Tony Sarabia

It’s the first official day of spring. That, hopefully, means warmer temperatures, things beginning to bloom, and on farms, new life. Recently, the Morning Shift team has been watching adorable baby goat videos on Twitter from one specific source: a farmer who recently left his life in Chicago to settle in rural Iowa. We reached out to hear more about what life on the farm has been like so far. His voice may sound familiar. Tony Sarabia joins the Morning Shift for the first time in far too long. It’s the first official day of spring. That, hopefully, means warmer temperatures, things beginning to bloom, and on farms, new life. Recently, the Morning Shift team has been watching adorable baby goat videos on Twitter from one specific source: a farmer who recently left his life in Chicago to settle in rural Iowa. We reached out to hear more about what life on the farm has been like so far. His voice may sound familiar.

WBEZ’s Tony Sarabia talks with people who came out later in life about how that affected their closest relationships.

After 28 years at WBEZ 91.5FM Chicago, our very own Tony Sarabia, host of ‘The Morning Shift,’ will host his last show on Friday, Dec. 21.

Creative types have long been teased about following an academic route in liberal arts. They were chided to keep their passion on the side, but aim for a more “practical” degree that would lead to a better job or higher salary. But that’s been upended as more companies need the art, English and philosophy majors and the skills those studies give an applicant. Esteban Gast taught creativity to engineering students at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and calls himself an entertainer and educator. We talk to him about aligning those worlds to build a career. How has your liberal arts education or creative passion fueled your professional life?

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed a new site for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: The Lakeside Center of the McCormick Place Convention Center, which he’d like to demolish to make room for the museum. Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin, someone who doesn’t always agree with the Mayor, thinks it’s the right choice.

A little more than a handful of Chicago alderman are doing what’s called “participatory budgeting” this year. In those wards, Chicagoans get to cast a vote on how the lawmakers should spend about a million dollars. Tony Sarabia and WBEZ city politics reporter Lauren Chooljian take listener calls about how they would spend the money, even if their aldermen aren’t participating. We also check in with 36th Ward Alderman Gilbert Villegas about how the process is going in his district.

Chicago’s Interim Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was at City Council Tuesday to answer questions from aldermen. WBEZ’s Lauren Chooljian was there and brings us an update on what we learned about Johnson’s plans for addressing police accountability and crime. Dig Deeper: From WBEZ News: Panel Moves To Fast-Track Chicago Mayor’s Police Chief Pick

As she made her way through college and community theater, actress and playwright Tekki Lomnicki noticed there weren’t many people who looked like her on the stage. Lomnicki is a little person, so she joined forces with friends and others in the local theater scene to create Tellin’ Tales Theatre, featuring personal stories from people living with disabilities. This weekend, they present Divercity at Prop Thtr. We talk to Lomnicki about what audiences can expect.

We play an excerpt from our conversation with Debra Ruh, author of Uncovering Hidden Human Capital: How Leading Corporations Leverage Multiple Abilities in Their Workforce, which focuses on the advantages of hiring more workers with disabilities.

Dr. Lonnie Smith is a master of the Hammond B3, an electric organ first featured in gospel music in the 1950s and later adopted by rock, R&B and jazz musicians. Known for his creative jazz, Smith has been called one of the forefathers of Acid jazz. But as his website says, “no genre is safe.” Smith has put his own spin on everything from the Beatles to the Stylistics to the Eurythmics to Beck. His new record is called Evolution. Morning Shift’s Tony Sarabia talks to Smith about his 50 years in jazz and hears a few tunes on the Hammond B3.