Since 2005 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in ...

Casa Cafe’s bookers are pursuing a city license so they can safely restart shows. Plus: DJ Paul Nixon launches the pop-up shop Happy Home Records, and more.

At Shanghai Seminary, feral impulses are visible through the revelatory voyeuristic interventions of Geof Oppenheimer.

In the project 60 wrd/min art critic, writer Lori Waxman explores how art writing can serve an expanded field of artists—including those incarcerated, trying to gain visas, working to establish ...

Three performers talk about what it takes to move your drag or burlesque act from concept to performance without losing sight ...

A coalition of more than 55 organizations wants Cook County to freeze spending on the sheriff and state's attorney amid a ...

As Musclecars, Brooklyn DJs and producers Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield don’t make dance music to try to fit into anyone’s template of classic four-on-the-floor house—they seem more motivated by a ...

A photo collage of body-camera footage of the October 4, 2025, shooting of Marimar Martinez by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago, released in February 2026; U.S. District Court for the Northern ...

Sheriff Tom Dart is quietly lobbying the Cook County Board of Commissioners to expand surveillance both inside the Cook County jail and on the streets. Within the jail’s walls, he’s eyeing a system ...

Whether in or outside law enforcement, the spread of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology raises alarms around ...

On what should’ve been his 80th birthday, beloved songwriter John Prine offers enduring lessons about the value of empathy and curiosity.

Mae Koen, Diane Madison, Theresa Davis, Nanette Frank, and Joan Collaso Credit: Alan Mercer (Theresa Davis) and Akilah Townsend for Chicago Reader (all others) The 2013 film 20 Feet From Stardom tells ...