In this extra episode of The 602, Maddie and Sarah have a big guest in to talk about the major things happening at District 65. This coming Monday, the school board is expected to vote on a plan that would start the formal process toward closing two elementary schools, Dewey and Lincolnwood, along with cuts to programs and jobs. We talked to Interim Superintendent Dr. Eric Witherspoon, who joins us to explain what’s driving the district’s deficit, why he believes this plan is necessary, and why this feels so tough for the families affected by these decisions.

This week, Sarah and Maddie sit down with Ryan Flynn, board secretary of the Evanston Dems, to talk about what a local political party actually does, how its members decide whom to endorse, and how to stay involved between elections (even on the nights when the kids won’t eat dinner and you still have a meeting to get to). It’s all about community, friends! Especially AFTER an election.

Ryan tells us how he went from working on Capitol Hill to joining the Evanston Dems in part because he wanted to make friends and connect to people other than his family. We talk about knocking on doors, getting involved closer to home as Evanston’s special mayoral election approaches, and why sometimes getting to know your neighbors starts with a bonfire at Lighthouse Beach. And at the beginning we do a deep dive on everyone’s first concert <3

Find the Evanston Dems at evanstondems.com.

Find Ryann on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanfflynn/?hl=en

Evanston is heading into a special election for mayor and so we continue our mayoral series this week with one of the candidates: Jane Grover! We get into her experience and vision in the episode: why she’s running, her plans to stabilize the city’s finances and strengthen city services, and how she’d approach housing and economic development. We also talk about a bunch of other stuff like what it’s like to raise three boys, knitting, and having a chicken coop in your backyard.

This is the third episode in our mayoral series.

Listen to Daniel Biss here (his exit interview!): Apple Podcasts, Spotify

Listen to candidate Stephanie Mendoza here: Apple Podcasts, Spotify

And finally, Maddie mentions her other work, Chicago.com during our intro chat. Please have a look at all of the ways you can find community there, too: https://evanston.chicago.com/

It's another sidebar convo, friends and neighbors! Sarah and Maddie talk this week with their friend Alexa Caldicott, a Lincolnwood mom about the school closures effecting our community. In addition to talking about the utter chaos of these decisions, we reminisce about high school and talk about what it's like for Alexa and Sarah to live in the town they grew up in. We shout out some incredible teachers and parents from the Dewey and Lincolnwood communities and just otherwise talk about our feelings and what the F we are supposed to do next.

Alexa's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askalexa_realestate/?hl=en

This week on the 602, we’re joined by Kelly and Sam Mack of Mack’s Bike and Goods on Central Street. Sam is a fourth-generation Evanstonian and has been a professional bike mechanic since he was 13, and today he and Kelly run a family-owned bicycle shop that’s become a neighborhood fixture.

We talk about the joy of cycling, what it takes to run a small business in Evanston, and how Kelly’s work with the city is helping shape the 2026 Bike Plan Update. We (ahem, SARAH!) also get confused about the Chicago Avenue Corridor Project and what it could mean for protected bike lanes in town (which she wants her own kids to be able to use before they go to college!!). We dream about what our city could look like if it was truly safe and accessible for all children, pedestrians, and cyclists, of ranging abilities and motives.

Find Mack’s Bike and Goods at 2948 Central Street in Evanston.

Their website is here: https://www.macksbikeandgoods.com/

Mack's Bike and Goods is on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/macksbikeandgoods/?hl=en

This week Sarah and Maddie talk with Tom and Rachel Carlin, the husband-and-wife team behind Burl, Evanston's farm-driven, open-fire restaurant. We chat about all of their combined experiences in Chicago’s best restaurants, how they met, their first smooch, why they chose Evanston to be their home and the home of their first restaurant, and how Tom builds a menu around the farms they've worked with for years. We also get into what it's like to run a restaurant while raising a family in the community you serve. This one is full of good feels and mouth-watering food talk! Make a reservation at Burl’s website below! Get the cabbage!

Burl’s website: https://www.burlevanston.com/

Burl Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burlevanston/?hl=en

This week Sarah and Maddie chat with Stephanie Mendoza, Evanston’s city clerk running for mayor. She kicks off our mayoral series where we talk to every candidate running for mayor. In this episode, we ask Stephanie about why she's running, what she sees as Evanston's biggest challenges right now, and what her vision for the city looks like if she wins. Whether you've interfaced with her at the Clerk's office or are just getting to know her, this is a great primer on one of the names to watch in the upcoming race.

In this episode we do talk about District 65’s TWI program and how being bilingual can have real cognitive benefits. While this isn’t just folk wisdom, the studies we reference talk more about the effects that tend to be specific (number, gender, spatial/temporal metaphors, color categorization) rather than a wholesale "different worldview," and the strength of the effect scales with proficiency and how much a person is actively using each language. This was studied in John Lucy's Yucatec Maya Study (1992): https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/John-A-Lucy-2079095222

Please note: in our intro, we said that Stephanie was born in Tijuana. She was actually born in San Diego, CA and raised in Tijuana.

We should also note that in our conversation we talk about how the mayor’s salary is $25,000 a year; this is no longer accurate. There was a salary increase last year, up to 32,000 a year.

https://www.instagram.com/downtownevanston/

We also mention Stephanie’s most underrated Evanston spot! She references Sissy Mary’s Kitchen. Look them up here: https://www.facebook.com/p/Sissy-Marys-Kitchen-61565915276906/

Stephanie’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestephaniemendoza/

Stephanie’s Campaign website: https://stephanieformayor.com/

He's led Evanston for years — now he's setting his sights on Washington. In this episode, we sit down with Mayor Daniel Biss for a wide-ranging conversation about his time in City Hall and what people misunderstand about the role and responsibilities of mayor, what he's most proud of (and what he'd do differently), and why he's decided to run for Congress in the 9th District. He takes our concerns about getting better Evanston merch seriously (thank you!), talks about what it was like growing up in Indiana and running out of math classes by 8th grade, and doesn't take offense when we tell him dads are annoying!

We talk through some of the issues that have defined his mayorship (Ryan Field, D65 drama, Envision Evanston) and why he has to leave us for Washington D.C. It's part retrospective, part campaign preview and a candid look at a local leader stepping onto a much bigger stage.

This episode is the first in our mayoral series where we speak to our current mayor, and then in subsequent episodes to the candidates running to replace him in the new year. We hope you enjoy!

Daniel Biss for Congress: https://www.danielbiss.com/

Daniel Biss Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniel.biss/?hl=en