The Democratic National Convention starts today in Chicago. Here’s how to watch
WDET and NPR will be reporting live from Chicago throughout the week bringing you the latest on the Democratic National Convention.
Signage is hung on the exterior of the United Center in preparation for next week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.
The Democratic National Convention is in Chicago, Monday, Aug. 19, through Thursday, Aug. 22.
How to watch
NPR will have live video from the United Center each night of the convention starting at 9 p.m. ET.
On Wednesday and Thursday night, NPR will be hosting live coverage on video with reporters in Chicago and in Washington, D.C.
The history of the DNC in Chicago
Chicago has hosted a number of party conventions — most recently the DNC in 1996, and perhaps most notably the DNC in 1968.
As NPR senior editor and correspondent Ron Elving puts it, “Chicago ‘68 has been repeatedly conjured as the epitome of disaster like the sinking of the Titanic, or the stock market crash of ‘29.”
At the time, President Lyndon Johnson had announced he was not running for reelection, and Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. Vice President Hubert Humphrey was then left to battle it out for the nomination with anti-war Sen. Eugene McCarthy.
Huge crowds of demonstrators came to Chicago in 1968 for the DNC, protesting U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, pushing for racial equality and an end to poverty.
Protesters and police ended up clashing, with violent images on TV for the nation to see.
But beyond the convention location, there have been a number of echoes of 1968 playing out in 2024. (And not just in the political world: Both years also saw new Planet of the Apes movies, Summer Olympics and U.S. moon missions, as NPR’s Rachel Treisman notes.)
In April, historian Keith Orejel summed it up in a post on X, formerly Twitter:
“I mean ok, Columbia has unrest and there’s widespread anti-war activism, that might be coincidence. But there is a guy named Robert Kennedy running for president and the [Democratic National Convention] is in Chicago. Like is this a bit?”
A few months later we had another 1968 parallel: President Biden announced he will not be seeking the nomination.
But while the shadow of 1968 looms over this week’s convention, especially as it relates to protesters and security, the convention itself is more of a formality than it was in 1968 — we know who is going to be the nominee.
Live updates from the convention
Starting Monday, follow NPR’s live blog for the latest updates, analysis, fact checking and color; listen to and watch NPR’s special coverage on many public radio stations.
