Chicago’s new mayor is a bit of an anomaly. He’s famous for dropping expletives left, right and center, but he also won a summer scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet. He declined to join the troupe, opting instead for that bastion of liberal arts education at Sarah Lawrence College.

Either way, Emanuel’s background is intriguing. To find out more, Eight Forty-Eight spoke to a writer who’s made a career of profiling famous political figures. Author Carol Felsenthal writes The Felsenthal Files for Chicago magazine.