Horse Meat: Good Enough for the Mafia and the Greatest Generation, But Not For Picky Non-Pagan Modern Consumers

By Whet Moser

For a couple years in the 1950s, the hamburgers many Chicagoans consumed were as much horse as cow—up to 40 percent. The Syndicate worked a rich arbitrage of cultural taboos, at least until they got caught and horse meat dominated the headlines for a year. Read more

Penny Pritzker a Likely Commerce Secretary the Second Time Around

By Carol Felsenthal

Barack Obama owes longtime friend and fundraiser Penny Pritzker a great deal, going back to his days as an obscure state senator. 2008 wasn't the right time to include her in his cabinet, for a host of reasons, but he's got a lot more political capital in 2012, and much less to lose. Read more

The Cubs Are Hiring, and Their New Sabermetric Specialist Has Already Been Good For Chicago

By Whet Moser

A job doing research and development for the Cubs has opened up, working alongside new hire and sabermetrics expert Tom Tango—who explodes the Bartman myth with the Leverage Index. Read more

Chicago Gets Its Guns Where It Used to Get Its Blues

By Whet Moser

Aside from the obvious sources—nearby counties and states that don't have Chicago's history of strict gun laws—a surprising number of guns come up north from the Delta into the city, a current dilemma overlaying the old tracks of history. Read more

Illinois: The Fourth Most Regressive Taxes in America

By Whet Moser

The state's flat tax, its dependence on property taxes, and relatively high sales taxes (both state and local) combine for a tax structure that, compared to other states, hits the poor hard—and the middle class as well. Read more

American Governments Start to Turn Against Public-Private Partnerships

By Whet Moser

New York City, scared off the plan by Chicago's experience, just decided to hold on to its parking meters. There's been a bit of a backlash against public-private partnerships in the past few months, as both governments and operators struggle with the financing of infrastructure in a down economy. Read more

Workout Reboot: High-Intensity Circuit Training

By Beth Janes

High-intensity circuit training helped this mother of two lose 13 pounds. Read more

Workout reboot: Zero-Cardio Training

By Beth Janes

Zero-cardio training helped this bartender drop his body fat by 7 percentage points. Read more

Workout Reboot: Group Fitness

By Beth Janes

After 12 weeks of group fitness, Tiffany McDowell lost 11 pounds, felt more energetic and had toned her body. Read more

Workout Reboot: Personal Training

By Beth Janes

Personal training helped this fitness beginner lose 22 pounds. Read more