1. What Happened to Motorola
How a change in corporate culture nearly doomed the local tech giant that invented the cell phone. Chicago goes deep inside the company.
2. In Chicago’s War Zones, the Tragedy Extends Beyond the Kids Who Die
Violence in the city’s neighborhoods leaves behind PTSD and “toxic stress”—which can create more violence in its wake. The Reader explores the connection.
3. An Urbanist’s Guide to Chicago, ‘the Most American of American Cities’
A local urban planner explains what Chicago sounds like, how a legacy of corruption keeps the city clean, and what the city’s best building is. The Guardian invites Pete Saunders to introduce his city.
4. Undermining Kindergarten, One Test at a Time
In a Chicago suburb, the youngest students take five rounds of standardized tests. A teacher makes her case in the Sun-Times.
5. Mike Lansu, the Body Counter
What’s it like to be a Chicago crime reporter? The editor of the Sun-Times’s Homicide Watch blog explains. The Awl talks with Mike Lansu.
6. Rahm Emanuel: Chicago Not Murder Capital
New polling has the mayor on the defense about crime rates. Politico interviews Emanuel.
7. Ilinois’s Would-Be Farmers Learn from the Ground Up
The eat-local movement is tempting potential small farmers back to the land. It’s a tough business. The Tribune profiles the Central Illinois Farm Beginnings program.
8. San Antonio Reduced Its Jail Population by Treating the Mentally Ill
As Chicago debates mental health clinics and a perpetually full jail, another city is building a sophisticated solution. Chicago looks south for answers.
9. What’s Behind Quinn’s Decision to Side with Uber?
The ride-share company may be cutting-edge, but it’s good at old-school politics. Greg Hinz explains in Crain’s.
10. Chicago’s Shifting Grocery Landscape Mirrors Changing City Economics
As Aldi and Mariano’s take over from Dominick’s and challenge Jewel, here’s what it says about us. WBEZ follows our changing check-out lines.