Illinois news

• ‘Rolling out’ and Lexus collaborate to create an immersive generative AI audio experience

  25-11-2023 16:58 via chicagodefender.com
  Rolling out and Lexus announce the kick-off to launch a new era of seven-passenger luxury with a unique music innovation: the First-Ever Lexus TX and a new generative AI platform that pushes the boundaries of co-creation, culture, and technology with the rolling out AI Music Lab.
  This program between Lexus and rolling out represents an evolution from brand partnership to platform co-creation. Through this effort, participants will experience the unique vision of game-changing DJs Trauma, Traci S
  
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• Bier Omakase is the social lubricant beer drinkers need right now

  17-12-2025 20:54 via chicagoreader.com
  Shana Solarte balanced a glass of soju on a pair of chopsticks set parallel atop a glass of pale Korean lager. “You have to find a way to get the shot glass into the beer,” she said, raising a fist. “Some people will bash their head on the table—if they’re on their tenth one. I […]
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• Fred Hampton Jr. keeps the revolution alive in Chicago’s music scene

  17-12-2025 19:24 via chicagoreader.com
  On December 5, one day after the 56th anniversary of Fred Hampton’s assassination, I’m trekking through the snow in hopes of catching his son with time to talk. “Skin in the game” is how the junior Hampton would later describe my efforts. Hampton led the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. He was killed […]
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• ‘It’s hardly imaginable that the VDB can survive’

  17-12-2025 19:04 via chicagoreader.com
  “The Video Data Bank is committed to fostering awareness and scholarship of the history and contemporary practice of video and media art, to serving the artists represented in the VDB collection, to providing access to the collection, and to ensuring the future of the collection for generations to come.” —Video Data Bank’s mission The nonprofit […]
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• DeffJam honors its late founder with its biggest fest yet 

  17-12-2025 17:25 via chicagoreader.com
  Since March, talent buyer and indie-scene workhorse Alicia Maciel has been working with a group of locals to present next month’s DeffJam. This all-ages blowout, held at Thalia Hall on Saturday, January 3, honors the late Ryan Deffet, who led Chicago bands Space Gators and Faux Furrs. Deffet founded DeffJam in 2016 in his native […]
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• Chicago Reader Volume 55, Number 12

  17-12-2025 17:15 via chicagoreader.com
  Chicago Reader Volume 55, No. 12. December 17, 2025.The post Chicago Reader Volume 55, Number 12 appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
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• Greg Bovino is back

  17-12-2025 17:00 via chicagoreader.com
  Bovino’s back ON TUESDAY, U.S. BORDER PATROL commander Greg Bovino crawled out of whatever sewer he calls home to inflict yet more terror across Chicago and the near suburbs.  Videos posted to social media around 8 AM show Bovino and roughly half a dozen troops, all outfitted in green, abducting a person from a Walmart […]
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• The True Definition of a Superstar: Kelly Rowland Opens Up on Mama, I Made It! Season Finale

  17-12-2025 16:41 via chicagodefender.com
  The true definition of a SUPERSTAR: Singer, actress, songwriter, producer and the list goes on. The iconic KELLY ROWLAND sat down with talk show host Samantha Chatman for an AMAZING interview on Mama, I Made It! for the season finale. The renowned music sensation is best known for being a part of legendary girl group, Destiny’s Child, and is opening up about everything from being a wife and mom to balancing fame and health while performing at a high level. Kelly is wearing her h
  
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• Runway drama

  17-12-2025 15:46 via chicagoreader.com
  The Model Play, through 12/21, Snails on a Bike at 2442 N. Lincoln
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• MR SONNY KNOWS for December 17, 2025

  17-12-2025 15:00 via chicagodefender.com
  The post MR SONNY KNOWS for December 17, 2025 appeared first on Chicago Defender.
  
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• Reader-recommended books

  17-12-2025 14:00 via chicagoreader.com
  Like every year, emails hawking books with a Chicago angle have accumulated faster than I can reasonably read, let alone review, them. Here’s where year-end lists come in handy. Not definitive by any means, this list instead offers a bit more than a handful of local recommendations that I and other Reader staffers read and […]
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• How to make a talk show

  16-12-2025 21:44 via chicagoreader.com
  The Not That Late Show, open run (third Wednesday of the month), Lincoln Lodge
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• High-flying holidays

  16-12-2025 18:43 via chicagoreader.com
  'Twas the Night Before . . ., through 12/28, Cirque du Soleil at the Chicago Theatre
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• Holmes for the holiday

  16-12-2025 18:16 via chicagoreader.com
  Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Clowns, through 1/4/26 at City Lit Theater
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• Death comes for Everybody

  16-12-2025 17:56 via chicagoreader.com
  Everybody, through 12/21, Couch Penny Ensemble at Greenhouse Theater Center
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• Reading the rooms

