Notoriously Corrupt: Uncovering Chicago's Historic Corruption with "The City"

The injustices that plague the city of Chicago and its politics have been well documented and investigated for many years. From its “political machine” that relies on nepotism, political favors, and redlining, Chicago is unfortunately notorious for its corruptness that still continues to this day. The investigative podcast The City exposes a key facet of Chicago’s corruption, revealing how illegal dumping sites plagued a city neighborhood for over a decade.

In The City, host Robin Amer investigates the injustices that Chicago’s westside neighborhood of North Lawndale faced in the 1980’s and 1990’s. A reporter for USA today who has been reporting in Chicago for over a decade, Amer is able to uncover truths that are both shocking and unsettling. InThe City, first released in 2018 and containing ten chronological episodes, Amer is most interested in investigating how and why Chicago injustices are able to manifest, stating that she investigates “all of the foul and crooked things people will do when no one is looking” (Amer, The City: Six Stories). Amer has spent her career in Chicago reporting on issues such as housing discrimination and unfair and predatory loan lending to the most vulnerable residents of Chicago. In this project, Amer tackles the problem that Chicago faces with illegal dumping sites, causing harm to the citizens of the affected neighborhoods. She receives help from local affected residents, her producer Jenny Cass, who has extensively researched Chicago politicians, and others in the city who have worked to stop local injustices.

Image courtesy of USA Today.

In the first season of the podcast, Amer tells the story of the illegal dumping site in Chicago’s Westside neighborhood North Lawndale. Nicknamed “Mount Henry” after the 24^th ward alderman at the time, this dumping site was a vacant lot in which trucks would illegally come and dump debris at. This debris was from the city’s construction, filling the lot with “broken pieces of the city” (Amer, The City: Six Stories), including large pieces of cement, concrete, and garbage. This caused many threats to the livelihoods of the North Lawndale community, including problems of an uncleanable amount of dust that provoked health issues in surrounding residents, rats that would run through the lot and make their way into people’s homes, and disruptive noise at all hours of the day.

“Mount Henry” construction buildup in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood. January 1996. Image courtesy of Brian Jackson for the Chicago Sun-Times.

In order to investigate this injustice, The City consults many local residents who were directly affected to get their perspective of what had happened, as well as the perspectives of other Chicagoans who were connected to the case. This gave the podcast a great sense of reliability, as Amer was able to present the direct stories of what happened from the people who were the most affected. One story from a local resident includes North Lawndale’s 4300 block club president Glaydys Woodson’s attempt to rid her community of this dump and bring justice to North Lawndale. Amer also speaks with the Ashford family, who dealt with asthma in their family at the fault of the dust from the debris. 

Amer also gathers insights from individuals connected to the city’s attempt to sue those responsible for the illegal dumping, such as Henry Henderson, the environmental lawyer who defended North Lawndale. Amer even gets the perspectives of the aldermen in Chicago who were called out for corruption, speaking to the 24^th’s ward alderman Bill Henry’s son. 

However, there are some perspectives missing. Whether it was due to criminal conviction or because of an early death, there were many people Amer mentions not being able to speak to. This includes Lester Foreman, the judge presiding over the first case of North Lawndale against the individuals responsible for the illegal dumping. However, Amer is still able to make up for these missing perspectives by supplementing her research with many agreeing first-hand accounts, tracing the truth of what really happened.

The most important and surprising piece of information that the podcast uncovered was that the dumps were run by John Christopher, an undercover investigator with the FBI tasked with investigating corruption perpetrated by Chicago's politicians. This information was uncovered by speaking to the local residents and doing research into the convictions of criminally charged contributors. 

While the podcast focuses on breaking down the corruption in an easy-to-follow way, Chicago's long history of politics could not possibly be fully demonstrated in one podcast season. Jenny Cass, The City’s producer, states, “it’s not as simple as a crooked guy bribes another crooked guy” (Amer and Cass,The City: Mount Henry). This podcast details one example of the corruption plaguing Chicago to support The City’s main point: that Chicago neglects the injustices on the west and south sides, where minority residents are grossly underserved by the city. With a long, documented history of corruption in Chicago, The City offers a highly convincing thesis.

Podcasts can be a great way for listeners to learn new information in a casual way. Being less demanding and less of a commitment than other media such as books or movies, podcasts can be listened to on-the-go and in between day-to-day tasks. The City’s exceptional use of auditory storytelling — incorporating firsthand accounts from involved citizens, dramatized scenes with hired actors, and a mix of music and sound effects to set the tone — this podcast serves as a mobile, auditory version of a formal documentary. Overall, The City offers an accessible and captivating way to learn more about Chicago. ✧

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