Meha Ahmad

Chicago

Senior Producer, Reset at WBEZ-FM (Chicago, IL)

now: @wbez. past: al jazeera. ★ SAG-AFTRA union member. ★

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Articles

Small products, same price: Could tariffs lead to more ‘shrinkflation’?

1 week ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

Do you feel like that orange juice bottle just keeps getting smaller? Don’t worry, you’re not going crazy. OJ is one of many products that have seen “shrinkflation” in recent years as companies cut costs. Reset learns how today’s uncertain economic times could lead to more “shrinkflation” and “skimpflation.”GUEST: Edgar Dworsky, former assistant attorney general in Massachusetts, founder of consumer-focused websites Mouseprint.org and consumerworld.org
Chicago proposed ordinance would crack down on rogue tow operators

2 weeks ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

Towing companies could face new regulations under an ordinance making its way through Chicago’s City Council. The goal is to crack down on rogue towing operators who prowl crash scenes, take vehicles away, and then shake drivers for massive fees to get their cars back. Reset finds out more about how widespread the problem is. GUEST: Mitch Armentrout, Chicago Sun-Times reporter
Actor Michael Shannon on directorial debut, ‘Eric Larue’: ‘Honesty can be intimidating to some people’

2 weeks ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

Michael Shannon is an Oscar-nominated actor, known for his movies like “The Shape of Water” and “Revolutionary Road,” and the TV show “Boardwalk Empire.” Now, he’s enjoying the view behind the camera as he makes his directorial debut in the new film “Eric Larue.” It tells the story of Janice, the mother of a teenage boy who shot and killed three of his classmates and how she tries to cope with the fallout, guilt and hostility. Reset sits down with Michael Shannon and screenwriter Brett Neveu.
Without Chicago, there wouldn’t be soap operas

2 weeks ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

Love triangles, amnesia, cliffhangers, blackmail – there’s no trope or plot device that soap operas haven’t seen – or invented. But who invented the soaps themselves? Turns out, the genre got its start in Chicago. It’s a piece of broadcast and pop culture history that is getting its due in a new podcast from WBEZ. Reset gets the story. GUEST: Natalie Moore, host of “Stories Without End,” a WBEZ Making podcast
Pritzker builds his own trade relationships as Trump tariffs take effect

3 weeks ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

All U.S. trading partners will be hit with a 10 percent tariff, with dozens of countries getting slapped with tariffs two to three times as high. Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker wrapped up a trade mission trip to Mexico City to strengthen trade relationships between Illinois and Mexico. Reset takes a closer look at the local impact of U.S. tariffs, and what Illinois is doing about it. GUEST: Cécile Shea, nonresident senior fellow on security and diplomacy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Where you live in Chicago can determine how long you have

3 weeks ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

The residents of West Garfield Park may not live as long as their neighbors in the Loop. According to public health data, there is a whopping 25-year difference in life expectancy between those two neighborhoods that are only six miles apart. Chicago has the widest life expectancy gap of any major city in America. But despite the threat of looming federal funding cuts, experts on the ground continue to work to address the disparity.
Trump Administration goes after Chicago, Deerfield schools

4 weeks ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

Chicago Public Schools and a suburban school district are under a civil rights investigation from the Department of Education. And the center of the investigation? Politically-conservative groups pushing back against locker room policy. The Trump Administration says it is investigating alleged violations of Title IX, while the Chicago and Deerfield school districts insist they are in accordance with Illinois law.
The pandemic’s essential workers: Then and now

1 month ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

Reset checks in with a panel of Chicagoans — whose jobs were considered “essential” during the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020 – for their reflections on the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the pandemic. They also discuss how that “essential” label has transferred to today. GUESTS: Sharif Nassr, founder and CEO of Caterpillar Care ChicagoHannah Chavez, was a grocery store worker at Whole Foods in 2020Elise Foster, president of Branch 11 of the National Association of Letter Carriers union
Traffic on the Kennedy, a new vision for public transit and more transportation news

1 month ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

Drivers are being warned to expect massive delays and traffic complications, as the Kennedy Expressway enters its final phase of a three-year construction project. Labor groups are appealing to Springfield to adopt the groups’ own vision for the future of the Regional Transportation Authority. Lawmakers are considering charging Illinois drivers “a road usage” tax.
With measles spreading, did we learn our lesson from COVID pandemic?

1 month ago | wbez.org | Meha Ahmad

Measles was considered eradicated in the U.S., but five years after the start of the COVID shutdown, measles cases are on the rise, with outbreaks in states like Texas and New Mexico. Illinois public health officials are bracing for a possible outbreak in the state, as more and more students get exempted from receiving a measles vaccine. Reset checks in with a medical expert to talk through what to know about measles.