Community-minded City Lit Books thrives despite paper-thin margins

City Lit Books exterior

By Steven Porter City Lit Books, an independent store just off Logan Square in Chicago, has been part of the neighborhood since 2012. Although it has sold more books year-over-year every month since its launch in 2012, its sales are but one measure of its success, according to owner Teresa Kirschbraun. “I do everything I […]

With strong tournament showing, Wildcats ‘bring some life’ back to team

DearyMinn

Text by Michelle R. Martinelli Video by Hannah Gebresilassie The Northwestern women’s basketball team’s performance  in the Big Ten tournament left an obvious question: Where has that team been all season? Despite a disappointing 4-14 finish in the Big Ten regular season, the Wildcats (18-15) played like they had finally found their chemistry and became the lowest-seeded […]

New technique changing eyes from brown to blue sparks debate

blue eyes

By Chencheng Zhao “Underneath every brown eye is a blue eye,” said Gregg Homer, the inventor of the first noninvasive cosmetic surgery that transforms brown eyes to blue by low-energy laser. The new procedure, known as Stroma, is raising questions about potential side effects from the technique as well the ethics of performing an elective […]

Eastern European theater company incorporates political art into ‘King Lear’

KingLear-Featured

By Katina Beniaris Based in a country formerly allied to the Soviet Union and currently subjected to harsh censorship laws, Belarus Free Theatre remains fearless in their second U.S. visit with a contemporary twist on this Shakespeare tragedy about an aging king. Five years after their Chicago debut, the political theater company returned to Chicago […]

Becoming an elite basketball player comes at high price

Lady Fire travel team

By Aishwarya Kumar Lakshminarayanapuram Whitney Young junior guard Adrienne Truitt and her family have never gone on a family vacation in the last 10 years. Not even on short trips. Adrienne’s father Michael wanted to spend every additional penny he had on his daughter’s basketball career. And it is considerable: An estimated $40,000.

Pakistan’s first Metro train brings both progress and problems

By Kat Lonsdorf LAHORE, PAKISTAN — Construction has already begun on the Orange Line, Pakistan’s first Metro train, but the progress is leaving parts of the city in the dust. Building the elevated train line has meant demolishing thousands of private properties and encroaching on several historic landmarks in Lahore. It’s also throwing a wrench […]

Millennials’ sustainability attitudes contrast with actions

millennial_feature

By Kaitlin Schuler Although millennials grew up surrounded by conversations of sustainability and conservation, do their actions now reflect what they have learned? Jenni Corcoran, 22, grew up in Evergreen Park, Illinois, but now lives in a Bridgeport apartment with two roommates and works for AmeriCorps. Growing up, her parents pushed the habits of turning […]

Chicago Shakespeare Theater will bring a new innovative stage to Navy Pier

The Yard Featured

By Katina Beniaris Chicago Shakespeare Theater has announced a $35 million project that will add a third stage to its home base on Navy Pier. Named The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare, the new venue will open in fall 2017. “It is a quite incredible vision, and as a city that re-imagines theater, this will anchor […]

Chicago State’s WCSU radio station is school’s hidden treasure

Felix Mitchell Radio Prep WCSU

By Branden Hampton Chicago State University student and campus radio personality Thomas Hibbler says the station plays a unique role in the radio broadcasting arena. “We’re not locked into a specific genre of music. We’re not stuck into the same rotation in the music that we play,” Hibbler said. “Here at WCSU radio, we also […]

Korean-American as art

By Jenny Lee A burst of amber light slices through the darkness, introducing Christina Seo and another improv actress on stage exchanging dialogue. Coming up with the funniest lines possible, Seo slowly gains confidence and comfort from the guffaws of the audience. Everything seems well underway until her white counterpart looks at Seo, who is […]