New England’s defensive coordinator just beat cancer. Now Patriots aim for 2nd victory — Super Bowl LX.
By Collin O’Callaghan Medill Reports SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In just one season under head coach Mike Vrabel, the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. But last week, the team already had their most important victory away from the football field. In early September, defensive coordinator Terrell Williams was diagnosed with prostate […]
From FCS to Super Bowl LX, Jason Myers’ unique journey
By Olivia Craycraft Medill Reports SAN JOSE, Calif. – Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers already holds the NFL record for the most points scored by a kicker in a season. With one game left to play, he could easily tie or break the record for most field goals made in a single season. But before […]
Devon Witherspoon: From zero-star recruit to Super Bowl Sunday
By Bianca Bryant Medill Reports SAN JOSE, Calif. – Before Devon Witherspoon was preparing for Super Bowl LX as a lockdown cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks, he was a kid in Pensacola, Florida, who wasn’t even playing football. Pensacola, known for its white-sand beaches and sunny weather on the panhandle of Florida, is where Witherspoon […]
Indigenous chefs championing rise of Native food
By Hailey Bosek Medill Reports Editor’s note: Tribal affiliations, if any, are noted in parentheses after names. Hailey Bosek · Sounds at the Powwow In the waiting room at Sean Sherman’s (Oglala Lakota) Minneapolis restaurant, Owamni, a crowd gathers around the front desk. A seat doesn’t come easy here, so eager patrons, young and […]
Historically Republican Vietnamese American community shifting left, according to AAPI Data
By Layna Hong Medill Reports Mai Le, 29, had been in the U.S. for less than a year when Donald Trump was elected for his first presidential term. “I had already liked him, but I didn’t fully understand his policies at that point,” Le said in Vietnamese. “I just liked the way he spoke and […]
Meet the adults who collect American Girl dolls: Ahead of brand’s 40th anniversary, fans share experience with beloved dolls
By Alivia Giles Medill Reports This year, when American Girl celebrates its 40th anniversary, hundreds of thousands of children and adult women will raise a tiny teacup to their 18-inch-tall friends. At $65, even when educator Pleasant Rowland introduced her first three dolls, and then $82 when toy giant Mattel acquired her in 1998, American […]
Crafting as resistance: How 4 Indigenous artists across Chicago use crafting as a tool to resist cultural erasure, sustain culture
By Jenna Mayzouni Medill Reports The sound of the Huehuetl drum thuds gently against the ground as Sergio places it down on the cement playground in Harrison Park, in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. His wife, Ana, places offerings in front of the drums and begins preparing the copal incense for the practice of the day. They are usually the […]
This brandy bottles 500 years of Bolivian history: A growing number of trendy Chicago bars are pouring Singani, the spirit director Steven Soderbergh brought to the U.S.
By Paulina Marinkovic Camacho Medill Reports Down an alleyway on Palmer Street, past a nondescript door and centuries-old brick façade, a 500-year-old type of brandy, until recently little known beyond its homeland of Bolivia, is starring in one of the city’s most high-concept cocktail lineups. At The Meadowlark, a Logan Square speakeasy renowned for its […]
Robbins: A small Chicago suburb with a big part in Black history
By Autumn Coleman Medill Reports In 2019, Dawn Colquitt-Anderson walked into her small hometown’s history museum with her 8- and 9-year-old nieces in tow. She expected to find family photos and fun facts, but she discovered memorabilia of Tuskegee Airmen and Black cowboys. The information sent Colquitt-Anderson on an ongoing journey to spread the almost-forgotten […]
Not their first rodeo: New generation of Black cowboys in Chicagoland lasso cattle for Midwest crowds
Horse hooves knocked chunks of dirt over the steel bars of the arena. Stallions charged 20 mph after a loose steer. Within seconds, a cowboy slid off his steed, grabbed the loose animal by its horns, flipped it over his shoulder and tackled it to the ground. The crowd clapped and hollered. On a Saturday […]