Legendary celebrity and rock-n-roll photographer, Lynn Goldsmith has captured the biggest stars with her skilled lens. She’s chronicled the careers of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and her longtime friend and collaborator, Patti Smith. A Chicago Humanities favorite, Patti Smith is one of America’s most acclaimed singer-songwriters and a beloved photographer […]

Hoop Dreams was famously called “the great American documentary” by Roger Ebert. It’s also, of course, a quintessentially Chicago film. Hoop Dreams turns 30 this year, its story of two young Chicagoans (Arthur Agee and William Gates) trying to become professional basketball players as resonant as ever. Arthur and William, along with director/producer Steve James […]

As part of our fall festival examination of movement, we explore the primal human expression of physical movement and the artistic and cultural foundations of dance with leading choreographer Kyle Abraham. With his company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, he creates a body of dance-based work that is galvanized by Black culture and history and features […]

Former fifth-ranking leader in the US House of Representatives, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and senior associate counsel to President George W. Bush, Christopher Cox leads a […]

Tegan and Sara are indie-pop royalty, twin sisters, and bestselling authors of a young adult graphic novel duology. Crush, the second book in this autobiographically-inspired series, explores the teenage world […]

Join us as we experience poet and Yale professor Claudia Rankine and choreographer Shamel Pitts in conversation and performance. Rankine is not only the New York Times bestseller of Citizen: […]

Language is constantly changing. Linguist and veteran English professor Anne Curzan is here to help us decipher its “rules.” Written with lively humor and humanity, Curzan’s newest book Says Who? […]

What’s it like to write for the most popular late-night comedy shows in America when the news already feels like a satire of itself? Second City’s Kelly Leonard sits down […]

The Edith Farnsworth House, one of the most famous residences in modern architectural history, was legendary long before it could be widely accessed. Michelangelo Sabatino brings to life the house’s […]

John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, The Anthropocene Reviewed) and Rebecca Makkai (The Great Believers, I Have Some Questions for You) are two of our most beloved contemporary writers. […]