The Chicago Bears come into the 2025 NFL season with a new coaching staff, new offensive line and new playmakers – but will it lead to more wins? Will Ben Johnson’s offense turn Caleb Williams into an elite quarterback? Heading into Week 1, these are just two of many questions fans have about what to expect from the 2025 team. The Bears finished the 2024 season with a 5-12 record, featuring a 10-game losing streak in the middle of the year. With so much to fix and so many new pieces on this team, former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt joined The Takeaway with Alex to discuss what he wants to see from the offense and defense, what real progress looks like for a team that finished 5-12 last year, and what will determine this season being a success or failure. Wannstedt, who spent six seasons on the sidelines for the Bears, breaks down how Johnson’s offense will help Williams in year two under center.

President Donald Trump's threat to send the National Guard to Chicago has Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and other Democrats outraged in opposition. They say there are better ways to address the crime that the president hopes to solve. But is the move even legal? If troops hit the streets, what can they do? On this episode of The Takeaway with Alex, NBC Chicago Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern and law professor Harold Krent dissect the legal and political angles of the president's plan. The president says the guard will help quickly cut down on Chicago's crime problems. Democrats dismiss the idea as authoritarian theater. Ahern also discusses how the issue animates Democrats and a path to a possible Pritzker presidential run in 2028. Krent also notes the differences and similarities to National Guard deployments in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles earlier this year.

Months after voting out former Mayor Tiffany Henyard, Dolton is looking for a new school superintendent. Kevin Nohelty was the highest paid school superintendent in the state of Illinois, making over $500,000. Then he suddenly retired, after Regina Waldroup started digging into Nohelty’s past performance as a school administrator. She found Nohelty had a pattern of alleged financial problems – both professionally and personally. She also found that in the years Nohelty has been in charge, Dolton School District 148 has gone from solid finances to now being on a “watch list,” the lowest financial rank the Illinois State Board of Education can give to a district. In this episode of The Takeaway with Alex, Regina talks about Nohelty’s administrative record and what it means for taxpayers in the south suburbs.

“Alligator Alcatraz” and the “Speedway Slammer” are two of the Trump Administration’s newest ICE detention facilities. The buzzy titles may suggest similarity, but the sites are very different. Soon after the Department of Homeland Security announced the new facility in the Midwest, NBC Chicago Investigative Reporter Bennett Haeberle started digging into what the federal government has planned for the Indiana prison. Bennett joined The Takeaway with Alex to also explain what Indiana leaders say about the plan, how The Indianapolis Motor Speedway feels about the name, and how often the people whom ICE is detaining and deporting actually have criminal convictions.

Texas Democratic lawmakers have left their state, saying Donald Trump and fellow Republicans are unfairly redistricting and gerrymandering Texas. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has welcomed over 30 Democrats with open arms, supporting their cause as he seeks a third term in office — with one eye possibly on a presidential run in 2028. NBC Chicago Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern has covered all kinds of stories in her career, but hasn’t seen anything quite like this. In this conversation of The Takeaway with Alex, she explains why redistricting matters, what gerrymandering is, how Illinois could respond and why the effects of this story go far beyond Illinois and Texas.

Will Chicago be a haven against climate change? Do climate safe zones really exist? Extreme storms, higher prices and uninsurable property make Chicago more attractive, but climate change can still make midwest storms, flooding and heat worse. NBC Climate Reporter Chase Cain joins The Takeaway with Alex to share how the Midwest must adapt, how just talking about climate change can actually make a difference, and how artificial intelligence has positives and negatives for the future of our planet.

A 14-year-old Chicago boy named Emmett Till was abducted and lynched 70 years ago in Mississippi after being accused of whistling at a white woman named Carolyn Bryant in her family's grocery store. Till's death became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement after images circulated of an open casket funeral arranged by his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. Over time, his story began to fade from view, until decades later, the 2020 murder of George Floyd reignited the Black Lives Matter movement and sparked new conversations about the 1955 lynching that once shocked the country. Journalist Marion Brooks created the Emmett Till: Then and Now documentary that reexplores Till's life and death through the lens of his loved ones -- including Wheeler Parker who was there the day Emmett died.

Taxpayers have spent over $3 million on an empty lot on Chicago’s south side meant for migrants that was never used. First proposed as a winter shelter for migrants that were bused to Chicago from the southern border, tests eventually showed the lot was contaminated with heavy metals. Three years after Chicago’s migrant crisis began, NBC Chicago Investigative Reporter Bennett Haeberle sits down on The Takeaway with Alex to walk through the missteps that led to millions of dollars being spent on the land, tents and site cleanup – with no shelter to show for it. With the flow of migrants significantly slowing in 2025, Haeberle also looks ahead to what effect the influx had on city and state finances, and Chicago neighborhoods already struggling with housing. With Donald Trump promising to end federal funding for sanctuary cities like Chicago and also deport millions of people, Haeberle also looks ahead to what the future might hold for migrants.