Columns

Chicago school board president candidates Jessica Biggs, Hilario Dominguez and Victor Henderson participate in a forum at the Copernicus Center on Sept. 29, 2026. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)

David Greising: The race for Chicago school board president is about ideas — and character

By David Greising

October 9, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

It will take savvy strategic thinking, backed by the character needed for leadership, to make...

Heidi Stevens: I wish we modeled better care for the young people who are making sense of the world right now

By Heidi Stevens

October 9, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

I hope that when we’re all writing our stories, the ones that are still being...

Far-right activist Jake Lang stands on the back of a truck displaying anti-Muslim messages during a demonstration outside the annual Palestine Fest at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Oct. 4, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

Steve Chapman: Republicans are fanning baseless fears about American Muslims

By Steve Chapman

October 8, 2026 at 10:10 a.m.

You might expect that as the memory of the 9/11 attacks and the global war...

Heather Jackson looks at a sculpture featured in the exhibition “Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-taught Art in Chicago” at the Intuit Art Museum (IAM) on May 23, 2025, in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Edward Keegan: Intuit Art Museum’s newly renovated space reflects the institution and West Town neighborhood

By Edward Keegan

June 15, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Completely rethinking their old home was exactly the right move — for the Intuit Art...

Ugandan activist, lawyer and journalist Agather Atuhaire displays bruises and scars on her arms after her release from detention by Tanzanian authorities, outside a hospital in Kampala, Uganda, on May 23, 2025. (Getty-AFP)

Elizabeth Shackelford: East African governments turn up repression as the United States turns away

By Elizabeth Shackelford

June 13, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Once, the U.S. government used its influence to prevent human rights abuses overseas. Now, Washington...

Police face off with immigrant rights protesters in the Loop on June 10, 2025, in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS)

Heidi Stevens: As demonstrations over immigration policy erupt, we can’t forget the human hearts at the center

By Heidi Stevens

June 15, 2025 at 1:59 p.m.

It’s easy and convenient to focus on what divides us. But it’s more honest to...

President Donald Trump speaks at a summit with Persian Gulf leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 14, 2025. Trump held an extraordinary meeting during the trip with the president of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, a day after announcing that the United States would lift sanctions on Syria. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

Daniel DePetris: The US must restrain itself from being too involved in Syria’s redevelopment

By Daniel DePetris

June 10, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

President Donald Trump suspended U.S. sanctions on Syria but continues to have certain expectations for...

President Donald Trump, right, during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Clarence Page: Big, beautiful bromance breaks up — live on social media

By Clarence Page

June 8, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

By Thursday afternoon, White House staff were calling fracas as “the one big, beautiful breakup,”...

And we owe our children our best, truest, kindest efforts. But they also raise us. We walk through the world side-by-side, until we can't, writes Heidi Stevens. (Dreamstime)

Heidi Stevens: When the frantic pace of parenting young kids gives way to something even more meaningful — and mutual

By Heidi Stevens

June 6, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

If we’re lucky, parenting is a lifelong relationship that we get to cultivate and calibrate...

New pickleball courts as well as baseball and soccer fields are located along an extended South Wells Street inside The 78, a long-vacant, 62-acre former rail yard site in the South Loop south of Roosevelt Road, as seen on June 1, 2025. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

David Greising: The conversation about new sports stadiums in Chicago just got simpler

By David Greising

June 6, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The Chicago Fire owner's move to build a stadium stirred the spirits of a city...

Ed Sykes, 77, visits the National Memorial for Peace and Justice on April 26, 2018, in Montgomery, Alabama. Sykes, who has family in Mississippi, was distraught when he discovered his last name in the memorial, three months after finding it on a separate memorial in Clay County, Mississippi. "This is the second time I've seen the name Sykes as a hanging victim. What can I say?" The memorial is dedicated to the legacy of enslaved Black people and those terrorized by lynching and Jim Crow segregation. Conceived by the Equal Justice Initiative, the physical environment is intended to foster reflection on America's history of racial inequality. (Bob Miller/Getty)

Steve Chapman: Donald Trump’s campaign of intimidation echoes the worst of our past

By Steve Chapman

June 4, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

President Donald Trump and his allies are seeking to rule through systematic intimidation. It has...

A Chinese military band conductor leads the band at the closing ceremony of the National People's Congress held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11, 2025. (Ng Han Guan/AP)

Daniel DePetris: How big of a threat is China really?

By Daniel DePetris

June 3, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The U.S. would be wise to refrain from overestimating China’s military capability and underestimating the...

Students from University of Illinois Chicago protest against President Donald Trump during a rally in Chicago’s Federal Plaza, May 2, 2025. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)

Clarence Page: Hey, men, Democrats want your votes. They really do.

By Clarence Page

June 1, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The decline of men and concomitant rise of women in Democratic voting ranks has been...

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