Sign in

Brian Mackey

@brianmackey.com
1.1K followers 229 following 64 posts

Host of the @21st.show, the statewide NPR talk show and podcast for Illinois.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Building a stadium in Indiana "will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses," the Chicago Bears announce.
Building a stadium in Indiana "will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses," the Chicago Bears say.
142110
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
We've become numb to this stuff, but a president accusing a journalist of treason -- a capital crime -- for reporting on an ongoing war is not normal, and we should never accept it as normal.
26365771934
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Heidi Schlumpf @heidischlumpf.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Thanks to @brianmackey.com for inviting me on NPR's @21st.show to talk about Pope Leo and US politics. Also featuring my former colleague Mary FioRito! (And an interview with Cardinal Cupich, which I will link to in comments) will.illinois.edu/21stshow/sto...
to.talk
112
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Ben Mullin @benmullin.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."
22974592642
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Tim Carvell @timcarvell.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.
m.youtube.com
Surviving CECOT (full documentary) | Deported to a Maximum-Security Prison | FRONTLINE + ProPublica
YouTube video by FRONTLINE PBS | Official
97128496961
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 07/11/2025
"I don’t fear losing. What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning."
bangordailynews.com
Jared Golden: I won’t seek reelection. Here’s why.
"What I could accomplish in this increasingly unproductive Congress pales in comparison to what I could do in that time as a husband, a father and a son."
000
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Fulton County Courthouse in Lewistown, not far from one of our state’s more famous cemeteries. I had the great honor speaking with @brianmackey.com on @21st.show yesterday about some central Illinois gravesites. Link below!
A black and white pic of a tall domed courthouse
1101
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
At Broadview ICE facility, federal agents hurl tear gas and pepper spray at protesters blocking vans www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/19/t...
chicagotribune.com
At Broadview ICE facility, federal agents hurl tear gas and pepper spray at protesters blocking vans
Federal agents hurled tear gas and pepper spray into a crowd of about 100 protesters who attempted to block vans from entering and exiting a U.S. Immigration and Customs holding facility in Broadvi…
582520907
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 22/08/2025
Stark dispatch from Washington by my friend @danvock.bsky.social:
substack.com
Hostile government takeover: D.C. edition
President Donald Trump's police takeover and surge of federal forces is disrupting life in big ways and small for District residents. He wants the same thing for people in other cities too.
031
Reposted by Brian Mackey
jae holzman @jael.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
it does feel like a rubicon being passed today but does anyone remember the arson at the house of the most prominent jewish elected leader in america like two months ago
943584
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 07/06/2025
Tuned into the White Sox game in the bottom of the 8th. Score was 2–2, and within a few minutes the Sox were up 7–2. Last night I tuned into the end of the NBA Finals, and Indiana went up for the first time in the entire game with 0.3 seconds to go. Any other sports teams I can help out tonight?
010
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Tom Schenk Jr @tomschenkjr.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
This is shocking. I directly worked on designing the integration and protections of CityKey. It was designed to provide an ID, be a transit card, library and discount card. It was to *never* create a digital record while being compatible with state and city laws. Subpoena-proof.
49037
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
And finally (for now), SCOTUS will consider Bost v. Illinois whether federal candidates have standing to challenge state laws that count late-arriving ballots postmarked by Election Day. Not the merits (yet), just the standing question. www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...
The sole question presented here is whether
Petitioners, as federal candidates, have pleaded
sufficient factual allegations to show Article III
standing to challenge state time, place, and manner
regulations concerning their federal elections.
47923
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
This is such a good example of "turn every page" journalism - nothing less fun/glam than clicking through every footnote. And it's roughly 10,000x more newsy than the thumbsucker RFK profiles reported with big travel budgets.
874332942
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 18/05/2025
A New Yorker cartoon by Bruce Eric Kaplan shows a man alone in a living room, talking on the phone. The caption reads: “Just sitting here waiting for Facebook to go away.”
040
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Matt Zoller Seitz @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Update: Journalism has been purchased by a hedge fund which announced multiple amputations
643054
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 17/05/2025
Good question and fair points. Thanks for the detailed (and sincere!) response.
010
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 16/05/2025
Sincere question: Do you think former Inspector General Joe Ferguson lied to the Senate on behalf of Emanuel? “There is a complete absence of factual basis to support the claim that Mayor Emanuel was involved directly or indirectly in a ‘cover-up’ of the McDonald shooting videos,” he wrote.
news.wttw.com
No Evidence Rahm Emanuel Covered Up Police Murder of Laquan McDonald: Former Watchdog
The full U.S. Senate is set to consider Rahm Emanuel’s nomination to serve as President Joe Biden’s ambassador — but if the former Chicago mayor is confirmed, it will happen without the support of at ...
