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The City of Chicago Used a Mumford and Sons Concert To Displace Homeless People

In the gentrified 21st-century city, wealthy concertgoers' comfort is a bigger priority than homeless people's basic rights.

Nickolas Kaplan

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The Secrets and Lies of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

President Obama insists there's "nothing secret" about the massive trade deal—yet we aren't allowed to know anything that's in it.

Joel Bleifuss

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Is Our Politicians Learning?

The most formidable challenger for Jeb Bush is his own brother’s legacy.

Susan J. Douglas

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Students Protest University of Chicago Budget Cuts, Say Admin Is “Acting Like a Corporation”

The students, some dressed in their graduation gowns, say their school's austerity measures are part of a broader pattern of corporatization in higher education.

Miriam Shestack

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The Collective That Saved Jazz

The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians brought jazz back from the brink by connecting it to black struggle

Salim Muwakkil

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6 Lessons for the U.S. from Spain’s Democratic Revolution

How Spain’s 15M movement went from occupying city squares to city halls—without compromising its independence

Erica Sagrans

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Why We Organized to Kick Riot Fest Out of Humboldt Park

Pushing the punk rock festival out of the park was a victory against gentrification and the privatization of public spaces.

Lynda Lopez

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Presidential Hopeful Scott Walker’s Higher Education Deficit

What do you do after gutting public-sector unions? Gut public universities, it seems.

Susan J. Douglas

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Don’t ‘Arquette’ Hillary Clinton

Will Clinton's 2016 campaign, like in 2008, be used to pit women and people of color against each other (as though the two don't overlap)?

Andrea Plaid

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Bernie Sanders: A Candidate Worth Voting For

'I have decided to be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president,' Sanders announced this morning.

Joel Bleifuss

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Third Party Time ... Out

The quadrennial debate begins.

Joel Bleifuss

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Ready for a Woman, But Not Hillary Clinton

She may be a feminist, but Hillary Clinton's policies and demeanor fit nicely with the old boys' club on Capitol Hill.

Susan J. Douglas

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In Chicago’s Mayoral Election, the Austerity Agenda Went Unopposed By Both Emanuel and Garcia

Chicago's progressive movement needs to do more to advance a real alternative to austerity economics.

Saqib Bhatti

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From Moral Victories to Tangible Ones

Jesus "Chuy" Garcia’s defeat was crushing. But Chicago progressives won, at the very least, a moral victory. Or maybe much more.

Rick Perlstein

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Obama’s Drone Policy Crashes and Burns

Yemen, the poster child for drone-based foreign policy, has collapsed on itself.

Leonard C. Goodman

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Keeping a Sharp Eye on Sharpton

Al Sharpton has been labeled a 'Johnny-come-lately' to Hollywood's fight for diversity, and a paid defender of corporate media.

Salim Muwakkil

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A New Magazine for the 1%

The redesigned New York Times Magazine aims for a global outlook, but comes off as elitist.

Susan J. Douglas

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In Mayoral Runoff, Rahm Emanuel’s Corrupt Governance Has Finally Caught Up With Him

It's become increasingly clear to Chicagoans that Rahm Emanuel is out for himself and his rich friends, not for us.

Rick Perlstein

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Parameters of Respectability

Syriza makes U.S. media elites uncomfortable.

Joel Bleifuss

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Why Did Our Media Mourn Charlie Hebdo But Ignore 2,000 Deaths in Nigeria? Ask Fela Kuti.

The Afrobeat legend has much to teach Western media about dealing with such tragedies.

Stephanie Shonekan

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The Barriers to Black-Brown Unity

Can Chicago's black and brown communities come together to elect a new mayor?

Salim Muwakkil

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The New Cuba: Capitalism with a Socialist Face?

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is delighted that Obama normalized relations with Cuba.

Joel Bleifuss

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It’s Not the Koran, It’s Us

The corporate media chorus willfully ignores that U.S. actions, not Islam, fuel jihadism.

Leonard C. Goodman

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We Forgot To End Poverty

Poverty remains at record highs. Is that because welfare reform failed, or because it succeeded all too well?

Chris Rhomberg