Tuesday, devastating shoppers and employees. Did the owners violate state or federal laws? While the lawsuit moves through the judicial system, some leader…

Former UIC Flame and current MLB All Star outfielder, Curtis Granderson, generously donated a sum of $5 million to help fund a $10 million ballpark at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the large…

The Chicago Sky went big in the WNBA Draft, and the city is extremely excited about it. With the No. 3 and the No. 7 overall picks, the Sky selected 6-foot-7 Brazilian center Kamilla Cardoso of South…

LaVonté Stewart, founder of the nonprofit Lost Boyz Inc., once again is wearing the championship ring he won with Hampton University’s football team in 1994. Where it was found, and Stewart's journey…

Kocoy Malagón was among the small business owners forced to leave Little Village Discount Mall last year after their landlord wouldn’t renew their leases. “When we closed in the mall, that forced me …

Antia Lyons, 63, passed out on her bus and later died — and no one noticed for nearly an hour. Reporter Manny Ramos explains how that's possible, and what the CTA says - or isn't saying - about what …

Kamaca Champion dreamt for years of turning her love for knitting into her own store.  Miss Purl opened in 2021, a place for South Side crafters to express themselves in a yarn paradise. After chatti…