100
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Pope Leo spotted on the 2005 World Series broadcast
14784991592
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 09/05/2025
Great short essay on Pope Leo, the White Sox, and the Beatitudes, by @soxmachine.com: "While I'd known at some level that every pope is a person [...] it didn't resonate like seeing a picture of the person who is now pope wearing a White Sox jersey in the stands of U.S. Cellular Field."
soxmachine.com
So the pope is a White Sox fan - Sox Machine
In his autobiography, Bill Veeck wrote, “If there is any justice in this world, to be a White Sox fan frees a man from any form of penance.” Now that a White Sox fan is literally the pope, I guess we’...
041
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Jim Margalus @soxmachine.com · 09/05/2025
Wrote about the pope being a White Sox fan. It's pretty crazy! soxmachine.com/2025/05/so-t...
soxmachine.com
So the pope is a White Sox fan - Sox Machine
In his autobiography, Bill Veeck wrote, “If there is any justice in this world, to be a White Sox fan frees a man from any form of penance.” Now that a White Sox fan is literally the pope, I guess we’...
43313
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Ben Bradley @benbradleytv.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Cardinal Robert Prevost (center, blue shirt) visited the flagship @AureliosPizza location in Homewood in August with friends and family. Who could've imagined what would happen less than a year later! wgntv.com/news/robert-...
730150
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Keith Olbermann @olbermann.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
"This is Hawk Harrelson with Ed Farmer and the Pope at US Cellular and this is the 2005 World Series..."
2537344
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Caroline Kubzansky @ckubzansky.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Please have your first draft of history here, via half the Tribune and captained by @stacystclair.bsky.social That was a fun day at work. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/08/r...
chicagotribune.com
The White Sox, Aurelio's Pizza and St. Mary's Mass: A South Sider becomes pope
Robert Prevost’s Catholic roots were planted in Chicago’s south suburbs, where he lived in Dolton and attended St. Mary’s parish before becoming Pope Leo XIV.
1145
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 08/05/2025
Anyway, Illinois' only statewide public radio talk show will be talking about Illinois' only pope — so be sure to join us at 11 a.m. Friday on the @21st.show (or wherever you get your podcasts).
026
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 08/05/2025
And here I thought Chicago media reached peak “area man” stories in the Obama era.
153
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 06/05/2025
"It is now up to us to take the keys to freedom into our own hands."
youtube.com
Shortfilm Wim Wenders: The Keys to Freedom
YouTube video by AuswaertigesAmtDE
020
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 05/05/2025
Implement a 100% tariff and ruin a movie. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, Her Lover, Their Accountant, His Shipping Agent, Our Trade Representative, & an Unemployed Longshoreman (1989)
2131
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 01/05/2025
Also worth noting the wisdom in one of the comments: “Don’t accept criticism from someone that you wouldn’t accept advice from.”
020
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 01/05/2025
One heck of a fact-check story by @katierosman.bsky.social. Somehow manages to be heartwarming, heartbreaking, affirming and dispiriting — often in adjoining paragraphs. Be prepared for a rollercoaster.
nytimes.com
‘I Have Cancer,’ the TikTok Star Said. Then Came the Torrent of Hate.
Sydney Towle’s videos have drawn an enormous audience on TikTok, where her followers praise and support her. On Reddit, an army of skeptics was determined to paint her as a fraud.
100
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 30/04/2025
Thorough follow-up reporting from @capitolnewsil.bsky.social. Illinois State Police says “this does not appear to be a targeted attack,” but we’re still waiting for an explanation of what it was.
capitolnewsillinois.com
Driver of deadly crash at after-school camp is a former State Police employee
Four children died and six were injured after a car crashed into a Chatham after-school center on Monday.
040
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 29/04/2025
Update from the Illinois State Police, 5:16 a.m.: “The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was uninjured and transported to an area hospital for evaluation. ​ Toxicology reports are pending. ​ The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but this does not appear to be a targeted attack.”
111
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 29/04/2025
Update from the Illinois State Police, 5:16 a.m.: “The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was uninjured and transported to an area hospital for evaluation. ​Toxicology reports are pending. ​The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but this does not appear to be a targeted attack.“
021
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 29/04/2025
Disturbing context in the story above: “Monday’s crash is the latest instance of people driving vehicles into groups of people across the globe. Only two days earlier, a car plowed through a crowded street during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, killing 11.”
apnews.com
A look at vehicle ramming attacks across the globe
An SUV crashed into a crowd at a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver over the weekend, killing 11 people and injuring dozens of others in the latest vehicle attack around the world.
