Kitchens are cooking up a recipe for mental illness
By Olivia Lee Medill Reports It’s Saturday evening, and the tables are set. Servers are dressed in their finest suits. Chef Ryan McCaskey, owner of Acadia, a two-star Michelin restaurant, and his staff have spent all day prepping for tonight’s service. Every little detail has been planned out. Guests are greeted with a welcome drink, […]
Muslims in Chicago say that Trump’s statements have painted a target on their backs
By Arnab Mondal Medill Reports As Dilara Sayeed, a 51-year old Muslim in Chicago, entered an office building for a meeting, she had an experience which she had thought almost unthinkable a few years ago. Besides her office attire, Sayeed was also wearing a colorful hijab, a symbol of her faith. Sayeed is a social […]
No more undercover food critics
By Olivia Lee Medill Reports It’s 2006 and Jeff Ruby, food critic for Chicago magazine, is being interviewed by the History Channel. In attempts to keep an undercover profile, like most food critics do, Ruby shaves his beard for the first time in 10 years and dyes his natural red hair jet black. To make […]
Where are they now: Catching up with former Olympic figure skater Rachael Flatt
By Olivia Lee Medill Reports In early 2014, Olympic figure skater Rachael Flatt sat in her hotel lobby in Boston. She was surrounded by friends, family and former competitors, all scarfing down cannoli from one of Flatt’s favorite little hot spots in the city, Mike’s Pastry. With glasses of champagne raised, they toasted to Flatt, […]
Startups show resilience as the pandemic continues
By Ruiqi Chen Medill Reports When the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States in late March, Matt Morfopoulos wasn’t too worried. As co-founder and chief marketing officer of the Oklahoma text message communications startup Respond Flow, Morfopoulos knew that his business model would survive a socially-distant world because of its emphasis on remote marketing. However, […]
The subliminal racism of instagram food videos
By Alison Saldanha Medill Reports Scrolling through Instagram, it’s not uncommon to slip into a rabbit hole of food videos. In under a minute, slender hands work through a short list of ingredients: chopping onions, breaking eggs, grating cheese to finally present an appetizing meal you make a mental note to try out later. If […]
Women’s professional sports leagues utilize social media to continue pre-pandemic growth
By Leah Vann Medill Reports Chicago Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler stands against the blue backdrop of a team-themed blanket, staring into a camera to address nearly 1,000 fans sitting in front of their screens on the other end of a Zoom call on Thursday, April 30, 2020. It’s the annual unveiling of the new […]
Plastic panic in the pandemic: How single-use items meant to protect us will harm the planet
By Zack Fishman Medill Reports When a COVID-19 patient is hospitalized at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., they receive a lot of attention from healthcare workers. Whether it’s a nurse doing an hourly check-in or a team of doctors responding to a worsening condition, a medical professional enters a patient’s space about […]
Kayla Caudle impacts lives one basketball bounce at a time
By Caroline Kurdej Medill Reports There’s a reason the hallway leading to Doug Bruno’s office is decorated with hard hats, lunch pails and pictures of steelworkers. “I want my players to walk out the door here, knowing there’s a real-life world out there,” Bruno said. Kayla Caudle, a rising sophomore on DePaul University’s women’s basketball […]
COVID-19: Stories from across America
By Bre’onna Richardson Medill Reports In this June 15-22 special report, COVID-19: Stories from across America, Medill Reports examines the rising unemployment rate, celebrates nurses and educators and talks to business owners who are worried about the increasing number of coronavirus cases across the country. From Illinois to California, Michigan to Florida and everywhere in […]