The 602

What’s Missing in Evanston? Building Better Places with Claire Seizovic

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 05:00:00 -0500

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 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.

They talk about how Space to Place is lowering the barrier to entry for local entrepreneurs with a subsidized incubator launching this October, and why Mom Brain has become a special gathering spot for parents craving real conversation. Plus: Claire's dream businesses for Evanston, her late arrival to the deliciousness of NaKorn, and why she thinks there's room for everyone's ideas in this town.

Find Claire on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/claire.seizovic/

Ensamble Market Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ensemble.place/

Info on Space to Place: https://www.cityofevanston.org/business/retail_incubator___pop-up_program.php

Mom Brain Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mombrain.salon/

Let’s Grow the Pie: Small Business in Evanston with Pink & Tan’s Maggie Peng

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 05:00:00 -0500

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 take on why Evanston should be focused on growing the pie rather than dividing it. It's a conversation about starting over, building something from scratch, and what it means to invest in a community rather than compete within it.

You can find Pink & Tan's online shop here: https://www.pinkandtan.com/

Pink & Tan's Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/_pinkandtan_/

Building Your Village: Parenting in 2026 with ParentConnect founders Emma and Meera

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 05:00:00 -0500

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 community. Enjoy!

Learn more about ParentConnect here: joinparentconnect.com
And find them on Instagram at: @joinparentconnect

The Kids Are Alright: A Therapist’s Take on Back-to-School Stress with Amy Owen

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 05:00:00 -0500

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 website here (Wait Until 8): https://screensenseevanston.wordpress.com/

While we can't verify if there are more per capita therapists in Evanston than in any other town in the U.S., you can find a list of over 1,000 of them here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/il/evanston

Public Records, Public Reckoning: The D65 Story with Tom Hayden

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 05:00:00 -0500

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/

The Evanston Real Estate Market with Allie Payne

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 05:00:00 -0500

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 - Meet Maddie and Sarah

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:00:00 -0500

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.