Gracious losers protect our democracy. Sore ones undermine it.
Donald Trump could have taken a lesson from Stephen Douglas, who gave his full support to Abraham Lincoln after the election of 1860.
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In defense of Stephen Douglas
For building Chicago into a world-class city, and supporting Lincoln and the Union, Douglas deserves to be honored in Illinois.
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Chicago should annex adjoining suburbs
Chicago needs to prevent Houston from passing it for third place, and Illinois doesn’t need so many municipalities
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The disappearing Chicago accent is layered with local history
Da dialect of da Daleys is increasingly rare
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Here’s what your foreign cars have done to Michigan
It matters to all of us what happens to the economy of the upper Midwest
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The Christian Right’s shocking conquest
Why religious moderates have disappeared from America
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The Month That Killed The Middle Class
From the Arab Oil Embargo to the Saturday Night Massacre, October 1973 changed the nation forever
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The Middle Class Myth
Why are wages so low? Because white collar workers don’t think they need unions
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R.I.P., The Middle Class, 1946-2013
Was postwar American prosperity a historical fluke?
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Why the Smartest People in the Midwest All Move to Chicago
How Chicago avoided Rust Belt decline and became the Midwest’s global city
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Hope I Die …
Is the Chicago Reader a relic of the 1970s and ’80s?
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Death of a Factory
“Demolition means progress” at the Fisher Body plant in Lansing
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North Country Sage
An appreciation of author Meridel Le Sueur
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Living the Lansing Dream
“Why aren’t you working at the shop?” the GM recruiter asked
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A Portrait of the Drug Dealer as a Young Man
The life of a young crack dealer in Lansing, Michigan, in the early 1990s.
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All in the Game
Allan Calhamer invented a world-famous board game — then spent the rest of his career as a mailman.
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Right Here Waiting
After I insulted pop star Richard Marx, he confronted me at my local bar.
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The Mystery Millionaire of Gage Park
Elderly bachelor Joe Stancak died with no will, no heirs — and an $11 million fortune.
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Private Eye
In her final years, acclaimed street photographer Vivian Maier was my neighborhood bag lady
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Subsidizing Elkhart
Eccentric bachelor tycoon David Gundlach willed $150 million to his Indiana hometown
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The Guerilla Bureaucrat
Gabe Klein’s mission to make Chicago the most bike-friendly city in America
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For Kelsey Grammer, the comic roles were just a detour
The “Frasier” star tried to become a serious actor by playing a Chicago mayor in “Boss”
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Master and Commander
An innovator in a genteel sport
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R. Kelly: Trapped in the Courtroom
The R&B singer’s child pornography trial
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The Steel Sailors
Life aboard the Great Lakes ore freighter Joseph L. Block
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Searching for Our Mississippi
A 580-mile journey down Illinois’s stretch of the Mississippi River, from East Dubuque to Cairo
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The Bitter Controversy Over Chicago’s Newest Police Academy
Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to build a police academy in Chicago’s poorest, most violent neighborhood. Not everyone there wants more police around.
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Downstate Hate
A history of the bitter, nearly 200-year rivalry between Chicago and the rest of Illinois.
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I never worry I’ll be shot in Chicago. After all, I’m white.
Walking through a high-crime neighborhood without fear of violence is the ultimate white privilege.
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Meet The Flintstones
A Flint, Michigan, couple try to give away their house, have a hard time finding a taker
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Reader’s Corner: Malcolm X St. and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Lansing, Michigan
Streets named for black leaders reflect Lansing’s tradition of integration
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Flint’s Man in Washington
Rep. Dan Kildee and his fight to preserve “legacy cities”
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The Roots of Rust Belt Chic
Youngstown, Ohio, is leading the revival of Rust Belt pride
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Chiraq, Drillinois
On the South Side of Chicago, rap music and gangbanging are inseparable
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Who Killed Detroit?
Why Detroit and its suburbs should merge to form a megacity
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Canoeing the Cuyahoga: An Outsider Travels the Cuyahoga in Search of the Rust Belt
A canoe trip down the river that once caught fire
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An Ethnic Mix Keeps It Funky in Chicago
Rogers Park, one of America’s most multicultural neighborhoods
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Hometown Favorites, Obama Style
A tour of President Obama’s old haunts on the South Side of Chicago
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Driving Into Fall
A visit to Ronald Reagan’s birthplace and boyhood home in northern Illinois
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How Lori Lightfoot Beat the Machine
Lori Lightfoot’s historic victory changed the way politics is played in Chicago. Now what kind of mayor will she make?
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What Rahm Leaves Behind
The downtown skyline grew taller and burned brighter in Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago. The only problem: He didn’t make room for everyone.
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Chicago’s New Progressive Boss
Chuy Garcia is headed to Washington, but his local influence is bigger than ever.
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Meet the Community Organizers Fighting Against…Barack Obama
As he plans his presidential center, Obama is getting pushback from members of his old profession, who want to make sure the surrounding neighborhoods benefit.
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Why Trump Won’t Save the Rust Belt
Donald Trump’s economic message is better suited for the 1980s than the 2010s.
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Baby boomers have a Donald Trump problem
Baby Boomers grew up in an immigrant-free America, and they want that country back.
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Inequality leads to authoritarianism
Why Trump is acting like “a generalissimo with a giant brass eagle on his hat”
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Rahm Emanuel Has Not Been Good for Chicago
The hassles and dangers of living in the new global city
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Michigan’s Great Leap Backward
Why Michigan is nicknamed “Michissippi”
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Chicago’s Tale of Two Cities
Rahm Emanuel’s neoliberalism puts him out of step with today’s progressive mayors
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Mayor 1%
The blog post that coined a nickname for Rahm Emanuel
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Ballot Battle
A homeless man fights for the right to run for office
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Young Gun
A profile of then-newly elected congressman Aaron Schock
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More than 125,000 witness history in Chicago
Election Night 2008 in Grant Park
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How Obama Learned To Be A Natural
The lessons Barack Obama learned from his defeat.
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Is Bobby Rush In Trouble?
In 2000, State. Sen. Barack Obama tried and failed to unseat Congressman Bobby Rush.
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Valentine’s Day
Loyola’s Drew Valentine is the youngest basketball coach in Division I.
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A Museum for Phanatics
A visit to the Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, Indiana.
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Undercover Advocates
One couple’s pursuit of humane treatment of horses
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Fritz Pollard: Football’s Unsung Trailblazer
The Chicago native who broke the NFL’s color line
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From Kentucky Derby to Dinner Plate
How to end the horse slaughter pipeline
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Unbreakable
The women’s track and field record book needs to be expunged
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In Praise of Kissing Your Sister
Why I love tie games
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Why I Love the Preakness
The least glamorous but most bettable Triple Crown race
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The Handicapper
How an ex-nun became a winner at the track
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The Inside Track
Tipping a blind beggar results in a big win at Hawthorne Race Course
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Tackling Souls
Chicago Bears linebacker turned evangelist Mike Singletary
