Thank you to @clintworthing.bsky.social for writing about the Reader’s return to print publishing for @blockclubchi.bsky.social! blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/04/i...

The stalwart alt-weekly @chicagoreader.com, which has served the city for a half century, returns to print today in a new monthly format. I talked to new EIC Sarah Conway about what Chicagoans can expect from this new era for @blockclubchi.bsky.social: blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/04/i...

Big ups to @juggaloreporter.bsky.social and @silktanktop.bsky.social!! For the lovely interview and photo, respectively! It was really fun to chat w Micco about my journey to where I’m at now and how I’m excited for my future with the label! chicagoreader.com/music/chicag...

Chicago new wave DJ and Planet Earth cofounder Dave Roberts died three years ago today—this story gives a window into what he brought to Chicago’s alternative nightlife scene

During the 2024–2025 school year, there were 6,870 instances of book bans across 87 public school districts and 23 states in the U.S. In 2025, “a new vector of book banning pressure has appeared—the federal government,” https://bit.ly/49DWp4R

In 1982, Chicago postpunk band Stations recorded a long-lost EP with Martin Hannett, architect of the iconic sound of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures. It's finally being released, and No Sé Discos is running a Kickstarter to finance the vinyl pressing. www.kickstarter.com/projects/no-...

new: the first piece in a @chicagoreader.com’s series on quantum shore chicago looks at community resistance to the megadevelopment. contributor grey lucas traces the neighborhood’s history of fighting disinvestment and environmental racism from the former south works steel plant to present-day.

Last year, I emailed Chicago’s chief homelessness officer, Sendy Soto, as well as spokespeople for both Soto & Mayor Johnson, six times. I wanted to understand their approach to evicting unhoused Chicagoans from the shelters they build to survive. No response. chicagoreader.com/news/housing...

In November 2025, the Poetry Foundation announced it would discontinue the library’s adult education programming at the end of 2025 and sunset its overall public programming in 2026 to refocus on literary arts grantmaking. https://bit.ly/3NKFp4v

After a month and a half break from print, the Reader makes its debut as a monthly. Thank you to everyone who supported the paper last year when we were scraping by week to week, and all the ups and downs before then. Thank you to everyone who picks up a new issue, it means the world.

The cover of this month’s issue: New egg, who dis? Photographed by Kirk Williamson with creative direction by Corianton Hale.

Nearly all of Chicago’s movie theaters are on the north side. Even still, there has not been a fully operational movie theater within Chicago city limits north of Lawrence Avenue since August 18, 2023. https://bit.ly/3ZahBJN

Jones hosted the second annual Sour Patch Kiki Ball on November 16, attended by about a hundred people at the University of Chicago’s Noyes Hall. The event was sponsored by Brave Space Alliance (BSA), the largest LGBTQ+-centered resource center on Chicago’s south side. https://bit.ly/4brkeOC

The Chicago Tribune’s bsky.app/profile/robe... writes about what’s ahead for the Reader! We’re back in print on Feb. 4 in a new magazine format in the first issue from new editor in chief Sarah Conway.

DJ Simmy’s creativity and hustle have carried the south-side native all kinds of places. She’s rocked the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash, she’s served as a resident DJ for the Chicago Sky, and she’s DJed for the likes of Playboi Carti and Westside Gunn. https://bit.ly/4q7ZHCc

Huge thanks to Chicago NOW’s Anthony Ponce and Kaitlin Cody at @fox32chicago.bsky.social for chatting with new editor in chief Sarah Conway about what’s ahead for the Reader!

It’s been 20 years since Lyric last presented this opera, but Salome is the second McVicar madwoman on the company’s stage this season, following a powerful Medea in the fall. https://bit.ly/4bj3mtk

Play will make its debut as a new monthly series this Friday at 8:30 PM. The lineup features longtime Danny’s DJ Jeremy Alvarez, aka JS Alvarez, who founded Smart Bar’s dark electro night Research & Development. He’ll be joined by Shanti and Dan B. Hood. https://bit.ly/3O8T9pB

During the 2024–2025 school year, there were 6,870 instances of book bans across 87 public school districts and 23 states in the U.S. In 2025, “a new vector of book banning pressure has appeared—the federal government,” noted PEN America. https://bit.ly/49DWp4R

Justin Purcell’s Magic Is People combines wry commentary with mind-boggling tricks. https://bit.ly/3Zq3DTY

with subzero temperatures on the horizon, now‘s a good time to revisit @katieprout.bsky.social’s 2022 piece about the lack of 24-hour warming centers in chicago. four years later and nothing has changed.

