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ART
The Ren Rolls Bowling Shirts
The team of the Renaissance Society and a host committee of seasoned bowlers—Giampaolo Bianconi, Jim Dempsey, John Henderson and B. Ingrid Olson—are sponsoring “an evening of strikes, spares, suds, and sliders as we raise money for the Ren’s exhibitions and programs. All ticket buyers will receive a Renaissance Society bowling shirt and the opportunity to bowl on a team.” All proceeds from the evening will provide critical support for the Ren’s exhibitions, performances and concerts. Each ticket ($500) includes game for one, Ren bowling shirt, food, beer and wine. Tickets here.
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art At Notre Dame Opens December 1
The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame opens with 70,000 square feet devoted to new state-of-the-art galleries, teaching spaces, a cafe and retail space. The new building features interior and exterior artist commissions, with traditional and innovative works of art; a multi-story sculpture court; and a chapel called “Mary, Queen of Families.” The second phase, for research, at 62,000 square feet, will provide additional galleries as well as a works-on-paper study center, allowing greater access to the Museum’s collections. Additional space will be used for teaching, administrative and curatorial offices, open collections storage and an auditorium.
The building, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA), “will significantly expand the University’s available exhibition space, while anchoring a new on-campus arts district. Occupying a prominent intersection where the University’s campus meets the greater community, the Museum was envisioned as both a campus gateway and as an important resource for the University, its neighbors and a wider national audience.” More here.
DESIGN
AKIRA Turns Twenty-One
AKIRA is celebrating twenty-one years in business, reports ABC 7. “The apparel brand opened its first store in Wicker Park [and now] has more than thirty-five locations nationwide.”
Returning To The Office Can Cost Workers $51 A Day
“Employees in the United States who have returned to the office full time are paying a lot to be there, a new study says,” reports the Sun-Times. “Two-thirds of employees nationwide have returned to the office five days a week but spend $51 per day when they work in person,” according to a report. “The average per-day cost for employees working in-person: $8 for parking, $13 for breakfast or coffee, $16 on lunch, $14 commuting, and $20 for pet care for those who need it.”
DINING & DRINKING
Ravinia Fest Sues Ravinia Brewing
“The Ravinia Festival, whose outdoor stage and rolling lawns come alive each summer with big-name musical acts, is suing Ravinia Brewing Company, a small Highland Park craft brewery within earshot, for trademark infringement,” reports the Tribune. “The lawsuit alleges Ravinia Brewing, which sells whimsically named beers and tacos from its modest storefront taproom, violated a since-rescinded 2018 agreement to limit the use of their shared hometown moniker. The restriction was intended to minimize confusion between ‘world-renowned Ravinia’ and a ‘local restaurant and bar.'”
After Seven Decades, Duk’s Red Hots Changes Hands And Name
“After almost seventy years in business, Duk’s Red Hots in West Town is preparing for a name change and remodel—but a hot dog stand will live on at its Ashland Avenue location,” reports Block Club. Manager Carol Chavez is “not entirely sure what the plan is for the new restaurant, but she’s heard it will continue to sell hot dogs and street food—albeit with a needed facelift.” (Vienna Beef’s history of Duk’s, including the 1957 Disney trademark dust-up, is here.)
FILM & TELEVISION
Actors’ Strike Ends; Rush To Production And Swell Of Personal Publicity Anticipated; “Chicago Fire” Soon, But Getting Industry Up To Speed Will Be Tough
SAG-AFTRA has come to terms with the studios and streamers. The work stoppage ended at 12:01am on Thursday. WIRED: “It’s expected that the tentative deal will head to the union’s national board to be approved on Friday.” Variety: “The two sides appear to have resolved some of the pending issues on AI, which [became] the central focus of the talks over the last ten days.” CNN: “Union president Fran Drescher called the agreement ‘historic,’ and the studios said the agreement ‘represents a new paradigm’ for Hollywood, TV and the actors.” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher posted on Instagram: “We did it!!!! The Billion+ $ Deal! 3X the last contract! New ground was broke everywhere! Ty sag aftra members for hanging in and holding out for this historic deal!”
