Pop vs Soda? I'll Show You Pop vs Soda
Where “pop” becomes “Coke,” “crayfish” becomes “crawdad,” and other fine questions of American regional dialects. Plus: the origins of the “word, schmerd” tic.
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9/11 and Social Media
The dangers and advantages of “social media” in the wake—or the moment—of national disaster, from the Kennedy assassination to the attack on the World Trade Center.
Joe Walsh on Why He's Skipping Obama's Jobs Speech Tonight
When President Obama takes the mic tonight for a jobs speech before a joint session of Congress tonight, Congressman Joe Walsh will not be in attendance. Instead, he’ll be flying home to host a “small business job forum” in Schaumburg, part of his suburban Chicago 8th District…
The Impending Death of the U.S. Postal Service
Why the USPS is nearing the brink, and what can be done to fix it. Right now it’s in an awkward position between subsidized public good and flexible private business, so the philosophy will have to change as much as the operation.
Kevin Coval's Unabridged Weekend Plans
Seriously, this guy is busy. What made it into this week’s Chicago Guide was only the beginning. Read Coval’s full weekend agenda here.
For the Chicago Comets, Blindness Is No Impediment to Tough Competition
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN: The players on the city’s beep baseball team have the bruises to prove their toughness.
What Happened Between David Protess and Medill?
LOSS OF INNOCENCE: The star professor dedicated his 29-year career at Northwestern’s journalism school to overturning wrongful convictions and, in doing so, almost single-handedly prompted the end of the death penalty in Illinois. How did he and Medill come to such a bitter and rancorous end—in which no party escaped untarnished?
Innocent Until Proven Guilty? Not in Public Housing
15 years after Bill Clinton pushed public-housing administrators to strictly enforce “one-strike” penalties, CHA residents can be evicted if anyone in the household commits a minor crime—or even if they’re charged, but not convicted, of one.
Obama/Boehner Jobs Speech Mess: The Buck Stops with Bill Daley
When Bill Daley took over Rahm Emanuel’s job as President Obama’s chief of staff, the conventional wisdom had it that, finally, an adult was in the room. It may be too soon to judge Daley’s performance in the job, but he certainly earns a low grade for the dustup over the scheduling of Obama’s upcoming jobs speech…
Five Great Reads About Working in Chicagoland
A ’20s tattoo artist, a developer and his son, the man behind Sybaris, a “mood director,” and a legendary Chicago courtroom figure: a Labor Day weekend reader.