EPISODE · Jun 16, 2026 · 26 MIN
Raise Hell, Then Leave: The Lightfoot Legacy
from A Four Star Podcast (Chicago, but Better) · host Fox 32 Chicago
Lori Lightfoot stormed into City Hall with a historic mandate, a reformer’s promise, and a landslide victory that seemed to signal a new era in Chicago politics. Four years later, she became the first Chicago mayor in decades to lose reelection. In this special vacation-week episode of A Four Star Podcast, Grant is on break, so we’re sharing his April 2024 interview with Chicago Tribune reporter Gregory Royal Pratt, author of The City Is Up for Grabs: How Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Led and Lost a City in Crisis. The conversation originally aired as part of the Fox 32 feature Raise Hell, Then Leave: The Lightfoot Legacy. Pratt walks through Lightfoot’s rise, her reformer image, her fractured relationships inside City Hall, her complicated approach to policing, her COVID-era leadership, and the political instincts that made her both unforgettable and isolated. It’s a look back at one of the strangest, sharpest, most consequential mayoral terms in modern Chicago history, and what Lightfoot’s legacy looks like now as Brandon Johnson faces his own political headwinds. 00:00 Raise Hell, Then Leave 01:08 Greg Royal Pratt on Lightfoot 01:33 The Mini Mayor 02:41 Lori the Reformer 05:38 The Landslide 07:48 The Fighter in City Hall 10:01 Lightfoot, Police, and Trust 14:38 Police Reform’s Missed Opportunity 16:34 Lightfoot and COVID 19:02 A Leader Alone 20:32 Covering Lori Lightfoot 22:36 Is There a Legacy? 24:27 Brandon Johnson and Lightfoot’s View Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What this episode covers
Lori Lightfoot stormed into City Hall with a historic mandate, a reformer’s promise, and a landslide victory that seemed to signal a new era in Chicago politics. Four years later, she became the first Chicago mayor in decades to lose reelection. In this special vacation-week episode of A Four Star Podcast, Grant is on break, so we’re sharing his April 2024 interview with Chicago Tribune reporter Gregory Royal Pratt, author of The City Is Up for Grabs: How Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Led and Lost a City in Crisis. The conversation originally aired as part of the Fox 32 feature Raise Hell, Then Leave: The Lightfoot Legacy. Pratt walks through Lightfoot’s rise, her reformer image, her fractured relationships inside City Hall, her complicated approach to policing, her COVID-era leadership, and the political instincts that made her both unforgettable and isolated. It’s a look back at one of the strangest, sharpest, most consequential mayoral terms in modern Chicago history, and what Lightfoot’s legacy looks like now as Brandon Johnson faces his own political headwinds. 00:00 Raise Hell, Then Leave 01:08 Greg Royal Pratt on Lightfoot 01:33 The Mini Mayor 02:41 Lori the Reformer 05:38 The Landslide 07:48 The Fighter in City Hall 10:01 Lightfoot, Police, and Trust 14:38 Police Reform’s Missed Opportunity 16:34 Lightfoot and COVID 19:02 A Leader Alone 20:32 Covering Lori Lightfoot 22:36 Is There a Legacy? 24:27 Brandon Johnson and Lightfoot’s View Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Raise Hell, Then Leave: The Lightfoot Legacy
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