Making
Making is a biographical podcast series from WBEZ Chicago. It explores how icons, industries, and newsmakers rose to the top. Each season delves into the story of a different influential figure or phenomenon. The series is critically acclaimed for its in-depth storytelling.
Episodes
Becoming Bovino
Who is Gregory Bovino? For months, the Border Patrol Commander-at-Large led agents through Chicago on an aggressive immigration enforcement campaign, while making sure his noticeably uncovered face was in front of as many cameras as possible.But there's very little information online about Bovino's background, his experience, or his rise to overnight prominence. So our team went digging –
A new era for daytime soaps operas: Beyond the Gates
A Chicago woman, Irna Phillips, birthed the daytime serial — and a Chicago woman, Michele Val Jean, is ushering in new interest in the genre. Val Jean has written for several shows, including Generations, Santa Barbara, General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful. Now, she's the creative force driving Beyond the Gates, the newest American soap, which debuted on CBS in February. The dr
Behind the curtain at 'Days of Our Lives': The lights, the sets, the pink coat
Go behind the scenes at Days of Our Lives in Burbank, California. Hear from
actors, set designers and wardrobe as we pull back the curtain on how soaps manage
to come on five days a week, every week — no reruns.
Plus, we take you back to 1994, when Marlena was possessed by the devil!
TV wouldn't be TV without soap operas
Without soaps, we wouldn't have melodramas or reality shows. Without soaps, we wouldn't have many of the TV tropes and shows we love to stream and binge-watch. Cliffhangers, serials, vixens — in television storytelling, all come from soaps.Network television would not exist if not for the financial success of soap operas, according to Elana Levine, author of Her Stories: Daytime Soap Oper
Soaps take the lead on nuanced storylines about queer life
Before the mainstreaming of Ellen and the hit show Will and Grace, soaps did their best to bring tenderness to LGBTQ+ storylines. That's the nature of the form: It gives room for anyone and everyone to be complex, fleshed out, loved and hated all at once.From supporting roles to legacy characters to complex depictions in their full humanity, from respectability politics to sometimes makin
Black actors don't want to be your sidekick
From Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee on The Guiding Light to the first Black super-couple, Jesse and Angie on All My Children, Black soap actors have been on the canvas. According to an executive at CBS, Black women overindex as soap watchers, which has led to the first new daytime soap in decades. Beyond the Gates debuted with a core Black family in February 2025. It's an exciting time to be a
In the world of soaps, women's issues take front-burner status
Irna Phillips created the cliff-hanger in broadcast storytelling and perfected the serial drama, first in radio, then on television. She mentored the creators of All My Children, One Life to Live, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful. The latter two remain on television today. Phillips also created the television vixen, an archetype first seen on soap operas that stil
Meet Irna Phillips: The Queen of Daytime
Soap operas have long been trivialized as low-brow women's entertainment. Even the term “soap” is pejorative when describing television. But there's a deeper story to tell about the genre that changed storytelling on the small screen.Irna Phillips doesn't get enough credit for her creation. She's the Chicago woman who birthed the daytime serial for radio in the 1930s and ushered it onto t
TRAILER: Stories Without End
Soap operas are the foundation of American television storytelling.
From early radio days in the 1930s to the invention of TV to streaming, soaps have
endured by telling intergenerational family stories.
Daytime dramas are an important part of American television history and popular
culture. It's been said that television is socially ahead of movies. Soap operas
take that social conscio
Making Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is widely considered one of America's greatest writers. She
published 11 novels and is the recipient of a Pulitzer, a Nobel and a Presidential
Medal of Freedom. The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Tar Baby, Sula and Beloved are
just a few of her works that are considered great American classics.
Before she was a celebrated author, she was a pioneering editor at Random House,
o
Making Fred Hampton
“I don't believe I'm going to die slipping on a piece of ice. I don't
believe I'm going to die because I got a bad heart…I believe that I will be able to
die as a revolutionary in the international revolutionary proletarian struggle.” -
Fred Hampton, 1969
Fred Hampton became the Chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party
when he was just years out of high school. His ora
Maya Angelou: Going from Strength to Strength
In just 86 years Maya Angelou lived dozens of lives.
Perhaps best known for her seminal autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,
Maya Angelou is one of the most celebrated literary minds in history, whose poetry
and prose has touched generations of readers. But before Caged Bird, Angelou danced
and sang on and off Broadway, earned the moniker “Miss Calypso” in the 1950s, called
doz
Making Derrick Rose
“Why can't I be MVP of the league?” Derrick Rose said.
