The U of C's Mansueto Library as Social Space
Everyone’s pretty much in agreement that the bubbleicious Mansueto Library is an architectural triumph. But how well does it work in practice?
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Intersected
Two fatal crashes in two months turn a stretch of Illinois Street near the Tribune Tower into a memento mori.
Rod Blagojevich: Done In By a Smart Jury
Far from the old “12 Angry Men” saw, Blagojevich’s peers got along, developed clever techniques to weigh his guilt and innocence, and methodically analyzed the stagecraft that got him elected in the first place.
Blago's Brother Robert: Patrick Fitzgerald 'Poisoned' Jury Pool
On Monday, after jurors in the Blagojevich retrial delivered a nearly sweeping guilty verdict, I called the gov’s brother, Robert. Below is an edited transcript of our conversation, in which he accuses U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of “[poisoning] the jury pool and the media,” and says that the feds used him as a pawn…
Blago Verdict: How Many Years He'll Likely Serve, Mell Stays Mum, Goldstein Needs a New Email Address, and More
Some questions and observations following today’s verdict in the retrial of the former governor: If you total the prison time from the 17 of 20 guilty counts, in addition to the charge from the first trial of lying to the FBI, Blago would spend more than 300 years in prison—reminiscent of the sentence…
The Housing Crisis on Chicago's South Side
The Tribune looks at the devastating effect the housing bubble had on Englewood, in a piece reminiscent of the paper’s 2005 series on housing fraud in the same neighborhood. A look even further behind the numbers is no less shocking.
String Theory and the Science of the Violin
In 1993, Cal Meineke, a doctor with a talent for playing the violin, set out to solve a perplexing mystery: Why do some stringed instruments produce a heartbreakingly beautiful sound, while other, nearly identical instruments do not? After almost two decades of obsessive violinmaking and intense scrutiny, he thinks he has the answer
A Short History of the Violin
The modern violin emerged in northern Italy in the 1500s, in the cities of Brescia and Cremona. Brescia had the older school, but the Cremona guild perfected the instrument in the workshops of Amati, Guarneri, and Stradivari. Most notably, in the late 17th century, Antonio Stradivari combined Cremona’s sweetness of tone with the famous power … Read more
Barack Obama: Jimmy Carter II?
The president came in with hopes from liberal Democrats that he might usher in a new New Deal. But in terms of governance, temperament, and ideology, he might be more like the Man From Plains.
Good Chicago Blogs
An annotated blog roll of local favorites of mine. Plus: some underrated Chicago books, and brief advertisements for myself.