1. Men Try to Understand Chicago’s Violence from a Safe Space—Jail
Cook County Jail is running an intensive therapy program—six to eight hours a day—in an open-dorm setting in which they can reflect on the problem. The Tribune visits a session.
2. The Limits of Sanctuary Cities
Rahm Emanuel has promised that Chicago will remain one under a Trump administration. But what does that mean? Alex Kotlowitz answers in The New Yorker.
3. How to Reboot a Holiday Classic
When the Joffrey’s artistic director took over, the sets of The Nutcracker were literally falling apart from age. Now it has a full Broadway set. Chicago goes inside the production.
4. The Passion of Steve Wilkos: From Jerry Springer Muscle to Daytime TV Healer
And before that, he was a Lane Tech grad, Marine, and Chicago cop. Complex profiles Springer’s protege.
5. Walter Benn Michaels on How Liberals Still Love Diversity and Ignore Inequality
The UIC prof posits that there’s a political economy behind racism, and that the left needs to target it. The Reader sits down with the author of The Trouble With Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality.
6. Ex-Outlaws Biker Boss Speaks Out, Sees Trouble with Hells Angels
The biker group was formed in Chicago in 1935, but it’s not a thing of the past. Peter “Big Pete” James opens up to the Sun-Times.
7. Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel Makes Strides After Shooting Protests
His approval rating is up to 42 percent from an abysmal 27 percent last year. What’s driving the change? The Wall Street Journal explores the possibilities.
8. The Cardinal Trying to Save Chicago
The city is “the American test case for Pope Francis’s vision of the church.” But it’s a shrinking one. The Atlantic follows his path.
9. Illinois Fix to Unpaid Bills May End Up as Financial Time Bomb
Illinois borrowed big to pay its vendors on time. Now the late fees are up to $118 million. Reuters does the math.
10. Why the Klan Thrived in Chicago (But Mostly as a Con)
It had tens of thousands of members in the city—members of a big pyramid scheme that made a few people very, very wealthy. Chicago tells the history.