Each week Dialogue features interviews people across the region along with in-depth stories from the IPM News team about education, health, politics, arts, and more as it relates to local Black communities. Dialogue airs Saturdays at 11 am and Tuesdays at 7 pm on Illinois Soul FM 101.1 and streams live at illinoissoul.org and can be heard Wednesdays at 8 pm on WILL-AM 580.
Illinois earned its first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years with a huge dose of muscle and finesse from rugged forward Kendall Bostic.
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker tries to chart a path for national Democrats to counter Trump
The billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel empire is highlighting the effects of Trump’s early actions in Illinois and is increasing his national profile as he using a statewide tour to criticize the Republican president and his policies.
Who is running in the April 1 Champaign Unit 4 school board race?
Eleven people are competing to fill five open seats on the Champaign Unit 4 Board of Education. IPM News asked the candidates to answer yes-or-no questions related to issues that have come before the board in recent years.
Riley scores 22 as No. 6 seed Illinois defeats Xavier 86-73 in NCAA Tournament
Illinois will seek to advance beyond the first weekend of March Madness for a second straight year.
Durbin, Pritzker put pressure on Republicans to oppose cuts to key programs
Thousands of Illinoisians could lose coverage from Medicaid cuts, governor warns.
70 years later: Brown v. Board in Champaign-Urbana
At a recent University of Illinois Urbana Champaign event, the College of Education and the Chancellor’s Office hosted a fireside chat around Brown v. Board.
CUDO Plays sparks creativity with unique board games in annual design competition
The Champaign Urbana Design Organization (CUDO) cultivates a wealth of creativity in its annual board competition, CUDO Plays, from tabletop games about corgis having parties to color-coded Jenga to Globetrotting, a recently published game where you plan three vacations around the world.
Gov. Pritzker visits Urbana as part of statewide tour focused on Trump administration’s impact in Illinois
Governor Pritzker urged Illinoisans to participate in “mass activism” and let Congress know they oppose the Trump administration’s cuts to food and agriculture programs.
Trump to order a plan to shut down the US Education Department
Trump has derided the agency as wasteful and polluted by liberal ideology. However, finalizing its dismantling is likely impossible without an act of Congress, which created the department in 1979.
Local activists march in downtown Champaign after Israel breaks Gaza ceasefire
Nearly 200 people marched from West Side Park to downtown Champaign and back Tuesday evening after Israel resumed air strikes in Gaza, breaking a temporary ceasefire.
Updated: Storms moving east; Snow by morning
Rain showers this evening will mix with and change to snow overnight.
Champaign County has been affected by bird flu, even without any farm outbreaks
The disease has infected several wild animals in the county, some of which have been brought to the University of Illinois Wildlife Medical Clinic. Public health officials advise against handling wild birds showing signs of illness.
‘Mission Accomplished’ for Rantoul air force base, yet $76 million of environmental clean-up remains
Most of the Chanute Air Force base transferred to the village of Rantoul in 2023. At the time, the Air Force declared “Mission Accomplished” in a press release — but it acknowledged there’s still at least $76 million more toxic clean-up to do. Today, it is unclear what the plan is for the many abandoned and deteriorating buildings.
Kennedy Vincent is a host and producer from Las Vegas with West Indian roots. Specializing in news writing, audio, and video production work, she has earned her degree from the University of Nevada, Reno. Now based in Illinois, Vincent is focused on surrounding her work with collective BIPOC stories, universal rights, and community healing. Kennedy seeks to form deeper connections in her community through her work. She continuously pushes boundaries and reshapes how audio is viewed and believes sharing meaningful stories globally is what will unite us intentionally.
Nidhi Shastri is a podcast producer based in Chicago, IL. She is the host of Model Minority: Uniquely American, an award-winning podcast centered on the Asian, African and Middle Eastern American diasporas. She is also a 2021 AIR New Voices scholar, and her pieces have been featured on NPR, WBEZ, MIT, at the University of California – Berkeley. Her work seeks use podcasting as a medium for educating and creating social change. Her most recent podcast production, Track Change, can be heard here.
Reginald Hardwick is the News & Public Affairs Director at Illinois Public Media. He oversees news reporting, The 21st talk show, IPMnewsroom.org, and occasionally hosts and produces episodes of Dialogue. Reginald came to IPM in 2019 after serving as News Director at WKAR at Michigan State University. Before that, he had a long career as a local newscast producer and manager at the NBC-owned station in Dallas/Fort Worth, where he earned seven Lone Star Emmy awards and multiple honors from the National Assn. of Black Journalists. Born in Vietnam, Reginald was adopted and grew up on the Eastern plains of Colorado. He graduated from the University of Northern Colorado.