{"id":105975,"date":"2025-08-21T14:58:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T19:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=105975&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=105975"},"modified":"2026-01-01T16:04:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:04:37","slug":"watch-backstage-chicago-episode-5-celebrating-summers-stories-and-the-magic-of-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/watch-backstage-chicago-episode-5-celebrating-summers-stories-and-the-magic-of-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Backstage Chicago, Episode 5: Celebrating summers, stories and the magic of the city"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Abby Feldman and Reilly Cook<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Medill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In the final episode of &#8220;Backstage Chicago,&#8221; Reilly Cook and Abby Feldman take viewers on a celebratory send-off filled with highlights, memories and a touch of magic. From revisiting some of the city\u2019s most unforgettable summer traditions to hearing directly from Chicagoans about what they\u2019ll miss most as summer winds down, the show captures the spirit of the city one last time. The episode also features a special interview with a Chicago magician, Benjamin Barnes, capped off with a trick performed on Reilly herself, a fitting way to close the curtain on the series with a little wonder and good luck to carry into the rest of the year.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Backstage \u2014 Episode 5\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1112087246?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><i>&#8220;Backstage Chicago&#8221; is your all-access pass to the city&#8217;s hottest summer events. All reporting and producing is done by Medill video and broadcast graduate students Abby Feldman and Reilly Cook. &#8220;Backstage Chicago&#8221; is part of these students&#8217; final master&#8217;s project. Follow Reilly Cook at @reillycookreports on Instagram.<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Abby Feldman and Reilly Cook Medill Reports In the final episode of &#8220;Backstage Chicago,&#8221; Reilly Cook and Abby Feldman take viewers on a celebratory send-off filled with highlights, memories and a touch of magic. From revisiting some of the city\u2019s most unforgettable summer traditions to hearing directly from Chicagoans about what they\u2019ll miss most [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":765,"featured_media":105976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,5251,28,5542,5521],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-chicago","category-general-interest","category-msj25","category-summer-2025"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WATCH: Backstage Chicago, Episode 5: Celebrating summers, stories and the magic of the city - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/watch-backstage-chicago-episode-5-celebrating-summers-stories-and-the-magic-of-the-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WATCH: Backstage Chicago, Episode 5: Celebrating summers, stories and the magic of the city - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Abby Feldman and Reilly Cook Medill Reports In the final episode of &#8220;Backstage Chicago,&#8221; Reilly Cook and Abby Feldman take viewers on a celebratory send-off filled with highlights, memories and a touch of magic. 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