Terrible Chicago artist draws terrible Chicago portraits. And finds a niche.
Jacob Ryan Reno, long and boyish, wearing the kind of blue smock you imagine a painter would wear in a cartoon about a painter, is not good at his job.
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To know them is to loath them: Oak Park’s Alec Nevala-Lee finds a niche, writing about science’s biggest jerks
Alec Nevala-Lee of Oak Park has developed a talent for writing quite accessible histories of the boorish but brilliant.
Chicago Humanities Fall Festival faces the decline of the humanities with lineup including Margaret Atwood, Kate McKinnon
The Chicago Humanities Festival announces its fall lineup at a time when many cultural institutions face a bleak future of almost zero public funding.
Review: Sabrina Carpenter closes Lollapalooza with confectionary joy and perfect surprises
Our pool of genuinely funny music performers has never been large. Musicians get timid about humor, with reason. Audiences take earnest artists seriously and let time and taste catch up...
Why Alamo’s preshow is one of the last, best reasons to go to a movie theater
The preshow is a reminder that 75% of the magic of going to a movie is waiting for the movie. It’s a reminder of why you bothered to leave the...
Chicago doesn’t remember one of its worst disasters, and there are few memorials to this day
The closest thing we have to a memorial for people who died from the heat is not even in Chicago. It’s the headstone of the mass grave in Homewood.
Long after the fuss over Pope Leo XIV, the village of Dolton will still be here
If you’re planning a pilgrimage to the pope’s hometown this summer, keep in mind that Dolton never asked to be considered remarkable. Except, in its own way, it is. Just...
Column: I could never figure out the Wrigley Building but now I know why
“The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon” is a fascinating and pretty entertaining new coffee table book devoted to this terra cotta mainstay.
Go big and stay home! Why Illinois loves its roadside monsters.
Our state loves its towering Abe Lincolns and ketchup bottles. Looking for a road trip? There's a Giants Museum in downstate Illinois along Route 66.
Review: The lesson of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic: We’ll miss him when he’s gone
His two-hour concert on Sunday night at Ravinia Festival was a reminder of how the talent and glorious stupidity of his parody songs can never be repeated.