With unimpressive statistics and an unselfish playing style, sports media did not
take the third-year point guard seriously. Eight months after those famous words, he
became the youngest MVP in NBA history.
Derrick Rose was Chicago's pride and joy. Fans and journalists alike called him the
next Michael Jordan. Some thought he would
Rihanna: Mother and Mogul
With 36 billion streams on Spotify, 14 No. 1 hits and 9 Grammys, Rihanna is
regarded as one of the most well-known artists of the 21st Century. But she also
spent the last decade changing the fashion world, launching brands that transformed
her from music star to business mogul and billionaire.
Her illustrious career began 20 years ago, when she was just a 15-year-old in
Barbados. She pe
Making Virgil Abloh
Virgil Abloh changed fashion in the 21st century. His brand Off-White
redefined streetwear and youth culture for a notoriously elite and inaccessible
industry. And he broke barriers to become the first Black artistic director at a
French luxury fashion house.
“His whole career is dedicated to opening up the gate for everyone,” said Marc
Moran, his long-time friend and collaborator. “And
BONUS: Hyphy Kids Got Trauma
Hyphy Kids Got Trauma is an exploration of a transformative year in Bay Area music history, 2006, through the eyes and ears of Pendarvis Harshaw. A college student and burgeoning journalist at the time, Pendarvis navigates the shifting tides of a culture in transition, all set to the seminal sounds of the Bay Area's “Hyphy Movement.” an era fueled by uptempo, bass-heavy songs with a free
Serena Williams: The Blueprint
In early September, 19-year-old Coco Gauff won the U.S. Open. She is the
first American teenager to win the tournament since 1999, when 17-year-old Serena
Williams took the crown.
Gauff has said Serena is the reason she plays tennis. She is her tennis idol, and
for good reason. Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam titles – more than any player
in the Open era. But before becoming a hous
Making Whoopi Goldberg
Over the course of her climb to the Hollywood A-List, Whoopi Goldberg has
worn many hats: stand-up comedian, Broadway star, screen actress, and daytime
television host. But before her breakout role in a Steven Spielberg film, she was a
young mom hopping around the country, taking odd jobs and doing avant-garde
theater.
This week on Making, we chart Whoopi Goldberg's winding path to stard
RuPaul: 'Empress of Drag'
Since November, dozens of states have introduced legislation that could
criminalize drag performances, including Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina.
This week on Making, we look at the life of an iconic Black TV creator whose art is
at the center of this new political hot button. RuPaul Andre Charles brought drag to
America's main stage and opened doors for queerness. But before his E
Making Shonda
Shonda Rhimes has been called TV's greatest. With groundbreaking shows like
Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, she became one of the most
powerful showrunners in Hollywood history. But, the battle to Hollywood's highest
echelons wasn't a joyride for a Black woman from Chicagoland. Hear from mentors,
colleagues and cultural commentators on how the queen of television
Making Jordan Peele
Jordan Peele is responsible for modern classics in the horror genre,
including the films Us, Nope and the Oscar-winning Get Out. Before all that, he was
a self-described nerd. He majored in puppetry in college before dropping out with
his friend Rebecca Drysdale to pursue a career in comedy. Hear from Drysdale,
Peele's early collaborator Brendan Hunt and cultural critic Aisha Harris about
Making Kanye
Part 1: Touch the sky.
Before becoming a cultural lightning rod, Kanye West was a self-confident teenager,
handing out mixtapes on the South and West sides of Chicago. In the first episode of
our two-part podcast series, we track Kanye's meteoric rise from uncredited producer
to headlining star.
Making tells the story of a different, iconic figure every episode. Subscribe and
don't miss
Unmaking Kanye
Part 2: It all falls down.
Ye becomes a mouthpiece for the more sinister parts of American society. In the
second episode of our two-part podcast series, hear from friends, journalists,
activists, fans (and former fans) on Ye's second act, from superstar status to
cultural pariah.
Making tells the story of a different, iconic figure every episode. Subscribe and
don't miss an episode.
The life-changing moments that make an icon
Robyn Rihanna Fenty was just a 15 year-old student in Barbados when she
showed up late for her audition with record producer Evan Rogers. Fortunately, her
tardiness didn't matter. She crushed it.
“I just heard something really unique and special in her vocals, even though they
were raw,” Rogers said on Making. “It was just one of those moments where I think I
have something really specia
Making Ida B. Wells
When Ida B. Wells was just 21 years old, authorities kicked her off a train
for sitting in the all-white “ladies' car.” She sued. She wrote about the experience
in her local church newspaper.
