Sometimes the biggest things go unnoticed. The Uptown Theatre, for example. For a full century it’s stood at 4816 North Broadway, always there but overlooked by passersby since it closed […]
Some people are born with an inner light that fills every room they enter. By all accounts, Chicago-born Mia Zapata, singer/songwriter for the Gits, had talent, presence, and charisma to […]
I like to think of Jill Lepore sitting down at her desk to plan her new book on the US Constitution. We don’t need just another history, she thinks. There […]
Horror authors are often asked where they get all their wonderful, horrible ideas, but rarely why they get them. Librarian Becky Siegel Spratford wondered about this herself. Since 2007, she’s […]
Most Americans likely think of ginseng as an exotic ingredient, showing up on occasion in candy, tea, and energy drinks. But ginseng has (literal) roots in the United States as […]
When I open a book to review it, I view it as an assignment. Read it as thoroughly as practical, and perhaps skim over some sections. But by the time […]
Early on in Earth Shapers: How We Mapped and Mastered the World, From the Panama Canal to the Baltic Way, Maxim Samson writes, “Every landscape tells a story—the challenge is […]
As a 13-year-old, I left my family’s home on Chicago’s West Side to study for the Roman Catholic priesthood at a high school seminary about 50 miles away in Momence, […]
It’s Banned Books Week, and while it’s not a week to celebrate, per se, it’s one to faithfully observe. Those who would ban books offer different reasons for their desire […]
This is the third in our series of articles on The Art of Survival, in which we explore how small Chicago arts organizations are surviving post-COVID and weathering the anti-humanist and anti-diversity […]
Cartoonist Robert Crumb is, inarguably, a master of his craft. For 60 years he’s created a distinctive style and memorable characters, while inspiring generations of artists. He’s also a polarizing […]
In Jane Russell’s first movie role in 1943, her bra was the star, even though it barely seemed to be there. The publicity posters for The Outlaw, directed by Howard […]