Former Chicago Bulls guard Craig Hodges was dropped in 1992 for suspicious reasons

by Steve Heisler on June 4, 2018 at 6:00AM

," Hodges told the columnist. "Then you have us playing in here—how much money did we make here last night?

That time a Cook County judge ruled on the case of a man he himself put in prison when he was still a prosecutor

by Maya Dukmasova on May 25, 2018 at 6:00AM

In 2006 the Reader's John Conroy—who broke the Burge torture scandal in 1990—reported a remarkable story about Judge Nicholas Ford, who ruled on a request for a postconviction hearing from a man he himself put behind bars, a man who claimed that the confession Ford used to prosecute him was coerced out of him with electric shock by one of Burge's close associates. Lawyers who defend police-torture victims in Chicago long ago reached a harsh conclusion about Cook County's criminal judges: most have a vested interest in refusing to acknowledge police brutality.

A look back at a punk club doorman and his buffet of food offerings

by Aimee Levitt on May 23, 2018 at 6:00AM

Mostly Steve sits. He chats with passersby and shares stories about the good old days.

A note from the harsh macho underground

by Aimee Levitt on May 21, 2018 at 6:00AM

I wish you would enlighten us, your readers, with more information on the Harsh, Contrary, and Macho Chicago Underground Music Scene that you always talk about in your column. Who are these bands?

How Mordecai chef-owner Matthias Merges helped transform modern fine dining

by Kate Schmidt on May 17, 2018 at 6:00AM

from this million-square-foot factory into a 900-square-foot kitchen.'" Trouble was, there were no affordable, readily available immersion circulators on the market.

Remembering Glenn Branca, or at least his sound

by Aimee Levitt on May 16, 2018 at 6:00AM

More about hats, from Ray Panice, proprietor of New World Hatters

by Aimee Levitt on May 15, 2018 at 8:41AM

laments, "but now people walk around in T-shirts and jeans and caps on their heads, if that. When you go out to a restaurant or a club, the trouble is that there's no place to hang your hat.

Lisagor and more, or some stories that other Chicago media types also thought were great

by Aimee Levitt on May 14, 2018 at 6:00AM

"The CHA’s 'supervoucher' program: A desegregation strategy that never was" by Meribah Knight and Maya Dukmasova (2016) "At Profiles Theatre the drama—and abuse—is real" by Christopher Piatt and me (2016) On Identity and Culture columns by Derrick Clifton (2016) On Politics columns by Ben Joravsky (2015) "A better goal for CPS;" "Three families tell us why they ditched CPS;" and "Standardized testing overkill at CPS" by Steve Bogira (2014) "The shot that brought the projects down" by Mick Dumke (2013) "Pariahs among the rainbows" by Elly Fishman (2013) "The shadow budget" and "Shedding light on the shadow budget" by Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky "The greater of two evils" by Michael Miner (2008) "Bye-Bye Bell's" by Nicholas Day (2006) "Hecho en Illinois" by Linda Lutton and Catrin Einhorn (2006) Reader media columnist Michael Miner has written extensively on the story behind the story at the Lisagors, including changes in the rules, a reporter who won an award after getting laid off, and a scandal that resulted in a a revoked award.

Remember when you had to explain what a podcast was?

by Aimee Levitt on May 11, 2018 at 6:00AM

"It was about the time when the first MP3 blogs were being talked about and 'podcast' was just starting to get thrown around as a term," says McDonough. "So Fred and I were sitting around having a few beers and talking about that.

When a gun was considered a girl’s best fashion accessory

by Aimee Levitt on May 10, 2018 at 6:00AM

Mueller had begun shooting three and a half years earlier. She'd had a talent for it.