- Issue of
- Mar 1-7, 2018
- Vol. 47, No. 21
Cover Story: Towkio is officially Chicago’s highest rapper The Save Money MC’s balloon trip to the stratosphere wasn’t just to promote his first album for Rick Rubin—it’s also about inspiration, perspective, and togetherness. Film: How an Evanston writer’s boyhood idea inspired ‘Shape of Water.' Guillermo del Toro tapped Daniel Kraus to help write the story behind the Oscar-nominated blockbuster.
Music
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- Gossip Wolf
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Harold Washington Library celebrates the Reverend Clay Evans with a free gospel concert
Plus: The Hideout’s dance-centric new Midnight Resonance series books Bergsonist, and the Evening Attraction party for album number two.
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- Music Feature
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Towkio is officially Chicago’s highest rapper
The Save Money MC’s balloon trip to the stratosphere wasn’t just to promote his first album for Rick Rubin—it’s also about inspiration, perspective, and togetherness.
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- The Secret History of Chicago Music
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Blues drummer Sam Lay has made five careers’ worth of music
Sharp-dressed drummer Sam Lay has played with Dylan and Howlin' Wolf, and in 2015 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
News & Politics
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- Feature
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Who are Chicago’s Dreamers? Here are the faces of DACA
Immigrants brought to the U.S. as children face an uncertain future with no compromise forthcoming.
Food & Drink
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- Restaurant Review
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Aloha Wagon rolls out Hawaiian plate lunches
The erstwhile food truck parks it on South Western Avenue.
Arts & Culture
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- Art Feature
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If you want to see a famous mug, visit the American Toby Jug Museum in Evanston
Stephen M. Mullins has assembled nearly 8,300 vessels from more than 60 years of collecting.
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- Feature
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Owen Daniel-McCarter looks back on a decade of organizing in Chicago
“We live in a world that for the most part still doesn’t acknowledge that trans people exist.”
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- Feature
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How an Evanston writer’s boyhood idea inspired ‘Shape of Water’
Guillermo del Toro tapped Daniel Kraus to help write the story behind the Oscar-nominated blockbuster.
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- Performing Arts Review
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The Wolves starts strong—then chokes on too many sports movie cliches
Sarah DeLappe’s Pulitzer-nominated play isn’t the landmark of feminist theater it could be.
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- Performing Arts Review
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Keith Huff overdoes everything in Six Corners
A potentially great urban fable gets done in by excess.
Film
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- Movie Review
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Annihilation preserves the source novel’s biological nightmare but dispenses with its mounting paranoia
Director Alex Garland follows his acclaimed Ex Machina with this screen adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s sci-fi adventure.
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- Movie Review
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Loveless places narrow lives inside a wide-screen frame
Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev (The Return) uses empty spaces to define a dead marriage.
Columns & Opinion
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- On Culture
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Are interest-rate swaps a bad bet?
During a decade of low rates, they were a major expense for the city’s cultural institutions.
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- On Politics
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Trump cuts food stamps while looking for a handout for his hotel in Mississippi
And other recent acts in the season of hypocrisy
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- Savage Love
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‘Should I be worried about STDs from oral sex?’
And other no-brainers from the slush pile
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- Transportation
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Would far-south-siders be willing to swap the long-awaited Red Line extension for a cheaper, quicker solution?
Residents of Roseland, Pullman, and other neighborhoods south of 95th weigh in on the Electric Line conversion.
Reader
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- Digital Editions
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Print Issue of March 1, 2018
Volume 47, Number 21
Blogs
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- Bleader
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RuPaul's Drag Race star Bianca Del Rio performs standup and more of the best things to do in Chicago this weekend
Chic-A-Go-Go and more goings-on February 23-25.
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- Bleader
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Attorney and former Playboy model Corri Fetman calls out ‘body-shaming’ attack ad in judicial campaign
A Facebook video mocks Fetman for bodybuilding, calls her a “poser.”
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- Bleader
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Local punks Problem People offer the first taste of their next album with a spooky new video
Problem People's second LP, as yet untitled, comes out in March on Tic Tac Totally.
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- Bleader
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The Moonlighter fills Logan Square's burger and sports bar gap—and it's surprisingly pleasant
The Scofflaw Group's latest venture is a casual neighborhood bar with a killer patio.
