Latest Stories
Review: Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza (Miniseries)
Lolla celebrates the fest’s glory days but (unsurprisingly) avoids serious critique.
Web3 is here, but where’s the diversity?
Small business education from the 1980s holds keys for today’s women founders.
Recapping the Illinois General Assembly’s spring legislative session
A weekly column from the Chicago Reader covering the top stories on our radar and how they impact our communities.
How Chicago forgot about its blues history
The Chicago Blues Archives are languishing in disarray, stuck in bureaucratic limbo at Harold Washington Library.
‘If the culture doesn’t change, it’s going to remain the same’
Why are we building prisons—and for whom?
Get the latest issue of the Chicago Reader
Emil Ferris communes with Uptown’s ghosts
The sequel to My Favorite Thing Is Monsters delves deeper into late-60s Chicago.
Stage Door, but make it porn
Pro-Am follows a group of Miami sex workers and roomies.
Dr. Yvonne Welbon is a crucial storyteller
Through her filmmaking, writing, and nonprofit work, Welbon documents the history of Black lesbians in Chicago, as well as Black women filmmakers at large.
Red Summer family drama
The Prodigal Daughter concludes Joshua Allen’s “Grand Boulevard Trilogy.”
The Danish Play never warms up
A fascinating subject gets shortchanged in this Three Crows production.
News & INVESTIGATIONS
Outfucked
The abrupt closure of Outfox, parent company of Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen, put thousands of workers out of a job with hours’ notice.
Groups call for community control of police, City Council advances ShotSpotter proposal, police misconduct settlements approved
A weekly column from the Chicago Reader covering the top stories on our radar and how they impact our communities.
CCPSA nominees advance, Mohawk Johnson takes plea deal, First Nations Garden vandalized
A weekly column from the Chicago Reader covering the top stories on our radar and how they impact our communities.
Columns & Opinion
Ghostlight, the movie
Chicago talent shines in a film that’s a tribute to live theater.
Bugged!
It’s cicada party time.
“Missing in Chicago” wins the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting
The Reader, in partnership with Invisible Institute and City Bureau, ran the story in November 2023
Film
Review: The Dead Don’t Hurt
Captivating framing drives this lyrical, romantic western.
Review: The Strangers: Chapter 1
This slow, cliche home-invasion flick ruins a streak of quality horror films.
Arts & Culture
The Singularity Play tackles AI
The subject is timely, but the treatment feels dutiful.
Garters upends the norms of fantasy fiction
Otherworld’s world premiere places nontraditional heroes in a traditional realm.
Street corner activations with SpaceShift
Asad Ali Jafri, Melissa Munira Jafri, and Tulika Ladsariya discuss artist collective SpaceShift’s origins and community-building art spaces.
Rhino Fest offers theatrical symbiosis
Chicago’s longest-running alternative theater festival spreads out over six venues and neighborhoods; Erin Kilmurray’s the Function returns to East Garfield Park.
La compañía UrbanTheater sigue arraigada en Humboldt Park
“Sabían que si querían ver una obra que los representara, que fuera puertorriqueña, éramos nosotros.”
Music
Emily Rach Beisel, improviser and Pleiades Series founder
“In order to make change, you can’t just open the door and expect people to walk right in. You have to go out and find people.”
Guitarist and oud master Rami Gabriel releases a multifaceted solo debut
Plus: Martin Levy drops a new video for his postgender pop-diva persona, Candy.
Los Angeles cumbia punks Tropa Magica make music for living the good life together
Tue 6/11 at Lincoln Hall
CITY LIFE
Chicago’s arcade evolution
Nothing can rival the video game boom of the 1980s, but with the majority of today’s arcade options catering to alcohol-consuming adults, the city’s youth are cut out of vital community spaces.
The Raven Room shuts down despite strong community support
The Ravenswood bar and entertainment venue formerly known as Redline VR announced their intention to close at the end of April.
Food & Drink
Food apartheid: the erasure of Black health in Englewood
Residents, community organizations, and new legislation are making profound steps toward achieving food sovereignty in Chicago.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Best Dating Sites for Real Relationships in 2024
The top websites to meet someone special for a real relationship
If you’re open to giving online dating a try, these are the best dating sites to actually meet…
Sponsored
Demystifying Acupuncture provides answers for the curious skeptic
Acupuncture is a form of Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) that involves the placement of hair-thin needles into…
Sponsored
Help the United Negro College Fund provide scholarships to Illinois students by playing the $200,000! Bingo Tripler!
For nearly two decades, the Illinois Lottery has been a pioneer in creating specialty lottery tickets dedicated to…
Sponsored
At the California Clipper, everyone is welcome
The newly relaunched Humboldt Park lounge champions community, inclusivity, and fair labor practices Since the 1820s, Chicago’s pubs…
Sponsored
Bright Endeavors provides a guiding light for young mothers in Chicago
The social enterprise of Chicago nonprofit New Moms empowers local mothers ages 18-24 through their comprehensive job training program
As the proverb goes, it takes a village to raise a child. The folks at Bright Endeavors know…
Sponsored
In Motion: Metamorphosis explores the intersection of art and technology
As the leader of the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project, Princess Mhoon is on a mission to raise…