When Michael Madigan and Big Jim Thompson Stopped Time to Save the White Sox

By Whet Moser

The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which gave us both U.S. Cellular and the Soldier Field renovation, dips into the pockets of the city's taxpayers to make up a shortfall. There's a funny story about how we ended up with the ISFA in the first place. Read more

The Very Political Origins of Thanksgiving as a National Holiday

By Whet Moser

Giving thanks for the rebel prisoners, the war tax, the earth still unloading her manifold wealth: Thanksgiving during (Civil) wartime. Read more

Hans Peterson Goes On Trial for the Murder of Dr. David Cornbleet

By Whet Moser

Yesterday the trial of Hans Peterson for the murder of Chicago dermatologist Dr. David Cornbleet began in Guadalupe. Read more

Chicago: Making Your Coffee Better

By Whet Moser

The era of cheap coffee is ending as the commodity increases in price. But for coffee snobs, that's actually okay: a good gourmet Chicago coffee is still cheaper than McDonald's, if you make it yourself. Read more

Jay Cutler's Injury and the Bad News/Good News Bears

By Whet Moser

The Bears will lose their starting quarter back for the rest of the regular season, or most of it. But Cutler's not the most important element of the team, and Caleb Hanie has shown flashes of competence and confidence. Read more

Did the CTA and Metra Save Chicago?

By Whet Moser

Milwaukee's former mayor, in an interview with Grid Chicago, says the fact that Chicago held onto its public transportation network during the massive road-building of the mid-20th century preserved it from the collapse its Midwestern peers have faced. Read more

Chicago Bulls vs. the Chicago School: Michael Jordan, Labor, and the NBA Lockout

By Whet Moser

When Michael Jordan was a player, he repped as hard as he could for the players union. Now he's on the other side, and just as tough. Is he a hypocrite? Or just a rational economic actor? Read more

Should Penn State Get Rid of Its Football Program in the Wake of the Sandusky Scandal?

By Whet Moser

The sex-abuse scandal at Penn State has underlined the university's dependence on college football, both economically and emotionally. Should it end the football program? Seventy years ago, the University of Chicago did, and it succeeded against the presumed odds. Read more

Teacher Looping in Chicago and Beyond

By Whet Moser

Illinois's school report cards are out, so everyone's searching for patterns in the data. One bright spot: Chopin Elementary's use of "looping," an uncommon if storied practice that's getting a new look. Read more

Halloween in Old Chicago

By Whet Moser

Women in uniform, soot bags, wild pranks, ducked theologians, college "sprites," rough work by hoodlums, pea guns, and a path of ruin from Northwestern down the north shore. Read more

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