We look at the contribution Chef Charlie Trotter made to the Chicago fine dining scene with journalist Louisa Chu, food contributor for WBEZ and host of weekly podcast, Chewing the Fat, writer David Tamarkin, media director for Chef Rick Bayless and editor of Middlewest magazine, and Chicago magazine executive editor Jennifer Tanaka.  

In what turned out to be a battle of backup quarterbacks, Josh McCown and the Chicago Bears beat the Packers and secured a share of first place in the division. James “Big Cat” Williams joins Ann Kreiter to break down the Bears improbable road win.

It’s profane to even call it “art.” Art usually inspires a viewer to think deeply. But this art wasn’t about inspiring -- it was about conspiring.

Author Rich Cohen joins us to talk about Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football, his new book that captures the heart of the 1985 Monsters of Midway. Read an excerpt.

Bruce Springsteen’s right-hand man Steven Van Zandt recently joined us for a wide-ranging discussion about the Boss, The Sopranos, and why he thinks The Rascals is one of the greatest American bands ever. During his visit to our studio, we also recorded a web extra conversation—which we are broadcasting on Chicago Tonight. Read an Artbeat blog about Van Zandt, view a behind-the-scenes slideshow of his visit to our studio, and watch a web extra conversation.

SOFA CHICAGO is the exceptional art fair devoted to design, and this year marks its 20th anniversary. It fills Festival Hall at Navy Pier through Sunday.

Orpheus and Euridice at the Eckhart Park Pool, a winter farmers’ market, and an art exposition at Navy Pier; Chicago Tonight knows what’s going on this weekend.

Liz Callaway is a clarion-voiced singer of the Broadway stage. She's also the daughter of the man who started this show, John Callaway. She joins us, accompanied by her son, Nicholas Callaway Foster, to sing and share stories. Watch web extra videos.  

Activist Bill Ayers joins us to talk about his new book, Public Enemy: Confessions of an American Dissident. Read an excerpt, and watch a web extra video.

English sculptor Sir Anthony Caro died last week at the age of 89. This was big news in the art world, where his abstract works created a new language for the medium. In Chicago, it wasn't news.

Did you ever wonder how prize racehorses get from Chicago or Kentucky to, say, Dubai? Jay Shefsky takes us to O'Hare Airport to meet a man who makes his living flying around the world with racehorses. Read an article.

A street near Soldier Field honors a fallen World War II hero. Geoffrey Baer has that soldier's story, and he answers your questions in this week’s edition of Ask Geoffrey.

A new book, Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb, and American Strategy by author Kenneth Pollack, explores the advantages and potential consequences of different foreign policy approaches. Pollack joins us to discuss the book. Read an excerpt.

One of the more daring highlights of the fall arts season promises to be Chicago Opera Theater’s staging of the mythical romance “Orpheus and Eurydice.”

We revisit Jay Shefsky’s story about a musical instrument you've probably never heard of, and Habib Wardak, the young Afghan immigrant who was a sensation on it as an 8-year-old refugee in Pakistan. Listen to Wardak perform, and view a photo gallery.

Chicago radio legend John Records Landecker joins us to talk about writing his memoir, Records Truly is My Middle Name. Watch a web extra video from 1978 about Landecker, and the job of a disc jockey.