“Graham was the most famous, most controversial, and most prolific of all the modern dance pioneers, and her school and company the longest in operation in the modern dance world” https://bit.ly/3NmnrFg

From the archives: Friday, April 5, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. was dead, and thousands of young protesters stalked the streets of Chicago, exhibiting a harsh, unbridled rage the likes of which the city had never seen. https://bit.ly/3YMQqEG

The Unknown Variable takes a personal look at immigration and family separation. https://bit.ly/3YL6y9x

After five years, 2dcloud has resurrected its alt-comics anthology Mirror Mirror. Once a thick tome produced from 2016–2020, the fourth installment of Mirror Mirror has been reimagined as more of a magazine, not only in its size and length but also in content and cadence. https://bit.ly/3YBaNo3

Facets kicked off its screening series with a double feature of Dr. Caligari and Café Flesh on 1/9, which will be followed by Terminal USA and Mod Fuck Explosion on 2/13, and will conclude with My Degeneration and Numbskull Revolution on 3/13. https://bit.ly/3N95N7Q

A eulogy for Danny's Tavern, the cozy candlelit Bucktown bar that for decades nurtured a devoted community of music lovers—it couldn't survive the pandemic, and now the building is set for demolition. https://bit.ly/4pAusPV

During the 1960s and ’70s, Chicano muralists and Ukrainian mosaicists were turning public space into colossal works of art. Through symbols, motifs, and colors drawn from folklore, artists used large-scale images as identity statements during a time of cultural suppression. https://bit.ly/49hMZM7

Fillet of Solo Festival has transitioned from an annual multi-venue event at Lifeline Theatre to a weekly showcase at Bughouse Theater https://bit.ly/4sCPAbc

While Latiné theater in Chicago has been having a renaissance in recent years, uplifting and supporting the voices of Latiné writers has taken on a new urgency because visibility is still lacking overall on national stages. https://bit.ly/4sz8L5C

Wayne Bennett is usually identified as a blues guitarist, but he never wanted to be stuck in that box. Bennett is best known for accompanying Bobby “Blue” Bland for many years, but with his wide-ranging talent, he appeared on funk, jazz, gospel, and soul records. https://bit.ly/49zwlXq

Indie rocker Joe Glass celebrates an early candidate for your list of the year’s best Chicago albums. https://bit.ly/4jCvGsU

Chicago theaters offered communal respite, rage, and reflection in a year that was a lot harder than most.https://chicagoreader.com/performing-arts/ghost-light/2025-theater-year-in-review/?utm_campaign=&utm_content=Chicago+theaters+offered+&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reader-bluesky

Check out Leor Galil's list of the best overlooked Chicago records of 2025: https://bit.ly/4qBWBak

After seven years, longtime indie publisher 2dcloud has resurrected its alt-comics anthology Mirror Mirror. https://bit.ly/3Z2HP0s

On Friday and Saturday, the inaugural Fork Arts festival convenes nine indie-rock acts at a DIY venue. The event benefits two Chicago-based prison-abolition organizations: the nonprofit Midwest Books to Prisoners and the community arts center Walls Turned Sideways. https://bit.ly/3LBdrY3

Pinwheel Records holds a sale to help with its imminent move. https://bit.ly/49ovWa2

First Chicago music news column of 2026: -Pinwheel Records plots a move after a post-Xmas flood! -I Don’t Wanna Go Fest 3 takes over Reed’s Local and the Burlington starting Thursday! -indie-rock prison abolition mini-fest Fork Arts makes its debut Friday!

The inimitable @maciestewart.bsky.social begins a monthlong Wednesday residency at Color Club this week. For her first show, she'll play solo and in a duo with Zander Raymond—and we've got all the lineups here: chicagoreader.com/music/concer...

I love reviewing and interviewing, but also wish I could do more reported pieces. Working with Shira Friedman-Parks for @chicagoreader.com during CIFF where we spoke with eager cinephiles who waited in line for the @criterion.bsky.social mobile closet was a gift:

I always love talking to Chicago talent (see also interviews with Michael Shannon and Chase Infiniti), and it was extra special to talk with Alex Thompson about his medical thriller, ROUNDING, for @chicagoreader.com:

Artist Ziyi Zhang turned found digital photos into an exploration of reality and fiction. https://bit.ly/4bkbg5B

A National Museum of Mexican Art exhibition highlights the little-known history of Mexican railroad workers. https://bit.ly/4qdoFRq

Kitty Haywood’s voice helped shape Chicago music for decades. She and her sisters sang on countless songs and jingles, including some of the greatest albums the city ever produced—and one hit of their own. https://bit.ly/491GIEi

Chicago Film Archives has preserved and digitized Bill Stamets’s Super 8 films. https://bit.ly/3LlyT30

Beginning January 1, the City of Chicago will ban unhoused people on the sex offense registry from seeking shelter on public buses and trains. https://bit.ly/4qu8ZsP

Chicago theaters offered communal respite, rage, and reflection in a year that was a lot harder than most. https://bit.ly/4q1HEyi

Inspired by her grandmother, Gould cooks American southern–southeast Asian cuisine while giving back to her community. https://bit.ly/3LotFUi

Outrage your favorite Philadelphians when Morgan Street Snacks returns to the next Monday Night Foodball. https://bit.ly/4piTxPe

The biggest DeffJam yet arrives tomorrow! The locals celebrating the memory of Ryan Deffet include Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan from Ratboys, Kathy Patino of Girl K, Sima Cunningham of Finom, V.V. Lightbody, and Cosmic Country mastermind Andrew Sa. chicagoreader.com/music/gossip...