Mae Koen, Diane Madison, Theresa Davis, Nanette Frank, and Joan Collaso Credit: Alan Mercer (Theresa Davis) and Akilah Townsend for Chicago Reader (all others) The 2013 film 20 Feet From Stardom tells ...

As a genre, laptop twee is unusually difficult to describe—it’s a strange burgoo of performatively fragile 2000s indie-pop refracted through a couple decades of hyperactive dance music. Among the ...

This fall, Chicago’s architecture takes center stage as Open House Chicago® returns October 17–18, 2026. Open House Chicago® (OHC) is a free, citywide architecture festival that opens the doors to ...

The breadth of Wadada Leo Smith’s activity is immense. Since his first recordings in the mid-1960s with members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, the trumpeter, ...

Explore the work of the queercore trailblazer with the ten-film series The Revolution Is My Boyfriend: The Films of Bruce LaBruce.

Since 2005 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in ...

The term “death doula” is wide-ranging and depends on the family’s needs and the services the doula provides. Their offerings are generally practical or emotionally centered, encompassing financial ...

September 26 sees the first run of the Palestine Film Showcase at the 18th Street Casa de Cultura in Pilsen. The event spotlights four documentary short films by Palestine filmmakers, along with food, ...

Two-day twee and indie-pop festival the Windy Pop Weekender includes 90s favorites Rocketship, Dressy Bessy, and the Softies.

Comparing the early and upcoming renditions of the Chicago Underground Film Festival with artistic director, programmer, and cofounder Bryan Wendorf ...

The title of the new album by Mike Reed’s the Separatist Party, Sing the Color Blue, may augur a synesthetic experience, but it only hints at the crisscrossing of signals that went into its making.