Are times of economic hardship more likely to send us to the countryside? For Paul and Phyllis Van Amburgh, it was the grind of success that prompted them to quit New York City and move their three children upstate to try and make it as dairy farmers. more ›

We thought there was an awful lot going on at the grand opening of the Southside Hub of Production (SHoP), a brand-new cultural center in Hyde Park, until we saw that the space the organization will be occupying was the Fenn House, a 16-room Victorian mansion across the street from the University of Chicago Campus. With that kind of square footage, there is room to offer something for everybody, which is what SHoP is aiming to do--and from a decidedly local perspective. more ›

Today's listings include Abita beer, Del tha Funky Homosapien and Grace Lee Boggs. more ›

Remember Can Mario? Yeah, that was great. Turns out it's part of a much larger project - CANstruction. During CANstruction, architecture and engineering firms compete to build amazing sculptures out of food cans. There are ribbons, prizes and all the food is donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Whole Foods is a sponsor of the event - hence the great can Mario. The sculptures are on display until the end of May, and if you go to the Mart you can vote for your favs. Some of them are worth looking at - there's a Wrigley Field, a box of Fruit Loops and a tableau of the Water Tower during the Chicago Fire. Check them out! more ›

The Mikva Challenge, a local non-profit founded by former White House Counsel, Judge and U.S. Congressman Abner Mikva and his wife Zoe to help develop the next generation of civic leaders in Chicago, recently launched a website to "give Chicago's youth a space to share with mayoral candidates their issues, their needs, their opinions, and most importantly their vision for Chicago." Dear Mayor features primarily video of Chicago youth to share their thoughts about the upcoming mayoral election, political change and civic engagement, and what it means to them. more ›

Mother-turned-activist-turned-author Judy Shepard will be in town tomorrow, Thursday, evening as the featured keynote speaker of H.E.A.L. Ourselves: Opening Eyes, Closing Wounds at the Center on Halsted in Lakeview. Shepard, thrust into the national media spotlight after her then-21-year-old son Matthew was brutally murdered because he was gay in 1998, has since become an outspoken advocate of hate crime legislation. more ›

A councilman in South Bend, Ind. - located a two-hour drive east of Chicago - is coming under fire for comments made about an LGBT community group - i.e. "those people" - in a video posted on that council's website. The video shows David Varner describing his opposition to an LGBT job protections bill. more ›

Yesterday, the SPLC-designated hate group Americans for Truth kicked off their three-day "Truth Academy" - designed to "‘de-brainwash’ young people of the many myths advanced by homosexual activists" - at the Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, attracting a better attended counter-demonstration sponsored by the Gay Liberation Network. more ›

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, well-known for attention-grabbing stunts (as evidenced by this simple and totally NSFW Google search) has enlisted Andy Dick and Martin Short to produce a clever two minute short to draw attention to its campaign to pressure McDonald's to improve its treatment of chickens. more ›

If you were a reader of Punk Planet, you might be familiar with the Chicago-based subculture zine’s co-editor Anne Elizabeth Moore. No? Maybe you’ve seen her get “forcibly ejected from retail establishments.” She also wrote a book, Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity, which you can hear her discuss with the folks of Bad at Sports right here. more ›