THEATER REVIEW: The taboos of queerness, body issues, and the inappropriateness of the older male gaze are toyed with lightly by the models, perhaps because they have been distracted by being pitted against one another in the fight for fashion status. https://bit.ly/3MORs00

Fred Hampton Jr. is now chairman of the Black Panther Party Cubs—an organization founded in 1994 that’s made up of descendants of the original Black Panthers. Every December 4, he hosts an event in remembrance of his father. Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/48RjnUg

Bier Omakase is the social lubricant beer drinkers need right now. Jenny Pfäfflin and Shana Solarte’s sudsy storytelling series is restoring connection and conversation to the craft beer scene. Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/3KGm1o9

DeffJam honors its late founder with its biggest fest yet. Ryan Deffet made friends everywhere he went in Chicago’s indie music scene. Now a crowd of those friends is celebrating his life with this all-ages benefit blowout. Check out the full article: https://bit.ly/48WHKQA

Holiday shows offer a break from the headlines. https://bit.ly/3K7xn48

In the latest Gossip Wolf, Earth Libraries hosts a Chicago benefit and showcase, the team behind a book on Sinéad O’Connor throws her a birthday party, the grassroots campaign to dump Spotify goes national, and more. https://bit.ly/48HaI6R

The Orbit at iO puts long-form improv in the round. https://bit.ly/48K4xir

The Chinese American Museum of Chicago presents an unexpected pairing of work by Ruyell Ho and Li Lin Lee. https://bit.ly/3MspzL8

In this week's Make it Make Sense, federal agents used teargas on a residential street in Elgin last weekend, driverless cab company Waymo eyes Illinois for expansion, and the Book Cellar staff unionize. https://bit.ly/4rQsrla

Restrictive federal regulations, denials, and long wait times plague the state program meant to help low-income residents reduce energy costs. https://bit.ly/3KLNDrQ

The 2026 city budget proposes eliminating library vacancies and cutting about half the funds for new materials, security, and custodial services. https://bit.ly/4aMCmlz

In the latest Gossip Wolf, Earth Libraries hosts a Chicago benefit and showcase, the team behind a book on Sinéad O’Connor throws her a birthday party, the grassroots campaign to dump Spotify goes national, and more. https://bit.ly/48HaI6R

The Orbit at iO puts long-form improv in the round. https://bit.ly/48K4xir

In this week's Make it Make Sense, federal agents used teargas on a residential street in Elgin last weekend, driverless cab company Waymo eyes Illinois for expansion, and the Book Cellar staff unionize. https://bit.ly/4rQsrla

More than 40 years after noisy no-wave band Bag People broke up, Drag City released a collection of their blistering rehearsal recordings. https://bit.ly/4aK1FVk

A new studio in Bridgeport wants to make pulp and papermaking accessible to everyone. https://bit.ly/4q8qXkK

The Chinese American Museum of Chicago presents an unexpected pairing of work by Ruyell Ho and Li Lin Lee. https://bit.ly/3MspzL8

While the Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program (IHWAP) provides services to help residents upgrade their homes to withstand the changing climate and conserve energy, not everyone who needs assistance is getting approved for it.

It’s Best of Chicago season! Don’t miss your chance to vote for your favorite Chicago business, artist, community organizer and more. The ballot closes December 31 so get your vote in before it’s too late! Cast your vote at chicagoreader.com/best

Dennis Scott is a true midwestern vaudevillian! Joshua Minsoo Kim interviews the longtime @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social organist for the Reader. https://bit.ly/4oRqkuO

In the latest Gossip Wolf, Earth Libraries hosts a Chicago benefit and showcase, the team behind a book on Sinéad O’Connor throws her a birthday party, the grassroots campaign to dump Spotify goes national, and more. https://bit.ly/48HaI6R

Every year, senior staff writer Leor Galil writes a roundup of the year’s best overlooked local albums, which includes his take on the state of the music scene. This year, he wrote about how event listings (like the ones we publish here at the Reader!) have nearly disappeared over the years.

