We may not have flying cars (yet), but there are some other pretty nifty features on display at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. The future seems more hopeful for U.S. automakers than it did a couple of years ago. Earlier this month, news outlets reported that auto sales for January were up. Then yesterday, different numbers emerged. So just how healthy are U.S.
If you're like us, you probably assumed (if you thought about it at all) that Illinois legislators routinely provide intelligent guesstimates of what their legislation costs. That presumption turns out to be wrong. A new report said that less than two percent of bills passed last year had a price tag, or in legislative parlance, a fiscal note. In a perfect world, state government would assign an independent agency to crunch the numbers, resulting in more transparency and cost savings. States like Texas and Washington do this. In Illinois, that responsibility is given to agencies with a vested interest in the legislation.
Later today on Eight Forty-Eight, Michael Leachman with the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities will talk about how fiscal notes work and why so many states fail to provide them. We swear it's a budget conversation that won't make your eyes glaze over!
Also, DeRo fans, take note: listeners get to call in and ask WBEZ blogger and Sound Opinions co-host Jim DerRogatis questions. Anything and everything rock-related (and hip hop and pop-related) is on the table, so do not hesitate to seize this singular opportunity.
Chicago's top headlines, piped straight to your earbuds.
In today's episode: Teacher pension changes; rebuilding the economy - through immigration; the "happiness machine."
It's all the news that's fit to podcast. Click above to listen, click here to subscribe.
Listen to Jim DeRogatis on 848
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Jim DeRogatis, WBEZ blogger and Sound Opinions co-host, has dealt with his fair share of controversy. His posts are consistently the highest trafficked on our website, and without his loyal, very opinionated and not at all rude commenters, it's unlikely he'd be able to keep that status. Whether it's his unwavering coverage of Lollapalooza's relationship with the city of Chicago, or his firm anti-uukelele stance, DeRogatis has managed to provoke music lovers from all walks of life.
Listen to Carrie Shepherd on Afternoon Shift
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Everyday on Afternoon Shift with Steve Edwards, WBEZ producers and staff will pop in to share their "3 at 3"-three things that are keeping us intrigued, entertained, annoyed or just distracting us throughout the day (insider secret: the segment actually starts about 2:50 pm but this is radio, not military time). Today, in the spirit of the red shirt I'm wearing (which is in the spirit of Valentine's Day), I'm featuring three things that can help smooth your path to love:
1. Helen Fisher: Biological anthropologist. Those are two words that would normally lose me, but not this time. Fisher's work is awesome. Steve suggested her for today's show because she researches the science of attraction-why we choose (or run from) the partners we do. Being Valentine's Day and all, she's booked up, but plans to join us in the future. She's behind chemistry.com, and created a personality test that helps assess what kind of partner you are and what kind of person those traits attract.
When I got on the phone with Debby Herbenick, former sex columnist for TimeOut Chicago and always sex expert (she's also a Research Scientist at Indiana University and a sexual health educator at The Kinsey Institute), one of the first questions I asked her was if the internet has changed the questions she gets. I already knew the answer; as a long-time reader of her column, the last of which was published on January 11, I'd often found the questions she gets funny.
Listen to Jonathan Alter on Afternoon Shift
Plenty of people have been troubled by the impact of the 2010 Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
It's the age old question...do you or don't you go thematic for the holiday? Well, of course you do when it's Valentine's Day!
Today on the Afternoon Shift with Steve Edwards we're talking the sexy, the stable and the still budding sides of love. The sexy? Former TimeOut Chicago sex columnist Debby Herbenick tells Steve why she went into the business of dishing out relationship and bedroom advice.
We head to the playground to learn more about what dating is like for tweens and teens during the early days of love. Of course dating looks a bit different for Millennials—it’s all about texting, chatting and social media these days. Good for shyer, pimpled pre-teens…bad for mom and dad.
