Columns

Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin departs July 22, 2026, at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., after a mock graduation event to commemorate Durbin’s long advocacy for the Dream Act, a path to citizenship for undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

John T. Shaw: Sen. Dick Durbin is not giving up on immigration reform

By John T. Shaw

November 1, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Sen. Dick Durbin has a strategy on immigration reform that draws from others' earlier struggles...

A rendering of a planned 160-key hotel that is part of the Woodlawn Central development on Chicago’s South Side at 6320 S. Dorchester Ave. near Jackson Park and the Obama Presidential Center. (Gensler)

Edward Keegan: Planned high-rise apartments show new tendencies in the Chicago tall building

By Edward Keegan

November 1, 2026 at 8:43 a.m.

Until recently, it was quite unusual to find a tall building outside of the Loop....

Supporters of candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva react to the vote count news on general election day on Oct. 25, 2026, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Alexandre Schneider/Getty)

Elizabeth Shackelford: Elections in Brazil and Serbia show us that democracy can be surprising

By Elizabeth Shackelford

October 30, 2026 at 10:48 a.m.

Brazil and Serbia proved to the world that, even on an uneven electoral playing field,...

The installation Accessing Nostalgia by Adaptive Operations is seen outside the 136-year-old Crump Theatre in Columbus, Indiana. The installation can be viewed at Exhibit Columbus through Nov. 30, 2025. (Hadley Fruits for Landmark Columbus Foundation)

Edward Keegan: Columbus, Indiana’s architecture festival embraces the spirit of Chicago improv with ‘Yes And’

By Edward Keegan

November 2, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Improv isn’t the most obvious model for architecture, but good design is always about negotiating...

President Paul Biya casts his ballot at the Government Bilingual primary school Bastos in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Oct. 12, 2025 (Angel Ngwe/AP)

Elizabeth Shackelford: The intoxication of power and its consequences on democracy around the world

By Elizabeth Shackelford

October 31, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Elderly leaders in Africa and around the world are holding on to power. Democratic states...

The plaque that sits at the base of the tree in River Forest, Illinois, planted in honor of Hunter Coe, who died by suicide at age 24. (Kristen Coe/TNS)

Heidi Stevens: After losing their son to suicide, they created a fund to buoy their community — and their spirits

By Heidi Stevens

November 14, 2025 at 9:15 a.m.

Hunter Coe's family has spent the last decade making sense and meaning of his life...

President Donald Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un take a walk after their first meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 28, 2019. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Daniel DePetris: President Donald Trump wants to meet with Kim Jong Un again. But what about Kim?

By Daniel DePetris

October 28, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The geopolitical situation has changed for North Korea in the years since Donald Trump and...

A statue of Winston Churchill is silhouetted against the Houses of Parliament and the early morning sky in London on June 24, 2016. (Matt Dunham/AP)

John T. Shaw: Johns Hopkins scholar shows that knowing history is invaluable to statesmanship

By John T. Shaw

October 27, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

A Johns Hopkins scholar believes a skillful understanding of history can translate into practical tools...

Former President Barack Obama moderates a conversation at the 2024 Democracy Forum at the Marriott Marquis in Chicago on Dec. 5, 2024. (Tess Crowley/baiduhai)

Clarence Page: Barack Obama challenges President Donald Trump’s remap power grab

By Clarence Page

October 26, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Barack Obama has lent his support to a plan to counteract Donald Trump's plans to...

FEMA is working out of several public spaces including the Calumet City Public library. (Hank Sanders/baiduhai)

Heidi Stevens: What we lose when our leaders choose to tear down what connects and nourishes us

By Heidi Stevens

October 24, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

And what will our country look like if we continue this path of wreckage —...

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One, just after midnight on Oct. 14, 2025. The United States killed six men aboard a boat in international waters "just off the Coast of Venezuela," Trump wrote on social media, asserting without evidence that they had been transporting drugs. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

Daniel DePetris: Donald Trump brings the war on terrorism to the Caribbean

By Daniel DePetris

October 21, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Americans must ask if waging an actual war against drugs in Latin America is the...

The Woodlawn neighborhood around the construction of the Obama Presidential Center on Sept. 24, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Edward Keegan: The Obama Presidential Center promises to be a very un-Chicago building

By Edward Keegan

October 19, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

There are still a few months of construction to go, but the Obama Presidential Center...

Members of the Pentagon press corps carry their belongings out of the Pentagon after turning in their press credentials on Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington. (Kevin Wolf/AP)

Clarence Page: Pete Hegseth’s new rules for journalists don’t make America safer

By Clarence Page

October 19, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

As someone who has become accustomed to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s past excesses, I sort...

Columnists