He doesn’t offer solutions, but he’s an empathetic witness to the damage done by violence.
Tag: Alex Kotlowitz
Posted inArts & Culture
In High-Risers, Ben Austen delivers a long-overdue requiem for Cabrini-Green
A new history of the notorious project reminds us why public housing mattered to the people who lived there—and why it matters still.
Posted inMusic
A people’s history of Kevin Coval
Louder Than a Bomb cofounder Kevin Coval in the words of people in Chicago’s poetry, spoken-word, and hip-hop scenes whose lives he’s touched
Posted inNews & Politics
Chicago responds to President Trump
Artists, writers, musicians, academics, activists, and politicians—even Rahm!—weigh in on the new administration: the threats, the fears, the absurdity.
Posted inBlogs
Adam Green’s Aladdin, the Reader’s Cocktail Challenge, and more things to do in Chicago this week
The Fifth Star Awards, “Every Building in Baghdad,” and more happenings from September 12-15.
Posted inBlogs
Emanuel discovers the need for police accountability reforms
Four and a half years after he assumed office—but only one week after the release of the Laquan McDonald video—the mayor determines that the city’s police review authority needs to be examined.
Posted inBlogs
Arts expo Lake FX opens with a question: What’s the ‘lake effect’?
Lake FX, Chicago’s weekend of workshops and events for the creative community, launched Thursday with a discussion of the “lake effect.”
Posted inFilm
Reluctant auteur Steve James on life and Life Itself
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Steve James discusses his life in the Chicago suburbs and his new film on Roger Ebert, Life Itself.
Posted inBlogs
How a story about the horrors of housing projects became part of a horror movie
On the parallels between a 1987 Reader article and the movie Candyman.
Posted inBlogs
After 20 years, Neighborhood Writing Alliance signs off
The nonprofit, which encouraged ordinary people to write their own stories, has shut down due to lack of funds.
Posted inMusic
Listen closely to Jimmy Whispers
His street art and love songs have a powerful antiviolence subtext—and his Summer in Pain Festival benefits CeaseFire.
Posted inBlogs
Coming Tuesday: The first Good Pitch Chicago, a fund-seeking round table for documentary filmmakers
After success in other American cities, a forum that sits documentary filmmakers down with potential backers comes to the Chicago Cultural Center.
Posted inBest of Chicago
Best Heartbreaking Reporting of Staggering Genius
The stories of the lives of these students illuminate a culture of violence that has come to define Chicago but is hardly unique to it