When groundbreaking comedian David Brenner takes each of Zanies' stages this weekend (November 20 in Chicago, November 21 in St. Charles, and November 22 in Vernon Hills), he will have the daunting challenge of trying to find the funny in depressing times.

As a topical comedian, Brenner is not...

A little more than a year ago, I went to The Second City Theatre to enjoy its side-splitting hit revue at the time, "Between Barack and a Hard Place." The famed improv comedy ensemble, which is the comedic mother of Saturday Night Live, had put together a show that was...

For tech-savvy teens fond of text messaging and Facebook, the Magic Marker-scrawled protest sign -- "DON'T MUTE THE YOUTH" -- was decidedly old school.

But there it was Saturday, taped to a door inside the offices of Youth Communication Chicago (Y.C.C.) , where a dozen teen writers...

Dear Obama transition administration:

On behalf of all my fellow Chicagoans, I'd like to thank you for launching the Chicago-Hawaii Cultural Exchange program, in which citizens of the city of Big Shoulders can apply for the opportunity to swap a year beside Lake Michigan for a year on the shores...

Fivethirtyeight's and Baseball Prospectus' Nate Silver recently appeared on a talk show I host in Chicago at the Hideout called The Interview Show. Here is video of the interview. I hope you enjoy.

When I made breakfast for Wolfgang Puck, I asked him what he tastes first when doing a new concept or revamping a menu. Without hesitation, he said, "Sweets!" Me too.

Growing up, there was always a cake in my house "just in case someone comes over," as my mother...

When it comes to buying the Chicago Cubs, Mark Cuban no longer has game.
The brash billionaire's bid to acquire the baseball team from Tribune Co. was struck a fatal blow by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is charging the Texas businessman with insider trading. And the SEC...

On Nov. 17, 1978, the Star Wars universe was rocked by a disturbance in the Force more calamitous than the destruction of Alderon, more catastrophic than the Clone Wars, and more devastating than the introduction of Jar Jar Binks. It was The Star Wars Holiday Special (or TSWHS), a two-hour...

Or, When The World Comes to Hyde Park ( ... and Then Goes Downtown For Dinner)

The week or so before and after the general election were, for this blogger, framed by the following encounters, in the order of their increasingly surreal occurrence:

1) A conversation with two Jehovah's Witnesses,...

Two days before Columbia University Teachers College's Campaign for Education Equity announced its new research papers on the topic of poverty as the key barrier to closing U.S. education gap - I got a personal taste of how children in this country get left behind despite the massive amounts of...

It's time to gear up to seize the opportunities to advance a greener economy and cleaner environment with the new Administration and new Congress. The Midwest and Great Plains states can become business and economic winners in growing the new green economy as discussed in previous blog posts. Moreover, when...

Barack Obama's first big gift to newsprint was the run on most national editions during his second day as President-elect. His latest gift is more personal to the Land of Lincoln. Printing a letter in newspapers throughout Illinois thanking the state as he leaves the senate, Obama just ensured that...

It's been well over a week since Obama's victory, and while 99.9% of me continues to thrill, peevishness has crept into the mix. Actually, to be completely honest, the peeve-ratio has expanded exponentially over the past few months, like one of those "Just Add Water!" gimmick toys that bloat to...

While same-sex couples in Connecticut started lining up to get married this week, gay couples in California wondered what will happen if the courts uphold Proposition 8, which was passed by a close margin during the Nov. 4 general election. Unless you've been living in a dark room with just...

I drank the Obama Kool-Aid, but it took a while. I didn't quite see him as the messiah as quickly as everyone else. I may not be a native Chicagoan, but I've lived here long enough to see the Hired Truck Scandal, unapologetic nepotism, a woeful Tax Increment Financing system,...

Barack Obama won the election on November 4, 2008. It was a historic day. The weather in Chicago was beautiful--unusually warm for a November day. It was a perfect day for voting. The weather cooperated in Chicago. The Windy City had virtually no wind.

The day God made was...