Is Chicago Really in the ‘Midwest’?
Chicago was squeezed into Illinois to make it more Northern. It’s now the capital of the Midwest, but culturally, call it a Great Lakes state.
Custom Placements: City Life Lead 1
The 10 Best Day-Trip Hikes
Forget the tent or hotel room. These destinations offer abundant natural beauty, from canyons and waterfalls to prairies and dunes, within three hours of the city.
How LaVelle Sykes Built His Urban Fashion Empire
On friendship, sneakers, and being a Black man with a plan in a city that too often eats its own.
The ‘Blaccent’ That Defines Chicago
Part Southern, part Inland North, the Black Chicago dialect captures the history of the city since the Great Migration
How to Get Rid of Anything
You’ve used your year in isolation to finally tackle that soul-sucking project of organizing your closet. And your basement. And the garage. Now it’s time to donate, recycle, and sell.
How Medill’s Dean Combats Zoom Fatigue
Journalism educator Charles Whitaker talks about being a tennis loyalist and afternoon snoozer
Why the Chicaaaaago Accent Is Really a New York One
Robert Forster’s tough-guy long vowels got him typecast as a cop, like Chicagoans Dennis Farina and Dennis Franz. But Forster is from upstate New York. So what gives?
The Free Throws That Changed the ’97 Finals
Rewatching Karl Malone face the Bulls that year prompts an NBA fanatic to ponder the psychic implications of the foul shot.
On the Disappearing “Chi-caw-go”
The pronunciation of our fair city by the lake is a matter of local controversy — and like anywhere else, regional speech is giving way to national speech.