Chicago Crime: Putting the Pieces Together
The latest on where guns in Chicago come from; a look into straw purchasers and the Mississippi connection; the dilemmas of snitching; and how to categorize “gang violence.”
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Is Chicago’s New Gun Law Legal?
BULLET PROOF: After a series of court challenges, will the city’s firearms ordinance pass legal muster?
Is Chicago Sox Broadcaster Hawk Harrelson One of the All-Time Greats?
YOU GOTTA BE BLEEPIN’ ME!: A look at one of the most reviled voices in baseball
Chicago Gangs in the 1950s
James F. Short, Jr., one of the many sociologists in the University of Chicago’s tradition of gang research, did the first major work of his career as the Black P Stones and Vice Lords were born.
CNN Goes Inside Cook County's Trauma Unit
A short but detailed look at trauma care during Chicago’s violent summer, where the number of patients has risen and the difference between a shooting and a homicide can be a matter of time and luck.
Welcome to 'The Jungle': From Stockyard to Beef in Turn-of-the-Century Chicago
In 1907, Chicago’s meatpacking industry was infamous after Upton Sinclair’s muckraking masterpiece. And the panoramic photographers of Geo. Lawrence and Co. were there to capture the process.
Last Night's Mass Shootings and Chicago Gang Territory
A study of gang violence in Los Angeles finds a fascinating if obvious pattern: gang territory mirrors species territory in competing for resources, and violence is most common along the boundaries. Last night’s shootings—six incidents, 19 victims—appear to follow that pattern.
Joe Ricketts and the New Anti-Barack Film, '2016: Obama's America'
Rahm Emanuel threw a hissy fit in May when he learned of the involvement of Joe Ricketts, whose children own the Cubs, in a proposed harshly anti-Obama ad that revisited the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy of the 2008 election. Ricketts is back, this time as an investor in a new Barack-bashing film called 2016: Obama’s America.
The Difficulties of Measuring Education and Happiness Economically
The significance of a liberal-arts education, the distinction between pleasure and happiness, and other things that confuse the practitioners of the dismal science.
The Early History and Politics of Chicago Bike Culture
In the 1960s, bicycle commuters were considered to be weird freaks; by 1970, the city had a vibrant bike movement, even before OPEC blew gas prices up. What happened over those short years might explain a lot why some writers get so angry about the idea of bicycle infrastructure.