What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they... more ›

We don’t want to be stuck inside today, but there are no baseball games to sneak off to this afternoon. Instead, we will ponder where we could spend that paycheck besides the usual beer gardens and brothels. We haven’t seen Bumpus play live since Rachel Yamagata left to forge her own path. From the sound of things we need to get back on the funkwagon. Contriband, a Chicago experimental hip hop group, and Doko Benjo,... more ›

This weekend the Chicagoist offices were in a tizzy, as The Nightwatchman Tom Morello announced his tour dates, including a stop on Chicago's Federal Plaza on April 14 to play the Immokalee Workers Rally. Part of the focus of this rally is to continue to shine a spotlight on the plight of migrant farmworkers that pick produce for some of the largest fast-food chains. One of those chains, McDonald's, calls Chicagoland (Oak Brook, to be... more ›