If things look bleak to you, Omaha-based singer-songwriter Simon Joyner won’t contradict you, but he might complicate your understanding of the darkness. The narrator of “Caroline’s Got a Secret,” the […]
Tag: depression
Posted inArts & Culture
It’s not just personal, it’s policy
Rates of suicide have skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and mental illness is more prevalent today than ever before. However, the societal causes of mental illness are still not […]
Posted inCity Life
Waving at Santa from a rat-infested train tunnel
My secret Chicago talent is that I always catch the Chicago Transit Authority’s Holiday Train. All over the city, the train finds me. Commuting home from work. Meeting my friends […]
Posted inColumns & Opinion
An ex-coworker keeps sexting my man
You’re “fine” with flirting, but she won’t stop blowing up his phone.
Posted inCity Life
The Reader’s stay-at-home chronicles: days 15 and 16
What we’re reading, watching, listening to, etc., to pass the time.
Posted inMusic
After a bout of self-doubt, Chicago rapper Kembe X re-emerges with a star’s brightness
In an October interview with Lyrical Lemonade, Chicago rapper Kembe X (born Dikembe Caston) described a rocky patch in 2017 that brought him to a breaking point in his career. […]
Posted inFilm
Diagnosis: Boring uses surreal comedy to demonstrate the distortional logic of depression
The Chicago-made webseries takes a radically different view of mental illness.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Gay, middle-aged, and lonely as hell
Dan Savage advises a trio of late bloomers.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Can sex get better after marriage?
Dan gets an earful from people whose sex lives improved after the event.
Posted inArts & Culture
An Andersonville shopkeeper redefines retail therapy
At Martha Mae, Jean Cate fights her demons by inviting customers into a total work of art.
Posted inBlogs
Punk Talks works to change the conversation about musicians and mental health
Social worker Sheridan Allen and her organization Punk Talks hold a fund-raising concert in Chicago this month to help connect DIY musicians with mental-health care.
Posted inArts & Culture
A brief interview with Andrew Solomon
In advance of his appearance at the Chicago Humanities Festival, the writer speaks about travel and his recently released essay collection Far and Away: Reporting From the Brink of Change
Posted inArts & Culture
My annual Valentine’s Day depression
Heartache arrives every February 14—and it’s my stupid dead dad’s fault.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Old-fashioned romantic wants to torture your gonads
Dan Savage seeks expert advice from a specialist in cock-and-ball torture, and gets some advice of his own.
Posted inBlogs
ChronicBabe.com founder says chronic illness sufferers can still be sexy
Chicagoan Jenni Prokopy created ChronicBabe.com, a resource for women like herself suffering from chronic illness.