EPISODE · Aug 14, 2025 · 56 MIN
Eric Klinenberg--Heatwave City
Thirty years ago, the institutions intended to protect Chicago's most vulnerable residents melted in the face of a brutal heatwave that killed over 700 people. Ben riffs. Eric Klinenberg, who wrote the book on what happened, talks about how the heatwave exposed inequities that plague Chicago to this day. How Mayor Daley tried to dismiss the deaths as relatively insignificant. How the media was too chicken to challenge Daley. How the city council fell in line with the Boss. How the powers that be looked the other way because the people who died were low-income. Eric's book, published in 2002, changed the narrative. It's called Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. I urge you to read it. Eric is a sociology professor at New York UniversitySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What this episode covers
Thirty years ago, the institutions intended to protect Chicago's most vulnerable residents melted in the face of a brutal heatwave that killed over 700 people. Ben riffs. Eric Klinenberg, who wrote the book on what happened, talks about how the heatwave exposed inequities that plague Chicago to this day. How Mayor Daley tried to dismiss the deaths as relatively insignificant. How the media was too chicken to challenge Daley. How the city council fell in line with the Boss. How the powers that be looked the other way because the people who died were low-income. Eric's book, published in 2002, changed the narrative. It's called Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. I urge you to read it. Eric is a sociology professor at New York University See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Eric Klinenberg--Heatwave City
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