A love story for the ages takes to the stage, featuring letter-writing lovers, rollicking 1920s Chicago, Fanny Brice, Carl Sandburg, Clarence Darrow, the Dill Pickle Club, sex, politics, a pet kangaroo and more. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/11/c...

A love story for the ages takes to the stage, featuring letter-writing lovers, rollicking 1920s Chicago, Fanny Brice, Carl Sandburg, Clarence Darrow, the Dill Pickle Club, sex, politics, a pet kangaroo and more. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/11/c...

The life and work of artist Jack Simmerling is celebrated in a wonderful exhibition. As he once told me "I have always been drawn to the past, to preserving it,” and he did so in thousands of colorful and heartfelt ways. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/10/j...

The life and work of artist Jack Simmerling is celebrated in a wonderful exhibition. As he once told me "I have always been drawn to the past, to preserving it,” and he did so in thousands of colorful and heartfelt ways. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/10/j...

No one is immortal, but two music-makers originally from Scotland--John Ballantyne and Gus Noble--bring John Prine, Steve Goodman and Kris Kristofferson back to vibrant musical life in "Chicago 1971." www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/04/c...

A new book, “Sirens in the Loop: A History of the City News Bureau of Chicago,” gives you a raucous story. Like a massive high school yearbook, it's peppered with the names of kids-who-made-good: Mike Royko, Seymour Hersch, Pam Zekman, even Kurt Vonnegut www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/03/s...

Billy Branch is a harmonica playing, singing giant in the blues world, a contemporary of his pal Buddy Guy. Hard to believe that when he came here for college, he had “zero knowledge of the blues, and I mean zero.” It's quite a story. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/25/c...

The Irish are coming. The Irish are coming. Mark Howard comes back home, and his innovative, artistic, exciting Trinity Irish dancers kick things off, so to speak, Saturday night at the Auditorium. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/24/s...

After Hours with Rick Kogan 5-7 pm Sunday WGN Radio brings you actor Phil Donlon on St. Baldrick's Foundation; John Ballantyne and Gus Noble of Crazy Heart on "Chicago 1971” March 15 Old Town School of Folk Music; bluesman Billy Branch on career and latest CD, “The Blues is My Biography."

The Drinking & Writing gang once gave us a look at what it takes to have a drink at every tavern on Western Avenue and now returns with an inventive new show, a musical based on a woman encountered in a dream. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/18/d...

The Reader Lives! with new owners and a lively new issue. But for those of us of a certain age, a stunning new book captures how important and entertaining and illuminating and fun the Reader's first 50-years were. Where did you find your first apartment? www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/17/c...

The Reader Lives! with new owners and a lively new issue. But for those of us of a certain age, a stunning new book captures how important and entertaining and illuminating and fun the Reader's first 50-years were. Where did you find your first apartment? www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/17/c...

The Reader Lives! with new owners and a lively new issue. But for those of us of a certain age, a stunning new book captures how important and entertaining and illuminating and fun the Reader's first 50-years were. Where did you find your first apartment? www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/17/c...

The Reader Lives! with new owners and a lively new issue. But for those of us of a certain age, a stunning new book captures how important and entertaining and illuminating and fun the Reader's first 50-years were. Where did you find your first apartment? www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/17/c...

@KoganAfterHours 5-7 pm Sunday @WGNRadio has Paul Teodo storytelling at Carnivale, with Susana Mendoza/Arny Granat, @carnivalechicago; new Drinking & Writing @SmallBeer show @Neo_Futurists; Mark Jacob, author of a “Free Chicago: 50 Years of the Reader.” chicagoreader.com

Nancy Hays is bringing the amazing, inspiring, exciting story of America's greatest jockey, a Black man named Isaac Burns Murphy, back to life in a new book, a show in Highland Park and, maybe one day a movie. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/11/b...

Gone to soon at 75, but what a life Boz O'Brien had and shared with anyone who ever walked into his Reilly's Daughter, filled with fun and food and music and memories for a few generations and still in the family. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/b...

After Hours with Rick Kogan returns, Sunday on WGN Radio 4:30ish until 7 p.m, with bluesman Billy Branch; John Davies on movie “Phunny Business”; John Holden on Edgewater’s theater history; correspondent Candace Jordan of party/social scene; Nancy Hays on book/show about famous Black jockey.

He was known as the 'Frugal Gourmet' and pioneered the food-on-TV revolution. But Jeff Smith had dark sides. Sometimes drunk on air and accused of having sex with teenage boys, his career crashed in 1997 and a new documentary has the sad story. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/04/f...

For decades the three major networks had a monopoly on news. That has been broken for keeps and new guy Tony Dokoupil is making an awkward start in the CBS anchorman chair once held by "the most trusted man in America." www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/03/c...

For decades the three major networks had a monopoly on news. That has been broken for keeps and new guy Tony Dokoupil is making an awkward start in the CBS anchorman chair once held by "the most trusted man in America." www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/03/c...

New movie by former bartender Paul Carr takes you into the venerable Green Mill and gives you stories about ghosts, gangsters, music, and Malort from owner Dave Jemilo and others who worked there. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/28/c...

Over four terrific TV hours that captures his long and laughter-filled life, Mel Brook amazes, sharp as ever and saying, “Sometimes my comedy is just to celebrate the joy of being alive” and using humor as “a defense against the universe.” www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/27/m...

Have camera, will travel. Photographer Vincent Johnson has captured the excitement, thrills, agonies and meaning of high school basketball from cities and towns across the state www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/h...

Have camera, will travel. Photographer Vincent Johnson has captured the excitement, thrills, agonies and meaning of high school basketball from cities and towns across the state www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/h...

