Chicago Amplified

This annual event kicked off Banned Books Week. Excerpts of the top ten most challenged books from the past year were read from, with many authors participating.

Recorded on 9.26.2009

Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story

Scholars discuss the historical and literary significance of the Federal Writers’ Project under the Works Progress Administration during the New Deal.

Recorded on 9.12.2009

Chicago Visionaries: From Burnham To Today And Beyond

Chicago today is as much on the brink of progress as the Chicago of 100 years ago. Listen in as some of our city's most innovative thinkers discuss how to keep Chicago vibrant in the 21st century.

Recorded on 8.4.2009

Bughouse Square Debates 2009

Listen in as Chicagoans exercise their first-amendment rights and relive the days of soapbox oratory and public debates that immortalized Washington Square Park.

Recorded on 7.25.2009

Never a City So Real

Meet author and social critic Alex Kotlowitz as he talks about his latest book about Chicago, Never a City So Real. It is a tour of the people of Chicago, and the city’s heart.

Recorded on 7.25.2009

Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One

What is the power of his story? Who was John Dillinger? Gorn illuminates the significance of Dillinger's fame and legacy, arguing that he represented an American fascination with primitive freedom against social convention.

Recorded on 7.7.2009

Make Big Plans: Curators' Talk and Gallery Walk for "Daniel Burnham in the Philippines"

The co-curators of "Make Big Plans: Daniel Burnham's Vision of an American Metropolis" discussed the pleasures and challenges of placing Burnham and Bennett's "Plan of Chicago" in historical perspective.

Recorded on 6.27.2009

Rule 53: Capturing Hippies, Spies, Politicians and Murderers in an American Courtroom

Andy Austin is a veteran Chicago courtroom artist for ABC News. She's written a memoir detailing the court room drama and nuances of criminal character that only an artist could capture.

Recorded on 5.13.2009

Meet the Author: Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City

Robert Clifton Weaver was one of the most influential civil rights advocates of the twentieth century.

Recorded on 4.28.2009

Caveat Emptor / Caveat Venditor

This talk presents ethical best practices for book dealers and changes in the way the rare book market views issues of title and authenticity.

Recorded on 4.4.2009

A Capital Past: Forgery, Wilkie Collins and 19th-Century Cultural Memory

This lecture considers how nineteenth-century authors compared the severe punishment for financial forgery with the relatively limited penalties doled out for crimes against intellectual property.

Recorded on 4.4.2009

Habent Sua Fata Libelli: The Fate of Libraries in Wartime

In times of war and national upheaval, the enemy's books often become objects of hatred, fear, envy, reverence or disregard. During these times, the fate of libraries can hang in the balance.

Recorded on 4.4.2009

Book Crime History, Detection, Prevention

Listen in to this roundtable on the forgery and destruction of books, and what has been done to prevent attacks on cultural, religious and scientific publications.

Recorded on 4.4.2009

New Views on the Aztec World: Gods, Gold and Writing in the Aztec World

Experts in Mesoamerican history, archaeology and art history present their latest findings on ancient Aztec civilization.

Recorded on 4.2.2009

A Meet the Author Event: "Avengers and Defenders: Glimpses of Chicago's Jewish Past"

In his second anthology of stories on Jewish Chicago, Walter Roth presents pictures of both well-known and little-known Jews in various professions and areas of work. Listen in as he tells a few of their stories.

Recorded on 3.17.2009