The BEZ

Italian superstar Jovanotti wows, one jam at a time

By: Kate Dries | Oct. 17, 2012

Oct. 17, 2012

He might not be a household name in America, but in Italy, Jovanotti is akin to a famous pop star like Justin Timberlake: he sells out stadiums. Now, he's trying to convince local audiences that his funky hip-hop and rap-inspired jams are something they can get behind too. Currently living in New York City, Jovanotti (born Lorenzo Cherubini) described himself as a "pilgrim" on Wednesday's Worldview:

"I am here on a pilgramage. I was born in Rome and I used to see American people coming to Rome to see the ancient roots of their culture. I'm doing the same thing in reverse. I'm here to pay my tribute to my musical culture, where I come from. That's America, that's funk, that's hip hop, that's American song writing.

…Read Full Entry

Scott Simon speaks

Rick Kogan | Oct. 17, 2012

Oct. 17, 2012

These are some of Scott Simon’s memories.

Yes, that Scott Simon, the Scott Simon you listen to as host of Weekend Edition on NPR.

Yes, that Scott Simon, who will join me later in the show.

He is a child of Chicago and these are some of his memories:

  • On sports: "I am a fan. Fans don't get much respect. In literature and pop culture, advertising and conversation, we are often seen as the anonymously clamorous: bug-eyed and beer-swollen, inert perennials who come to life only as we cheer and jeer the exertions of those who are stronger, fitter, more graceful and bold."
  • On sports again, and life: "Most of these recollections trace my life as a fan through Chicago's major sports teams, baseball, football, and basketball, the Cubs, Bears and Bulls.

…Read Full Entry

'Afternoon Shift' #171: Odoriferous political machines

By: Katie O'Brien | Oct. 17, 2012

Oct. 17, 2012

…Read Full Entry

Chicago-style politics now a common trope of TV dramas

By: Andrew Gill | Oct. 17, 2012

Oct. 17, 2012

While accusations have been levied for years of certain politicians practicing "Chicago-style politics," television dramas didn't fully embrace the subject until recent years. I would argue that the charges bandied about during Barack Obama's 2008 presidential run are largely responsible for the rise of this type of show.

First there was The Good Wife, a CBS hour-long drama that premiered in September of 2009, ten months after Obama's election and nine months after Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI, reinforcing all the claims of corruption Obama had fought throughout the campaign.

Here's star Julianna Margulies talking about her approach to politics, and family connections.

Then in February 2011 Fox debuted The Chicago Code, a police drama that featured a corrupt alderman played by Delroy Lindo.

Unlike The Good Wife, The Chicago Code was cancelled before it completed its first season.

It was only five later that TV viewers had a new fictional Chicago to explore, as Starz launched their ambitious drama Boss starring Kelsey Grammer.

…Read Full Entry

Actor Esai Morales: Hispanic roles in Hollywood are the four H's

By: Kate Dries | Oct. 17, 2012

Oct. 17, 2012

"I bemoan the fact that to this day, [Hispanics] rarely ever play heroes in anything. We're usually, I call it the four H's of Hispanic Hollywood: Either overly hormonal...overly hysterical...overly hostile...or overly humble," said Easi Morales (with appropriate vocal impressions) on Tuesday's Afternoon Shift. He and the cast of La Bamba, including Lou Diamond Phillips and Elizabeth Peña who starred with him in the 1987 biopic of Chicano rock 'n' roll star Ritchie Valens, reunited for the first time in 25 years; here's the full audio of their conversation:

…Read Full Entry

For the 'Underemployed' twenty-somethings, sex is recession and life-stage proof

By: Kate Dries | Oct. 17, 2012

Oct. 17, 2012

MTV’s Underemployed is the last of three pilots for the fall television season shot in Chicago. Still, I was a little surprised when the show opened with shots of the Windy City at night. It was so buzzy, so teeming with energy that I admit I expected it to pan to some shots of the City That Never Sleeps, a location all too familiar in movies and TV.

The creators might not want you to think that this is New York, but they’re definitely stressing themes usually found in shows set there. Namely the “Oh man, I have no idea what I’m doing” vibe so commonly felt by young people. The pilot episode of Underemployed opens with a few friends roaming the streets of downtown Chicago, celebrating their graduation, interspersed with scenes of the valedictorian/wannabe novelist of the group writing her novel at her laptop.“They were young and hopeful, lucky and sweet. They’d just finished college and were ready to jump into life,” she tells us via her screen and voiceover.

“Hey guys I wish it could be now forever!” yells a friend.

…Read Full Entry

The Morning Drive Podcast: Wednesday

By: Lauren Chooljian | Oct. 17, 2012

Oct. 17, 2012

 

Good morning!

Welcome to this edition of the Morning Drive Podcast!

…Read Full Entry

Baseball fever

Rick Kogan | Oct. 16, 2012

Oct. 16, 2012

 

It is 1959 and we are going nuts. The Sox have won the pennant and the night is alive with noise. Baseball holds a special place for many of us—and long has.

When baseball was relatively new, poet Walt Whitman observed, “I see great things in baseball. It's our game—the American game.”

I recently drove around for a long time looking for what was once a familiar city sight: A school wall with a “strike zone” painted or chalked onto it. There was a time when no self-respecting school wall would be without one. You just don’t see that much anymore.

My school was LaSalle, a public school; and our “strike zone” was chalked on the north wall, facing a playground in Old Town.

Standing there against the school’s unmarked brick wall, as I always do when fall is about to begin and the World Series about to start, it is impossible for me not to be touched by memories.

One rushes back.

…Read Full Entry

Pages