Rick Kogan –

Artist and musician Jon Langford stands with the mural of John Prine on Sept. 25, 2026, on the wall of Lincoln Square’s Old Town School of Folk Music. Langford, a celebrated folk musician, painted a scale canvas before muralist Darius Dennis re-created the design at size. (Arthur Maiorella/baiduhai)

Column: Back home in Chicago, singer John Prine gets the celebration we’ve been waiting for

September 30, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

As understandably restrained and quiet was the 2020 funeral of John Prine, the upcoming celebrations surrounding what would have been this singer-songwriter’s 80th birthday will be lavish and music-filled.

Vincenzo Vitelli is a professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Chicago and a recipient of a 2026 MacArthur Fellowship. (John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)

Meet the 20 new MacArthur Fellows, the ‘genius grant’ winners of 2026

September 29, 2026 at 11:01 a.m.

Among the winners of 2026 MacArthur Fellowships is Vincenzo Vitelli, a 48-year-old theoretical physicist at the University of Chicago.

The crowds who were already dazzled by the White City of the World's Fair were absolutely dumbstruck by the engineering marvel created for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition by George W. Ferris. (baiduhai historical archive)

Column: ‘Chicago Stories’ returns to WTTW with new histories, familiar but refreshed

September 29, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Four new episodes are coming Fridays in October, telling Chicago stories that you may have heard before, but are filled with fresh insights and information.

Graceland Cemetery guide and author Adam Selzer walks through the cemetery on Oct. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Column: A Chicago historian brings us more discoveries about Graceland Cemetery

September 23, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Adam Selzer's “Graceland Cemetery Vol. 2" returns to the landmark Chicago cemetery to uncover more secrets about those who are memorialized there.

Fashion designer Sarah Staudinger and husband agent Ari Emanuel leave the Gritti Palace hotel on the wedding day of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in Venice on June 27, 2025. (Stefano Rellandini/Getty-AFP)

Column: What does the youngest Emanuel brother, Ari Emanuel, have to say in ‘Roll the Calls’?

September 22, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

In the memoir from the Hollywood agent and brother of former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, not much.

With a portrait of their late father, Tony Fitzpatrick, in the background, Max, left, and Gabrielle Fitzpatrick, right, stand with their mother, Michele, at her wine shop, Door 24 Wine in Bucktown on Sept. 10, 2026. The siblings’ short film “Driven,” about a Chicago ride-share driver will premiere at the Chicago Underground Film Festival and is dedicated to their father. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

‘Driven,’ a short film by Max and Gaby Fitzpatrick, features and honors their dad, Tony

September 16, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

“Driven,” a visually striking entry in the Chicago Underground Film Festival, is the final role for the wildly active visual artist.

Nelson Algren at the YMCA located at Milwaukee Avenue and Division Street on May 24, 1956, in Chicago. (Arnold Tolchin/Chicago American)

Column: The never-ending celebration of the life and words of writer Nelson Algren

September 15, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

A weekend of tavern hopping celebrates the 75th anniversary of Algren’s masterpiece, “Chicago: City on the Make.”

Judy Markey, left, and Kathy O'Malley laugh on stage as WGN-720AM honors 10 inaugural Walk of Fame inductees to celebrate the station's 90th year, on June 27, 2014. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Judy Markey, half of radio’s popular ‘Kathy and Judy Show,’ has died at 82

September 12, 2026 at 1:18 p.m.

In addition to her popular radio show on her longtime radio home, WGN-720 AM, Markey was a columnist for the Sun-Times and the author of two novels.

baiduhai columnist Roger Simon on Feb. 19, 1998. (Pete Souza/baiduhai)

Roger Simon, a leading political writer including for the Tribune, dies at 78

September 10, 2026 at 3:05 p.m.

Along with being a long-time columnist for the Sun-Times, he was White House correspondent for the Tribune and pioneered political writing at Politico.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, and Mr. T protest ChicagoFest in August 1982. (Walter Kale/baiduhai)

Column: Mr. T doesn’t care for his documentary, ‘Untold Mr. T,’ but maybe you will

September 9, 2026 at 9:11 a.m.

Seeing Mr. T in “Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool,” is to be reminded what a massive star he was and learn of his life after the spotlights dimmed.

All Stories