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If I was going to produce a Chicago news show, here’s what it would look like
A little over a year ago, I was reading The Third Coast. The book is full of stories of how Chicago was a hub of innovation. Not innovation in the way we currently think of it – as “the Uber of X” –...
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Home for Christmas
(Note: I wrote the following back in 2009 about a now-somewhat-legendary mix of Christmas music I made in 2001. The reasons why I made it – and how, in the years since, I lost and found the joy that...
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A few musings on why DNAInfo bought the Gothamist network
Today DNAInfo announced it is buying the Gothamist network. Why? Well here are a few thoughts. (Full disclosure: I used to be a Chicagoist editor though it’s been a while since I’ve had any inside info...
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Will Rahm Emanuel’s future depend on Lori Lightfoot’s future as police board...
Good morning. It’s Tuesday and Chicago doesn’t have a police board president. This is important because we had a police board president yesterday. As president of the police board, Lori Lightfoot has...
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When does Govenor Rauner start punching up instead of punching down?
There’hadow a precept in good satire that you punch up, you don’t punch down. There isn’t a similar theory about those who hold political office though you generally want to be seen as representing...
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A conversation about leaving Chicago
You saw this thing, right? Whassat? This thing where the kid from San Francisco talks about leaving Chicago? If he’s from San Francisco how iz he in Chicago? He moved here three years ago and it...
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Hugh Hefner: Janus in voluptatem
I worked at Playboy for a year or so. I’ve written about it before, but it was filled with some of the best professional experiences of my life even though parts of it were the worst. (Shout-out to...
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Why are Beverly’s home sales up? Because of the people who live here
Last week in Crain’s Chicago Business there was an article about how home sales in Beverly are on the rise and some of the reasons why. I’ll get into that in a second, but a couple of declarations are...
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Government official, shrink thyself
A recent article in Crain’s Chicago Business asked nine Chicago businesswomen want they want to see change for 2018. I found myself nodding in agreement with most of it, save for the opening paragraph....
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Our country was founded on a culture of dissent. That’s worth celebrating
Families Belong Together protest on Clark St. in Chicago on June 30th, 2018 Every year on the 4th of July, I read the Declaration of Independence as a reminder of where we’ve been, how far we have to...
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A guide to yesterday’s Chicago protests on the Dan Ryan – for people who are...
I spent most of yesterday watching reactions to the shutdown of the Dan Ryan to protest violence in Chicago. Some of the reactions were genuine – people trying to come to a better understanding of why...
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What will Chance The Rapper’s Chicagoist become?
(Disclosure: I was a writer and editor with Chicagoist from 2004 to 2007 and stayed in close communication with people who worked there up until the time it was sold to DNAinfo. While some of the...
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James Gunn and the case for deleting tweets (or why I deleted all my tweets...
In the wake of James Gunn’s dismissal as director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 due to some offensive tweets in his past, director Rian Johnson and political commentator Glenn Greenwald both have...
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Chicago’s problems are a matter of mayoral priorities
If you needed an illustration of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel’s skewed sense of priorities, the news out of Chicago during the first weekend of August was perfect. It provided a clear distillation of...
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In a single moment between Klobuchar and Kavanaugh are all the things we do...
It’s the moment with Senator Amy Klobuchar that sticks with me. The testimony and questioning of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh was a microcosm of what women have to deal with...
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When does Govenor Rauner start punching up instead of punching down?
There’hadow a precept in good satire that you punch up, you don’t punch down. There isn’t a similar theory about those who hold political office though you generally want to be seen as representing...
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A man out of time: Edgar Hansen, 1924-2019
My grandpa Edgar “Ed” Hansen passed away on Friday June 7th around 10:25 in the morning, two days after his 94th birthday. He lived well and died fighting. I started to write about all the things I...
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When does Govenor Rauner start punching up instead of punching down?
There’hadow a precept in good satire that you punch up, you don’t punch down. There isn’t a similar theory about those who hold political office though you generally want to be seen as representing...
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There’s no comparison
Last night was a travesty, but there is no comparison between what Trump and Biden did in the debate last night. In moments like this, we’ll look to establish parity between the two men. We’ll be so...
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Our inspiration to vote should come from a cause, not a candidate
Ta-Nehisi Coates said this thing on Ezra Klein’s podcast back in June that I haven’t stopped thinking about as it relates to the 2020 election: I say this as somebody who’s been very openly critical...
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