A still image from the new PBS Kids TV show “Molly of Denali.”

“Molly of Denali” is making headlines as the first national children’s series to feature a Native American lead character. We speak with Chicago-based writer and actor June Thiele, who’s contributing to the show.

From left: Dara Cameron, Jacqulyne Jones and Catherine Smitko in “The Spitfire Grill.” (Photo by Michael Brosilow)

The 2001 musical with a soaring, intensely poetic score delivers both a rare emotional punch and a winning sense of forgiveness, redemption and love. It is uncannily timely.

The North American Tour of “Cats.” (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

“Cats” and “Les Miserables” have both returned to Chicago this summer, and “West Side Story” is in the throes of a renaissance. Here are some brief impressions about all three musicals as experienced in their recent incarnations.

This weekend is the 14th annual Pitchfork Music Festival – a homegrown stage for adventurous music from around the world, including Chicago. We visit a pair of young local artists as they prepare for their Pitchfork debut.

Earlier this month, we took you on a tour of a distillery that produces Malort, the Chicago-born liquor that inspires devotion – and disgust. This week, we pour out a hefty helping of the stuff and stick it in the fryer.

(Pranav Bhatt / Flickr)
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A new documentary from Chicago’s Kartemquin Films revisits an extreme weather event that killed more than 700 people – most of them poor and black. We discuss “Cooked: Survival by Zip Code” with producer Fenell Doremus.

The Chicago Huskies (Credit: Japanese American Service Committee)

A youth basketball league from the 1940s and ‘50s is a reminder of Japanese American internment during World War II. Geoffrey Baer has that story and more in this edition of Ask Geoffrey.

(Chicago Tonight file photo)

A bold plan to get hundreds of people into the Chicago River for a 2.4-mile swim remains docked for a year or so after organizers struggled to secure permits and coordinate with a number of city agencies.

(Photo by chalk artist Anat Ronen)

Colorful sidewalks, a massive music fest, Mexican fare and a moon bash usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

These images provided by Apple shows new emoji released by Apple. (Apple via AP)

Apple and Google are rolling out dozens of new emoji that of course include cute critters, but also expand the number of images of human diversity.

Monica West (Marian Paroo) in “The Music Man” with music and lyrics by Meredith Willson and a book by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey, directed by Mary Zimmerman. (Photo by Liz Lauren)

There’s a parade of new shows on stage in Chicago. Theater critic Hedy Weiss recommends her current favorites.

Attendees of the Go Grind youth skate camp practice tricks on the grass of Piotrowski Skate Park in Chicago. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News)

The Chicago Park District teams up with a local organization to offer youth skateboarding camps and clinics at skate parks across the city. We “drop in” for a look at Go Grind.

Jon Michael Hill, left, and Namir Smallwood in Steppenwolf’s production of “True West” by Sam Shepard. (Photo by Michael Brosilow)

Steppenwolf’s fabled 1982 production of Sam Shepard’s darkly comic tale is a foundational part of Chicago theater history. And now, two of the company’s “next generation” of actors are bringing their own high-octane intensity to the play.

A design by Greg Tamborino, winner of the “Disruptive Design Chicago” competition. (Rendering courtesy Neighborhood Housing Services)

Bungalows have served Chicago families for a hundred years. Could this new design by Greg Tamborino be the bungalow of the future? Blair Kamin weighs in.

A Chicago walking tour enters its final season of investigating the city’s corrupt past – and present. Local journalist Paul Dailing, who started the tour in 2016, join us in discussion.

Brian Keys, left, and Julian Hester in “The Recommendation” at Windy City Playhouse. (Photo credit Michael Brosilow)

With its volcanic staging of Jonathan Caren’s intensely physical play, Windy City Playhouse has carved out a unique niche for itself in Chicago with a style dubbed “immersive theater.”