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...

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in "The Suicide Squad." (

Column: Back to the cinema? At this particular delta moment, this critic will pass, thanks

By Michael Phillips

August 12, 2021 at 8:23 p.m.

I prefer my illusions on the screen. But they won't stay there. Right now, the...

Anti-vaccination activists protest the proof of vaccination requirement to get into the Foo Fighters show as Madison Square Garden reopens with the first full capacity concert since March 2020 on June 20, 2021, in New York City.

Column: As COVID cases surge, the unvaccinated-by-choice should know they’re being judged harshly

By Rex W. Huppke

August 12, 2021 at 11:12 a.m.

As COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths rise again across the country, there rests, on the...

Chicago police officers watch the procession of police vehicles leading the ambulance carrying the body of a fellow officer as it arrives at the Cook County medical examiner.

Column: Can we turn our latest police tragedy into a triumph over violent crimes?

By Clarence Page

August 10, 2021 at 2:31 p.m.

You would need a heart of granite to remain unmoved by the loss of Chicago...

Chicago police officers trail the ambulance carrying the body of a Officer Ella French into the Cook County medical examiner in the early morning hours of Aug. 8, 2021.

Column: Chicago police officer’s death can be honored by tracing the path that led her killer to shoot

By Rex W. Huppke

August 10, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

I wish there was a way to roll a violent Chicago weekend backward, to rewind...

A person getting a Johnson & Johnson vaccine by a health care worker at a pop-up vaccination site in May in Miami Beach.

Column: Vaccines call on us to protect one another. But the forces undermining them have been decades in the making.

By Heidi Stevens

June 7, 2024 at 11:52 a.m.

In January 2019, a Vox reporter interviewed vaccine researcher Peter Hotez about his newly released...

Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman, amid the U.S. Capitol riot in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.

Column: Has America’s right wing entered its ‘hippie phase’? Ask the QAnon shaman.

By Clarence Page

August 6, 2021 at 6:57 p.m.

As radical supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, I was taken...

USA's Megan Rapinoe, right, runs with the ball while under pressure from Australia's Clare Polkinghorne during their Olympic bronze medal match, Aug. 5, 2021, in Kashima, Japan.

Column: How to become UN-WOKE so you can be an Olympic #winner like Donald Trump!

By Rex W. Huppke

August 6, 2021 at 7:43 p.m.

Bad news, folks. I've been diagnosed with wokeism, which apparently makes me "a wokester" and...

Englewood resident Fannie Peeples gets a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from Friend Health nurse Syreetta Stinson at the Peace House of I Grow Chicago, March 26, 2021. I Grow Chicago teamed with Friend Health to provide 150 vaccines, coffee and doughnuts at the event.

Column: A simple plan to end U.S. vaccine hesitancy: Serve the COVID vaccine deep-fried on a stick

By Rex W. Huppke

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

After minutes of careful sociological research, I've discovered the reason many Americans still refuse to...

Tyson Foods team members receive COVID-19 vaccines from health officials at the Wilkesboro, N.C. facility on Feb. 2, 2021.

Column: Vaccine hesitant? There’s nothing to fear but fear — and the virus

By Clarence Page

August 3, 2021 at 4:35 p.m.

President Joe Biden and his team were beginning to sound noticeably nervous about falling short...

Festivalgoers pack a Red Line subway train at the Harrison station after the second day of Lollapalooza on July 30, 2021.

Column: Why did Lightfoot claim 90% of Lollapalooza attendees were vaccinated? It was in a tweet.

By Rex W. Huppke

August 2, 2021 at 6:17 p.m.

There's a life-or-death tug-of-war happening between those pushing COVID-19 vaccinations and those grasping at any...

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