Stories by Erica Gunderson

Some 20 years after they stampeded along Michigan Avenue, Chicagoans are still moo-ved by the memory of Cows on Parade. Geoffrey Baer revisits the 1999 art project.

The Chicago Public Schools K-8 chess championship is this weekend. We visit two schools whose students hope to capture the prize.

A year after launching their business making jeans in a Garfield Park factory, things are starting to look a little different at Dearborn Denim. We go for a look.

We climb to the top of the Leaning Tower of Niles, where centuries-old bronze bells lay quiet – for now.

The annual list of endangered Chicago buildings – and this year, paving materials – sounds the alarm about historic structures the preservation group believes are in danger of being erased.

How hiring and promoting women can help businesses succeed, and how men can make that happen. We speak with author Joanne Lipman about her new book.

Should House Speaker Michael Madigan step aside? The latest on the fallout from allegations of sexual harassment in his political offices.

Geoffrey Baer has the keys to the story of a symphony orchestra made up of all pianos – and all women. And: The story behind a colonial-inspired park district field house in the Austin community.

On Chicago’s West Side, an artist-run production weaving mill and a social service agency work together to weave adults with intellectual disabilities into the fabric of their community. 

Most Chicago-area expressways are littered with billboards. How did one expressway escape the same fate? Geoffrey Baer drives by with the answer to that and other viewer questions.

Many immigrant communities in Chicago formed ethnic clubs to help maintain their traditions. One such club has celebrated the German tradition of Karneval for over a century. We take a look.

Is there a safe level of technology use for kids? We discuss “The Art of Screen Time” with author and NPR education correspondent Anya Kamenetz.

We have some fun on a bun in commercial bakeries that make the bread for two iconic Chicago foods.

Geoffrey Baer has some newspaper history hot off of yesteryear’s presses, and dives deep into the fishy story of storm drain covers.

Former pro football players are joining the effort to ban tackling in youth football. We talk pros and cons of the newly introduced Duerson Act.

This year’s Oscar picks for best picture are an unusually mixed bag of genres, including the comedy-horror film “Get Out.” Two film critics weigh in on this year’s nominees.

A viewer remembers a tall and terrifying bear in the former Marshall Field’s building. Was this just a figment of a child’s imagination?

We climb to the top of the Leaning Tower of Niles, where centuries-old bronze bells lay quiet – for now.

The latest social media craze of matching your face with faces in works of art left Chicagoans out in the cold, thanks to Illinois’ strict laws on biometric data. Do these rules keep us safe or leave us behind?

How evidence-based health care policy can get more value out of the health care system. A discussion with Katherine Baicker, dean of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

The commercials for do-it-yourself DNA testing kits promise a bounty of self-discovery about your history and health. But are you prepared for the results?

On Chicago’s West Side, an artist-run production weaving mill and a social service agency work together to weave adults with intellectual disabilities into the fabric of their community. 

A conversation with Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, who muses on how to be “a good old man” as he celebrates a milestone birthday.

“It’s a struggle every day,” a current Ford employee says. As Chicago Ford plants once again grapple with accusations of sexual harassment, we speak with two women about what it’s like to work there.

Author Kate Hennessy discusses her new book about Dorothy Day, her Catholic activist grandmother.

Geoffrey Baer gets eye-to-eye with some sky-high building ornament and gets beneath the surface of a towering metal figure in this encore edition of Ask Geoffrey.