The fine folks at the Big Map Blog have taken the map and coded it so that viewers can zoom in on its tiniest details. more ›

If you're like us, you're already getting pumped up for the Oscars! Not. Jeez, let's get past New Year's first, O.K.? Oops. Too late. The Chicago Film Critics Association has already jumped the gun and handed out their awards. To the surprise of no one the big winner was No Country for Old Men, the new Coen brothers movie that both impressed and disturbed us when we saw it last month. It won four awards in all (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem). We're very pleased that Bardem won; there wouldn't be much of a movie without his chilling character study, and he damned well better win the Oscar. more ›

Barbara Ehrenreich has been compared to Upton Sinclair. Her muckraking style of journalism was first seen in “Nickel and Dimed”, when Ehrenreich went undercover to try to earn a living making minimum wage. more ›

When we read the back cover of “U.S.!” by Chris Bachelder, we were a little worried. The story is about Upton Sinclair (muckraker and Chicago icon), living in a world where he is resurrected over and over, only to be assassinated over and over. The cover told us the novel would take place with “stories and songs, memos and transcripts of talk shows”. We let out a sigh and dove in, prepared to be bored and underwhelmed by over-achievement and pretentious “creativity”. more ›

We’re sure everyone is tired of hearing about James Frey, but it looks like there’s one more seat open on the truthiness bandwagon and we’re going back eighty years to fill it. more ›