It’s a story about a storyteller who is creating a story about how mythology (stories) are created. It is also an acute reminder of how easy it can be to hide secrets in plain sight.
Tag: Vol. 51 No. 22
Issue of August 4, 2022

Swimming in the atomic waters of the largest Godzilla convention on earth
On the reptilian superstar, family, and other monsters
by Katie Prout
Affordable housing in Bronzeville
Dancing at Bud Billiken parade
On the cover: Photo by Mark Capapas. For more of Capapas’s work, go to mark-capapas.com.
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Anonymous Club
Filmmaker Danny Cohen gave Barnett a Dictaphone and asked her to talk into it as she traversed the world on tours over three years, in support of her celebrated second album in 2018, and onward.
Chicago duo Conjunto Primitivo concoct an irresistible blend of reggaeton and industrial
In March 2020, when I wrote about underground industrial label Chicago Research and the tight-knit community that surrounded it, I heard that local duo Conjunto Primitivo planned to release their debut full-length through the label. Considering how that month ended, I’m not surprised to see that album coming out only now—and I can’t argue with […]
Nothing to hide
Clothing reseller Sasha Smith, 20, claims to dress like a “pink 2000s bimbo Harajuku ballerina.” She’s inspired by dolls, the Playboy universe, and the now-defunct Japanese street style magazine FRUiTS. The day she was photographed, Smith was headed to a hangout with a friend. She was covered head to toe in her favorite rosy hue, […]
MUBI GO to the movies
Chicago audiences love the Music Box and Film Center, so, naturally, I wanted to ensure that MUBI GO is as exciting a premise for them as it is for viewers.
Bernardo Medina’s Sofrito Manifesto slaps like a flip-flop
Bernardo Medina’s mother chased him into art with a foam rubber flip-flop. “Latina mothers call it a chancleta,” says Medina, a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based pop artist and publicist. “It is the weapon that they use against you as a kid. I was very hyper, and since there were no medications for it, it was […]
Chicago drill upstart PGF Nuk hits where it hurts on Switch Music
Most rappers can only dream of making a song as powerful as PGF Nuk’s breakout single, “Waddup.” Superficially it sounds like a pretty standard drill track—terse verses in a wrought-iron flow, lean percussion, a sparse synth melody as chilly as a dusty pipe organ—but Nuk puts it over the top with his style. The Englewood […]
Classifieds
Help wanted/employment/job listings and classified listings for legal notices, professional services, research, and adult services
Sumac headline a night of dynamic, heavy music
The title track of Sumac’s latest album, 2020’s May You Be Held (Thrill Jockey), is a tough-love affirmation built for trying times, when soothing sounds just don’t cut it anymore and you need self-care that’s more like the cathartic group therapy you might find in a Klingon gladiatorial arena. The postmetal power trio use punky, […]
The three Ryans
An interview with a trio of teenage boys who shared a passion for Godzilla and for calling each other “brother,” though it had only been an hour since they’d met.
A note on this week’s cover story
I wouldn’t remember this incident except for that it’s on film, one that my brothers have watched repeatedly, the punch growing stronger, more violent in their mind.
Swimming in the atomic waters of the largest Godzilla convention on earth
On the reptilian superstar, family, and other monsters
Black Chicago dance culture shines at Art on the Mart
On the evening of Thursday, June 30, dozens of young Black dancers gathered on the Chicago Riverwalk across from the Merchandise Mart. At 9 PM that night, Art on the Mart, which bills itself as the world’s largest permanent art projection, would debut two new pieces, including Billiken, an homage to the biggest Black parade […]