122
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 29/04/2025
“CHATHAM, Ill. (AP) — A car smashed through a building Monday afternoon, killing four young people and injuring several others during an after-school program in a small city outside of Springfield, Illinois, police said.”
apnews.com
Vehicle smashes through Illinois building, killing 4 young people and injuring others
Illinois State Police say a car smashed through a building during an after-school program just outside Springfield, Illinois. The four people killed were between the ages of 4 and 18, Illinois State P...
111
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Isaac Dovere @isaacdovere.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Pritzker calls for mass protests and disruption - “Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” he says, swaying their portraits will one day be put in museums “reserved for tyrants and traitors”
210127393270
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 27/04/2025
“I think what we’ll find in the end is there were multiple things that, had any one of them changed, it could have well changed the outcome of that evening.”
nytimes.com
The Missteps That Led to a Fatal Plane Crash at Reagan National Airport
New details revealed by The Times show that the failures on Jan. 29 before an Army helicopter crashed into a jet near Reagan National Airport were far more complex than previously known.
010
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Senator Dick Durbin @durbin.senate.gov · 23/04/2025
The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term.
12713477530
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
This video shows the fire damage inside the Pennsylvania Governor’s mansion. Governor Shapiro’s reaction to the arson attack is on my timeline.
27740901656
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
This Tufts student was grabbed off the street, cuffed and taken out of state solely because she co-wrote a completely respectful oped in the student paper. And Rubio’s State Dept now admits they have nothing more damning than that. Gift link wapo.st/4j8d5Uh
wapo.st
No evidence linking Tufts student to antisemitism or terrorism, State Dept. office found
An internal memo, prepared before Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by ICE, raises doubts about the Trump administration’s claims that she supports Hamas.
4933311129
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Dan Vock @danvock.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
When I went to the University of Illinois, we heard countless times about how UIUC made him mad because of licensing issues with Netscape/Mosaic. I hope that’s not what started this…
011
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 10/04/2025
“‘My understanding is that Trump promised mass deportations and the people you can find that are the easiest to identify are students,’ said Genevieve Lakier, a University of Chicago professor who specializes in freedom of speech and American constitutional law.“
chicagotribune.com
Trump administration revokes student visas from U. of C., Northwestern and U. of I.
Over the past week, nearly 300 full-time international students across the country were informed that their visa status had been revoked.
020
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
From my Atlanta home, to yours: Happy Confederate Surrender Day to all who celebrate— and doubly to all those who don’t. Perish all compromises with tyranny!
483424739
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 29/03/2025
No criminal record, no gang ties, no tattoos, applied for asylum, father of a 9-year-old, government's case full of errors, sent to mega-prison anyway amp.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Frengel Reyes Mota
10140631602
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 26/03/2025
From 2009: "While lawyers and the Secret Service balked at Mr. Obama’s initial requests to allow him to keep his BlackBerry, they acquiesced as long as the president — and those corresponding with him — agreed to strict rules. And he had to agree to use a specially made device."
nytimes.com
For a High-Tech President, a Hard-Fought E-Victory (Published 2009)
President Obama won the fight to keep his BlackBerry, but being the nation’s first e-mailing president comes with a specific set of rules.
000
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Unidentified men grabbing someone off the street and putting her in a car because she wrote an op-Ed. This as flatly authoritarian as anything we’ve seen in this country in a very long time.
18263626416137
Reposted by Brian Mackey
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 24/03/2025
American war planning usually takes place in highly secure facilities. But the Trump administration planned its strikes on the Houthis using a group chat—and accidentally included The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. theatln.tc/IuULQFiY
theatln.tc
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
35038161555
Brian Mackey @brianmackey.com · 21/03/2025
"We mark their loss today, but there will be a paper tomorrow, and another on Sunday. Each day is an opportunity to get it right." — @neilsteinberg.bsky.social's elegy for departing colleagues, with a vow to press on.
chicago.suntimes.com
The Sun-Times is losing some amazing journalists. They wouldn't want us to stop.
The bad news: 35 staffers — including 23 in the newsroom — took a Chicago Public Media buyout and most are leaving today. But their sacrifice will help ensure the newspaper's future.
011
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Philip Bump @pbump.com · 21/03/2025
This is exactly what I wrote about on Wednesday. (Gift link: wapo.st/4iMGl2s) Because these people are accused of actions opposing the regime (hurting his friend's market cap), they deserve the worst imaginable punishment — a punishment outsourced to a country that escapes U.S. laws and judiciary.
30380114
Reposted by Brian Mackey
Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
My view is that the American South never fully took to liberal democracy. And I think we have to reckon with that to face the moment we’re now in. I wrote about it for @thebulwark.bsky.social www.thebulwark.com/p/liberal-de...
thebulwark.com
Waiting for Liberal Democracy in the American South
Our country’s constitutional order is withering before us. In the states of the former Confederacy, democracy never fully flourished.
1852807774