Chicago Tylenol Murders: An Oral History
Thirty years ago, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol. In an exclusive oral history, the principal players in that drama recount their frantic efforts to solve the...
View ArticleFreaks, Skyscrapers And Pipe Dreams: 40 Words Chicago Has Given The English...
Chicago’s history weaves through English—we identified the 40 words where the city’s voice speaks loudest.
View ArticleWhy Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel Loves Selling Drugs In Chicago
Chicago is key to a business moving tons of drugs for billions of dollars. Here’s how the whole operation works.
View ArticleBehind The Beanie Babies
The reclusive Chicago billionaire built an empire on stuffed toys — and now he’s narrowly escaped a prison sentence.
View ArticleThe Truth About Chicago’s Crime Rates
Murder makes the headlines, but crimes like theft and assault are far more common in Chicago — and your chances of being a victim may be higher than the police are telling you.
View ArticleWhy Chicago’s 'MasterChef' Star Killed Himself
Josh Marks was a rising culinary talent. But then, suddenly, horribly, his life spiraled out of control.
View ArticleWhat Happened To Motorola
How a culture shift nearly doomed an iconic Chicago company that once dominated the telecom industry.
View ArticleSpike Lee Sounds Off On 'Chi-Raq,' Gun Violence, And Rahm
In his first in-depth interview for his upcoming film, the outspoken director discusses Chicago and how the mayor tried — and failed — to “bully” him.
View ArticleHoly Cow,'Home Alone' Is 25!
An oral history of one of the most beloved Christmas comedies ever made.
View ArticleThe Man With His Head In The Clouds
Chicago architect Adrian Smith designed the world’s tallest building. Now he has created one that will reach even farther — a full kilometer into the sky. How high can he go?
View ArticleMy 18 Months Inside One Of Chicago’s Most Notorious Gangs
"This is not just music. It’s not just a game. This shit is for real." An in-depth look at how rap music defines and drives gang life and violence in Chicago.
View ArticleWelcome To Refugee High
At Chicago's Sullivan High School, where hijabs are as common as high-tops, a new mission has meant a second chance — both for the Rogers Park school and its swelling ranks of immigrant students.
View ArticleWhat Cops Know
The crime wave in Chicago, in the words of the cops who patrol the streets.
View ArticleThe Lonely Crusade Of Jim DeRogatis
Over the past 17 years, the city’s loudest rock critic has been consumed by an increasingly high-profile undertaking: investigating the allegations of sexual abuse against R&B star R. Kelly.
View ArticleChicago's Second City
A mere six miles away from Chicago's affluent Loop neighborhood is West Garfield Park. It takes 16 minutes to get there by train. Compared to someone living in the Loop, a person in West Garfield Park...
View ArticleSilicon Valley Titans Shocked To Find Nice Stuff In Rust Belt
With Silicon Valley getting incomprehensibly pricey, VC money is looking for new (inland) shores, and somewhere to eat. We've got them covered.
View ArticleThe World's Most Peculiar Company
How does catalog-loving retailer Hammacher Schlemmer, famous for such eccentric and extravagant products as the Navigable Water Park, continue to survive in the age of Amazon?
View ArticleHow Chicago's Dining Scene Lost Its Mojo
National critics — who used to write starry-eyed reports from Chicago after meals at cutting-edge restaurants like Alinea and Schwa — have been suggesting as much for a while now.
View ArticleThe Bicycle Thief
Tom Justice was once a cyclist chasing Olympic gold. Then he began using his bike for a much different purpose: robbing banks.
View ArticleThe $100,000 Harp That Rules The World
Each harp made by Lyon & Healy in Chicagowill be handled by 35 people – woodworkers, gilders, artists – in the course of its construction.
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