In this episode, Sarah and Maddie sit down with Tom Hayden, aka FOIA Gras, the citizen journalist whose relentless public records requests helped uncover the scandal that led to former District 65 superintendent Devon Horton's federal indictment. Tom walks us through how he got started digging into district finances, what the FOIA process actually looks like, and what he found that started the domino effect that brought it all down.

A few things we discuss in the episode are expanded upon below:

- Sketches of childhood and girlhood : Chicago, 1847-1864 (Cornelia Lunt) https://archive.org/details/sketchesofchildh00lunt

- Orson Welles interview where he mentions Cornelia Lunt (around 4:00) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_PUUHLknDI, https://evanstonwomen.org/woman/cornelia-gray-lunt/

- Father of the year Superintendent, blames kid (Argo, IL) https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/supt-who-billed-porn-to-school-attempted-cover-up/

- Superintendent making $500k/year (Dolton, IL) https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/03/28/dolton-superintendent-salary-dolton-schools/

- Tom's 2024 essay advocating for consolidation https://evanstonroundtable.com/2024/06/04/guest-essay-the-case-for-a-consolidated-evanston-school-district/

- Consolidation signature requirements https://www.bettergov.org/2018/01/17/too-many-school-districts-in-illinois-what-you-should-know-about-school-consolidation/

- Test results RE: Achievement Gap https://foiagras.com/p/district-65-test-results-long-way-to-go

-Frances Willard (see the section on her conflict with Ida B Wells) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Willard https://aaslh.org/truth-telling-willard-and-wells/

In this episode, Sarah and Maddie sit down with longtime Evanston resident and real estate agent Allie Payne. They dig into her history in this town, why she loves helping people find homes here, and her take on why prices have skyrocketed — and what that means for families trying to make it work in Evanston. Allie also shares practical advice for buyers, plus some words of wisdom for young people navigating their first home purchase.

Welcome to the 602 Podcast! In this inaugural episode, meet Maddie Bergier Schofield and Sarah (Shaw) Shaftal, your podcast hosts. In their first episode, Maddie and Sarah introduce themselves and briefly discuss why they wanted to start an Evanston-based podcast, why they love Evanston, and what they hope to cover in future episodes.