Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
(800) 654-4262

© 2025 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Thanks to generous corporate supporters, APR is able to provide the opportunity for listeners to attend performances. Ticket giveaway entries and details can be found here.

Chicago celebrates cultural victory with native son, Pope Leo XIV

*chicago bears voice* DA POPE
TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images
/
AFP
*chicago bears voice* DA POPE

As much as the news media serves to inform the public, we're also here to give you something to talk about. Learning about the world around us provides the connective tissue for spirited interactions and growing deeper bonds with each other.

What are you going to bring up at the dinner table to get the conversation flowing? Did you read that article everybody has been talking about, too?

Who is it? Well, this week's main character is related to Pope Leo XIV, who was elected on the second day of voting during the papal conclave. But the real main star that has come out of this week's online chatter is the illustrious Midwestern city of Chicago, Illinois.

What's the big deal? In layman's terms, you could say that Chicago stays winning. What other city can claim to be the incubator for a pope, a former U.S. president and a conceptual Sufjan Stevens album?

What are people saying? They're talking a lot about Malört, the Chicago famous booze, hot dogs and general cultural supremacy. DA POPE!

So, what now? Pope Leo's next few weeks will be filled with all of the administrative bits and bobs required from any new job — that includes his uniform, his ring and his schedule.

He's also the first pope with a digital footprint, and as internet sleuths try to build an idea of what kind of pope he might be, some have already found answers to the questions they think are most important: Sox or Cubs?

Copyright 2025 NPR

Scott Detrow is a White House correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.
Manuela López Restrepo
Manuela López Restrepo is a producer and writer at All Things Considered. She's been at NPR since graduating from The University of Maryland, and has worked at shows like Morning Edition and It's Been A Minute. She lives in Brooklyn with her cat Martin.
Ashley Brown is a senior editor for All Things Considered.
News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.