“I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or
a rat in a trap,” she said later.
Wells would soon become one of America's greatest journalism pioneers. After t
Making Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens' four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin is the stuff
of legend.
“A man who's a second class citizen at home, son of a sharecropper, grandson of
slaves, going over to Hitler's Germany,” explained ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap on
Making. “And he rose to the occasion in a way that embodies true greatness.”
But Owens' journey from Alabama to Ohio to Germany and back again
Making Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass' journey out of slavery and into the most powerful rooms
in the country is a story of tenacity, luck and self-liberation. Hear the story of
his improbable rise with Douglass' great-great-great-grandson, Ken Morris; Douglass'
Pulitzer-prize-winning biographer, David Blight, and Emmy-award winning actor
Jeffrey Wright, who's lent his voice to Douglass for HBO and Apple Bo
Making RuPaul
When RuPaul's mother was pregnant, she went to a psychic who said RuPaul
would be famous.
That psychic was right. With Emmys, Tonys and 14 studio albums, RuPaul Andre Charles
has become the world's most famous drag queen. But before superstardom, Ru was just
a kid in the big city, go-go dancing to make ends meet.
“None of us had any money back then. We were all shopping at thrift stores
Making Maya Angelou
Perhaps best known for her seminal autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird
Sings, Maya Angelou is one of the most celebrated literary minds in history, whose
poetry and prose has touched generations of readers. But before Caged Bird, Angelou
danced and sang on and off Broadway, earned the moniker “Miss Calypso” in the 1950s,
called dozens of American cities and African nations home, and e
Making Kobe
Hear the story of how a legendary athlete climbed the NBA's mountaintop of
greats. It's a story that takes asymmetrical turns before ending tragically and
prematurely.
On this episode of Making, we look at the whole picture of Kobe Bean Bryant. Join
Making host Brandon Pope for a conversation about Bryant's origin story with his
high school basketball coach, Gregg Downer, and Bryant biog
Making Jesse Jackson
Before there was Barack Obama on the ballot, there was Jesse Jackson.
Preacher, civil rights soldier and activist, Jackson ran two memorable campaigns for
the American presidency.
“Our time has come,” Jackson declared during his famous 'David and Goliath' speech
while he was running for the Democratic nomination in 1984. “Red, yellow, black and
white, we're all precious in God's sight! O
Making Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty was just 16 when she signed a record deal with Jay-Z.
She was 19 when her smash hit “Umbrella” took the world by storm. Now at 34, she is
not only known as a popstar but also a fashion mogul and billionaire.
But how did she get here? On this week's episode of Making, host Brandon Pope
explores Rihanna's origin story with music journalist Bill Werde, Vogue.com editor
C
Making Serena
Serena Williams is a household name. The recently retired tennis legend has
won 23 Grand Slam titles – more than any player in the Open era. But before becoming
one of the most dominant athletes of all-time, Serena was a girl from Compton with a
dream.
In the Season 4 premiere of WBEZ's Making podcast, host Brandon Pope revisits the
years before anyone knew Serena's name. Hear from the p
Obama BONUS: Redefining Masculinity
Former President Barack Obama recently spoke with Aarti Shahani, host of
WBEZ's Art of Power podcast, about masculinity in the post-Donald Trump era. Obama
said society has made progress in recognizing the most toxic elements of bad
behavior by men. But now he wants to flip the focus.
“What are the positive values that we're trying to instill in our boys?” he said.
“Showing compassion is
Beyoncé BONUS: Fearlessly Herself
In the lead up to Beyoncé's solo album debut, Dangerously
in Love, a lot was at stake. She was hoping to break out not only as a
solo artist, but as a star on multiple levels — music, endorsements and film. Along
the way she'd find love, but she'd also have to battle doubt, even within the record
label.
Beyoncé 3: Destiny Begins
After Girls Tyme dissolves, Beyoncé and the other girls begin
building their new group, Destiny's Child. Finally, things start to click.
Beyoncé 2: Star Search
After failing to secure a record deal, Beyoncé and the members of
Girls Tyme try another avenue to success: a TV talent competition. The girls are
poised and ready for the national spotlight, but tensions in the group are rising
behind the scenes.
Beyoncé 1: Girls Tyme
Before the Grammys, before the platinum records, before Destiny's
Child, there was just a shy girl growing up in Houston. We follow Beyoncé Knowles
from the stages of local talent shows to her first crack at a record deal with the
group Girls Tyme.
