Opinion: A Pre-Obit for the Physical Book
Make no mistake, I love physical books. I love the weighty feel of a book in my hands. I love the aroma of a book when you open it whether a […]
Essay: In Defense of “Unregulated” Little Free Libraries
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) thinks the little free libraries along many Chicago sidewalks are bad—very bad. They are “unregulated”! And they’re “popular”! And many of them are planted in city soil! (Collective […]
Nightmare on Huron Street: Seven Hours in the ER
Yep. ER = Emergency Room. Not a place you want to spend time but if you have to go there, be prepared—to spend time. I had a late night medical […]
Essay: Haymarket Voices Have Echoed in the Streets for 135 Years
May Day is a Chicago tradition, one that goes back to 1886. It’s woven into the city’s DNA, part of the bones of the big shoulders that hold up the […]
Essay: The Sights and Sounds of Baseball, Fans Optional
Some guy on ESPN the other day was complaining again about men who bring a mitt to Major League Baseball games, and I just don’t get it. Maybe that’s because […]
Essay: Streaming Theater in the Age of Covid — and Beyond
By guest author W.C. Turck On Sunday, February 21, from 1-3pm CST, Kerri Kendall and Bill Turck will hold a radio roundtable on streaming theater one year into the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
Essay: The Rise (and Fall) of a Charismatic Leader in a Post-Truth Era
Post-truth is pre-fascism, and Trump has been our post-truth president. Historian Timothy Snyder characterizes our past president and describes his followers vividly in his essay, “The American Abyss: Trump, the […]
Call It by Its Name: Wednesday Was a Fascist Riot
Wednesday left us in shock. Rioters stormed up the steps, climbed up the walls of the U.S. Capitol, broke windows and battered through doors to get into the building. Then […]
Essay: Return to Kenowhere
I had no idea when I wrote about Kenosha just a few weeks ago we’d be where we are today. I had no idea I’d be trolling Twitter and see […]
Essay: The Road to Kenowhere Leads to Me
By now, if you’re on social media, especially Twitter, you may have noticed that Kenosha is trending on Twitter. In fact, Kenosha made the national news–or rather, an author at […]
Eight Things I Learned From Cooking My Grandma’s Gołąbki
2020 was hard for us even before the pandemic. Save for a working vacation that was fulfilling on a professional level and fun because I got to do it with […]
Essay: Haircuts, Prison, Love and Sheltering in Place
Cathy gave me a haircut today on the back porch. In our 37 years of marriage, that hasn’t happened before, but we’re not leaving the house for haircuts or much […]