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...

A sign about social distancing and other measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus is posted in a hallway at Ellington Elementary School in Chicago on Jan. 22, 2021.

Column: The ‘hostages’ left behind: 104,000 Chicago high school students

By John Kass

February 12, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

A good hostage release story, or movie, often ends upbeat with triumphant music. And I...

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., left, the lead House impeachment manager, leaves the Capitol after presenting the case against former President Donald Trump on Feb. 11, 2021.

Column: At Trump impeachment trial, Democrats are rudely making an overwhelming case for conviction

By Rex W. Huppke

February 12, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

As a proud Republican member of the U.S. Senate, I would like to formally express...

Members of the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks lock arms and take a knee during the national anthem before an NBA basketball game in Denver on Jan. 7, 2021.

Column: O say can you see that ‘virtue signaling’ shouldn’t be an insult?

By Eric Zorn

February 11, 2021 at 8:02 p.m.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban earned a swift rebuke from the NBA after news broke...

Even with Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan front and center, little in the trailer of "The Dig" seemed particularly promising,? I gave it a go and it's good. Some of it's true, too: Along the east coast of Britain in 1939, with war clouds looming, self-taught Suffolk archeologist Basil Brown was hired by ailing widow Edith Pretty to discover if anything of value lay beneath the earth mounds on her property. There was indeed, and the remains and artifacts of a sixth-century Anglo-Saxon burial ship stunned the world. Fiennes is Basil; Mulligan is Edith; around the halfway point of director Simon Stone's film, the focus (for better or worse) shifts to others in the orbit of the excavation effort, particularly characters played by Lily James and Johnny Flynn. Based on the 2007 novel by John Preston, "The Dig" freely mixes fact and invention, overloading the crises a bit but generally succeeding. A fair amount of screenwriter Moira Buffini's dialogue plays out as Terrence Malick-styled voiceover, while the camera focuses on the stark beauty of the surroundings, and men and women actually doing the work. The results are trim, well-made and quite moving. So much for my prejudgments. (Netflix) — Michael Phillips

Review: ‘Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,’ but Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo don’t pack enough jokes

By Michael Phillips

February 11, 2021 at 8:00 p.m.

Comedywise, Ian Fleming — not a funny man — has been a dubious influence on...

Dinkel’s Bakery, which opened in 1922, wants to sell its Lakeview property. ‘Sometimes business plans have to be changed.’

By Ryan Ori

February 12, 2021 at 7:18 a.m.

Dinkel's Bakery wants to sell its Lakeview property, but the 99-year-old German bakery plans to...

A January 2021 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated schools could reopen safely with proper mitigation strategies. But for many parents, the decision remains fraught with anxiety.

Column: How we decided to send our daughter back to school

By The New York Times

February 11, 2021 at 1:44 p.m.

I still remember the nauseating feeling that consumed me when I put my daughter on...

Column: Of all the terrible moments on display at Trump’s impeachment, a trapped, panicked Rep. Susan Wild calling her kids stands out

By Heidi Stevens

February 11, 2021 at 8:12 p.m.

Of all the horrendous moments from Jan. 6 that we are witnessing this week during...

Chris Rock performs at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The comedian is one of several big-name celebrities taking part in "NY PopsUp" this spring.

Column: New York just announced a pop-up arts fest with Chris Rock, Amy Schumer and other celebs: 5 things Chicago could learn

By Chris Jones

February 11, 2021 at 7:00 a.m.

New York City has announced "NY PopsUp," a carefully planned, seemingly spontaneous cultural festival, launching...

An empty classroom on the first day of in-person learning at Dawes Elementary School in Chicago on Jan. 11, 2021.

Column: As CPS resumes in-person classes, an assignment: Let students grade adults on COVID-19 response

By Rex W. Huppke

February 11, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

As Chicago Public Schools resumes in-person classes Thursday, there is, perhaps, a teaching moment to...

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John Lausch, Jr., announces charges in a significant federal gang investigation, during an outdoor press conference at he Chicago Police 7th district police station, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. (Antonio Perez/ baiduhai)

Column: US Attorney John Lausch and those laughing hyenas of Illinois

By John Kass

February 11, 2021 at 11:25 a.m.

Have you ever heard a hyena laugh in Illinois? Not the four-legged kind that can...

Columnists