iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 03/09/2026

I even have the earrings to prove it!

it's Christine, in a rare selfie! she's wearing some dangly earrings with black dice on them

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 03/09/2026

found an old Chicago Tribune article about "a million miles from Monday," and I love this encapsulation of it:

I’m no expert on advertising-but it’s clear that someone who came up with this ad campaign understands what people really want. Americans these days aren’t yearning to go somewhere in particular as much as they are yearning to get away from something-and that something is the tension, the deadening sameness, the fatigue and turmoil and daily routine of the Monday-Friday workweek. When a person looks up from his or her desk on a Wednesday afternoon, he or she wants to escape, to find some peace, some distance-and the specific location is not as strong as the simple desire. “A million miles from Monday” sums up that universal desire as well as any slogan I’ve ever seen in an ad.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 03/09/2026

how can you not like a game with art like this

three cards from the game "sushi go" -- three different kinds of nigiri (egg, salmon and squid) smiling at you against a yellow backdrop

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 24/02/2026

every once in a while I get a burst of outfit inspiration. today was one of those days

Christine, a twenty-something white trans woman with short blonde hair and glasses, wears a colorful shirt that's a mix of red, white and black. It's long-sleeved, and has some ruffles at the front. She's wearing a black skirt, red tights, and knee-high boots with heels.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 18/02/2026

Good morning from the Illinois State Capitol! @21st.show is live here today with coverage of the Governor's State of the State and budget address.

Christine, a twenty-something white trans woman with a pixie cut haircut, smiles for the camera. She's wearing a grey dress with a flowery black pattern, a necklace with two interlocked Venus symbols, and her press badge.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 10/01/2026

this is probably just about the nerdiest way imaginable to tell folks I'm in Chicago for the weekend, but here we are 🤓

Christine, visiting the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, sits behind Stephen Colbert's Late Show desk from his week in Chicago.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 10/11/2025

More to come soon on the next edition of Headlines of the Obvious

a bubble in Christine's weather app reading "Trending Now: Snow Could Be Measured In Feet"

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 06/09/2025

shout out to my colleague Emily Hays, whose Arden Cho interview is on NPR's front page right now! 🥳 (bottom right corner)

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 14/08/2025

brb, gotta go meet people at the table-less bench-less picnic table

A black structure meant to hold benches and a picnic table, with the benches and table removed.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 10/07/2025

all dressed up, and somewhere to go (tomorrow, courtesy of the work of @josezepeda.21st.show, The 21st Show from Danville!)

Christine, a fairly young trans woman with a short pixie cut-esque blonde haircut, sits in the back seat of the station van. She's wearing a blue Illinois Public Media polo, her usual necklace, and a nametag indicating she's Christine Hatfield, producer of The 21st Show at Illinois Public Media.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 08/07/2025

we're doing the pre-transition photos vs. now thing on Bluesky today apparently, so I guess I'll have a go (summer 2017 -- about a year before I figured things out -- vs. today)

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 23/05/2025

the clocks at work are a little on the nose today about how the passage of time feels lately

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 22/05/2025

Know how I know it's almost the end of the Illinois General Assembly session?

Christine's inbox, showing several emails from comms people in the General Assembly, in the span of 10 minutes, highlighting several bills making progress in the legislature.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 09/05/2025

The Irish Daily Star was clearly workshopping its headlines waiting for this...

Front page of the May 9, 2025 Irish Daily Star. The top reads "It's American Pious," and below is a picture of Pope Leo XIV overlooking crowds in the vatican. Below, in bold caps, is the headline "YES WE VATICAN."

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 07/05/2025

love to get new glasses every now and again. you know, as a treat

A girl with short blonde hair wearing a shirt with a lot of cherries on it, and earrings that look like cherries, smiles while wearing her new glasses, which are a colorful swirl of white, blue, and brown.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 17/04/2025

there comes a point where it's nice not to have a profile pic that's bordering on 3 years old

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 09/04/2025

Coming soon to The 21st Show, at the rate things are going:

A red card called "An Hour of Shouting" from the board game The Networks. The card depicts three men in suits with their mouths wide open and their teeth bared, all apparently shouting at each other.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 31/03/2025

Happy Trans Day of Visibility! Still here, still living life.

Christine, a white trans woman with short blonde-ish hair, stands in front of some bushes and a tree that's flowering. Christine is wearing a blue and black dress with a black coat, and is wearing glasses, a necklace with two intertwined "female" symbols, and earrings with the colors of the trans flag.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 11/03/2025

Coming soon to an Illinois Public Radio station near you, @21st.show in concert! We taped a few songs and some conversation this afternoon with @emilytheband.bsky.social -- you can hear it all on the show this Thursday around 11:30.

In a television studio with black walls (and some brick facades off to the left), Camryn Proctor and Emily Antonacci of emily the band talk with 21st Show host Brian Mackey. Camryn is a young Black non-binary person. They're holding a guitar. Emily is a young white woman. She's holding a ukulele. Brian is a middle-aged white man. All three are sitting in front of microphones.

