Dear Listeners,

We are writing to share exciting news about our program schedule. Beginning Monday, May 14, we’ll be introducing new shows on WBEZ, bringing new voices, fresh personalities and diverse perspectives to Chicago’s airwaves.

We’re updating our weekday and weekend schedule to reflect an even greater commitment to the daily news cycle and to fact-based, independent journalism.

We wanted you – our most dedicated listeners – to be among the first to know. Here are some highlights, and you can view the complete schedule here.

New shows at a glance: Joining your favorite voices on WBEZ like Ira Glass, Peter Sagal and Terry Gross, we welcome some breakthrough public radio and podcasts hosts to Chicago. Here’s a rundown:

1A: With a name inspired by the First Amendment – 1A is one of the most celebrated new daily talk shows in public radio. Led by the incisive questioning of its talented host, Joshua Johnson, 1A is a daily national conversation that explores the most pressing topics of the day - from policy to politics to popular culture. Weekdays at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The Daily: The acclaimed podcast from The New York Times comes to WBEZ, hosted by Michael Barbaro and powered by The New York Times’ journalism. Each evening, Michael and his colleagues take you behind the scenes to understand the deeper forces driving many of the biggest stories.  Monday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

It’s Been a Minute: NPR’s Sam Sanders, who earned widespread praise and attention for his coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign, recaps the week’s news, culture and everything else, plus deep dives with artists, writers, journalists and more. Saturdays at 11 a.m.

The Takeaway – on Saturday: Host and highly regarded political analyst Amy Walter (of the Cook Political Report and PBS Newshour) puts the week’s political news in context, with lively conversation and probing insights in this weekly airing of the daily program. Saturdays at 3 p.m. (starts June 2)

Hidden Brain: NPR’s Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to explore human behavior and life’s unseen patterns in his popular Morning Edition and podcast segments. Now he spins those insights into a fascinating weekly program that uncovers our most fundamental behaviors in surprising, compelling ways. Sundays at 8 p.m.

More news throughout the day: The updated program schedule includes more opportunities for you to join the daily news conversation, and more local news and investigative reports from WBEZ’s award-winning journalists throughout the day.

• Extended morning news. Following Morning Edition and WBEZ’s The Morning Shift weekday mornings, we’re thrilled to add NPR’s 1A at 10 a.m. to continue the news and conversation.
• An informed drive home. To help you catch up on news at the end of each day, we’re extending All Things Considered until 7 p.m.; airing Marketplace twice at 4:30 and 7 p.m.; and adding The Daily at 7:30 p.m.
• Put the day’s news in context. With a version of 1A at 10 p.m., and an earlier start for the BBC World Service weeknights at 11 p.m.
• And, the news doesn’t rest on the weekends. We’re extending Weekend Edition Sunday with Lourdes Garcia Navarro by an hour on Sundays, on air until 11 a.m. – on top of debuting new weekend shows alongside favorites like Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, This American Life and Sound Opinions from WBEZ.

Schedule adjustments take some getting used to, and we want to know what you think. Find the complete WBEZ schedule here, and be in touch at programming@wbez.org.

Also, if you haven’t done so already, download the WBEZ app, which is free in the App Store, to listen to our live broadcast and access, on-demand, anything we’ve broadcast during the last seven days.

Thank you for listening and for supporting public radio and independent journalism on WBEZ 91.5 FM Chicago.

Your fellow public radio listener,

Steve Edwards

Vice President, Chief Content Officer for WBEZ 91.5FM Chicago