In an interview by Ben Joravsky with Dave Glowacz on the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky Show, Dave and Ben listened to audio from two sessions of the Chicago City Council in December, 2020.

In the standard version of the episode, Dave played audio from members of the council during a Dec. 22 hearing about the botched police raid on the home of Anjanette Young—and the Chicago Dept. of Law's apparent efforts to suppress news of the raid.

During that eight-hour hearing, aldermen wondered why no staff from the Dept. of Law were present to answer questions about the now-infamous raid.

"Was the law department acting independently," asked Ben, of Mayor Lori Lightfoot? That remained unknown at the Dec. 22 hearing, Ben said, because the council questioned only people who are "utterly irrelevant to the issue at hand."

In the premium version of the episode, Dave's audio had Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown responding to Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16) and Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) about the cost and efficacy of search warrant-based raids.

That exchange prompted Ben and Dave to reflect on their journalistic experience: Government agencies shape public perception by the information they choose to share.

In more audio from the premium version, Ald. Sophia King (4) asked Supt. Brown how long police, when serving a search warrant, must wait after announcing themselves before breaking down the door of a home.

This issue of police procedure, Ben said, "has a long-range practical implication for Chicago."

In other premium-version audio, Supt. Brown, responding to Ald. Rosanna Rodriguez-Sanchez (33) and Ald. Harry Osterman (48), expressed frustration with "the Chicago way of investigating misconduct."

Hearing Brown, Ben opined that the Lightfoot administration could've addressed the Anjanette Young police raid long ago. Now, he said, "they wanna throw police officers under a bus."

Also in the premium version, Dave played audio from the Dec. 16 meeting of the full City Council—featuring a heated exchange between Mayor Lightfoot and Alds. Maria Hadden (49), Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), and others.

Prompted by Hadden's dispute with a lawsuit settlement, the mayor said that "condemnation of the law department . . . is irresponsible and, based on my experience, wildly inaccurate." Dave and Ben looked at how she later backpedaled from that remark.

"Within a day of the City Council meeting," Ben observed, Lightfoot "had completely transformed . . . That same mayor would insist on the firing of the corporation counsel."

In other premium-version audio from Dec. 16, an unknown alderman stalled legislation banning police from working with the federal government on immigration enforcement. Dave wondered which aldermen would have motivation to block the measure.

"There's a lot of people who might wanna bury this legislation," Ben said. "For instance, it's very unpopular with black aldermen."

Length 6.9 minutes standard, 45.6 minutes premium.

Music: "Sans Souci" by Arthur Green and Van Eps Banjo Orchestra

Standard audio:

Premium audio: