We’re spending a lot more time indoors. Join us as we get reacquainted with our beloved city through film. The polls are now open!
chicago history
Mar 23, 2020 |
This toddlin’ town isn’t just the subject of some iconic songs, it’s also the home of artists who helped innovate and shape modern American music. We’re passionate about our faves, and we want to hear from you. Which of these acts deserves to be crowned champion?
Mar 16, 2020 |
With no hockey or basketball, delayed baseball and no March Madness, we don’t even have sports to turn to in these times of trouble. Enter the Chicago Showdown, four weeks of Chicago-themed brackets built to fuel friendly arguments – and we need your votes!
Mar 9, 2020 |
On stage at Lookingglass Theatre, a new play looks at a Chicago moment from March 1981 when Jane Byrne, the city’s first woman mayor, moved into the Cabrini-Green housing project.
Mar 4, 2020 |
Chicagoans may never agree about sports teams or local politics, but if there’s one thing that unites the city, it’s our elevated train lines — known, of course, as the “L.” Geoffrey Baer has this preview of the highly anticipated show.
Mar 4, 2020 |
Taxidermy – the process of preserving animals – isn’t usually classified as fine art. But the Field Museum is challenging that idea by shining a light on the artist behind many of the museum’s own examples.
Mar 4, 2020 |
Chicago was incorporated as a city March 4, 1837, the same day Martin Van Buren was inaugurated president. What else happened in 1837? Turns out, a lot.
Mar 2, 2020 |
There’s backlash from Italian American groups following a decision by the Chicago Board of Education to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day at Chicago Public Schools instead of Columbus Day. Is there a future for the holiday?
Feb 27, 2020 |
Chicago’s “L” lines are today operated by the centralized Chicago Transit Authority. But for many years, private companies actually ran and managed individual branches. Geoffrey Baer has the story of one of them.
Feb 27, 2020 |
Members of Chicago’s Native American community were surprised in the best kind of way on Wednesday when the Chicago Board of Education approved the change of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day in its school calendar.
Feb 26, 2020 |
Sixty-five years after 14-year-old Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi, the House has approved legislation designating lynching as a hate crime under federal law.
Feb 26, 2020 |
The preservation organization has released its annual list of “most endangered” historic places for 2020. The Thompson Center and Jackson Park are both making their fourth appearance, which is either a good or bad sign.
Feb 25, 2020 |
A new rock musical from the House Theatre of Chicago tells the incredible story of a teenage punk band from Evanston. We meet the cast of “Verboten” and an original member of the band.
Feb 24, 2020 |
Chicago’s Polish bakeries have to prep for two Paczki Days: Fat Thursday, celebrated by Poles, and Fat Tuesday, celebrated by everyone else.
Feb 20, 2020 |
Every year, millions of people visit State Street in the heart of Chicago’s Loop. But is the street working the way it should? That’s the question the Chicago Loop Alliance is asking as it considers what State Street could be.
Feb 20, 2020 |
Fulton Market in Chicago’s West Loop is home to some of the city’s trendiest restaurants – and its highest rents. But the area’s history as an economic powerhouse is anything but new. Geoffrey Baer takes us back.
