Samantha Schmidt –

‘What was her first choice? A jacket that says womp womp?’ Late-night comics bash Melania Trump

June 22, 2018 at 11:50 a.m.

When Stephen Colbert heard that Melania Trump was visiting a shelter for migrant children in Texas on Thursday, he said he thought, "okay, this is what first ladies often do."...

Affair leads to murder-suicide in quiet Pennsylvania town, leaving two women dead: police

August 22, 2019 at 3:39 a.m.

When Jennair Gerardot found out her husband was cheating on her, she came up with a plan of revenge, one that would lead to a bloody murder-suicide and stun a...

Nick Cave has been singing about mortality for decades, and he's really good at it. Whether the narratives are biblical or pulpy, the victims innocents or death row convicts, the circumstances comprehensible or cruelly random, Cave's songs are on intimate terms with the infinite ways a life can be extinguished. And yet, "Skeleton Tree", his latest album with his estimable band, the Bad Seeds, is a relatively concise song cycle shadowed by death that feels different than all the rest. <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/kot/sc-music-nick-cave-skeleton-tree-ent-0916-20160916-column.html" target="_blank">Read the full review.</a>

‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’: The story behind the ‘black national anthem’ that Beyoncé sang

December 17, 2018 at 4:20 p.m.

In 1899, a young poet and school principal named James Weldon Johnson was asked to address a crowd in Jackonsville, Florida, for the upcoming anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Just...

Insurer Aetna has apologized for a mistake that exposed some clients' HIV status to the public.

Aetna accidentally exposed customer HIV statuses in clear envelope windows

June 2, 2018 at 7:49 p.m.

Health insurance company Aetna "stunned" some of its customers last month when it accidentally made their HIV statuses visible from the outside of envelopes, two legal groups said Thursday. The...

Six miles beneath the Pacific Ocean surface, a team of oceanographers and experts discover an entire hidden ecosystem laden with species "completely unknown to science." But Meg comes calling, attacking the submersible piloted by the ex-wife (Jessica McNamee) of rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham).
<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-the-meg-rev-0806-story.html" target="_blank">Read the review.</a>

‘Goodbye, Mooch’: Late-night comedians bid farewell to Anthony Scaramucci

June 3, 2018 at 2:52 a.m.

"The Mooch" was a character - and a name - made for late-night comedy. In the days after Anthony Scaramucci's appointment as White House communications director, late-night hosts introduced their...

Jim Henson’s family says fired actor played Kermit as ‘bitter, depressed victim’

June 3, 2018 at 6:06 a.m.

With his enormous mouth, cheerful eyes and frantic way of talking, Kermit always seemed like a cheerful frog. But Kermit's personality appeared to change in recent years. At least that's...

‘Despacito’ singer Daddy Yankee becomes first Latino artist to reach No. 1 on Spotify

June 3, 2018 at 8:28 a.m.

In 2004, the pulsating, intensely catchy beats of Daddy Yankee's mostly Spanish song "Gasolina" hit dance clubs around the world, helping launch the Puerto Rican artist - and reggaeton -...

‘The Simpsons’ has a grim take on Trump’s first 100 days

June 5, 2018 at 1:55 a.m.

In the next episode of "The Simpsons," an ominous thunderstorm is brewing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Inside the White House, the situation is even more turbulent. "A hundred days in...

‘We are all Americans,’ says Corona ad, meaning not just folks in those 50 states

June 6, 2018 at 1:09 a.m.

"Let's Make America Great Again." The words appear on the screen with the faint sounds of a crowd shouting, "Build a wall," in the background. It's a slogan and a...

In this Sept. 29, 2009 file photo, people walk in the backdrop of a parked Air India plane at the airport in New Delhi, India.

In response to recent groping reports, Air India is reserving a women-only row

June 6, 2018 at 8:17 a.m.

Over the course two weeks — on two separate occasions — women reported being groped on Air India flights. Within days, the state-owned airline announced that it would keep plastic...

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