The Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative is preparing gifted students for higher education and careers in music — and debunking myths along the way.

The young readers edition is for ages 10 and up and includes a new introduction from Michelle Obama.

Find out what the hit Netflix series gets right — and wrong — about gossip in the 1800s when Newberry Library scholars host a lighthearted virtual chat this week.

From 1968 to 1972, WTTW aired a groundbreaking weekly show hosted by the late Jim Tilmon. Until recently, we thought all but a couple of episodes had been lost. Chicago author, photographer and architecture critic Lee Bey helps us blow the dust off five of the interviews we recently rediscovered.

When the pandemic hit, theaters across the country were faced with the harsh reality that they were among the first to close their doors — and would be among the last to reopen. How one Chicago theater company has taken its stage online. 

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s CSOtv Sessions series is, without question, the finest virtual music treasure created in response to the COVID-19 plague year. Those who have yet to revel in its delights are encouraged to catch its two newest entries: Episodes #11 and #12.

Author and journalist Deborah Douglas said that traveling the civil rights trail is an emotional experience, but one that is worth having in person. “I gained a greater appreciation for the African American experience and what my elders were able to accomplish,” she said.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program has been making matches in Chicago since 1967, but a lot has changed over the years. Many of the kids now come from Spanish-speaking households, and the organization is looking for more “bigs” who speak their language to volunteer.

Is your Spidey sense tingling? The Museum of Science and Industry has announced it will reopen the first week in March with a new exhibit to greet guests: "Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes."

Artists are calling on the Biden administration to provide economic relief to the arts sector through a proposal called the DAWN Act — that stands for Defend Arts Workers Now — that was co-organized by Chicago playwright Matthew Lee-Erlbach.

We kick off the first installment of our Black Voices Book Club series with a new biography on a Black woman whose legend looms large in Chicago. And it’s written by Michelle Duster, her great-granddaughter. 

For more than four decades, the Rodriguez family has run a community food pantry out of their East Side garage with little more than their own hands.

Larry King, the suspenders-sporting everyman whose broadcast interviews with world leaders, movie stars and ordinary Joes helped define American conversation for a half-century, died Saturday. He was 87.

The first lady’s dress and matching coat, worn during the “Celebrating America” televised special, were embroidered with the official flower from every state and territory in the U.S.

The Art Institute of Chicago will reopen Feb. 11, joining the list of museums preparing to welcome back visitors now that coronavirus restrictions are being loosened. 

The more than 50-year-old organization is seeking to make cultural connections that help kids achieve their full potential.