I was one of the last kids in school to actually see Hamilton the Musical here in Chicago. Before I saw it, I was regaled again and again with frenetic excitement from those who’d just seen it. So much so that I expected that Hamilton could not possibly live up to the hype when I […]

Amid the inflamed political climate that is being deliberately sown, it’s easy to get so distracted that we’re never, ever discussing substantive issues. It’s so easy to get caught up in name-calling and labeling, instead of having respectful back and forth. And from what I’ve seen, either the Democratic Party and its constituents will do […]

I read an enlightening, if somewhat saddening, piece in the New York Times over the weekend. Times staff reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones pointed out that for all the hubbub about Kamala Harris busting Joe Biden for opposing busing, there has been no discussion about what it really was—or that, it actually worked. She writes: That we […]

Here’s the thing about Beth. She has a way of, shall we say, complicating things. Some times, in a delightful way. Here’s what I mean: It starts with an invitation from her longtime (high school) friends inviting us to meet up in Glen Ellyn Sunday (yesterday) afternoon. This is where the light bulbs start going […]

Some Sunday reading brought me back to last week’s topic of immigration. This Sun-Times piece, about White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito being outspoken about his opinions, illustrated how his personal experience shaped his views on immigration, legal and illegal. Giolito grew up in affluence—his mother a successful actress and his father an executive at a […]