In a television studio with black walls, Camryn Proctor and Emily Antonacci of emily the band perform for The 21st Show. Camryn is a young Black non-binary person. They're playing a guitar. Emily is a young white woman. She's playing a ukulele. Both are singing in this photo.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 19/02/2025

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker in his State of the State speech (the "as prepared" remarks), drawing a direct line from history:

I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now. A president who watches a plane go down in the Potomac – and suggests — without facts or findings — that a diversity hire is responsible for the crash. Or the Missouri Attorney General who just sued Starbucks – arguing that consumers pay higher prices for their coffee because the baristas are too “female” and “nonwhite.” The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems.

I just have one question: What comes next? After we’ve discriminated against, deported or disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the developmentally disabled, the women and the minorities – once we’ve ostracized our neighbors and betrayed our friends – After that, when the problems we started with are still there staring us in the face – what comes next?

All the atrocities of human history lurk in the answer to that question. And if we don’t want to repeat history – then for God’s sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 05/02/2025

because even when the world is going crazy, public radio still loves its books (coming soon to a @21st.show near you)

Christine, a blond-ish haired trans woman with glasses, reads a paperback copy of Alexandra Lange's "Meet Me By The Fountain," a book about the history of American malls.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 12/12/2024

Rep. Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) out with a press release about the NDAA and "key local and national priorities" passed in it in the U.S. House yesterday. No mention of the ban on gender-affirming care for some trans youth in the bill that led to many House Democrats voting against it.

Budzinski Priorities Passed in National Defense Bill

WASHINGTON, DC — This week, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) celebrated key local and national priorities passed in the National Defense Authorization Act, including pay raises for service members, bringing military boot production back to America, funding to secure our telecommunications infrastructure and support for the iFAB Tech Hub at the University of Illinois. The legislation now heads to the United States Senate for consideration.

“Our service members risk their lives every day to keep us safe and defend our freedoms. This pay raise is both a well-deserved recognition of their sacrifice and a way to support our troops facing the rising cost of living,” said Congresswoman Budzinski. “I am also encouraged by the inclusion of funding for key priorities I have long advocated for, such as securing our telecommunications infrastructure, supporting the iFAB Tech Hub and bringing military boot manufacturing back to American soil - including in Belleville, IL. While this bill is not perfect, it represents an important step forward in addressing critical issues that impact our national security and our local community.”

Key local provisions in the bill include:

Bringing Manufacturing Back to America

The legislation also includes language requiring the Department of Defense to provide a briefing to Congress on the feasibility of changing regulations to ensure that boots worn by service members are entirely American-made. This provision stems from language from Budzinski’s BOOTS Act, which would address safety concerns for our military personnel while bringing military footwear manufacturing back home to the United States with American-sourced materials. The BOOTS Act would support domestic military footwear production at places like the Belleville Shoe Manufacturing Company.

Funding for Secure Telecommunications Infrastructure

The NDAA also includes funding for secure telecom infrastructure that Budzinski has long championed. In July, Budzinski introduced the Secure and Affordable Broadband Extension Act, which proposed dedicating $3.08 billion to remove and replace wireless internet equipment from Chinese Communist Party-associated corporations, like Huawei and ZTE, with secure infrastructure. This year’s NDAA answers that call, designating that funding level for this project.

Supporting Local Tech Hubs

Additionally, the legislation allocates $280 million to the Department of Commerce's Regional Tech Hubs Program, providing the necessary resources to fully implement all approved Tech Hubs. This marks a major win for the University of Illinois’ Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing Tech Hub, also known as iFAB, which will receive a portion of this funding as one of the awarded tech hubs.

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 05/12/2024

this should not be allowed before Christmas

the weather conditions for Champaign, IL, on a blue background. It's listed as 12 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny, with a few rays of sun shown to the right on my weather app to illustrate the point. Underneath all of that, the high is listed as 23, and the low listed as 10. Circled in red is the text "Feels like -5°".

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 20/11/2024

Showing some public radio pride for Illinois Public Media Friendsgiving!

Christine, a white trans woman with short brown hair and glasses, holds a sign saying "I HEART The 21st Show!"

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Christine Hatfield @christine.21st.show · 20/11/2024

I may be a mess but at least my desk isn't 🫡

A picture of Christine's desk setup at Illinois Public Media. The main desk has two computer screens and a laptop off to the right of the screens. Also on the desk are some business cards and a "Public Radio Nerd" waterbottle. Along the wall are some mementos from her time in journalism and her personal life. On the first shelf are various tchotchkes, including a statue of Mario from Super Mario Bros 3, Funko Pops of Alex Trebek and Wynonna Earp, a small Kirby plushie on top of a giant estrogen pill, and a statue of a Dancer stone from Final Fantasy XIV. On the top shelf are greeting cards, a message board reading "say more about that!", a statue of Sylveon, and some maps of Midwest independent bookstores.

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