Statewide: New insight into Mary Lincoln's "madness"

It has been 150 years since Mary Lincoln was found insane by a court and committed to an asylum. The former first lady remains a controversial figure and questions linger about her mental health.

Newly discovered correspondence between Mrs. Lincoln and her friends and family – letters long assumed to have been lost or destroyed – shed new light on the nature of her illness as well as the nature of her relationships with the few friends and family she had left by that time.

The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln’s Widow, As Revealed by Her Own Letters,” was compiled by historian Jason Emerson and was recently released by Southern Illinois University Press.

Peter Hancock with Capitol News Illinois talked with Emerson.

Also:

* A former staffer for ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan sings about his work in state government. He performs his song "The Velvet Hammer."

* Harvest Public Media's Michael Marks reports on an old threat to ranchers that could be returning: New World Screwworms.

University of Kansas

* Peter Medlin examines the growing "Land Back" movement to help Native tribes get back their ancestral land.

* Emily Hays interviews the next University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Charles Isbell.

* We learn how traumatic experiences in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, of NICU, affect new dads.