“Cleaning Is Something I Can Do”
In this essay for Northwestern professor Alex Kotlowitz’s narrative nonfiction class, a Stateville inmate from the South Side writes about how he manages to regain a sense of control in prison.
Custom Placements: City Life Lead
Skilling Has Retired — Along with Winter
We’ll have weather without our beloved meteorologist, but will we still have the fourth season?
Why Do Chicagoans Say “Jewels” Instead of “Jewel”?
Have you ever shopped for groceries at Jewels? If you have, you’re pronouncing the store’s name wrong. It’s Jewel — short for Jewel Tea Company, the name of the original business that was founded here in 1899. So why do so many Chicagoans add an s? It’s a linguistic phenomenon with stores, especially grocery stores. Kroger, Aldi, … Read more
A Road by Any Other Name
Some of our most famous expressways and highways have notable namesakes — while others have been largely forgotten.
The Thompson Center Reboot
Architectural treasure? Taxpayer money pit? Charming fixer-upper? Spaceship? All of the above? Here’s what to know about the Googleplexing of Helmut Jahn’s opus.
Did the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Spur Calls for Gun Control?
On February 14, 1929, seven gangsters were machine-gunned to death in a Lincoln Park garage, an act that so shocked the nation (“Machine Guns Used to Mow Down Victims,” read a headline in the Scranton Republican), it earned a nickname — and a place in the country’s criminal lore. Weary of the bootlegging wars that were a … Read more
The Ramen Lord
At Chicago’s buzziest new restaurant, Mike Satinover is obsessed with one goal: making the perfect bowl of Japanese noodles.