Whet Moser

The President sets Stonewall alongside Selma and the Seneca Falls Convention in a plea for equality in sexual orientation: "for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." Read more

The Fulton Market Cold Storage building, which rose in 1923 in the heart of the beef distribution and racketeering district, had to be thawed out before it can become a mixed-use development. Read more

In defense of the Chicago winter and the Hawk Wind: it's a hard kind of awe, but it's the only awe we have in one of the least naturally wondrous great cities on earth. Read more

As you might guess, the collar counties are the state's richest, though the very richest may surprise you. The poverty downstate is intense in places, along the lines of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. Read more

In a wonderful historical coincidence, January 17th marks the birth of Chicago's most famous gangster and the public policy that made him, the day that the 18th Amendment became law. Read more

A century ago, Chicago's air was (probably) a lot worse than Beijing's is today. Chicago was pretty proactive in terms of air quality, beginning as early as 1881, and advanced ahead of its peers—but things were still bad in the 1970s, when the real push for clean air swept the country. Read more

The White House's plan includes a lot that will be familiar: an assault weapons ban, limiting clips to 10 rounds, and research into the effects of violent video games and movies. And a lot that's new, including a large mental-health component. Read more

Research into pedophilia is starting to peel back the layers of why some people are attracted to children. In the meantime, the criminal justice system continues to struggle with how to protect children from a pathology we don't understand. Read more