Ira Glass in 2007 Photo: Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune November 17, 1995 The voice-in-your-head intimacy, the immersive storytelling, the fascination with the overlooked or the obscure — those calling cards of the modern-day podcast can trace their origins to Glass. In 1996, he changed the name of his program to This American Life and never looked back. … Read more
Sandra Cisneros in 2002 Photo: Milbert O. Brown/Chicago Tribune January 1, 1984 The media barely noticed the arrival of this vivid novel, narrated by a teenage girl coming of age in a Mexican American neighborhood — inspired by Cisneros’s early years in Humboldt Park — but it has since sold six million copies and been translated into 20 languages. … Read more
The pronunciation of our fair city by the lake is a matter of local controversy — and like anywhere else, regional speech is giving way to national speech.
Delving into Chicago’s past, the author picked up the trail of a forgotten literary light whose life uncannily paralleled their own.
The pandemic may have put a stop to big weddings, but plenty of local couples are still getting hitched at City Hall. One morning in September, we captured the big day for 10 of them.
