Let’s Be Nice: Building Community One Bike at a Time with Kelly and Sam Mack
This week on the 602, we’re joined by Kelly and Sam Mack of Mack’s Bike and Goods on Central Street. Sam is a fourth-generation Evanstonian and has been a professional bike mechanic since he was 13, and today he and Kelly run a family-owned bicycle shop that’s become a neighborhood fixture. We talk about the joy of cycling, what it takes to run a small business in Evanston, and how Kelly’s work with the city is helping shape the 2026 Bike Plan Update. We (ahem, SARAH!) also get confused about...
7 Oct 2026
Fire, Farms, and Family: A conversation with Tom and Rachel Carlin of Burl
This week Sarah and Maddie talk with Tom and Rachel Carlin, the husband-and-wife team behind Burl, Evanston's farm-driven, open-fire restaurant. We chat about all of their combined experiences in Chicago’s best restaurants, how they met, their first smooch, why they chose Evanston to be their home and the home of their first restaurant, and how Tom builds a menu around the farms they've worked with for years. We also get into what it's like to run a restaurant while raising a family in the co...
30 Sept 2026
Evanston Mayoral Election Series with Candidate Stephanie Mendoza
This week Sarah and Maddie chat with Stephanie Mendoza, Evanston’s city clerk running for mayor. She kicks off our mayoral series where we talk to every candidate running for mayor. In this episode, we ask Stephanie about why she's running, what she sees as Evanston's biggest challenges right now, and what her vision for the city looks like if she wins. Whether you've interfaced with her at the Clerk's office or are just getting to know her, this is a great primer on one of the names to watch...
23 Sept 2026
The Exit Interview (Sort Of): A Conversation with Mayor Daniel Biss
He's led Evanston for years — now he's setting his sights on Washington. In this episode, we sit down with Mayor Daniel Biss for a wide-ranging conversation about his time in City Hall and what people misunderstand about the role and responsibilities of mayor, what he's most proud of (and what he'd do differently), and why he's decided to run for Congress in the 9th District. He takes our concerns about getting better Evanston merch seriously (thank you!), talks about what it was like growing...
16 Sept 2026
The 602 Sidebar with Sarah and Maddie: Amateur Hour, Summer Recap, and What's Next
Welcome to our first 602 Sidebar -- a type of episode where it's just us, Sarah and Maddie, catching up on all things Evanston and the podcast. No guest this week! We're pulling back the curtain on our summer of recording and launching The 602, including a good laugh at how rough those first few episodes were. We talk about what's coming up: new guests, the new mayoral series we're excited to launch, and how our content schedule is shaping up going forward. We also share what we're looking fo...
2 Sept 2026
What’s Missing in Evanston? Building Better Places with Claire Seizovic
This week Maddie and Sarah sit down with Claire Seizovic, a beloved designer, entrepreneur, and the creative force behind Ensemble, Space to Place, and Mom Brain, to talk about what is missing in Evanston and how to bring it here! Claire shares her journey from art history major and to NYC gallery worker to launching a pop-up market company in Tucson, and how all that experience shaped her vision for Evanston's retail landscape. We talk about how Space to Place is lowering the barrier to entr...
26 Aug 2026
Let’s Grow the Pie: Small Business in Evanston with Pink & Tan’s Maggie Peng
This week Sarah and Maddie sit down with Maggie Peng, owner of Pink & Tan, the design store on Dempster Street. We talk about all things small business with Maggie, but also her (crazy) journey to Evanston during the COVID lockdown, the gift that is Daniel Burnham's architecture, and the local small business community that helped her find her footing when she was just starting out. Maggie is candid about the hard parts and the really amazing parts of running your own store, and her ...
19 Aug 2026
Episode 5: Building Your Village: Parenting in 2026 with ParentConnect founders Emma and Meera
This week, Maddie and Sarah chat with Emma Huntley and Meera Sinha, the founders of ParentConnect, a local app built to help moms find real-life friends, trusted recommendations, and a genuine village nearby. As lifelong friends and Evanstonians, Emma and Meera have a lot to say on some of the pitfalls of modern parenting (even here in our hometown), what they understand about motherhood now that they have their own families, and why their business is so important to the wellbeing of our comm...
12 Aug 2026
Episode 4: The Kids Are Alright: A Therapist’s Take on Back-to-School Stress with Amy Owen
Today, Maddie and Sarah sit down with Evanston therapist Amy Owen to talk about back-to-school stress, how to distinguish normal nerves from something bigger, the craziness of the middle school years, and the surprisingly difficult task of figuring out which feelings belong to our kids and which ones belong to us. If you're feeling overwhelmed with back-to-school prep, this listen is for you. Find Amy's website here: https://www.amyowencounseling.com/ Find The Screen Sense Evanston webs...
5 Aug 2026
Episode 3: Public Records, Public Reckoning: The D65 Story with Tom Hayden
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 b...
29 Jul 2026
Episode 2: The Evanston Real Estate Market with Allie Payne
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.
22 Jul 2026
Episode 1: Welcome to The 602 - Meet Maddie and Sarah
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.
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