  16-12-2025 15:43 via chicagoreader.com
  Looking at the red, fleshy corners framing Ángela Ferrari’s painting They Shoot Horses Don’t They? feels like peering through the mouth of a beast. It primes the viewer for the blood to come and shows that the artist is here to unsettle our sense of space.  Sydney Pollack’s 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? […]
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• Droning on

  15-12-2025 22:15 via chicagoreader.com
  The Cook County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) missed a state-mandated deadline to report that it owned and operated ten surveillance drones between April 2024 and March 2025, the agency confirms to the Reader.  It’s the second time in as many years a Chicago-area law enforcement agency has violated the state’s drone surveillance law, which requires police […]
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• Mansaf bites at M’daKhan

  15-12-2025 22:03 via chicagoreader.com
  The mansaf bites platter at M’daKhan—a Bridgeview joint specializing in smoked meats—comes with eight pockets of fluffy rice and bits of lamb encased in thin flatbread, doused in sauce with more on the side, and garnished with herbs and slivered almonds. It’s a shareable, dippable version of traditional mansaf, a rice, lamb, and yogurt dish […]
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• It’s a wonderful life

  15-12-2025 21:29 via chicagoreader.com
  The Moviegoer is the diary of a local film buff, collecting the best of what Chicago’s independent and underground film scene has to offer. Should you also be an avid moviegoer, you may know that much has happened in the past week, both in Chicago and in the film industry at large. First, some good […]
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• To Be Equal: New Orleans deserves law enforcement that is ‘fair, focused, and lawful’

  15-12-2025 18:16 via chicagodefender.com
  by Marc H. Morial(TriceEdneyWire.com)—“New Orleans is a city with a soul. Our culture, our neighborhoods, our traditions, and our deep sense of community shape how we live and how we keep each other safe. Any law enforcement activity in our city, including federal operations, must honor that reality. It must reflect an understanding of our local laws, our norms, and our people.”Of all the cities in the nation, New Orleans perhaps best exemplifies the virtues of the American me
  
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• Black Woman Gives ‘Poised’ Response To White Opera-Goer’s Microaggression

  15-12-2025 17:30 via chicagodefender.com
  A Black woman is going viral after she gracefully clapped back at a white woman who questioned her attendance at the opera.
  Video of the incident shows LaeTania Richardson, a California-based lifestyle entrepreneur and longtime opera enthusiast, attending a recent performance at what appears to be the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.
  While sitting in the orchestra section, Richardson began recording when the white woman beside her asked her a pointed question.
  “Are you famous?&rdq
  
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• A Third Generation Blueprint: Phil Beckham III and the Power of Purpose Driven Development

  15-12-2025 16:54 via chicagodefender.com
  For Phil Beckham III, development is not simply about buildings. It is about lineage, leadership, and responsibility.Standing in Bronzeville, on the very corner where his family’s entrepreneurial roots were established generations ago, Beckham is doing more than constructing apartment buildings. He is continuing a family story that began long before architectural renderings and zoning approvals ever existed.A third generation entrepreneur, Beckham grew up immersed in business as a way of
  
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• McCormick Place Overflows with Holiday Cheer at the 29th Annual Christmas in the Wards Celebration

  15-12-2025 16:19 via chicagodefender.com
  Photography: Marshelle SandersSmiles, laughter, and hugs were shared across the facility early Saturday morning, December 13, as Families entered the building. On this festive energy, families arrived at Christmas In The Wards with anticipation. For the first part of the event, they enjoyed breakfast, got a chance to choose warm winter coats, and received household essentials. Families also took part in interactive activities. Each part of the day was designed to be joyful and unforge
  
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• Underground hip-hop crew Tomorrow Kings hit Schubas to celebrate their first album in 12 years

  12-12-2025 18:28 via chicagoreader.com
  Tomorrow Kings Thu 12/18 at Schubas
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• The Cool Kids are back from the future with a return to form

  12-12-2025 18:28 via chicagoreader.com
  The Cool Kids Fri 12/19 at the Empty Bottle
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• Moth Cock provide a weird antidote to typical holiday cheer

  12-12-2025 18:28 via chicagoreader.com
  Moth Cock Tue 12/23 at Cole's Bar
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• Iron Years bring midwestern flavor to danceable throwback postpunk

  12-12-2025 18:28 via chicagoreader.com
  Iron Years Fri 12/19 at Cobra Lounge
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• Horror punks Won’t Stay Dead exorcise their demons on Vindication

  12-12-2025 18:28 via chicagoreader.com
  Won't Stay Dead Fri 12/19 at Liar's Club
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• Friends of the late Mars Williams resurrect his holiday songbook

  12-12-2025 18:28 via chicagoreader.com
  An Ayler Xmas Sat 12/20 at Constellation
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• Chicago Public Library doesn’t exist without its workers

  12-12-2025 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  As City Hall scrambles to close the over $1 billion deficit, and Mayor Brandon Johnson implores all departments to tighten their belts, cuts are quietly and disproportionately assigned to the Chicago Public Library (CPL). Despite years of understaffing, the mayor’s budget proposal called for the elimination of library vacancies, along with cutting half the funds […]
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