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Alex Krawczyk’s Wonders Await Makes a Virtue of Believing Things Can Get Better
September 29, 2026
By: Graham McHenry Hope is easy enough to sing about. Making hope believable is harder. That distinction matters on Wonders Await, the 13-song sophomore album from Canadian singer-songwriter Alex Krawczyk. Its subjects- love, perseverance, mindfulness, kindness, human connection- could easily produce a record so determined to uplift that it floats
Hyde Park Jazz Festival Marks 20th Year by Dedicating the Willie Pickens Stage on the Midway
September 29, 2026
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary September 26–27, 2026, with more than 40 performers across 11 stages in Hyde Park, Kenwood and Washington Park. The free festival opened Saturday by dedicating the Willie Pickens Stage on the Midway Plaisance. It honored a pianist and educator who helped
Cathleen Ireland’s “Do You Care” Exposes the Power Behind Digital Silence
September 25, 2026
By: Will Ellis The breakup song has traditionally depended on confrontation. Someone leaves, someone demands an explanation, and the singer turns private confusion into public testimony. Cathleen Ireland’s “Do You Care” begins after confrontation has become impossible. The other person has blocked her, removed the shared evidence, and disappeared behind
What Happens When Men Learn to Say What They Feel? H.E.R. Makes a Case for Emotional Boldness
September 25, 2026
There is a familiar vocabulary available to men when they talk about love. A woman is attractive. She is beautiful. She is sexy. She is “the one.” He would do anything for her. Then the language often stops. Ask what fear feels like inside the relationship, what tenderness does to
Riot Fest 2026 Wraps 21st Year at Douglass Park With Iggy Pop, Tool, and Up to 50,000 Daily Attendees
September 22, 2026
Riot Fest completed its 21st edition on September 20 at Douglass Park in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, delivering three days of punk, alternative, metal, and hip-hop across five stages with over 100 bands and an anticipated daily attendance of up to 50,000. Key Takeaways Riot Fest 2026 ran September 18–20
Chicago Celebrates Mexican Independence Day with Overnight Festivities Across Pilsen, Little Village, and Downtown
September 17, 2026
Chicago marked Mexican Independence Day with overnight celebrations across Pilsen, Little Village, and downtown on September 15 and 16, 2026, carrying on a tradition that positions the city alongside Mexico City itself as one of the largest venues for El Grito de Independencia outside of Mexico. The festivities, which extended
Writers Theatre’s “Leopoldstadt” Leads the 58th Annual Equity Jeff Awards With Five Wins as Chicago Theater Celebrates a Record Season
September 16, 2026
Writers Theatre’s Midwest premiere of Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt” took home five awards at the 58th Annual Equity Jeff Awards on Monday evening, September 14, 2026, leading a ceremony that recognized 41 winners across 37 categories and honored 30 producing companies for work staged during the 2025-2026 season. The ceremony at
Robert Ross Makes Old-Fashioned Devotion Sound Defiant on “For You Girl”
September 12, 2026
By Evan Hollister There is almost no emotional camouflage in Robert Ross’s “For You Girl.” No smirk hiding behind the chorus, no narrative reversal waiting in the bridge, no suggestion that the singer might eventually regain his composure. Ross encounters a woman, loses his bearings and spends the remainder of
Deep Roots in the Windy City, Shweta Harve’s “Have You Loved Like a Tree?” Finds Meaning in Chicago
September 10, 2026
By: Claire Donovan Chicago knows something about standing through difficult seasons. This is a city where summer arrives like a celebration, and winter tests everybody’s commitment. Trees that spend July forming green canopies over neighborhood streets can appear skeletal by January, battered by lakefront winds and buried beneath snow. Then
Brett Andrew Strange’s Across Latitudes Trilogy Brings Espionage Fiction Into the Modern World
September 9, 2026
By Matt Wallace Brett Andrew Strange has spent years looking at the world through two related lenses: the practical realities of intelligence work and the imaginative demands of fiction. A former U.S. intelligence officer, Strange is the author of the three novels that form theAcross Latitudes espionage series, as well
The Oprah Winfrey Show Reaches 40th Anniversary of Its National Premiere from Chicago
September 9, 2026
September 8, 2026, marks exactly 40 years since The Oprah Winfrey Show launched into national syndication from WLS-TV in Chicago. The milestone arrives weeks after Oprah Winfrey returned to the city for a Harpo Productions reunion at Navy Pier, and months after Amazon secured a multiyear licensing deal for the
Saving Ferris Butler: The Forgotten Comedy Pioneer Behind a Hollywood Mystery
September 7, 2026
There is a moment in every mystery when the past stops feeling safely buried. A name resurfaces. An old television listing appears. A forgotten sketch flickers back to life. A story that once sounded impossible suddenly feels possible enough to demand another look. What if Ferris Bueller, the charming rule-breaker
Michele Kwasniewski Worked on Independence Day and Big Brother and Then Wrote the YA Novel That Uses Everything She Learned About How Entertainment Really Works
September 5, 2026
By: Roxanne Jeffrey There is a difference between knowing how an industry works from the outside and knowing it from the inside, and that difference shows up in fiction in ways that are immediately legible to anyone who has been in the room. Michele Kwasniewski has been in the room,
From San Antonio to the Second City, Jeremy Parsons’ Life Speaks Chicago’s Language.
