Much like John Wayne Gacy stoked the fears of Chicagoans in 1979, Richard Speck did the same in 1966 when he murdered eight nursing school students in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood on the city's South side. more ›

Today's diversion is absolutely brilliant. more ›

51 years ago, on a typically cold Febuary day in Chicago, a line of eager patrons waited outside on the sidewalk for a new club to open up at 116 E. Walton St. $50 got them a lifetime membership to Hugh Hefner's first Playboy Club entitling them to a key with the bunny logo stamped into it, $1.50 meals, drinks, and a formidable variety of entertainment at the members-only establishment. And of course, there were the he soon-to-be famous bunny-attired cocktail waitresses. The formula worked, with nearly 17,000 visitors in the first month and over 100,000 in its first year. The club became a phenomenon and, along with the magazine and Hefner himself, a touchstone. more ›

A Northwestern history professor and fan of the AMC series Mad Men has managed to combine the two into a course that he's now teaching at the university. more ›

Hot on the heels of last week's star-studded podcast, we follow it up this week with a bit more of a localish-celebrity angle. (No, not Billy Dec.) Amy Landecker is in the new Coen Brothers movie "A Serious Man" and you may also recognize her from her memorable turn as drunken-wife Petra Colson on Mad Men. But for many Chicagoans, she'll always be the daughter of legendary radio personality John Records Landecker. more ›

Judging by the number of our friends who have changed their Facebook and Twitter avatars to the Mad Men versions of themselves, everyone is gearing up for next week's third season premiere of the hit AMC show. But did you know that the Don Draper character has roots in Chicago? Show creator/producer Matthew Weiner admitted that part of Don's character was based on Draper Daniels of Leo Burnett. And Chicago magazine gets the story of Daniels straight from his wife, Myra Janco Daniels. more ›

• The Sun-Times uncovered Blair Hull's bid to be appointed to President Obama's vacant senate seat.
• The Trib takes a look at Naperville's red light cameras.
• It wasn't just Chicago dealing with a cool July; for the entire state, it was the coolest July in 85 years.

Here's one for you Mad Men and Superman fans. Jon Hamm plays Lex Luthor in this funny clip in which the infamous comic book villain asks for his own personal financial bailout. more ›

There are a handful of Chicagoist staffers that dig the show Mad Men, but most of us (if not all) love The Simpsons. Well, the two came together in last night's annual Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode. While the actual short was so-so, as the show has been over the last several years, this spoof of the Mad Men opening credits was pretty awesome. more ›

We just pissed away, oh, an hour perusing the Chicago Postcard Museum. Howdy, The City Beautiful, Hi, Hi There Toots and the Aragon are our faves. more ›