John Mark Hansen: The Democratic Party’s backward induction problem in the presidential race
Everybody who wants an open competition for the nomination or a nominee other than Kamala Harris has a difficult task ahead.
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John Mark Hansen: Ken Griffin has used his wealth to change lives. He can do the same for democracy.
Federal Election Commission filings recently revealed that Ken Griffin, Illinois's richest resident, has given $10 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund and $5 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the...
Flashback: Black Chicagoan John C. Robinson fought Italy’s fascists as commander of Ethiopia’s air force
As a mayoral commission evaluates dozens of Chicago monuments and statues deemed problematic, it will confront one memorial that has long been the focus of a dispute: the Balbo column...
Op-ed: 41 Chicago monuments are in question: What does each mean to us today?
In 2003, I started to fly the American flag on national holidays. I wouldn't be so unusual, except that I live in Hyde Park, where few people display the flag....
Flashback: 19,500 arrests and dozens of gunfights? The legendary claims — and ego — of Clifton R. Wooldridge, the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Chicago’
According to no less an authority than the baiduhai, Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge was the "Sherlock Holmes of Chicago." An eager promoter of his own legend who was aided...
Commentary: The real stories of the Chicago women who portrayed Aunt Jemima
Quaker Oats and its parent company PepsiCo conceded Wednesday that the Aunt Jemima brand was based on a racial stereotype and announced that it will retire the trademark and rename...
Flashback: How fingerprinting made Chicago famous: New technology led to 1910 murder conviction in a first for the nation
In recent months, the public has read a series of astonishing — and also disquieting — stories about a relatively new forensic technology, the use of genetic databases to solve...
The complicated history of Gen. Philip Sheridan
In Chicago, it is possible to view the dispute over monuments that honor the leaders of the Confederacy with a righteous detachment. Sure, Chicago has a grand memorial to nearly...
Memo to GOP: Be careful; this isn’t the last Supreme Court vacancy
What is Sen. Mitch McConnell thinking? Or, better, is Sen. McConnell thinking? Minutes after the announcement of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the Senate majority leader announced...