1. Life After the Second Set

An 18-year-old stepped in to take a bullet for his cousin. Two years later he still has five bullets in his lower back and remains on a very slow road to recovery. A reporter and a comics artist document Miles’s story for Medium.

2. Lost Friends

Eight Chicago high schoolers talk about the long shadow of violence in their lives. The Tribune, The Mash, and True Star ask them how they've been affected.

3. Meet Fred Eychaner, the Most Mysterious Figure in Democratic Party Politics

Chicago journalist Daniel Libit tracks down one of the most reclusive—and powerful—donors in Democratic politics.“I am not the progressive Koch brother,” Eychaner tells Libit. Read the account at the National Journal.

4. Goodbye to Hot Doug’s, the Most Beloved Restaurant in Chicago

The modest but innovative hot dog stand “held the city’s heart between its buns.” Here’s why. Jeff Ruby shares the love in Chicago magazine.

5. Capital Flows

How Kanye West and Chief Keef are the soundtrack to contemporary capitalism. The New Inquiry examines the aesthetic economics of rap.

6. Refugees Raise Vegetables, Put Down Roots at Urban Garden

In Albany Park, a diverse group of immigrants—from Bhutan, Burma, the Congo, Nepal, and other places—learn to navigate the city through an innovative program. WBEZ takes you to the Global Garden Refugee Training Farm.

7. R.I.P. Gary Becker

The Nobel Prize-winning U. of C. economist, who died May 3, opened up the family to economic study in profound ways. Washington Monthly remembers him with a critical obituary.

8. After Six Decades, ‘Jet’ Magazine Decides to Go All-Digital

Times have changed around the ubiquitous Johnson Publishing brand. Can it catch up? NPR explores what it was, and what happened to it.

9. Why Is Milwaukee So Politically Polarized?

Chicago’s neighor to the north has an extreme divide between urban Democrats and exurban Republicans—and the demographics follow along the city’s interstates. Chicago magazine looks at 50 years of the city’s history.

10. Under Emanuel, Principals Have No Voice

In a candid letter to the editor, Troy A. LaRaviere, the principal at Blaine Elementary School in Lake View, says CPS under Rahm has pursued “teacher-bashing, privatized choice, fly-by-night fast-track teacher licensing and over-reliance on testing.” Read it at the Sun-Times.