As a Muslim girl growing up in Turkey, Meltem Aktas wasn’t planning to make a career of Christian art. Jay Shefsky has a profile of the sacred artist. View a slideshow of her work.

Christmas and New Year’s Eve are fast approaching, which means parties and entertaining. Chef Rick Bayless joins us to share a festive margarita recipe and shrimp cocktail with a Mexican twist. Read his recipes.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to scale back its $85 billion a month bond-buying program. As Fed policymakers convene this week, financial insiders speculate what the timetable for a stimulus wind-down could look like. We talk with two Chicago economists about the stimulus program and what federal tapering means for businesses and consumers. Read an interview.

Community protest brings results as one company removes its petcoke from a Calumet River storage site. But thousands of tons remain on other sites. Elizabeth Brackett has the story.

Oak Park native, actress, blogger and magazine editor Tavi Gevinson joins us to talk about growing up in the public eye, college, and editing her new book: Rookie Yearbook Two. Read excerpts and watch videos.

In this edition of Ask Geoffrey, Geoffrey Baer brings us up to speed on the wildly popular railroad fairs of the late 1940s, where rail enthusiasts flocked to Chicago’s lakefront to see vintage and modern locomotives in action.

Chicago Sun-Times Theater Critic Hedy Weiss reviews new plays at Steppenwolf, Lookingglass, and some unusual holiday shows. Watch web extra video reviews.

After a scandal that resulted in the resignation of its CEO, Metra is looking for a new leader. Elizabeth Brackett sits down with new Metra board members to talk about leadership and the company’s vision going forward.

Sixty-five ex-offenders who work for the CTA will soon find themselves out of a job, thanks to a dustup between the rail union and CTA management. Can it be saved? Paris Schutz has the story. Read an article.

The New York Times' White House correspondent Peter Baker discusses his new book, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House. He addresses who was really pulling the strings behind the scenes during George W. Bush’s two terms. Read an excerpt.

The holidays would not be the same without it. We go behind the scenes to see how the Joffrey Ballet manages to keep its annual presentation of The Nutcracker fresh and new every year. Read an article.

We talk with the man recently hired to turn the city’s high-tech incubator known as 1871 into a major technology hub.

Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and Tom Dart have a new plan to ease the overcrowding at Cook County Jail. Carol Marin and her guests take a closer look at how they are trying to reverse the chronic problems with the Cook County criminal system, including the resentencing of violent offenders from boot camp to prison, as well as the results of a meeting between Chief Judge Tim Evans, Preckwinkle, Dart and the Illinois Supreme Court to reduce the massive criminal case backlog.