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 10, 2026 at 10:01 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...

A banner shows pictures of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visits to the White House on March 4, 2025 in Tehran, with a warning about trusting American diplomacy. (Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times)

Daniel DePetris: Is Donald Trump actually interested in talking with Iran?

By Daniel DePetris

March 11, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Since President Donald Trump sent his letter to Iran's Supreme leader about re-opening negotiations, not...

A rendering shows the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a 128-acre campus for quantum computing and other technologies that is planned for the former U.S. Steel South Works site on Chicago's South Side (Related Midwest/CRG/Clayco/Lamar Johnson Collaborative)

Edward Keegan: Illinois quantum park deserves noteworthy architecture instead of no-frills construction

By Edward Keegan

June 3, 2025 at 7:24 p.m.

Much of the Illinois quantum park will essentially be akin to a shipping center and...

U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez holds a protest sign with fellow Democrats as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol on March 4, 2025, in Washington. (Win McNamee/Getty)

Clarence Page: Let facts get in the way of performative politics

By Clarence Page

March 9, 2025 at 12:32 p.m.

If congressional Democrats are going to embrace performative politics, they should be sure to give...

A wasted life? Not at all, for Uncle Jerry taught me the power of books

By Ron Grossman

March 9, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Ron Grossman recalls that while his uncle was a bit of a ne'er-do-well, he taught...

Books at the newly refurbished library in Belmont-Cragin Elementary School, which a group of volunteers filled with books as part of a Selfless for Scott event in honor of Scott Boorstein, who died by suicide. (Nina Boorstein)

Heidi Stevens: Every year, in honor of her son, she nudges the world toward kindness. This year, she built a library

By Heidi Stevens

March 7, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Scott Boorstein wanted to change the world. This year, in his honor, his loved ones...

President Donald Trump supporters ride with an effigy of him in their convertible at a Presidents Day rally outside the Trump International Golf Club, Feb. 17, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Ben Curtis/AP)

Elizabeth Shackelford: How to spot autocracy’s rise

By Elizabeth Shackelford

March 7, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

In Hungary and Turkey, Viktor Orban and Recep Tayyip Erdogan consolidated power with a few...

An all-gender restroom inside a Chicago Public Schools elementary school in 2021. (Erin Hooley/baiduhai)

Steve Chapman: A law that’s a boon for your bladder, pioneered by Illinois

By Steve Chapman

March 5, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Illinois' law mandating that one-person public bathrooms be gender-neutral has some conspicuous virtues.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, speaks with colleagues after they declined to vote on a proposal to alter Chicago’s welcoming city policy during a City Council meeting Jan. 15, 2025, at City Hall. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Laura Washington: The mayor’s choice of an inexperienced ally to lead Chicago parks could backfire

By Laura Washington

March 9, 2025 at 12:55 p.m.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is putting a virtual administrative novice in charge of a system with...

Investigators work on paperwork at a crime scene in a residential neighborhood of Culiacán, Mexico, on Feb. 20, 2025. Several cartel operatives said that for the first time in years, they genuinely feared arrest or death at the hands of the authorities. (Daniele Volpe/The New York Times)

Daniel DePetris: Mexico cracks down on the cartels after Donald Trump applies pressure

By Daniel DePetris

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

Pressure from President Donald Trump's administration appears to be working. The Mexican government is cracking...

The U.S. Supreme Court Building is seen on Capitol Hill on Feb. 27, 2025, in Washington. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which has drawn attention since it could redefine how discrimination claims of all types are handled under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. (Rod Lamkey Jr./AP)

Clarence Page: Don’t let ‘reverse discrimination’ reverse our national progress

By Clarence Page

March 9, 2025 at 12:02 p.m.

There’s nothing simple about our racial, gender and other conflicts, but finding solutions together can...

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