Screen: “Chicago Fire” is expected to start shooting after Thanksgiving. But, reports the New York Times, “With the industry hustling to make up for months of lost work, juggling production schedules and the availability of actors and crew members will be complicated… The traffic jam includes projects that were paused because of the strikes, those that are ready to be released but need actors to publicize them and those that were scheduled to begin filming and now may be delayed because of actors’ delayed responsibilities elsewhere.” It’s “like all those ships that were stuck in the harbor during COVID because they couldn’t offload them fast enough,” the producer Todd Garner said. “They are just going to have to go through the canal one by one, and then it will catch up and resume again.”
Disney To Incorporate Hulu Into Disney+ Within Weeks
Disney will integrate streamer Hulu “onto the larger Disney+ in December for users who have a Disney Bundle subscription. The news comes on the heels of Disney acquiring full control of Hulu after buying out Comcast’s stake in the streamer a week ago,” writes the Hollywood Reporter.
UIC Alum Michael Gross Donates Papers To University Library
Alumnus Michael Gross “was at UIC recently to announce the donation of more than fifty boxes of papers, scripts, photographs and other memorabilia from his long career to the University Library Special Collections, where they are being made available to students and the public,” relays UIC Today. “He also continues to sponsor the Michael Gross Acting Award for drama students.”
LIT
PEN America Reports On “America’s Censored Classrooms 2023”
“Over the past three years, state legislators have launched an onslaught of educational gag orders—state legislative and policy efforts to restrict teaching about topics such as race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities in educational settings. PEN America has tracked these bills in our Index of Educational Gag Orders.”
MEDIA
Terri Hemmert Talks Half-Century
“The City Council proclaimed November 3 official Terri Hemmert Day in Chicago. WXRT’s broadcast and production studios were renamed the Terri Hemmert Studios. Many stories about Hemmert sent in by listeners were read on air on XRT, and she hosted the station’s Saturday Morning Flashback the next day, set to 1973,” reports Block Club. Hemmert said: “It’s been a very emotional week… Anybody who knows me will tell you I really don’t like getting up and having everybody go, ‘Oh, aren’t you so wonderful?’ Okay, that’s enough!” In the early days, “We used to have interns help us file records. And the big test was, we would give them Jethro Tull to see if they put it under J or T. And if they put it under T for ‘Tull,’ they’d flunk the audition.”
Hearst Publications Ban Personal Political Opinions Online, Encourage Co-Workers To Report One Another
“Media employers are demanding vigilance, if not silence, from workers: Hearst is instituting a new social media policy that nearly bans its employees, journalists on staff included, from expressing personal political opinions online. The news was shared publicly by the Hearst Magazines Media Union,” reports Fashionista. “The updated policy requires that personal social media accounts not be used to express personal political views and that political posts (with a candidate or opinion) must first be reviewed by a supervisor before posting… Those who do not follow the policy are subject to being fired or ‘disciplined.'”
The Washington Post: “Even ‘liking’ certain posts may cause a problem, according to publishing giant’s new social media policy imposed as divisions over the Israel-Gaza war roil the media industry… Last month, Samira Nasr, the editor-in-chief of Hearst-owned fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar, sparked controversy over an Instagram story where she called the Israeli decision to cut water and power to the Gaza Strip ‘the most inhuman thing I’ve seen in my life.'”
“Nasr later apologized, calling the remarks ‘deeply insensitive,’ and Hearst pledged to donate $300,000 to charities in the region… The union that represents Hearst editorial staffers—the Writers Guild of America, East—filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, saying the policy should have been negotiated with the union first. The union urged employees not to sign the document consenting to the new policy.”
“The policy also urges Hearst staffers to report co-workers’ social media rule-breaking or anything that could ‘impact the reputation or objectivity of Hearst Magazines’ to management, in what the union statement dubbed ‘a frighteningly authoritarian flourish.'”
