Columns

Former Indiana U,S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, who was co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, in his office at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington on Nov. 24, 2006. (Pete Souza/baiduhai)

John T. Shaw: We need Congress to ponder the long term with a new future-focused group

By John T. Shaw

October 14, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Half a century ago, many lawmakers viewed their responsibilities differently and created a forum to...

This image from CCTV video released by Saudi Arabia's Media Ministry shows passengers taking cover as flames and smoke fill part of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during what authorities described as a strike at the airport on Oct. 10, 2026. (Saudi Media Ministry via AP)

Daniel DePetris: Resumption of war between Houthis and Saudis is bad timing for Donald Trump

By Daniel DePetris

October 12, 2026 at 1:27 p.m.

The attacks in Saudi Arabia come when Donald Trump is in a standoff over the...

Attorneys for Christa Pike hold a news conference after a judge ruled the Tennessee Department of Corrections must preserve all evidence related to the failed execution of Pike, on Oct. 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee. (George Walker IV/AP)

Clarence Page: A botched execution shakes our death penalty presumptions

By Clarence Page

October 12, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The botched execution of Christa Pike offers a gross illustration of the cruelty that capital...

People wait for a bus on the 100 block of North Michigan Avenue in Chicago's Loop on Aug. 9, 2021.

Column: New census shows fewer white Americans, but that’s because of how we’re counting

By Clarence Page

August 20, 2021 at 2:51 p.m.

Are you alarmed or reassured by headlines that show "America's white population is shrinking"? Where...

A satellite photo provided by Maxar Technologies shows people on the tarmac at Kabul's international airport, also known as Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 16, 2021. The day after the Afghan president fled and the Taliban installed themselves in the presidential palace, uncertainty reigned and with thousands desperate to flee the country, Kabul's airport was a scene of chaos.

Column: Biden’s Afghanistan fiasco is also Trump’s fault and Obama’s and … ugh, nuance is hard

By Rex W. Huppke

August 20, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

As a VERY IMPORTANT voice in the American pundit-sphere, I would like to apologize for...

Visitors walk along reopened Navy Pier on May 2, 2021, in Chicago.

Column: Enforcing Chicago’s indoor mask mandate: Dunce caps, air horns and back-alley seating

By Rex W. Huppke

August 19, 2021 at 9:54 a.m.

I, for one, applaud Chicago officials for reinstating the city's indoor mask mandate. First off,...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference Aug. 5, 2021 in Hialeah, Florida. His office has threatened to deny salaries to school district administrators who violate his prohibition on requiring students to wear masks.

Column: Science as lifesaver dates back thousands of years to the Nilometer, but now some politicians want to turn back the clock

By Ron Grossman

August 18, 2021 at 10:14 a.m.

Five thousand years after the Egyptians demonstrated science's ability to hold death at bay, Florida's...

President Joe Biden walks from the East Room after talking about Afghanistan at the White House on Aug. 16, 2021.

Column: President Biden’s Afghan pullout looked good — until it didn’t

By Clarence Page

August 18, 2021 at 10:04 a.m.

In the lead-up to Kabul's fall, President Joe Biden's most memorable quote appears to be...

In this long-exposure photograph, a speed camera in the 600 block of East Morgan Drive illuminates as motor vehicle traffic passes on Aug. 12, 2021, in Chicago.

Column: Welcome to Chicago, you’ve been ticketed for speeding, blinking and not walking right. Please pay up!

By Rex W. Huppke

August 17, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

Welcome to the city of Chicago! That sentence ended with an exclamation point, so I...

The view of Houseboat City from the Irving Park Road bridge in 1936. It was an assortment of about 100 floating residences stretching from Belmont Avenue north to Montrose Avenue.

Column: Chicago’s rapid change may be ‘progress,’ but it doesn’t always feel like an improvement

By Ron Grossman

August 17, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

My beefs with "progress" are spiraling out of control. Bulldozers used to level my childhood...

J.D. Vance speaks with venture capitalists during a 2018 bus tour in Youngstown, Ohio. Vance, author of the bestseller "Hillbilly Elegy," said on July 1, 2021, that he would seek the Republican nomination for the Senate in Ohio.

Column: ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author throws hat in the ring — and it’s a MAGA hat

By Clarence Page

August 13, 2021 at 5:23 p.m.

Ever since I first wrote about bestselling author J.D. Vance as a "Trump translator," people...

People walk in the 300 block of West Adams Street in Chicago's Loop on Aug. 9, 2021.

Column: Census says population of ‘worse-than-Afghanistan’ Chicago grew? I demand a recount!

By Rex W. Huppke

August 13, 2021 at 1:24 p.m.

I've been told repeatedly that people are fleeing Chicago in droves because it's a fiery,...

Ann Gerber in a Tribune photo from 1992 at Arlington Park.

Column: The new, flawed docuseries ‘Gossip’ coming to Showtime explores the power of the tabloid press

By Nina Metz

August 13, 2021 at 7:00 a.m.

"In the early '90s, gossip became very hot." These are the first words you hear...

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