The Orbit at iO puts long-form improv in the round. https://bit.ly/48K4xir

We are nearly half way through Best of Chicago voting and we need your help deciding who deserves the title this year. Make sure your voice is heard! Vote before December 31 at chicagoreader.com/best

New issue drop! On the cover: A true midwestern vaudevillian; an interview with Dennis Scott, longtime Music Box Theatre organist By Joshua Minsoo Kim 📸 Kirk Williamson Pick yours up tomorrow or read the PDF now! https://bit.ly/4oQv2sp

In this week's Make it Make Sense, federal agents used teargas on a residential street in Elgin last weekend, driverless cab company Waymo eyes Illinois for expansion, and the Book Cellar staff unionize. https://bit.ly/4rQsrla

The Chinese American Museum of Chicago presents an unexpected pairing of work by Ruyell Ho and Li Lin Lee. https://bit.ly/3MspzL8

Holiday shows offer a break from the headlines. https://bit.ly/3K7xn48

“I resent Spotify for monopolizing how people imagine you can experience music.” Alongside Sam Cantor of Minor Moon, Reader senior staff writer @imleor.bsky.social spoke to Sasha-Ann Simons on @wbez.org's In the Loop about Chicago musicians and listeners leaving Spotify.

Our big, beautiful coffee table book, celebrating the first 50 years of the Chicago Reader, is available for purchase! Last year, with the help of 1,600+ incredible backers, we brought to life a book commemorating 50 years of independent alternative journalism. Order here: https://shorturl.at/AEbMl

The hospitality worker advocates held a town hall with the aim of protecting at-risk employees from government goons. https://bit.ly/3Mb94D9

Max Blaisdell and Matt Chapman investigate trade secret protections and find that private companies have been increasingly claiming information is proprietary to keep it out of criminal and civil settings. https://bit.ly/3KrFWHa

For decades, the state has offered limited avenues for rehabilitation and shorter sentences. It’s time lawmakers fix it. https://bit.ly/4pHYv8M

In the latest Gossip Wolf, the Chicago Hip Hop Heritage Museum loses its building, The Ugly Hug and Post-Trash throw an indie-rock fest, Open Mike Eagle kicks off a residency at the National Museum of Public Housing, and more. https://bit.ly/44K70Z1

Size diversity matters in the drag and burlesque community. https://bit.ly/4pKf9oo

An animated short from Jiadi Tang adds absurdity to Milan Kundera’s beloved novel. https://bit.ly/44a9kbH

That debut single was the only one to provoke backlash, but he had a string of regionally successful releases with the precursor to Chess Records. https://bit.ly/3MhAJCs

Divs Ray re-creates a silk road dinner party like she does home for the Reader’s weekly guest chef pop-up at Thattu. https://bit.ly/4iC6xhr

We’re nearly a week into Best of Chicago and we want to highlight one of our favorite categories: City Life. This category is about what makes Chicago feel like Chicago. It’s about your favorite alderperson, the best Chicago slang, the best place to throw a party. Vote at chicagoreader.com/best!

Max Blaisdell and Matt Chapman investigate trade secret protections and find that private companies have been increasingly claiming information is proprietary to keep it out of criminal and civil settings. https://bit.ly/3KrFWHa

In this week's Make it Make Sense, Cook County swears in its first new chief judge in a quarter-century, Feds slash housing funding and the American Indian Health Service of Chicago celebrates 51 years. https://bit.ly/4iEhE9v

The hospitality worker advocates held a town hall with the aim of protecting at-risk employees from government goons. https://bit.ly/3Mb94D9

This week, the CHAAD Project, a hospitality worker advocacy group, released a ten-page tool kit for restaurant workers and owners on how to prepare and protect their most vulnerable employees amid raids from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies.

Size diversity matters in the drag and burlesque community. https://bit.ly/4pKf9oo

For decades, the state has offered limited avenues for rehabilitation and shorter sentences. It’s time lawmakers fix it. https://bit.ly/4pHYv8M

In the latest Gossip Wolf, the Chicago Hip Hop Heritage Museum loses its building, The Ugly Hug and Post-Trash throw an indie-rock fest, Open Mike Eagle kicks off a residency at the National Museum of Public Housing, and more. https://bit.ly/44K70Z1

Good as time as any to re-up the piece that gave me my start at the @chicagoreader.com that gets into the decline of cinemas and how even in a city as big as Chicago, few audiences have access to even decide if they want to show up for smaller movies. 🫠 chicagoreader.com/film-tv/chic...

“What I’m ultimately interested in is art that is shifting something about the world and our systems, which I know is a big task.” – Andrea Yarbrough

An animated short from Jiadi Tang adds absurdity to Milan Kundera’s beloved novel. https://bit.ly/44a9kbH

Divs Ray re-creates a silk road dinner party like she does home for the Reader’s weekly guest chef pop-up at Thattu. https://bit.ly/4iC6xhr