It’s been a Chicago institution since it opened in 1957. Since then, the Old Town School of Folk Music has expanded its curriculum and, now, its online offerings. We stop by to see how it’s adapting to the changing times.

A onetime tree nursery became a bucolic place of rest and recovery for tuberculosis patients on Chicago’s North Side. Geoffrey Baer has the story of a decadeslong battle against a contagion.

The Lincoln Square mainstay closed in 2017 and filmmaker Matt Richmond set out to learn why. The documentary will stream for free on April 30.

As Chicago baseball fans hunker down and hope for the return of their favorite summertime sport, a viewer wonders how Chicago sports soldiered through the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.

Chicago art institutions are closed indefinitely, so we’re opening them — virtually. First up in our series of virtual tours: an art center dedicated to one of Chicago’s most celebrated artists, Ed Paschke.

In 1918, a deadly strain of influenza killed more people than World War I, and thousands of Chicagoans were among the dead. But it could have been much worse. Geoffrey Baer explains.

Could this year get any worse? Well yeah, it could. It once snowed in June, according to the National Weather Service.

The 1918 Spanish flu was not even close to being Chicago’s first bout with fast-spreading disease. Geoffrey Baer looks at how Chicago managed a tidal wave of diseases in its earliest years.

Missing that chatty CTA conductor from your morning commute? Have a hankering for an old fashioned mixed up by your favorite bartender? So are we. Join us as we pay tribute to the everyday folks who make Chicago great.

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!

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?

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!

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. 

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.

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. 

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.