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Best tour of non-sentient architecture in Chicago
When Will Quam was asked if all bricks want to be arches, he insisted that bricks have neither feelings nor desires, that as wonderful as they are, they simply aren’t sentient. Quam, Chicago’s...
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Best reason to look down
According to legend, fairy doors are portals to the world of fairies—but I’d argue they’re also gateways to the imagination. I came across one located in an alley near Clark and Foster this summer and...
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Best reason to dare riding the CTA in the middle of a pandemic
When my boyfriend and I moved to Edgewater in June 2020, I had quiet weird feelings about becoming yet another white, north side Chicagoan, but the move brought me to the Red Line—and the Red Line...
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Best boutique that started on the back of a truck
The cat sign on the shop window says everything. “I have two cats [Sweet Pea and Naomi] that I bring to the shop when I’m in,” says Adrianne Hawthorne, 36, the owner of Ponnopozz Studio and Store in...
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Best supporter of local fashion talent
“The CFI played a pivotal role in my transition from aspiring designer to working designer,” says Anna Brown, a Chicago Fashion Incubator alum. “Some of my most meaningful professional relationships...
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Best cross streets for marriage and divorce
The most memorable doughnut of my life was from the Do-Rite that used to be right around the corner from Petterino’s. It was the morning of my divorce. My soon-to-be ex-husband and I were meeting for...
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Chicago comes together to support Ukraine
Slava Ukraini! Heroyam slava! The call-and-response salute proclaiming glory to Ukraine and its people echoed out through Ukranian Village on February 27, where nearly 5,000 people of all ages and...
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A quarter century of EU films
Now in its 25th year, the Chicago European Union Film Festival is one of the programs I look forward to the most because it’s a chance to see movies that are rarely spotlighted elsewhere in town....
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After Yang
After Yang is a subtle, tender perspective on artificial intelligence that is a rarity for modern science fiction. Director Kogonada’s sophomore film explores a subtly futuristic world where...
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The Batman
Robert Pattinson shuts all his haters up with a vulnerable and terrifying performance in Matt Reeves’s The Batman. When Pattinson’s casting was announced, it was quickly met with criticism—mostly from...
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Fresh
Director Mimi Cave’s feature debut Fresh is a clever cut of social commentary that starts off sweet and quickly turns sour. The film’s initial moments function as a well-executed rom-com starring a...
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Growing for Good with Green Thumb: S.E.E.N.
Featuring Belicia Royster, social equity applicant, ancillary business owner, and founder/chief empowerment officer of Social Equity Empowerment Network (S.E.E.N.) What is S.E.E.N.—the Social Equity...
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Stigma, a silent killer: cannabis and mental health
The adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me,” can be traced back to the late 1800s. It was used to encourage bravery and ward off insults. However, studies have...
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International Women’s Day, Alvin Ailey, and meatballs
You can eat beef, watch movies, and learn about graffiti this week. No reason to be bored in Chicago! Check out these online and in-person events. FRI 3/4 Yesterday was International Sex Workers’...
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Chicago’s Nequient want to rile you up with Darker Than Death or Night
Chicago’s Nequient hit the ground running in 2015 with the EP Infinite Regress. By the time of their 2018 full-length debut, Wolves at the Door, they’d solidified into a brutal, versatile...
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Raja Kirik refit a subversive Javanese trance tradition for modern uprisings
When my colleague Leor Galil looked back on 2021, he said he’d listened to 750 new-to-him releases that year. I won’t pretend to be in his league, but in 2021 I did have a clear favorite album—not a...
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Lay Misérables
Q: I lost my lover unexpectedly last weekend. He was a long-time friend and periodic hookup, and things were finally starting to turn as serious as I’d always secretly wanted them to be. I’m writing...
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Ginger Minj is who she is
For six years, Ginger Minj has been turning down offers to star in La Cage aux Folles. “Ever since the Trailblazer Awards I’ve been getting inquiries,” the three-time Drag Race contestant says of the...
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Best new artist-run project space
In August 2021, the new art gallery Ruschwoman announced its arrival with the group exhibition “Speculative Magenta Hauntology.” The lead image in the exhibition was by the late artist Chiara Fumai....
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Best new inquiry-minded design studio
“Material artifacts are the most concrete things that surround us in our homes,” writes Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book The Meaning of Things. Most of us, particularly since the pandemic started,...
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