Thursday, August 13, 2026

WBEZ is supported by the gynecology research lab at Endeavor Health. Period pain affects millions of people. Researchers want to learn from those experiencing period pain. The NIH-funded study wants to know whether a common over-the-counter medication can reduce period pain over time. Compensation is available. Learn more at cure period pain.org. Good afternoon. I'm Lisa Labez, and this is The Rundown. Four more beluga whales have arrived at the shed aquarium today from a shuttered aquatic park in Niagara Falls, Canada. These joined four other belugas who were initially bought into the shed last month from the same park. Marine land park closed to the public in 2024 after years of animal welfare concerns. Reporter Stefano Esposito works with the Sun Times. With those four, that doubles the number of belugas that shed has from just a month ago, right? So they've got eight for Marines. land and they already had eight, which to me seems, how do you have the space for that many? But they tell me that they have adequate space. Esposito says the new arrival's names are Caspian, Pikachu, Rain, and Seacord. Two more belucas are expected to come to the shed in the coming weeks. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says the Chicago Bears have discussed various provisions they'd like to see in an Illinois Stadium plan, although the team has not put a specific legislative proposal on the table. He says it's up to the Bears to work with lawmakers in Springfield to identify which parts they want from two bills that stalled in the General Assembly in the spring. Meantime, Team President Kevin Warren today said the team's focus is for a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana. Warren also said the team has head middle. minimal conversations with Illinois officials. Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will not hit the field Saturday during the team's preseason opener against Cleveland. Head coach Ben Johnson says Williams and a number of starters will sit out. He says backup Tyson Baygent will be lining up under center for the first half. A new study shows chatbots could be changing who wins some research grants. Researchers at Northwestern University looked at proposals for two federal grant-making agencies, the National Institutes of Health, NIH, and the U.S. National Science Foundation, the NSF. At the NIH, researchers found proposals that showed stronger signs of involvement with artificial intelligence were more likely to receive funding. The study did not see a similar effect at the U.S. National Science. Science Foundation, lead researcher Yifan Chion says NIH proposals assisted by AI tended to resemble ideas the agency had already funded. This really raised up the question about the balance between exploration and exploitation and science. Chian says the study also raises questions about how AI use could steer future funding towards safer and more conventional research. You're listening to The Rundown. For Muslim families in the Chicago area, it is a challenge to find a preschool that reflects their values and supports their children's development. Culturally and religiously competent options are scarce. Some families, though, are choosing to enroll their children in a full Arabic immersion preschool in Southwest Suburban Bridgeview. Contributor Tasmiha Khan and my colleague, producer Marie Mendoza, visited the school in the spring.

It's the beginning of the school day and mass Quran blossoms. Parents addling their cars in front of the entrance, waiting for their turn to hand their child off to the teachers. The building is nestled next to Moss Foundation and a cluster of Islamic schools in Bridgeview, a community known as Little Palestine. The families who drive to the school come from across the Chicago metropolitan area. Many grew up here. They are American-born children of immigrants, raised between two languages and two worlds. Like one parent, Imani Elzebler. She's here to drop off her daughter. The reason that we're coming back here is for this program. Elzeblea moved to Bridgeview from San Diego specifically for mass blossoms. She registered her daughter for the program before she even found a house. Me and my husband's goal in life is just to make sure that my daughter understands who she is, what we believe in, and because all of her actions later on in life is going to reflect that. A debilet was raised in the Bridgeview area, and growing up, she felt a persistent disconnect between her Islamic identity and the public school environment. I was trying so hard to fit in, but also felt sometimes even resentment of my own culture. So I didn't want my daughter to have to feel that way and have to choose within her Islamic values. The Dublin other parents are making the choice to enroll their children in Arabic education at a particular moment. Anti-Muslim hostility has increased nationwide with more incidents of hate crimes and discrimination. Bridgio is one of the most densely Muslim communities in the U.S. That hostility at times has reached close to home. Right now, I feel like it's even more of a reason for kids or anybody who does have an Islamic identity to kind of either run away from it or cover it up. El Dhabli says it's made her more determined to help her daughter feel proud to be Muslim. If you have a strong understanding of the truth of what a Islamic identity in the Islamic culture is built up from a young age, then it becomes less likely for you as you grow into that to be impacted by the negativity of it. Ldeblis says she wants to give her daughter what she never had. The freedom does simply exist in both worlds at once. Versus me where I felt like growing up, I couldn't just be. Like it was always something I had to consciously put effort in and think about and like how I want to show up. But she's just being. She's coming back. She's teaching me. She's correcting my pronunciation. Yeah, it's beautiful to see that.

Inside the school, El Dabla's daughter and other students spend their days learning Arabic letters and verses from the Quran. They recite duas and nashides or prayers in songs. Teachers take time to meticulously correct each student's pronunciation along the way. So Quran Blossom was established in 2007. That's Abir Jaber. She's been the school's principal for the past seven years. I wasn't here when the Quran Blossom first started. I started six months after as a teacher's aide. I had a dream back then. I had a dream for the school, and I had a dream for myself. Al-Hamda-Lah, now I am the principal of the Quran Blossom. The curriculum took 7 to 8 years to build from scratch. It belongs entirely to mass blossoms. We see results of the kids when they start knowing the meanings of the words. And then when the teacher is asking, what is the meaning of this ayah? And they're telling her, it's just a chilling, proud, a lot of emotions. Arabi is the language of the Quran in more than 1,400 years of Islamic scholarship. It connects Muslims across every ethnicity and nationality. The first thing the youngest learners tackle is the Jaze Auma, the last part of the Quran. Al-Hahdala, we have 40 of our students this year, all of them. All of them. Masha'ammer is Jaze Amma. The preschoolers will recite it in its entirety at their graduation. Jaber says they've spent weeks preparing for it. Having our kids be proud of who they are, abroad of their identity as Muslims, proud of their language, just proud of being in an Islamic school. I think that itself speaks for everything. Jabesh says the demand for the school has only intensified in recent years, in part because of how impactful the experience is for the parents. Some parents describe that Arabic as limited, leaving them feeling disconnected with the Quran and their fate. A lot of the parents don't even speak the language, or they learned it and they forgot. It's a broad moment for me, and I'm sure it's for a lot of parents.

Today is Mass Blossom's end-of-year ceremony. It's at the V.J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park. The auditorium is still packed, it's standing room only. Another group of Mass Blossom preschoolers have memorized the Jaze Amma. As they recite the verses one by one, you can see every ounce of the little bodies focused on getting the words right. In between recitations, the children perform dances and act out scenes. I am a Muslim doctor and scholar. Parents watch in awe. With them, generations of family members, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, even babies. The kids are the ones reaching this milestone, but it feels like a full circle moment for everyone. This is the moment they've all been waiting for. Principal Jabber joins the stage to read the names of the students with a wide grin on her face.

We have fun. WPEZ News. Weather today, a high in the upper 70s with showers and thunderstorms, tonight more showers and thunderstorms, a low in the upper 60s, and Friday, more showers are likely high again in the upper 70s. You can find the latest news whenever you want at WBEZ.org or on your radio at 91.5 FM. I'm Lisa Lobbis. Thank you for listening.