There are many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has turned people’s lives upside down. This is the story of the emotional devastation — and recovery — experienced by beloved local musician Erwin Helfer.

From Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks to Marsha P. Johnson and Stacey Abrams, Black women continue to be key leaders in our communities. This Black History Month, WTTW News shined a light on Black women during our February community conversation. Watch it now.

A musical journey through Black history explores how African traditions not only influence music genres today, but how they have helped the Black community celebrate and maintain its traditions.  

Black women’s hair, particularly in the workplace, has been the subject of endless discussion in recent years. In this rediscovered 1968 interview from the WTTW show “Our People,” actor Diahann Carroll tells a story that demonstrates it’s not exactly a new issue.

Princeton University professor Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr. talks about his hopes for the nation — and those of writer James Baldwin — in this week’s Black Voices Book Club selection.

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation says it is planning to open all 26 of its amusement parks and water parks for the 2021 season, including five that were not able to operate last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The improbable story began during the winter of 1973, when Karen Autenrieth lost her wedding band at her grandmother’s house in Chicago. It’s a memory she clearly recalls decades later.

A group of young women are changing the narrative of gospel music — and who it’s for. We meet a band of sisters who are on a mission. 

“Sole e Amore,” Enrique Mazzola’s newest project, will include two dozen songs by seven of the most beloved Italian opera composers of the 19th century, performed by 11 members of the Ryan Opera Center, Lyric’s renowned artist development program.

In this rediscovered interview from the WTTW series “Our People,” host Jim Tilmon gets the Chicago comedian to tell one of his signature stories.

“White Fright: The Sexual Panic at the Heart of America’s Racist History” re-examines the Reconstruction era through the 1960s and offers a new perspective on America’s history of white supremacy. Author Jane Dailey joins us as part of our Black Voices Book Club series.

Sea shanties are suddenly all the rage thanks to TikTok but Chicago’s long been a hub for shanty singing. We explore the city’s connection to the musical tradition — and its undeniable staying power.

A new film airing this weekend on WTTW draws parallels between the fight against apartheid in South Africa and injustice in Chicago.

Bicycle sales in Chicago have surged over the past year as the pandemic has forced more and more people outside for exercise and recreation. But it’s hardly the city’s first “bike boom.” Geoffrey Baer takes us back to when Chicago was called “the Detroit of bicycles.” 

A long-awaited exhibit has made its way to the U.S. and Chicago is the first stop on the tour. We get a first look at this one-of-a-kind digital experience.

Streaming through Sunday, “Before Fiddler” is the latest of the many remarkable feats of musical storytelling from Hershey Felder, the multitalented writer, actor, pianist and producer renowned for his solo shows about composers.