AltWeeklies Wire
Columbia College's Student-Run Record Label is Actually Run by Studentsnew
The music industry has changed a lot since 1982, when Polygram chairman Irwin Steinberg and Down Beat publisher Chuck Suber started AEMMP Records, a student-run label at Columbia College that doubles as a music-business prep course.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
05-19-2008 |
Music
John Mryczko Won't Let a Little Quadriplegia Stand Between Him and Extreme Sportsnew
Mryczko wants wheelchairing to take off as a competitive sport. He began promoting the idea in 2003, launching the website extremechairing.com.
Chicago Reader |
Laura Putre |
05-05-2008 |
Sports
Wild Cougars are Moving into the Midwest -- and They May Be Here to Staynew
The numbers are not huge, but they do indicate an increase in cougars making their way back into the nation's corn and soybean belt, areas from which they were exterminated long ago. Now the Midwest is going to have to decide what to do about them.
Chicago Reader |
Stephen J. Lyons |
05-05-2008 |
Animal Issues
Psych Freaks Indian Jewelry Are Out Therenew
The band is a total aesthetic package, and I can see how a photo shoot would rank higher for them than an interview. Words are words and whatever, but dressing up like a militant cult member is performance art. And when they do it, at least, it's a show worth seeing.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
05-05-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Free Gold!, Indian Jewelry
Portishead is Back and More Depressing than Evernew

As a minimalist distillation of the emotional judo that's the band's specialty, Third is an undeniable coup. Beth Gibbons and company have graduated to a new sophistication, conveying with tiny gestures and rough stabs what used to take them long builds and whole songs.
Chicago Reader |
Brian Nemtusak |
05-05-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Third, Portishead
And All I Got Was This Lousy PhDnew
The University of Chicago's new funding plan has grad students questioning their future in academia.
Chicago Reader |
Deanna Isaacs |
05-05-2008 |
Education
Hell in a Cell: Inside Tamms Supermax Prisonnew
The prison near the southern tip of Illinois was built to punish disruptive inmates with temporary solitary confinement. Yet Reginald Berry spent the better part of eight years there -- and he was luckier than many.
Chicago Reader |
Jeffrey Felshman |
04-28-2008 |
Crime & Justice
What Mary Roach Doesn't Want to Talk About in 'Bonk'new

Sadism recognizes taboo and guilt and shame; the transgression is the point. But for science, and for Roach, taboo is simply superstition, a roadblock the repressed throw up between sex and pleasure, and between research and its funding.
Chicago Reader |
Noah Berlatsky |
04-28-2008 |
Nonfiction
The Music Industry's Format Warsnew

CD sales are down, vinyl and download sales are up, and record labels are doing the math.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
04-28-2008 |
Music
15 Candidates! We Can Help: The Reader's Guide to the Big Showdownnew
AltWeeklies Award - Format Buster
Chicago Reader |
Ben Joravsky |
04-21-2008 |
Media
Tags: media
The Worksnew
AltWeeklies Award - Column-Political
Chicago Reader |
Ben Joravsky |
04-21-2008 |
Media
Tags: media
Courtsidenew
AltWeeklies Award - Column
Chicago Reader |
Steve Bogira |
04-21-2008 |
Media
Tags: media
"Alpana's Revenge"new
AltWeeklies Award - Arts Feature
Chicago Reader |
Nicholas Day |
04-21-2008 |
Media
Tags: media
"Young Americans," "Mourning Edition," "Teenage Noir"new
AltWeeklies Award - Arts Criticism
Chicago Reader |
J.R. Jones |
04-21-2008 |
Media
Tags: media
Thomas McCarthy Carves Out a Plum Role for Veteran Character Actor Richard Jenkins in 'The Visitor'new
So much film criticism focuses on directors that we sometimes forget what draws most people to the screen: the prospect of seeing an actor connect with a role and really live it.
Chicago Reader |
J.R. Jones |
04-21-2008 |
Reviews