Issue Archives
Sep 17-30, 2020
Issue Archive for Sep 17-30, 2020 Vol. 49, No. 44
The Housing Issue
Isaacs | Culture A book looks beyond skyscrapers to a neglected bounty of single family houses.
Dukmasova | Witness Ex-cops attempted to throw out a Rogers Park tenant at gunpoint. The police report tells a different story.
Landlords A new database matches rental properties with owners, whether they like it or not.
Photography The Folded Map Project shows a segregated city.
News & Politics
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That lockout you witnessed? It didn’t happen. 9
Ex-cops attempted to throw out a Rogers Park tenant at gunpoint. The police report tells a different story.
By Maya Dukmasova | Sep 17, 2020
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How many buildings does your landlord own? 2
A database matches rental properties with owners, whether they like it or not.
By Grace Del Vecchio | Sep 16, 2020
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Lessons from March election chaos: Recruit poll workers, young and early 1
Chicago election officials seek paid election judges in November, especially those who are multilingual.
By Alexandra Arriaga | Sep 8, 2020
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Hit it!—the new Blues Brothers weed, that is
A Skokie dispensary features dozens of varieties of flower, including a strain celebrating the Chicago film’s 40th anniversary.
By Catey Sullivan | Sep 9, 2020
Columns & Opinion
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The modern home
Modern in the Middle champions Chicago’s hidden stock of midcentury houses.
By Deanna Isaacs | Sep 16, 2020
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Savior stories 2
Let’s end the myth that Mayors Daley and Rahm saved Chicago Public Schools.
By Ben Joravsky | Sep 9, 2020
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Last hired, first fired 3
After his controversial firing from St. Laurence, Oak Lawn High School football coach Harold Blackmon teaches his son life lessons.
By Evan F. Moore | Sep 10, 2020
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Under Barr’s thumb 2
Trump could teach Madigan and Burke a thing or two about corruption.
By Ben Joravsky | Sep 16, 2020
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Politics is wrestling 27
The fights are fake but the folks pulling the strings behind the scenes are real.
By Leonard C. Goodman | Sep 16, 2020
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What’s the deal with all the nonconsensual choking?
“Probably porn.”
by Dan Savage | Sep 8, 2020
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I only want you to love me forever 1
Demands for premature commitments are often red flags for abuse.
By Dan Savage | Sep 16, 2020
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A challenging and memorable bike ride around Chicago’s exact city limits 4
Cycling, sightseeing, and snacking from Rogers Park to Edison Park, Mount Greenwood to Hegewisch
By John Greenfield | Sep 10, 2020
Arts & Culture
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The Folded Map Project shows a segregated city 2
Tonika Johnson’s multimedia project expands with a new film.
By S. Nicole Lane | Sep 15, 2020
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Destinos al Aire brings Latinx culture to the drive-in
Their annual festival is on pandemic pause, but CLATA still celebrates the diversity of local theater companies.
By Catey Sullivan | Sep 9, 2020
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96 Hours is popping in lockdown at Links
A livestreamed multidisciplinary festival crosses a wishlist with a treasure hunt.
By Irene Hsiao | Sep 9, 2020
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Mishkan Chicago puts an interactive spin on High Holiday rituals
Sing-along Selichot and shofar pop-ups: how a "radically inclusive" Jewish community celebrates in a pandemic.
By Josh Flanders | Sep 10, 2020
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The MCA and Smart Museum provide tool kits for plague times 1
Yanira Castro, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Irene Hsiao create performance pieces for the at-home audience; Pride comes out of the closet with a new name.
By Kerry Reid | Sep 11, 2020
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For the Love of Lyric fills the vocal void for now
Renée Fleming and friends offer a free genre-hopping virtual concert.
By Deanna Isaacs | Sep 11, 2020
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We're Gonna Die offers a poignant portrait of mortality
Theatre Y turns Young Jean Lee's play into an elliptical but moving film project.
By Irene Hsiao | Sep 15, 2020
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The lingering spirits of the California Clipper
The neighborhood tavern may be closing, but it’s forever a part of Chicago’s boozy, haunted history.
By Micco Caporale | Sep 16, 2020
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BoHo and Lifeline examine the public and private split 4
The Pursuit of Happiness and Pride and Prejudice confront the limitations of Zoom culture with exhilarating results.
By Kerry Reid | Sep 16, 2020
Food & Drink
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Kedai Tapao rocks Malaysia’s cradle of flavor
Love in the time of corona begets a promising new pop-up.
By Mike Sula | Sep 9, 2020
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Get weird with mustard beer 1
Are Chicagoans ready for some of the yellow stuff in their brews?
By Michelle Bruton | Sep 11, 2020
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Jennifer Kim is bottling love
As Passerotto closes, its chef reimagines the future by preserving the past.
By Mike Sula | Sep 16, 2020
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Gone but not frog-otten
A zinester remembers Rainforest Cafe.
By Megan Kirby | Sep 14, 2020
City Life
Film
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Asian Pop-Up Cinema, at home and at the drive-in
A hybrid version of the fest aims to bridge the differences between cultures.