September 5, 2026
By: Daniel Whitaker Chicago has never needed Nashville’s permission to understand country music. Long before “Americana” became an industry category, this city understood what happened when rural songs collided with urban lives. Chicago’s country lineage stretches from the National Barn Dance and the transplanted Southern honky-tonks of Uptown to the
Ashley Puckett’s “Anchor” Finds Strength in Staying Put
September 5, 2026
By: Jack Sullivan Chicago knows something about weathering storms. We know the particular violence of a January wind coming off Lake Michigan, the gray afternoons when the skyline seems to disappear into the clouds, and those unpredictable days when the lake can look peaceful in the morning and downright hostile
Three Beluga Whales Dead in Eight Days at Shedd Aquarium as Marineland Rescue Effort Faces Its First Crisis
September 4, 2026
Shedd Aquarium announced on September 3, 2026, that two beluga whales died on September 2 despite immediate intervention by veterinary and animal care teams, bringing the total number of beluga deaths at the Chicago institution to three in just over a week. Rain, a 20-year-old female who arrived at Shedd
What Working Women Still Carry: Karen S. Bell on Career, Motherhood, and the Meaning Behind Walking with Elephants
September 3, 2026
Drawing from her own return to the workplace, Bell examines the pressures placed on working mothers, the competition women can face in professional spaces, and the value of creating systems built around cooperation rather than exhaustion. When Karen S. Bell returned to the workplace after spending years raising her children,
City of Big Shoulders, Songs of Heavy Feelings: Cello’s Singing to Serpents Finds a Home in Chicago
September 3, 2026
By: Marcus Callahan Chicago has never had much patience for phoniness. This is a city that can smell a manufactured personality from halfway across the Loop. Its musical history was built by people who meant what they played, from blues musicians working clubs on the South Side to the house
Maj. Gen. John L. Barry Explores Leadership and Constitutional Restraint in Power and Peril
September 2, 2026
By: Seth Adams Maj. Gen. John L. Barry, USAF (Ret.), has spent much of his career working in environments where leadership decisions carried consequences far beyond a single office or organization. After more than 30 years in the United States Air Force, followed by senior roles in education and nonprofit
What Thirty-Five Years of Helping People with Low Vision Stay Independent Finally Looks Like When Someone Writes It All Down
September 2, 2026
By: Roxanne Jeffrey There is a kind of knowledge that accumulates through sustained, direct work with real people facing real challenges that no amount of research or clinical training can fully replicate, and Patrick J. Fischer has been accumulating that kind of knowledge for more than thirty-five years. He still
Creating Inspirational Stories Out of Family Memories
September 2, 2026
By: Gamaliel Noel For Daniel Buehler, storytelling involves more than just writing kid-friendly novels. It is about sharing the humor and adventure that give life purpose, cherishing family ties, and conserving memories. Daniel, who was raised in Grayslake, Illinois, loved sports, the great outdoors, and the small pleasures in life.
Chicago International Film Festival Previews 62nd Edition With Bob Odenkirk Documentary and Curtis Duffy World Premiere
September 1, 2026
The Chicago International Film Festival, North America’s longest-running competitive film festival, released a first look at its 62nd edition on August 25, previewing a fall lineup that opens October 14 and runs through October 25 across venues throughout the city. The early slate leans into Chicago-rooted storytelling, headlined by Illinois
A Whisper That Lingers: CattSue Turns Childhood Loss Into Country Music That Heals
August 28, 2026
By Graham Hollister Country music has always understood that the smallest details can carry the greatest emotional weight. A photograph in a drawer, an empty chair at the table, an old coat still hanging behind the door, these are the things from which great country songs have traditionally been constructed.
From the Lakefront to the Limelight: ARGYRO’s Glitterati Finds Something Real Behind the Shine
August 26, 2026
By Evan Callahan Chicago has always had a complicated relationship with glamour. This is a city that appreciates ambition but distrusts anyone who talks about it too loudly. You can arrive in a limousine, but somebody will still want to know whether you can actually play. From the blues clubs
Barbara Hynak Explores Humanity’s Bond with Nature in Roars Across the World
August 21, 2026
By Seth Brown Fantasy has long given readers an escape into extraordinary worlds filled with adventure, mythical creatures, and unforgettable heroes. Increasingly, however, the genre is also becoming a place where authors explore timely questions about humanity, leadership, and our relationship with the natural world. In her new novel, Roars
Gary Pratt Turns an Ordinary Night Into a Romantic Detonation on “4th of July”
August 21, 2026
By: Cameron Rhodes Gary Pratt’s “4th of July” begins with a wonderfully inconvenient fact: It’s February. That might seem like a strange place to start a song named after America’s loudest summer holiday, but Pratt knows exactly what he’s doing. There are no backyard barbecues, sparklers, parade floats, or coolers
Chicago Awards $1.3 Million to 250 Artists Through 2026 Individual Artists Program
August 21, 2026
Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events awarded more than $1.3 million in project-based grants to 250 individual artists working across six disciplines through the 2026 Individual Artists Program. The grants, drawn from 1,239 applications, provide up to $6,000 per artist to support new creative
Chicago House Music Festival and Conference Returns August 27 Through 30 With Four Stages at Millennium Park
August 19, 2026
The Chicago House Music Festival and Conference returns August 27 through 30 with four days of free programming at Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center, Daley Plaza, Grant Park, and the Chicago Riverwalk. Presented by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the 2026 edition features four performance stages,