Columns

This image from CCTV video released by Saudi Arabia's Media Ministry shows passengers taking cover as flames and smoke fill part of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during what authorities described as a strike at the airport on Oct. 10, 2026. (Saudi Media Ministry via AP)

Daniel DePetris: Resumption of war between Houthis and Saudis is bad timing for Donald Trump

By Daniel DePetris

October 12, 2026 at 1:27 p.m.

The attacks in Saudi Arabia come when Donald Trump is in a standoff over the...

Attorneys for Christa Pike hold a news conference after a judge ruled the Tennessee Department of Corrections must preserve all evidence related to the failed execution of Pike, on Oct. 7, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee. (George Walker IV/AP)

Clarence Page: A botched execution shakes our death penalty presumptions

By Clarence Page

October 12, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The botched execution of Christa Pike offers a gross illustration of the cruelty that capital...

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...

Oak Park’s Unity Temple provides setting for latest Winifred Haun performance

By Myrna Petlicki

February 15, 2022 at 1:18 p.m.

Mandy Milligan and Solomon Bowser will perform in Winifred Haun & Dancers' concert, "The Light...

People wait to get tested for COVID-19 in Times Square in New York in December 2021.

Clarence Page: Can we learn to live with COVID-19, before COVID-19 fatigue kills us?

By Clarence Page

February 11, 2022 at 5:28 p.m.

Can it be? Two years into our politically polarized fight to end the pandemic, COVID-19...

Rex Huppke: baiduhai’s ‘marketer of evil’ says farewell — what a time, what a gift, what a ride

By Rex W. Huppke

February 11, 2022 at 3:39 p.m.

So a guy walks into a newspaper ... Nah, that's not right. Have you heard...

Column: ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill is a hateful embarrassment. Kids and their teachers deserve better.

By Heidi Stevens

June 7, 2024 at 11:51 a.m.

When I read about the "Don't Say Gay" bill making its way through the Florida...

Fans arrive to Soldier Field before the Chicago Bears and New York Giants play on Jan. 2, 2022.

Rex Huppke: The future of Soldier Field: A museum of incarcerated Illinois politicians? Maybe the world’s largest Dairy Queen?

By Rex W. Huppke

February 9, 2022 at 1:24 p.m.

While Chicago Bears officials have yet to decide if the team will leave Soldier Field...

Terry Savage: Do you live in a ‘sinkhole city’?

By Terry Savage

April 20, 2022 at 12:06 p.m.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 sent $350 billion of federal tax dollars to...

Donald Trump supporters breach the U.S. Capitol in Washington Jan. 6, 2021.

Column: GOP’s ‘legitimate’ riot gaffe shows Liz Cheney’s ‘willing hostages’ label got it right

By Clarence Page

February 8, 2022 at 5:41 p.m.

In their haste to rebuke two Republican congressmen who have condemned the Jan. 6, 2021,...

Demonstrators gather for a protest against mandates related to COVID-19 vaccines and restrictions in downtown Toronto on Feb. 5.

Rex Huppke: Anti-vaccine ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests in Canada show how American stupidity can spread

By Rex W. Huppke

February 7, 2022 at 2:11 p.m.

Dear people of Canada: Hey there, friends. It's Rex down in the States. I've been...

Whoopi Goldberg onstage during the opening ceremony of WorldPride 2019 at Barclays Center in New York in 2019. Goldberg has apologized after she was criticized for saying that the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews "was not about race."

Clarence Page: Whoopi Goldberg’s timely teachable moment — and ours

By Clarence Page

February 4, 2022 at 3:21 p.m.

I hesitated to say anything about Whoopi Goldberg's remarks that resulted in her suspension from...

In Athens, Tennessee, the McMinn County School Board unanimously voted to ban "Maus," Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1986 graphic novel about his father's experience in an Auschwitz concentration camp.

Column: Stories help students shape a future that doesn’t repeat the past. Banning books robs them of the chance.

By Heidi Stevens

June 7, 2024 at 11:51 a.m.

My son's seventh grade social studies class was recently learning about the Little Rock Nine,...

Columnists