Tag Archive
Report from Obamaland: The President may not be here, but his presence remains
Stately and elegant, red brick with white trim, partly obscured by a row of trees, the house has nothing to set it apart from the other homes on this affluent residential block of Kenwood. Except that it is protected. In the driveway there is always a black SUV. At the end of the street,... »
Hop on the Hope Bus
The Chicago Neighborhood Tours website boasts that Hyde Park and Kenwood are “where lakefront vistas, ancient history, architecture and Nobel Prizes meet.” Now that Senator Obama, who used to be the neighbor of thousands of proud South Side residents, has become President Obama, the tour company offers the opportunity to “admire distinctively designed dwellings... »
Celebrating the Dream
“This little light of mine,” a swell of voices rang out over darkness twinkling with red, white, and blue lights. “I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” The DuSable Museum of African American History Theater was full to the brim with bodies and feeling as visitors sang... »
From Women’s Lib to Writing for Kids
Not many sixty-five-year-old women have tattoos that read “Thug Life,” but Nikki Giovanni is an exception. The radical ’60s poet-turned-children’s author, who stopped at the University of Chicago’s International House during her book tour on October 18th, inked herself some years ago in a tribute to famed rapper Tupac Shakur. This was just one... »
Baracktoberfest: As the election approaches, Obama is popping up all over the place
Barack Obama is perhaps the most famous Chicagoan in the world at the moment, so it’s no surprise he is well remembered on the South Side. In fact, his name and likeness have been popping up all over the place. Here are some of the more unusual ways the South Side is commemorating—and profiting... »
A Nudge in the Right Direction: Two academics point the way to happiness in their new book
“Libertarian paternalism” sounds like an oxymoron, but two professors at the University of Chicago have written a new book arguing that it is the best approach to governance. In “Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness,” UofC Law School professor Cass Sunstein and Graduate School of Business professor Richard Thaler explain how it... »
The Two-Party Party
Tuesday, February 5 was an important day for American politics, with five frontrunners among the Republicans and Democrats vying to win their parties’ nomination to become the country’s 44th President. For the event, the University of Chicago Democrats and Republicans transformed the Reynolds Club’s Hallowed Grounds coffee shop, installing a projector and setting up... »
The New Radicals: Academics and activists imagine the future of progressivism at the Experimental Station
Aside from the occasional political button or t-shirt, the people crowded into the high-ceilinged atrium of the Experimental Station showed no obvious signs of radicalism. They sat quietly before each panel of speakers, punctuating the dialogue with the occasional burst of applause. Even when “apparatchiks” were mentioned, it was as a means of condemnation... »
