This week on Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien, our listening tour rolls into Chicago. Altgeld Gardens, a housing project once described as a “Garden of Eden,” was later dubbed a “Toxic Doughnut.” Special Correspondent Joie Chen shows us how this environmental nightmare could haunt Democratic presidential candidates in 2020.

In January, Illinois will become the first state to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana. But one chronic problem remains. How do you handle the thousands of prior pot convictions? Soledad interviews Darius Ballinger, who’s fighting to get his cannabis conviction expunged.

Emmanuel Pratt started the Sweet Water Foundation to literally grow a better neighborhood. He integrates agriculture, education and design in a resident-driven approach to community development. He gives Soledad a tour of the neglected city block he’s revitalized with pastures of produce and immaculate architecture. He calls it “urban acupuncture.”

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