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...

Members of Community Justice Initiative and others march Feb. 1, 2021, to protest the police handcuffing and using pepper spray on a 9-year-old girl last Friday in Rochester, New York.

Column: A 9-year-old girl in Rochester, ill-trained police and the need in all cities for more community help

By Clarence Page

February 2, 2021 at 4:39 p.m.

Rochester, again? The video-recorded pepper-spraying of a screaming, handcuffed 9-year-old Black girl by police last...

Clockwise from top left: "Ron's Big Mission," "The Story of Ruby Bridges," "I Got the Rhythm," "Carter Reads the Newspaper," "Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt," and "Of Thee I Sing."

Column: A list of children’s books to celebrate Black history every month, not just in February

By Heidi Stevens

February 4, 2021 at 2:43 p.m.

Some fantastic new children's books have been released in time for Black History Month, including...

Facebook, by design, tells users what they want to hear. It reinforces their interests and beliefs to keep them engaged.

Column: Biden is illegitimate? Coronavirus vaccines contain microchips? Facebook is poisoning too many minds.

By Rex W. Huppke

February 2, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

There are those of us who don't believe Democrats eat children. We don't see coronavirus...

Trump supporters participate in a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C.

Column: Against a backdrop of anti-Semitism and discord, Jewish group hosts a series on civil discourse: ‘We have to try.’

By Heidi Stevens

February 1, 2021 at 1:01 p.m.

In June 2019, the American Jewish Committee launched a Community of Conscience, an open invitation...

Column: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is dangerously kooky. Apparently, that’s just what her voters want.

By Dahleen Glanton

February 1, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the most dangerous people in Washington. But we...

Ice formations reveal unusual shapes along the breakwater near Belmont Harbor in Chicago, Jan. 28, 2021.

Column: Fresh snow, ‘Bridgerton’ and taking down the Christmas tree: 9 things I’ve liked lately

By Mary Schmich

January 29, 2021 at 7:10 p.m.

Every now and then I make a list of nine things I like. Here's one...

An 1875 steel engraving shows the Trojan horse, which Odysseus duped the Trojans with.

Column: Erasing classic literature for kids

By John Kass

January 29, 2021 at 6:58 p.m.

When I was a boy about 11, I committed a crime that changed my life....

Jacoby Cochran, in his bedroom/office, will soon be hosting a new podcast, "City Cast Chicago."

Column: An ambitious network of local podcasts is set to debut in Chicago

By Eric Zorn

January 29, 2021 at 3:36 p.m.

Jacoby Cochran, a storyteller and communications instructor from the South Side, will be hosting a...

A protester holds a sign during a demonstration outside the New York Stock Exchange decrying Robinhood's decision to impose trading limits on GameStop and other stocks on Jan. 28, 2021.

Column: No, the GameStop frenzy is not a ‘populist’ uprising, but it rhymes

By Clarence Page

January 29, 2021 at 2:22 p.m.

Reports of a "populist" revolution in the dauntingly complex story of the GameStop trading frenzy...

An 8-foot steel fence topped with razor wire circles the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 29, 2021, in Washington. The fence was built following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters that left five people dead and scores injured.

Column: Impeachment will fail, but here’s another way to punish Trump

By Steve Chapman

January 29, 2021 at 2:04 p.m.

Trying to persuade Republican senators to convict Donald Trump in an impeachment trial is like...

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