At 65, The Second City tries to practice what it teaches
Yes, the funny business that launched Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Tim Meadows challenges power onstage. And today, the comedy theater is striving to reflect that offstage as well. By Emma Urdangen Medill Reports A scene from The Second City Chicago’s recent mainstage show “The Devil is in the Detours” features an apparent father and […]
Chicago pulls strings to become international puppetry hub
By Paulina Czupryna Medill Reports According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a puppet is “a small-scale figure (as of a person or animal) usually with a cloth body and hollow head that fits over and is moved by the hand.” Puppeteers might disagree. They can debate the definition for hours — a “common joke,” said Elaine Petkovsek, […]
WATCH: Edgewater residents form council to reopen Broadway Armory Park
By King Jemison Medill Reports Broadway Armory Park closed to the public in August, when the city turned it into a migrant shelter. Edgewater residents are taking action to reopen this longtime community institution. Hear why local residents formed the Broadway Armory Park Advisory Council – and why they believe the park is essential to […]
From Hampton to LA and now to Denver, defensive line coach Marcus Dixon is embracing the journey
By Ashton Edmunds Medill Reports LOS ANGELES — Marcus Dixon is the only former player and coach from a historically Black university on either of the two Super Bowl LVI teams, the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. Dixon played football at Hampton, in the NFL and served as an assistant coach at his […]
Neurologist revels in the personal touch to treat multiple sclerosis and autoimmune conditions
By Anokhi Saklecha Medill Reports At the age of nine, Dr. Elena Grebenciucova got into trouble for taking one of her aunt’s textbooks on clinical medicine as she pursued her fascination with the human body. Now, she serves as an assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, with a specialization in […]
Next generation climate scientists prepare for the future by studying past North Atlantic iceberg melting
By Grace Rodgers Medill Reports In a race against climate change, Yuxin Zhou, 26, is among the next generation of climate scientists studying the Earth’s responses to rapidly rising temperatures, threatening life on the planet. As a fifth-year Ph.D. student at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, studying how the Earth’s climate behaved in the past […]
Entering Chicago’s homeless “underworld” with photographer Lloyd DeGrane
By Caroline Catherman Medill Reports Photographer Lloyd DeGrane’s homeless friends Greg and Stacey know how to create a welcoming living space. One of the newest additions to their home is a Black Lives Matter sign that Greg hung on a water pipe. Beside the sign, a half-finished Tom Clancy thriller sits next to a sleeping […]
Dr. Richard Novak: The man behind UIC’s COVID-19 vaccine Phase III clinical trial
By Shivani Majmudar Medill Reports As COVID-19 unraveled the world, many scientists and leaders struggled to find direction amid unprecedented uncertainty. For Dr. Richard Novak, though, the situation was all too familiar. Novak, 66, heads the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Illinois-Chicago and has led HIV clinical care and vaccine research efforts […]
Climate change continues as a global crisis amid COVID-19—and it’s the greater threat
By Shivani Majmudar Medill Reports COVID-19 swept the world, with little regard for anyone who stood in its path. Within weeks, the virus killed thousands, isolated people in their homes and sent economies plummeting. Not only did COVID-19 overwhelm the United States health care system during the first surge, but our political leaders failed to […]
Black history trivia night celebrates Chicago HBCUs
By Roderick Diamond II Medill Reports Chicago’s black history boasts famous personalities such as the late comedian Dick Gregory, founder of the Chicago Defender Robert Abbott and Dr. Margaret Taylor-Burroughs, who launched the DuSable Museum of African American History. The list goes on, but the city also has deep roots with alumni communities of historically […]