Chicago musician Justin Roberts is up for a Grammy. First he faces some tough critics: kids.
Roberts, who across 25 years and 16 albums has become one of the world’s best-known children musicians, recently played for a classroom in Oak Park.
Cassie Walker Burke
External Editor
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How we winter in the Midwest
Eight Chicagoans on how they survive and thrive in the gloom and cold, told through their own words, pictures and illustrations.
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Are Illinois schools teaching reading all wrong? What parents need to know.
A mounting body of research shows specific ways students should be taught to read. But many popular lessons aren’t aligned with that science.
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The relentless pursuit of center stage for Black ballerinas
Homer Hans Bryant, the founder of Chicago’s Hiplet dance company, isn’t interested in reshaping dancers for Eurocentric ideals. He’s reshaping dance itself.
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Childcare is expensive, but providers aren’t seeing the rewards
For some parents, the average cost of childcare in Illinois exceeds the annual tuition for most of the state’s public universities.
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32 Chicago concertgoers on music for a complicated moment
“Sometimes I don’t know how to express myself, so I use music to do that.” Here’s what music lovers said about the power of music in these times and what currently soothes and grooves.
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PHOTOS: A rainy, muddy Pitchfork Music Festival and the transcendent moments that made it
The National, The Roots, Mitski and a surprise appearance by Jeff Tweedy enthralled the crowds who came for catharsis.
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Fleeing gunfire, Highland Park parade goers found safety in the small businesses along Central Avenue
“I had them all come in, I closed the doors, I turned off the lights” said one store’s manager, of the moments after shots were fired into the crowd.
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The WBEZ guide to the best free things to do this week and all summer long
Music, movies, theatre, festivals, food and more: These top-notch activities won’t cost a dime.
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14 photos that will live on: How the COVID-19 pandemic changed photography
These are some of the images that we’ll look back on.
