The iconic Koney King continues to deliver nostalgia for generations of residents, serving the same chili recipe that helped make it a local institution for 106 years. https://bit.ly/3PKqIPZ

And here's our own story on saloon keeper John Raber and the Italianate house he built in 1870. An official landmark, owned by the city, it remains empty, hermetically sealed, amidst vacant lots. I wrote this in 2011. Nothing's been done since. arcchicago.blogspot.com/2011/04/our-...

I have read this very passage at several of my recent book events. It speaks to the intangible joys of getting out there and supporting your neighborhood stores, a joy that cannot be delivered via "prime." It might a be buck or two more, but visit that local bookshop, record shop, whatever.

In Memoriam: Schlitz, expired with the brewing of last batch on Saturday, age 177. blockclubchicago.org/2026/05/26/c...

A century of posters provides a unique look at ALA's storied history--from wartime appeals to celebrity-studded reading campaigns. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2026/05/01/posters-of-progress/

On May 26, 1937, Carl Hansberry and his family moved into 6140 S. Rhodes Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, located in a all-white, segregated neighborhood reinforced by restrictive covenants, threats and violence.

Great film, with 1 of the most chilling sequences in cinema as the camera retreats down the stairway & into the street. Location shots in Covent Garden are a valuable document of soon-to-be-over days as a working produce market Notable for starring Jon Finch in a non-Polanski-Macbeth performance

In Baltimore, every brick has a story to tell. The Peale Museum wants to be where they’re told. baltimorebeat.com/in-baltimore...

Nov, 1946: One of the best lineups I've ever seen: Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, and Win Stracke. The venue - Ruth Kaplan's house on Wellington. Suggested donation: a buck. Wonder who the big suprise was? The day after, Guthrie and Leadbelly were on a bill with Communist party chairman WZ Foster.

John Marshall High School (1895)

ICE agents pepper-sprayed Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey.

I'm very pleased to announce that I will be giving an Author Talk at Chicago History Museum on Thursday, August 6, at 6:30 pm about my book "Eckie: Walter Eckersall and the Rise of Chicago Sports." Hope to see you there! www.chicagohistory.org/event/author...

Sonny at McKie's Lounge, 1963

"Sonny's Bridge" (1986) by Faith Ringgold

“I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I’m a person who believes this life isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn’t feel like that.” –S.R. (2009) 2/2

It is with deep sorrow and profound love that we announce the passing of Sonny Rollins. The Saxophone Colossus died this afternoon at his home in Woodstock, NY at the age of 95. 1/2

Of the many jazz legends we've talked to over the years, Sonny Rollins was a giant. Rollins has passed away. He was 95. Have a listen back to our conversation with Sonny from 2007 as part of our Cafe Jazz Greats show. Rest in power, Mr. Rollins. www.npr.org/2012/03/12/1...

R.I.P.

“They are not declaring it, but it is like martial law here,” a #DefendMindoro activist told @alessandrabergamin.bsky.social, describing curfews, military presence and surveillance on the island.

On May 30, 1937, Chicago police opened fire on striking steelworkers and their families near Republic Steel. Ten workers were killed. The first media story? That “rioting” workers had provoked the cops. Roger Bybee on the Memorial Day Massacre and who gets believed.

Written by the great Eric Bogle, who also wrote another song that could make the list of greatest anti-war songs, "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda."

Never forget. www.chicagohistory.org/memorial-day...

This building is still there and is now Frankie's Fast Food Corner. Many of the houses west along 104th Street in the distance appear to have been demolished and replaced with 1950s-era ranch houses.

Today in Chicago History: 'Spider' Dan Goodwin scales Sears Tower www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/25/m...

Pope Leo XIV makes historic apology for Vatican’s role in legitimizing slavery

Pope Leo XIV's Encyclical Letter on AI, for those who want to read the whole thing. www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office provided details on the coincidence, and an aunt’s tough decision, that led to charges against the hit-and-run driver who critically injured Dr. Ray Lee on his bicycle. @atalliance.bsky.social @usa.streetsblog.org @bikelaneuprising.bsky.social

4900 W JAMES ST, 53208 Zoning: Parks [PK] Assessment: $0 Neighborhood: STORY HILL

Have you played Districted yet? Our new map-based game comes out every weekday with five locations. Your job is simple: place each one on the map. The closer your pin is to the real location, the better your score. Try it tomorrow! washingtonian.com/districted/

Summer seminars @newberrylibrary.bsky.social are posted! Registration is a few weeks off, but it's nice to browse in advance. I am looking forward to digging into NIghthawks. www.newberry.org/calendar/nig...

This is not Chicago pizza, but DC pizza was so bad in general when I lived there (late 1980s) that Armand's was one of the better of many bad options. I have to imagine that DC pizza is better now, although I instinctively don't eat pizza when I am there.

#SundayReads: Tobiah Black on the history and afterlife of the Sanborn fire insurance maps: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/sanborn-fire-insurance-maps/

This This technology is so damaging up and down the chain, all in service of doing poorly things people have been doing efficiently and effectively for decades

I *really* need to get to this. "Hunter responds to the displacement of Black communities on the South Side caused by the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway while considering the reparative possibilities of archival activation." bmrc.lib.uchicago.edu/events/black...

Anybody know who's organizing this bike ride? I see the flyer floating around social media, and I'm trying to connect the owner of a former Schlitz building along the route in Roseland to the ride organizers to potentially activate the space during the ride.

In 1872, the Chicago Evening Post published an absolutely brutal editorial mocking people who objected to sharing public spaces with Black people. Still some dated language but a remarkable piece. “Hire a carriage and you can sit all alone by your own sweet self for $2 an hour.”

And yet the woman who at least did the vouching and may be partially responsible for dismissing the grand jurors who disagreed with them is now part of the Senate Judiciary Committee *Democratic* staff under @durbin.senate.gov.

Chicago’s top federal prosecutor Thursday dropped the case against the remaining “Broadview Six” defendants in a stunning hearing that revealed apparent misconduct before a grand jury — of which he said he recently learned. Quick take via @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

I figured there would be shady conduct with the Broadview Six grand jury, but it's unreal. Vouching is bad enough, but dismissing grand jurors who disagreed with them, hiding a no true bill, and hiding pages of the transcript from the judge? That should be disbarment. That's WAY beyond sanctionable.

This is outstanding and a big reason why I subscribe to a daily newspaper. chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/...

As we approach America's 250th, Philly stands on the brink of what may be its most exciting chapter yet: A new generation of immigrants. Massive neighborhood development beyond Center City. A city that still feels defiantly human in an increasingly artificial age.

The stylish speakeasy is hidden behind a soda machine inside Bank St. Deli, but it's not all smoke and mirrors. The drinks deliver.

Frank Kreureutzer & Co.

Hey cool www.newberry.org/news/the-new...

So far very much enjoying the American Literature Association Conference at the Palmer House. I particularly value connecting with @andyoler.bsky.social and @jraber.bsky.social.