Trailer: Making Beyoncé
From the makers of Making Obama, WBEZ
Chicago presents Making Beyoncé, a new three-part
bio-podcast series that explores Beyoncé Knowles' rise from local talent shows to
global musical icon. Find episodes
of Making Beyoncé right here beginning Friday, Nov. 15,
2019.
Obama BONUS: The Decision
Just two and a half years after his 2004 Democratic
National Convention speech, Barack Obama announced he was running for president.
Obama 6: Yes We Can!
Barack Obama burst onto the national stage during his
U.S. Senate run. Hear how ambition and luck propelled him to Washington.
wbez.org/making
Obama 5: Up Or Out
Former president Barack Obama has only lost one election in his
life. It was in 2000, and that defeat set him on the course for his eventual U.S.
Senate run. Making Obama is a production of listener-supported
WBEZ Chicago. Support WBEZ and the future of podcasts like this at https://wbez.org/making
Obama 4: Wait Your Turn
In 2000, Barack Obama ran for Congress against a Chicago political
legend. It became a contest about race and identity.
Obama 3: You Don't Say No To Barack
Former President Barack Obama won his
first political seat in 1996. Hear what he had to learn, and the conflicts he faced,
to get there. wbez.org/making
Obama 2: Chicago Politics Ain't Beanbag
When Barack Obama first came to Chicago, a political transformation was happening in the city. Hear how that change inspired him.
Obama 1: The Man In The Background
Before he was the 44th President, Barack Obama worked as a
community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. Hear how the city shaped his
political ambitions.
Obama: Preview of Making Obama
Former President Barack Obama — along with friends, mentors, and
rivals — tells the story of his climb from Chicago to the national stage. Subscribe now and don't miss the first episode on February
8.
Oprah BONUS: Making Donahue
In our final bonus installment, the Making
Oprah production team revisits an extended interview with daytime talk
show legend Phil Donahue. His pioneering show, Donahue, aired
from 1967 to 1996 and laid the groundwork for Oprah's program. It tackled heady,
controversial issues - and landed frothy exclusives with A-list celebrities. Donahue
also used his studio audience and callers in ways
Oprah BONUS: Oprah Gets Political
For more than 10 years after the launch of the Oprah Winfrey Show,
Oprah deliberately avoided having politicians on her show, particularly during
election seasons. In this bonus episode of Making Oprah, host Jenn White talks to
Oprah about the role politics played - and didn't play - in the history of the Oprah
Winfrey show.
Oprah BONUS: Let's Talk About Oprah's Hair
If you look at any image from the Oprah Winfrey
Show, you can pretty much figure out what decade it's from by looking at
Oprah's hairstyle. In this short bonus episode, host
Jenn White talks to Oprah's longtime stylist Andre Walker about the high stakes of
doing the hair of the most watched woman on television.
Oprah 3: YOU GET A CAR!
In the show's final decade, Oprah and her team staged massive
spectacles of increasing grandiosity, from the infamous car giveaway to a
21,000-person flash mob that shut down part of
Chicago. “It had become increasingly more
difficult to top what you'd done the year before,” Oprah told WBEZ's Jenn White. “I
mean, to the point where we literally sat in a room saying 'What about outer space
Oprah 2: Skinheads And Scented Candles
In the second episode of Making Oprah, we
explore how The Oprah Winfrey Show elevated itself out of the
heap of trash TV and into a show that intentionally embraced spirituality and
positivity. The early years of Oprah's show often relied
on sensational, tabloidy topics – cheating husbands, sexy clothes, and murderers. It
was not yet the 'Live Your Best Life' Oprah we would come to know a
Oprah 1: No Strategy, No Plan, No Formula
It was 30 years ago this fall that Oprah Winfrey first said
“hellooooo” to a national audience. By the show's finale in 2011, it was aired in
145 countries and watched by more than 40 million viewers a week in the U.S. alone.
Today's daytime hosts like Ellen and Dr. Oz? They now average only about a tenth of
that.
If Oprah mentioned a book title, it became a best-seller. She landed the
in
Oprah: Preview of Making Oprah
Making Oprah: The Inside Story of a TV Revolution
is a public radio podcast -- about a daytime talk show. This fall marks 30 years
since the national debut of The Oprah
Winfrey Show. Be the first to hear a sneak peek of WBEZ's
three-part series featuring interviews with Winfrey, her onetime ratings rival Phil
Donahue, former producers and staffers, and TV
executives.
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