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...

View looking north, March 13, 2019, from approximately 18th Street, west of Lake Shore Drive where there are plans for a 34-acre development near Soldier Field called One Central.

$20 billion One Central project, which would bring skyscrapers and 9,000-plus residences near Soldier Field, gets some changes to win over neighbors. But can it win over Pritzker?

By Ryan Ori

January 26, 2021 at 4:12 p.m.

Chicago on Monday night got another peek at one of the biggest developments ever proposed...

Pedestrians walk along Wacker Drive as snow falls in Chicago's Loop on Jan. 26, 2021.

Column: A major Chicago snowstorm? That’s what the media want you to believe!

By Rex W. Huppke

January 25, 2021 at 1:51 p.m.

Chicago media outlets are going on and on about a so-called "winter storm" expected to...

Stephanie Chavez teaches outside her school, Seward Communication Arts Academy, as Chicago Teachers Union members stage a "teach-out" to protest Chicago Public Schools' reopening plan on Jan. 21, 2021.

Column: CPS should be making remote learning decisions based on safety, not fear that families will flee Chicago

By Heidi Stevens

January 26, 2021 at 3:36 p.m.

A lot happened over the weekend between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union....

Ben Smith column: Obscure Oversight Board will decide Donald Trump’s Facebook fate

By The New York Times

January 25, 2021 at 10:44 a.m.

They meet mostly on Zoom, but I prefer to picture the members of this court,...

Singers Jennifer Lopez, right, and Lady Gaga greet after performing at President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, Jan. 20, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Ross Douthat column: Joe Biden’s presidency elevates liberal Catholicism

By The New York Times

January 25, 2021 at 10:16 a.m.

The inauguration of our second Catholic president was, in its way, a very American-Catholic spectacle....

Charles Blow column: Progressives should avoid the Obama-era silence trap with Biden

By The New York Times

January 25, 2021 at 10:04 a.m.

I remember the Obama years well. There was a massive surge of national pride when...

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 new affliction in the pandemic: Vaccine envy

By Mary Schmich

January 22, 2021 at 6:55 p.m.

I have vaccine envy. There. I've confessed it. The thought of getting a COVID-19 vaccine...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson attend a police graduation ceremony on June 21, 2016.

Column: Former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson speaks out on city crime and his ‘moral mistake’

By John Kass

January 22, 2021 at 6:47 p.m.

Chicago is losing the battle against violence, and more people are leaving. Homicide numbers skyrocketed...

Jake Krez, right, talks with fellow customer Tom Schuba while sitting at the bar.

Column: The whole world is now a shanty town as sea songs blow up online

By Eric Zorn

January 22, 2021 at 5:55 p.m.

For once, I was early to the cultural party. I've loved sea shanties since I...

Cassandra Kaczocha watches her daughter, Evan Kaczocha-Paddy, 10, center, and her niece, Zoey Paddy, 11, play on a trampoline in their backyard during a break from school.

Column: ‘Parents are spinning 8 plates at a time right now.’ Stop shaming them for relying on screen time to make it through a pandemic.

By Heidi Stevens

January 22, 2021 at 3:20 p.m.

Even before the coronavirus crashed into our lives, Cassandra Kaczocha and her husband, Keith Paddy,...

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