By Nina Li Coomes | Sep 11, 2020
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‘Pioneering is dangerous’ 1
Housing and the haunting of segregation in Lovecraft Country
By Arionne Nettles | Sep 14, 2020
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Tenet is the most Nolan-esque film yet—and that’s not a good thing 1
The auteur doesn’t show much growth in his most recent self-indulgent work.
By Kathleen Sachs | Sep 10, 2020
Music
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Why isn’t anyone reissuing Karate records? 2
Sixteen years after the Boston band’s final studio release, their influential music—which blends emo, slowcore, and jazz—is entirely out of print.
By Leor Galil | Sep 7, 2020
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Fire safety tips from Troubled Hubble on the gig poster of the week
By Salem Collo-Julin | Sep 9, 2020
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Peter Berkow has spent five decades traversing at least that many genres
The Chicago native has been a producer and a professor, and moved from folk to funk to fusion to prog and back.
By Steve Krakow | Sep 10, 2020
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Johari Noelle addresses 2020’s overlapping crises with a socially distanced new video
Plus: Serengeti drops a non-Kenny Dennis acoustic album, and Ossemaan releases a very limited-edition CD accompanied by an original painting.
By J.R. Nelson | Sep 8, 2020
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Jazz musicians turn an Old Town porch into a stage 1
When the pandemic shuttered Chicago’s music venues, pianist Danny Bauer improvised a solution—a nightly concert series right in front of his home.
By Jamie Ludwig | Sep 10, 2020
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Rediscovering New Zealand shoulda-beens Straitjacket Fits 4
Flying Nun Records has revived the band's catalog, giving it a second chance at the huge audience it deserved.
By Philip Montoro | Sep 14, 2020
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Hyperpop newcomer Fraxiom packs two albums’ worth of sound into one new EP
Plus: Heavy-music zine Distort/Delay returns after a four-year hiatus, and Sunday series Vibes on Logan hosts vinyl DJs on the boulevard.
By J.R. Nelson | Sep 15, 2020
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Sandra Treviño, DJ and founder of Latin-music site Enchúfate
“I love that I can share the music that I love, and that once people hear it they're gonna love it too.”
By Leor Galil | Sep 16, 2020
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Femdot pauses his rap career to help feed Chicago
Run through his nonprofit, Delacreme Scholars, the Scholars Slide By has delivered groceries to hundreds of people in need this summer.
By Leor Galil | Sep 17, 2020
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Deafkids and Petbrick join forces to make subversively twisted psych on Deafbrick
By Jamie Ludwig | Sep 4, 2020
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Kelly Lee Owens’s Inner Song is laser focused and immersive
By Joshua Minsoo Kim | Sep 7, 2020
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Frank Leone’s hip-hop experiments make for a beautifully bizarre debut album
By Leor Galil | Sep 10, 2020
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Paulette McWilliams’s A Woman’s Story shows why stars have always relied on her voice
By Aaron Cohen | Sep 7, 2020
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Death-metal powerhouse Necrot show they’re as ferocious in the studio as onstage on Mortal
By Monica Kendrick | Sep 8, 2020
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Chicago rapper Neph immerses himself in his own verses on More to Come
By Leor Galil | Sep 4, 2020
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Malian guitarist Sidi Touré dials it back on an all-acoustic, digital-only album
By Bill Meyer | Sep 8, 2020
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Thank You, I’m Sorry harnesses midwestern emo to conquer unyielding malaise on I’m Glad We’re Friends
By Leor Galil | Sep 9, 2020
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Throwing Muses evolve their version of alt-rock on Sun Racket
By Salem Collo-Julin | Sep 9, 2020
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Big Branch make rock music with an underground-rap mindset
By Jack Riedy | Sep 11, 2020
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Bill Callahan has a couple dad jokes for you
By Bill Meyer | Sep 15, 2020
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Eclectic Chicago-based jazz unit the JuJu Exchange contemplate grief on The Eternal Boombox
By Leor Galil | Sep 11, 2020
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Synth-pop trio Le Couleur explore beauty through tragedy on Concorde
By Salem Collo-Julin | Sep 14, 2020
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Phew’s harrowing synth-and-voice experiments on Vertigo KO channel the dread of living in our world
By Joshua Minsoo Kim | Sep 14, 2020
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Noise-rock masters Uniform get even bigger, better, and darker on Shame
By Luca Cimarusti | Sep 15, 2020
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Workaholic Chicago MC Vic Spencer raps like he’s got the funnest gig around
By Leor Galil | Sep 16, 2020
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Chilean psych group Vuelveteloca highlight the beauty of resistance on Contra
By Jamie Ludwig | Sep 16, 2020
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Chicago rapper Jay Wood gives his hardest verses a pop polish on Trackstar
By Leor Galil | Sep 17, 2020
Reader
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The Garden of Phoenix and Lovecraft Country
Chicago, 2020
Sponsored Content
By Tara Betts | Sep 3, 2020
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Chicago Reader distribution locations
Where to find the print issue every other week
| Sep 17, 2020
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IRS approves Chicago Reader’s move to nonprofit model 1
Reader Institute for Community Journalism will take over operations from current owners on January 1
| Sep 15, 2020
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The Other Word for Love
Sponsored Content
By Lisa Alvarado | Sep 17, 2020
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Classifieds
| Sep 17, 2020
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Matches
| Sep 17, 2020