Chicago's Terrible Rail Bottleneck

By Whet Moser

Amtrak's stats confirm what you've probably already noticed—traffic congestion is terrible, whether you're in a train or a car. But it's just as bad for the people whose jobs are on the rails, thanks to the nation's worst rail bottleneck. Read more

Olympic Swimmer Matt Grevers Wins Valentine's Day

By Whet Moser

One of Chicagoland's finest athletes, a Northwestern alum and medal-winning Olympic swimmer, makes news from the medal stand: with gold, and this time diamond as well. Read more

The Decline of the Chicago Neighborhood Tavern: A Daley and Demographic Legacy

By Whet Moser

Chicago now has less than ten percent of the number of taverns as it did in the days of the saloon. Two abstemious mayors, the changing demographics of alcohol consumers, and the spread of liquor licenses to other establishments have done them in. Read more

Alice Clement, Cora Strayer, and Kate Warne: Badass Female Flatfoots of Old Chicago

By Whet Moser

Alice Clement was an early feminist, foe to mashers, friend of lost girls, movie producer (and star)... and Chicago's first female detective. Plus: Cora Strayer and Kate Warne, early female gumshoes of the private sector. Read more

The Birth Control Issue Is a Winning One for the Obama Administration

By Whet Moser

The administration's health policy, in combination with decade-old EEOC rules, has created a media firestorm about religious freedom, with pundits calling it the end of Obama's chances in 2012. In the real world, it will probably provide a modest electoral boost. Read more

How to Merge an Airline and Other Business News

By Whet Moser

Just making the coffee at the world's largest carrier takes a whole beverage committee; Mayor Emanuel on the long-delayed O'Hare express; the ethics of shoppping; and more. Read more

Guinnessometrics: Saving Science and Statistics With Beer

By Whet Moser

A Roosevelt University economist looks into the scientific and statistical legacy of W.S. Gosset, aka "Student," Guinness's legendary Oxford-educated brewmaster and scientific-paradigm-shifter. Read more

How an Illinois Prof's Paper on Wind Farms and Microclimate Became a Macro Story

By Whet Moser

UIUC's Somnath Baidya Roy wrote a 2010 paper on how wind farms effect nearby surface temperatures. In 2012, it got picked up and used as a cudgel in the climate-change wars. Read more

How Clint Eastwood's Patriotic Chrysler Ad Is Secretly Anti-Everything

By Whet Moser

"Halftime in America": anti-capitalist, anti-union, anti-Union, and worst of all, anti-Norse. Everyone hates the Super Bowl's most beloved ad. Read more

Indiana: Right-to-Work Again

By Whet Moser

Our Rust Belt neighbors are a beachhead for right-to-work laws in the industrial Midwest. But it's happened before, when the pols and capitalists who birthed the modern conservative movement passed a similar law that lasted for nine years. Read more

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