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Posts published in “Latest News”

RAGE Co-Founder Says In Englewood, Police Aren’t Enough

Asiaha Butler is a co-founder of RAGE, the Resident Association of Greater Englewood. She shares how the pandemic has contributed to youth homelessness, and how that might be contributing to the violence in Chicago. Host: Lisa Labuz, Mary Dixon; Produc...

Get Ready for the Movie of “A Naked Singularity” with This Interview and Excerpt

On August 6, the movie Naked Singularity, based on a novel by Sergio De La Pava and starring John Boyega, Olivia Cooke, and Bill Skarsgård, will hit theaters. That’s only the most recent chapter in the wild backstory of this acclaimed novel, which itself reads a bit like something out of Hollywood: A New York public defender writes an incredibly inventive 700-page novel that covers the criminal justice system, our fragmented culture, the fate of the universe, a heist, and more. He sends it to agents. It’s rejected 88 times. So, in 2010, he self-publishes it. Which, let’s be honest, should have been the end of the story. But this book is too good for that fate. It caught the eye of online reviewers, whose praise led our Marketing Director, Levi Stahl, to pick it up. Within 50 pages, he was hooked and convinced that this book deserved a wide audience. We published it in 2012 to praise from Slate, the Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, London Times, and Wall Street Journal—which named it one of the 10 best works of fiction that year. Months later, PEN awarded it the Robert W. Bingham Prize for the best debut novel. In the […]

The post Get Ready for the Movie of “A Naked Singularity” with This Interview and Excerpt appeared first on The Chicago Blog.

What’s Behind The IL Attorney General’s Office Hacking

The Chicago Tribune and the Better Government Association have been reporting on a breach at the Illinois Attorney General's office which took place in April, and who might be behind it. Host: Melba Lara; Guest: Jared Rutecki

Could A New Agency Save Chicago’s 4 Million Trees?

In Chicago, areas flush with resources are also flush with trees. But a new city agency could be tasked with changing that “tree inequity." Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Mariah Woelfel

Chicago’s Jackson Park Bustles After Pandemic Shutdowns

The Jackson Park Football field in Chicago's Woodland neighborhood was bustling with teens again after the long pandemic shut down. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

Chicago Bears Report to Training Camp at Halas Hall

As the Chicago Bears looks to improve on their 8-8 record last year, veteran players report to training camp today to prepare for the 2021-22 season. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Cheryl Rae Stout

How Are Chicago-Area Insects Impacted By Climate Change?

Something as big as climate change can impact even the little parts of life. During this week's climate conversation we’re talking REALLY small: insects, with Professor Alex Harmon-Threatt, pollination ecologist at the University of Illinois. Host: Mel...

‘Bronzeville Lakefront’ Seeks South Side Buy-In For Development

Paula Robinson is a Chicago developer who pushed to make sure residents had their voice heard in a new megadevelopment on the city's South Side. Plans for "Bronzeville Lakefront" on the former site of Michael Reese Hospital were approved by the city ea...

Why Some CPS Parents Feel Unsafe Returning Kids To School

Chicago Public Schools leaders are insisting that almost all students should be back in classes full time this fall, but some parents are pushing back. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Sarah Karp

COVID-19 Delta Variant: How Worried Should Chicagoans Be?

Doctor Emily Landon, infectious disease specialist with UChicago Medicine, details the precautions people should still be taking as COVID-19 cases rise in Illinois. Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Lauren Frost

AG Garland Meets With Chicagoans Closest to Gun Violence

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland visited an anti-violence program on the city’s West Side on Thursday. Eddie Bocanegra runs READI Chicago, and shared more on Garland's visit. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Patrick Smith

Read an Excerpt from “Climate the Making of Worlds” by Tobias Menely

In his new book, Climate and the Making of Worlds, Tobias Menely tracks the long literary history of poetic rewritings and critical readings that continually engage with the climate as a condition of human world-making. Poems, he argues, provide a distinct archive of geohistorical change. We asked Menely to tell us more about the genesis of this project. Read on for his commentary, followed by an excerpt from chapter one of the book. The first chapter in my new book, Climate and the Making of Worlds, lays out a geohistorical reading of Paradise Lost. Milton planned and composed his epic retelling of the Christian creation story during a period of intense historical tumult: the disintegration of the Commonwealth and the restoration of the monarchy, a visitation of the bubonic plague, and a fire that destroyed much of London. This period of crisis, as climate historians such as Geoffrey Parker have shown, corresponds with one of the most acute phases of the Little Ice Age, which saw unusually frigid winters, dry summers, powerful storms, and repeated crop failures. Not unlike climate historians today, Milton grappled with the shaping influence of climate, its role in determining the fate of nations and of […]

The post Read an Excerpt from “Climate the Making of Worlds” by Tobias Menely appeared first on The Chicago Blog.

Chicago City Hall Vet. Reflects on 30 Years Under 4 Mayors

Rosa Escareño has had a front-row seat to Chicago politics for decades, starting work for City Hall right out of high school and quickly moving on to serve in top leadership roles. She's currently overseeing enforcement of the $15 dollar minimum wage, ...

Chicago City Hall Vet. Reflects on 30 Years Under 4 Mayors

Rosa Escareño has had a front-row seat to Chicago politics for decades, starting work for City Hall right out of high school and quickly moving on to serve in top leadership roles. She's currently overseeing enforcement of the $15 dollar minimum wage, ...