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- Bleader
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An interview with local filmmaker Kyle Henry about his latest feature, Rogers Park
Henry's intimate character study screens for a week at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
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- Bleader
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Duk Ju L. Kim’s paintings speak for themselves
The artist wants her viewers simply to react to her work, and that's as it should be.
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- Bleader
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Bernie Sanders: The ‘political revolution’ is well under way in Chicago
At a rally in Little Village on Thursday, Bernie Sanders said the “political revolution” he called for in 2016 is happening in Chicago.
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- Bleader
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Chicago R&B artist Jordanna combines the vulnerability of performance art with the defiance of punk
Jordanna has left behind the riot-grrrl trio Glamour Hotline to make her bodacious new solo EP Sweet Tooth.
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- Bleader
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Five must-see African films
Five African film classics for this Black Panther moment.
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- Bleader
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Lauren Deutsch steps down after 21 years as executive director of the Jazz Institute of Chicago
Veteran arts administrator Heather Ireland Robinson, who worked for the JIC in the early 2000s, steps into Deutsch's shoes on Thursday, March 1.
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- Bleader
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The Moth GrandSlam storytelling show and more of the best things to do in Chicago this week
An artist talk with Bharti Kher and more goings-on February 26-March 1.
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- Bleader
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While Twitter followed the campaign of @MayorEmanuel in 2011, Steve Bogira took a serious look at segregation
Chicago in 2011 was nearly as segregated as it had been in 1970.
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- Bleader
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Mick Jenkins commands his own future on the brand-new EP Or More; the Frustration
Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins is ending his deal with Brooklyn indie label Cinematic, and he's self-released two EPs that demonstrate where he's going next.
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- Bleader
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Anna Karenina, the love bug
In Lifeline Theatre's adaptation, Tolstoy's heroine gets ardor all wrong.
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- Bleader
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The 2018 Chicago Humanities Festival will focus on graphics and visual art
For the first time, the festival will have the same theme all year long.
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- Bleader
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Remembering a time when we didn't totally hate Eat, Pray, Love
Sometimes it's nice to remember what made cultural phenomena so popular in the first place.
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- Bleader
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Todos Santos is a mezcaleria, hold the tequila
Quiote's basement bar has a new name, beverage director, and cocktail list, but it remains focused on mezcal.
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- Bleader
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The Pitchfork Music Festival announces its first wave of acts for 2018
Tame Impala was the first Pitchfork performer revealed on a mural outside the Violet Hour this morning—and this post will be updated throughout the day.
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- Bleader
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Could Chicago's Sameena Mustafa become the first Muslim woman in Congress?
The comedian and real estate broker said running against longtime incumbent Mike Quigley seemed futile—until she started talking to voters.
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- Bleader
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Santa crashes a hoedown on the gig poster of the week
This week's featured gig poster was designed by local artist Joe Schorgl.
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- Bleader
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Indiana fashion student Jason Bell Jr. rocks a ‘dapper grandpa’ look
The 19-year-old entrepreneur is also a founder of the streetwear brand Urban Genius.
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- Bleader
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My morning at the Pitchfork lineup reveal, or two hours of watching paint dry
A Reader intern discovers the life of excitement and glamour that is journalism.
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- Bleader
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Why do we have parks? The answer may surprise you.
Early 20th century reformers wanted to give immigrants a place to get rid of their excess energy.
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- Bleader
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Obama: No community benefits agreement, and let's move on
President Obama on the Obama Presidential Center: No community benefits agreement, and "let's get moving."
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- Bleader
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Chiditarod XIII and more of the best things to do in Chicago this weekend
Jane Bond: Funny But Deadly and more goings-on March 2-4
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- Bleader
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Jackson Park and Thompson Center lead Preservation Chicago's annual list of the city's seven most-endangered architectural treasures
Jackson Park is the designated site of the Obama Presidential Library.
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- Bleader
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The Daphne festival elevates women and nonbinary DJs
The folks behind Daphne—including Eris Drew, Sold, and DJ Kiddo—discuss how the festival’s workshops aim to help women and nonbinary people claim their place in electronic-music history.
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- Bleader
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Joravsky's classic ‘A Simple Game’ is the greatest story you will ever read about high school basketball
A season with the 1991-'92 Roosevelt High School Rough Riders