What would Dick Butkus say about Walter Eckersall who, at 5'6" and 135 pounds, give or take, was regarded as our greatest football player? He also started the Golden Gloves and drank with Ring Lardner. Read all about it in Chris Serb's new book. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/20/c...

First half alternative, @KoganAfterHours 5:30-7 pm Sunday @wgnradio.bsky.social Kathleen and Beth Rooney on book “Leaf Town Forever”; @paulmarinaro.bsky.social on CD, “Mood Ellington,” and release concerts @LiveAtStudio5; Marc Smith on new show, “Shards of Me and My…,” Jan. 21-25 @kimballart

Bobby Lewis has been making music for 80 years and as he celebrates his 90 birthday with concerts at Winters, he is as fresh and exciting as ever, maybe even more so. Admire and enjoy. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/14/b...

Bobby Lewis has been making music for 80 years and as he celebrates his 90 birthday with concerts at Winters, he is as fresh and exciting as ever, maybe even more so. Admire and enjoy. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/14/b...

Two very different people--comic Chevy "SNL" Chase and investigative reporter/writer Seymour "My Lai" Hersh (with deep Chicago roots)--get the TV documentaries they deserve and give viewers deep insights. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/13/c...

Two very different people--comic Chevy "SNL" Chase and investigative reporter/writer Seymour "My Lai" Hersh (with deep Chicago roots)--get the TV documentaries they deserve and give viewers deep insights. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/13/c...

Singer Josie Falbo was a child of Taylor Street and had, critic Neil Tesser says, "a beautiful voice, angelic at the top of her range, but earthy too...she could sing pretty much anything, from rock n’ roll in her youth to the whole jazz songbook. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/07/j...

Yes, it's a list of many of the people that we lost in 2025. But no tears. Explore the lives of these artists, actors, an astronaut and others. Their lives and what they created can enrich your new year. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/23/w...

Her early support and encouragement helped fuel Hugh Hefner’s ambitions. How admirable that this woman defined herself away from the glare of fame, raising two children and living 99 lively years. And that smile! www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/19/m...

Final @KoganAfterHours of 2025, Sunday 5-7 pm @WGNRadio, brings you sisters Kathleen and Beth Rooney on their book, “Leaf Town Forever”; Paul Barosse and Victoria Zielinski on new show, "Quick! Before We're Cancelled!" @Studio5, and Father John Cusick on the meaning of Christmas.

Nick Digilio fell in love with movies as a kid and he's still in the business to telling you about them, on his podcast and in a lively new book. Read all about it...and him, right here or ink on paper in the Sunday Tribune. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/11/n...

Nick Digilio fell in love with movies as a kid and he's still in the business to telling you about them, on his podcast and in a lively new book. Read all about it...and him, right here or ink on paper in the Sunday Tribune. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/11/n...

John Corkery, a Chicago attorney and 'performer at heart,' dies at 82. Whenever you saw him, at O'Rourke's, the Old Town Ale House or elsewhere, you were in for a cheerful, smart and engaging conversation. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/08/j...

@KoganAfterHours 5-6:30 pm Sunday @WGNRadio brings you Vincent Johnson on his new book, “Illustrious: The Best High School Basketball Gyms in Illinois” and Chris Serb on his “ECKIE: Walter Eckersall and the Rise of Chicago Sports.”

A good man gone. Bruce Dold, former Chicago Tribune editor and 'consummate newspaperman,' dies at 70. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/b...

The snow comes and @KoganAfterHours is back for an hour Sunday 6-7 p.m. on wgnradio.com or WGN AM720 with me, Candace Jordan on holiday parties, events, celebrations, and some songs. @CandidCandace

The American Writers Museum has a lively new exhibition. 'American Prophets,' exploring how a wide range of writers--Oscar Brown Jr. to Bono, Malcolm X, Flannery O’Connor and many more--expressed theirs feeling about religion and spirituality www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/r...

The American Writers Museum has a lively new exhibition. 'American Prophets,' exploring how a wide range of writers--Oscar Brown Jr. to Bono, Malcolm X, Flannery O’Connor and many more--expressed theirs feeling about religion and spirituality www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/r...

When books went to war, more than 120 million, some carried by my dad, Herman, a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant and a combat correspondent who fought in and reported from battles at Guadalcanal and Okinawa. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/25/f...

Go ahead and hate the Packers, but you'll love learning about the man who was that team. 'Curly' Lambeau, in Herb Gould's new book, may have been a complex guy and "consummate liar" but as George Halas said, “Without him, pro football simply wouldn’t exist.” www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/19/p...

The remarkable Ken Burns and his documentary army deliver a tale of blood, courage and hope in 'The American Revolution,' six parts starting Sunday on WTTW. He calls it “the most significant event in human history since the birth of Christ.” www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/12/k...

A native Southwest Sider with stories to tell, Barry Pearce delivers nine of them in 'The Plan of Chicago,' his first collection, filled with a lively cast of characters and a firm grasp of the city he knows and loves. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/11/c...

@KoganAfterHours back on radio: 5:30-7 p.m. Sunday @WGNRadio brings you author Barry Pearce, Algren Award Winner-2019, out with new and first collection, “The Plan of Chicago”; music from Josie Falbo's new CD “Kickin’ It.’

The most interesting person you will "meet" today, or this week, or this year, is Jun Fujita, poet and photographer of many of the city's most famous events (Eastland disaster, St. Valentines Day murders) and notable people (Al Capone). www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/05/c...

Who cares what you are wearing for Halloween? What costume will your dog or cat or pet pig have on for the holiday? Remembering a dog as a devil and a ‘Bark to the Future’ costume with a little DeLorean car. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/28/c...