1. The Last Years of Ernie Banks
His beloved, irrepressible spirit made him a fan favorite—but it masked a complicated personality and a lonely existence. Chicago magazine tells his story.
2. The University of Chicago’s Message to the Class of 2019: Don’t Be a Rapist
“If you’re raped, you’re not smart,” one student says of certain attitudes at the school. “The culture here is so wrapped up in being smart it can’t comprehend that happening.” The Chicago Reader follows the school’s culture change.
3. City Sends Police-Shooting Investigators to Trainer Accused of Pro-Cop Bias
IPRA, recently embroiled in controversy, taps a controversial consultant to teach its members. WBEZ breaks the story.
4. Threats. Vitriol. Hate. Ugly Truth About Women in Sports and Social Media
Women face misogyny and hostility every day on the internet, and the problem is worse for sportswriters. A Chicago sports-radio anchor gives her story in Sports Illustrated.
5. Can Theaster Gates’s Rebuild Foundation Revitalize Chicago’s Blighted South Shore District?
The Stony Island Arts Bank cost one dollar to buy and $4.5 million to rebuild. What will it do for the neighborhood? Artsy explores the question.
6. Just Another Factory Closing
A plant in northwestern Illinois made most of the world’s solenoid valves for decades, at a good profit. Now it’s being shut down. Why? The University of Chicago’s Chad Broughton investigates for The Atlantic.
7. The Beautiful People Are the Hardest to Draw: Interview with a Courtroom Artist
He’s been an artist since 1975, and in that time has drawn Blago, R. Kelly, Oprah, Drew Peterson, MJ—beginning when he went to the courthouse to practice as a SAIC student. Ratter interviews Lou “L.D.” Chuckman.
8. Why the Catholic Church Is So Liberal on Labor
The Chicago archbishop spoke out on unions and a just wage. It’s a tradition that goes all the way back to Pope Leo XIII. Chicago magazine traces its origins.
9. This Is Where Chicagoans Say the Borders of Their Neighborhoods Are
What’s the Loop? How do Wrigleyville and Boystown overlap? Thousands of Chicagoans make the call. DNAInfo maps their responses.
10. Little Village, Big Business
It’s not a rich neighborhood, but it supports the second-highest-grossing retail corridor in Chicago. Crain’s takes a tour.