Columns

A young woman reacts as she looks at her damaged home after Russia's night missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 14, 2026. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

Elizabeth Shackelford: Trump’s abhorrent Russian diesel deal defies US laws and won’t lower gas prices

By Elizabeth Shackelford

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

Donald Trump has illegally undone sanctions efforts against Russia. For all of this, Americans won’t...

Saturday Night Live Host Shane Gillis during the monologue on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (Will Heath/NBC/TNS)

Heidi Stevens: Shane Gillis ‘SNL’ opener misses the mark — and the moment

By Heidi Stevens

October 16, 2026 at 4:00 a.m.

The most disappointing thing about Shane Gillis’ shopworn, hackneyed, tone-deaf, retrograde, unfunny “Saturday Night Live”...

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...

Justin Reyes administers a COVID-19 test to Maria Suarez outside Heartland Health Centers in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood on July 10, 2020.

Column: How has a year in the pandemic changed you? The Year of COVID Questionnaire is here to help you take stock.

By Mary Schmich

March 6, 2021 at 7:14 p.m.

In the coming week, we'll reach the anniversary of the day the World Health Organization...

The William McKinley Monument in Chicago's McKinley Park on March 4, 2021.

Column: Mayor Lightfoot, if you don’t want Lincoln statues, here’s someone who does

By John Kass

March 5, 2021 at 5:25 p.m.

The president of Lincoln College in central Illinois has a message for Mayor Lori Lightfoot...

Eliza Orlins attends the finale for "Survivor Vanuatu Islands of Fire" at CBS Television City in 2004 in Hollywood, California. Orlins, a veteran public defender, is running for district attorney of Manhattan.

Column: Decriminalizing prostitution: An idea whose time has come?

By Steve Chapman

March 5, 2021 at 3:29 p.m.

Eliza Orlins gained a measure of fame years ago as a contestant on the reality...

Gov. Pat Quinn signs into law a bill ending the death penalty in Illinois on March 9, 2011, at the State Capitol in Springfield.

Column: Abolition of the death penalty in Illinois kicked off a decade of criminal justice progress

By Eric Zorn

March 5, 2021 at 5:29 p.m.

Ten years ago Tuesday at a somber, sparsely attended event in his office in the...

Books by Dr. Seuss at the Chinatown branch of the Chicago Public Library on March 2, 2021.

Column: Please don’t drag Dr. Seuss into your culture war

By Clarence Page

March 5, 2021 at 1:54 p.m.

Dr. Seuss and Potato Head may not seem the same. But don't load "cancel culture"...

Column: A hothead male coach sent to coach girls basketball as punishment? Come on, Disney+. Read the room.

By Heidi Stevens

March 7, 2021 at 7:30 a.m.

Psst ... Disney+: Candace Parker has a regular gig on TNT's "Inside the NBA." Parker's...

An 8-foot-tall bronze of Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat is part of Naperville's Century Walk.

Column: The feud for which there is no truce? The saga of old Dr. Seuss

By Mary Schmich

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

I'll tell you, kids, what I would do If I were queen and ran the...

A person fly fishes on a river in Toronto on Jan. 19, 2021.

Column: On a river up north, fishing and saying a couple of prayers

By John Kass

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

There's a river up north, and I'm going back up to find it again to...

President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual call to congratulate the NASA JPL Perseverance team on the successful Mars landing in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 4, 2021, in Washington.

Column: Area Neanderthal not happy Biden compared him to Republican governors in Texas and Mississippi

By Rex W. Huppke

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

After Republican governors in Texas and Mississippi announced they were lifting all COVID-19 restrictions, President...

People in costumes run into Lake Michigan during the Polar Plunge.

Column: Chicago’s Polar Plunge is another pandemic casualty, but Special Olympics supporters are finding other ways to douse themselves in frigid water

By Heidi Stevens

March 4, 2021 at 2:36 p.m.

Lady Gaga won't be jumping in a bracing cold Lake Michigan this month for Chicago's...

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