Chicago Reader

10/20/2026

Sen Morimoto grounds their new album in sure-handed gentleness, newly minted Chicagoan Greg Freeman comes through town on tour, and more. https://bit.ly/3VXPyid

Sen Morimoto grounds their new album in sure-handed gentleness, newly minted Chicagoan Greg Freeman comes through town on tour, and more.

10/20/2026

Since September 2021, L’Afrique Market has greeted customers with bright yellow walls, African flag bunting, and Nigerian tourism videos and music on the TV.

In the center of it all, owner Ibrahim Agoro jokes with customers and encourages them to try new things. “I feel like I’m a custodian of the culture,” he said. “The importance of the story behind the food, the spices, the condiments.”

Learn more about L’Afrique Market and other independent grocery store owners in Chicago: https://bit.ly/4z1Sk4K

📍 L’Afrique Market
2001 S. State

✍️ Lindsay Eanet
📹 Katrina Pham

This story was published in our Food Issue, a look into the ways immigrant Chicagoans shape the way we eat.

10/20/2026

Artist Mue Wu's work with sound raises fundamental questions: who, what, where, when, how, and why are those sounds? https://bit.ly/4BiIOf2

Artist Mue Wu's work with sound raises fundamental questions: who, what, where, when, how, and why are those sounds?

10/20/2026

Play with purpose. A portion of every dollar you spend positively impacts breast cancer research and support services in Illinois.

https://www.illinoislottery.com/giving-back/good-causes/breast-cancer

10/19/2026

For decades, waves of violence swept through the area now known as Rakhine State, perpetrated by the Myanmar military and members of the Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group, subjecting the Rohingya to mass displacement, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

For a people Myanmar’s military dictatorship has spent a half-century trying to erase, growing and cooking their own food is an act of preservation. In Chicago, that cuisine shows up in community gardens, home kitchens, and store shelves along Devon Avenue.

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/4yXa6Wy

✍️ Mike Sula
📸 Camilla Forte (slides 1-5); Kirk Williamson (slide 6)

This story was published in our Food Issue, a look into the ways immigrant Chicagoans shape the way we eat.

10/19/2026

Family and friends reminisce about Jimmy Boyce, the ferocious drummer and kindly soul from one of the great bands of Chicago's 1960s garage-rock boom. https://bit.ly/4jqQSUw

Family and friends reminisce about Jimmy Boyce, the ferocious drummer and kindly soul from one of the great bands of Chicago’s 1960s garage-rock boom.

10/19/2026

A new oral history takes a deep dive into the birth, evolution, and enduring influence of the off-Loop troupe created by Stuart Gordon. https://bit.ly/4i6x5Hs

A new oral history takes a deep dive into the birth, evolution, and enduring influence of the off-Loop troupe created by Stuart Gordon.

10/19/2026

If you know, you know.

And if you don't, try again in this month's Spot Check on pg. 72 of the print issue!

10/19/2026

The 32nd Black Harvest Film Festival contributes to the continuum of Black cinema

Announcing the highlights of this year’s Black Harvest Film Festival, hosted at the Siskel Film Center from November 6–15

10/19/2026

Georgia Oakley's gorgeous adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility foregrounds familial love. https://bit.ly/4ispxjQ

Georgia Oakley’s gorgeous adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility foregrounds familial love.