This week, we raise a glass to five-time U.S. Congressman and two-time U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, the O.G. hipster of the Senate, with a new twist on an old-school cocktail.

Now that it’s clear that “Star Wars” creator George Lucas will be taking his project to another state, what of the small nonprofit group that fell the mighty filmmaker and his supporter, Mayor Rahm Emanuel? Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry joins us.

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama announced Thursday that the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago will be designed by renowned architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.  

Blair Kamin, Pulitzer prize-winning architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, talks about the architectural artistry of Harvard Yard and his new book on the subject.

Go out with a bang this weekend as fireworks, parades and festivals offer plenty of ways to celebrate across the city and suburbs.

Geoffrey Baer answers viewer questions about Chicago's North suburban neighbors in this week's edition of Ask Geoffrey.

The great Mel Brooks turns 90 on Tuesday. A WTTW11 crew met him in February 2001 when this genuine genius of entertainment was just a babe at 74 years old.

It's been more than 20 years since O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder, but there is renewed fascination with his trial–a fact that holds no mystery for Marcia Clark, the former L.A. prosecutor tasked with laying out the case against Simpson in 1995.

Lila Downs is an innovative singer with roots in both Minnesota and Oaxaca, Mexico. She studied voice and anthropology in college and marries the two interests in her culturally inspired musical pursuits. 

The multi-episode saga to build the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on Chicago’s lakefront is apparently over. In a statement sent just before noon on Friday, “Star Wars” creator George Lucas himself announced that the ongoing litigation from Friends of the Parks effectively killed off the project.

Longtime U.S. Congressman Dan Rostenkowski famously called Chicago politics “blood sport.” We raise a glass to one of Chicago's own (who also happened to have one of the all-time great heads of political hair) with a Polish twist on a classic cocktail.

Starting Saturday, thrill-seekers and nature lovers will get the chance to swing, soar and climb through a new zip line and obstacle course nestled in the treetops of a Cook County forest preserve.

Students are the focus of a new mural at a CPS school that has a nationally recognized art collection. Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the contemporary work.

A father and daughter travel to the far reaches of Alaskan wild and live to write about it in a new book.

Pride Month culiminates on Sunday with the 47th annual Chicago Pride Parade. Free movie screenings and concerts, a food truck fest and a celebration of encased meats are also on tap.

The conflict between the U.S. and Vietnam in the 1970s serves as inspiration for a Vietnamese artist collective that now has a show at the MCA.