There are so many reasons I love One Battle After Another--Paul Thomas Anderson's latest movie--it's hard to mention them all. So I'll keep it to one--the sensei. That would be Sergio St. Carlos, the character played by Benicio del Toro, who's call…
By the time I met Tony Fitzpatrick, he was already a Chicago legend. This was the fall of 2006. By chance, our children attended the same high school. And I saw him at a parent-teacher conference night, sitting in the last row to meet with Ms. Gall…
Among the things I learned from last Sunday’s New York Times is that JD Vance trolled Pope Leo XIV with impunity, when they met back in May. I learned about this from a letter to the editor written by Allen J. Wiener, alerting me to an essay …
For almost 40 years, I’ve been urging my lefty friends to please, please, please vote Democratic in the general election. Any general election. But especially presidential ones. I've told them things like… Think of the courts! Or..…
When I settled down to read this week’s New York Time's book review, I had no intention of buying or ordering any new books. You hear that? No intention! Already have enough unread books I’m intending to read. They fill the tabl…
In an attempt to defend the indefensible, Bret Stephens felt compelled to address the antisemitism of right wingers. More or less. But before I get ahead of myself… Bret Stephens is a conservative columnist for the New York Times, who fight…
Having spent years following the power plays of Mayor Daley, I've learned a thing or two about all-mighty Big City Bosses who make the corporate elite bow to their commands--if they know what’s good for them. But, sorry, Mayor Daley. When it …
Well, I think we all saw this story coming long before it broke in a Friday-afternoon news dump to be immediately pushed aside by an avalanche of other Trump atrocities--including his declaration to send troops to Chicago. God help us all. The thin…
First the good news, America! There I was, driving south on M-37 through the heart of Michigan, which is sorta the heart of America, heading home from my yearly family vacation in that lovely state. And there wasn't a Trump sign in sight. So that&…
Making my way through an article about Chicago's broke-ass public schools, when I confronted a sentence guaranteed to trigger me. As if a city perpetually skimping on public education wasn’t triggering enough. It came in an article jointly w…
I figured it was only a matter of time before some mainstream journalist invoked the specter of Communism to scare the shit out of New Yorkers into voting against the Z man. Sure enough, right on cue, Kathleen Parker, columnist for the Washington P…
It's early to give out this year's acting awards, but I think the best performance in a melodrama goes to Alex Jones, the conspiracy huckster, who managed to squeeze out a crocodile tear over the latest twist in the sordid saga of Jeffrey Epstein. …
In the immediate aftermath of the Z-man’s victory, I was basking in a good-vibe glow, feeling optimistic about the future. A fairly rare, almost unrecognizable feeling these day. For all the obvious reasons. Then my dear friend Mick Dumke--a…
Several months have passed, but I can still hear the excitement in Cap’s voice as he broke the big news. Sarah Hanahan is coming to the Jazz Showcase–playing with Joe Farnsworth’s band. Are you in? Am I in? Is the Pope from Dolto…
If MAGA's minions were honest, they’d admit that their war against California is obviously motivated by hate. I mean, duh! They loudly hate pretty much everybody on the other side of Trump's invasion of Los Angeles. They hate the lefti…
If I were to teach a high-school class in literature, I’d use page 42 of a recent Sun-Times as a textbook example of irony. On that page, gently resting side by side, are articles whose themes contradict each other. How ironic. I’m won…
With all the human carnage and cruelty in the world every day, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit how broken up I’ve been over the recent death of Bear--our family dog. A Pit bull. Died unexpectedly at age 10. My oldest daughter broke me th…
The story you’re about to read is true–none of the names have been changed to protect the innocent, though they’re all spelled correctly. I hope... After a grueling day of podcasting, I take a walk to clear my head and think great…
Around here everyone’s making a big deal out of the fact that the new pope comes from Chicago. Or Dolton–a suburb just south of Chicago. So, close enough... But I have my own personal big deal to make out of Cardinal Robert Francis Prev…
Gotta give The New York Times credit for devoting a healthy chunk of space to the life and work of Leonard Zeskind, who died the other day of cancer. At age 75--too damn young, as far as I’m concerned. Zeskind’s expertise was the right…
To take a break from the political madness of our time, I was reading Maximum Bob, an old Elmore Leonard novel I found in a baby library not far from my home. Classic Leonard. About a bunch of lowlifes in Florida, where lowlifes flourish, who're co…
My dear friend Keith Kelleher is a vintage radical, who’s been on the front lines of just about every cause worth fighting for since I can remember. So I wasn’t surprised to see he’d joined this weekend's march outside of Tesla&rs…
As a kid growing up in the `60s and `70s, I listened to all the hits on my transistor radio as I sat in my bedroom, daydreaming about this, that and the other thing. And of all the voices that came through that radio, the one who sounded the most l…
When President Donnie punished the Associated Press for not obeying his orders, it brought back ancient memories from the `70s, when I began my journalism career at a small newspaper in the suburbs of Connecticut. I was young and naive. My first e…