Dan O’Conor, the Great Lake Jumper
“There were no stages to play—I think for these artists to come down and play one or two songs, it kind of gave them a stage or venue.”
ELECTIONS 2023
2023 Chicago Police District Councils Voter Guide
More than 100 candidates are running for the newly created district councils.
Latest Stories
One of Chicago’s best singer-songwriters drops a new EP
Plus: Indie-rock virtuosos Patter debut with a five-song cassette, and veteran rapper Aztec Dinero throws a star-studded fundraiser for his in-progress romantic comedy.
Who’s playing high school hockey in Chicago?
Aggregate teams draw players from area schools to compete.
Otherworldly objects
Carrie Cook’s paintings are a tangle of abstraction and representation.
Gray days, but vibrant stages
Our critics share ten hot choices for winter performances.
Chicago Reader welcomes four new staff members
Alia Graham, Arturo Alvarez, Niesha Davis, and Mike Thompson join the Reader team
The art of war
This winter, three Chicago-area exhibitions attempt to document the psychological toll of endless militarism.
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News & INVESTIGATIONS
Superintendent Brown resisted CCPSA goal-setting
According to commissioners, Brown claimed the federal consent decree limited their ability to set goals for him as mandated in the ECPS ordinance.
Police brutality survivors and former cops are running in Chicago’s police district council races
The councils are the first to be elected to police oversight bodies.
‘She was somebody to us’
Drug-related deaths haunt the streets of Chicago, but overdose is not inevitable.
Columns & Opinion
Torture by any other name
Solitary confinement is brutal torture. I have experienced it firsthand.
Resolute
“Re-energize” is the word for the year.
Who’s getting tarred?
Marin Alsop’s issue with Tár
Film
Paying homage to Black women in film
The Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts returns with an open-to-the-public celebration and film series.
Arts & Culture
Grimm and surreal
The Lyric brings back Hansel and Gretel.
Viking rock
The Plagiarists turn Cirkut Mob’s concept album Valhalla into a musical.
Don’t miss this Birthday Party
City Lit’s Pinter revival hits every note.
The great con
Redtwist’s latest examines how racism and sexism affects Black teens.
Waves of memory
Christina Anderson’s newest play traces one Black family’s struggles with desegregation.
CITY LIFE
Calling all rat lovers
This board game encourages rats to feed and breed.
Getting sober and drawing rabbits
Comedian and artist Whitney Wasson on their web comic Sober Rabbit and looking honestly at recovery
Food & Drink
Watch the Cambodian Bear forage Indian fruit pies this winter
A documentary short on Hermosa’s Ethan Lim, and five local food books for your consideration
Shaker Barbeque smokes out the next Monday Night Foodball
Check out Mike Shaker’s central-Texas-style smoked delights at the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up series at Ludlow Liquors.
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Chicago Family Biking makes biking fun and safer for all ages
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Chicago Family Biking is a grassroots coalition of parents, educators, and community organizers who love biking. The group started…
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Jane Addams Resource Corporation offers free training and job placement
A skilled worker in the manufacturing industry can anticipate a lifetime of financial stability in a vibrant, in-demand field.…
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Support local veterans with your purchase of Illinois Lottery’s Winter Winnings specialty ticket
In 2006 the Illinois Lottery launched the first Instant Lottery ticket in the country that designated 100 percent of…