BBC Radio Host Quits, Will “Not Be Silenced” Over Social Media Guidelines
Media monoliths are monitoring workers in Britain, too. BBC Radio Wales host of five years Carol Vorderman says she will “not be silenced” by the BBC’s new social media guidelines, reports the Guardian. “She said BBC Wales told her she ‘must leave’ after she continued to express forthright opinions, often about the government’s running of the country.” The BBC updated its social media guidelines in September “in an attempt to stop high-profile presenters expressing strong views on party politics. Vorderman, who earlier this year called the government ‘a lying bunch of greedy, corrupt, destructive, hateful, divisive, gaslighting crooks,’ said she respected the BBC’s social media guidelines but was ‘not prepared to lose my voice on social media, change who I am, or lose the ability to express the strong beliefs I hold about the political turmoil this country finds itself in.'”
VICE Slashes Jobs; Jezebel Killed
“Today is yet another really rough day in media; dozens of my Vice colleagues are being laid off globally and we just got news that Jezebel, where I worked for years, is being shut down,” posts VICE senior staff writer Anna Merlan on X/Twitter. “I tweet this as I sit in a meeting about the VICE layoffs. This is simply a bad industry lol. It is one of the great ironies of my life that I love it so much and cannot bear to leave. News cannot be dominated by individual newsletters, AI-generated garbage and a few legacy publications that can’t cover everything. This is simply not a good media environment and we will pay for it for generations.”
Owner G/O failed to find a buyer for Jezebel (X/Twitter link), posts Washington Post media reporter Will Sommer. “The Jezebel shutdown is instantaneous—staffers have already been kicked off Slack and email. Also in memo, G/O says it’s laying off twenty-three editorial staffers across its properties, including the Jezebel layoffs.” Axios: In coming days, “editors of its websites will report ‘into an office of editorial oversight.'” G/O Media said earlier “that it would experiment more with using generative artificial intelligence to write stories, which can be more cost-effective, but has led to inaccurate stories and drawn ire from staffers and readers.” (G/O’s remaining properties include Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Deadspin, The Root, The A.V. Club, Quartz and The Onion.)
STAGE
Through The Eyes Of Chicago’s Vivid Stage Photographer Joe Mazza
“With a camera in one hand and, prophetically, light in the other, a Chicago theater superhero dives under tables, runs along Writers Theatre’s backstage corridors, and easily climbs ‘Eurydice”s steeply-raked set,” writes Gabriela Furtado Coutinho at American Theatre. “This radically joyful, loving, and attentive photographer, armed with a belt containing three cameras and wearing your typical backstage all-black clothing, is anything but ‘behind the scenes.’ Joe Mazza stands firmly in the action. Known for event, pre-production, rehearsal, headshot, family, and portrait photography, Mazza has worked with countless productions and artists in Chicago… In person, Mazza overflows with presence and a natural ability to make connections, reminding those around him that ‘this, right here, is an exciting moment, a celebration’… Across his three-decade-plus career, Mazza has developed a distinctive approach, one that centers the humanity of individuals… making him a go-to name for many [Chicago] theaters hoping to capture joy and community during a difficult time in the industry.”
Mazza has been a regular contributor to Newcity for more than a decade, photographing its Players 50 list and, over the years, all of the other lists as well.
ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.
What Does “Sanctuary City” Mean In Chicago?
Posts Trib reporter Laura N. Rodríguez Presa, “Chicago, a Sanctuary City, means that they will not ask about immigration status, disclose information to authorities, or deny you services based on immigration status… It has little to do with new migrants and money.” The Tribune explains in a forty-year timeline (from May): “Chicago’s path to being a sanctuary city began more than forty years ago. What follows is a look back at the leaders and laws that have shaped Chicago’s involvement with the sanctuary movement.”
Bally’s Medinah Temple Revenue Drops
“Excitement about the city’s first casino appeared to wane over its first full month, state figures show, as average daily revenue and admissions fell compared to the first few weeks at the River North gaming venue,” reports the Sun-Times.
FDA Approves Zepbound Appetite Drug
Indianapolis-based “Eli Lilly’s blockbuster drug tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes, has been cleared to treat obesity, making it the second in a highly effective class of weight loss medications to enter the market,” reports Stat News. The FDA’s “long-awaited approval of the injectable drug, which will be marketed under the name Zepbound for obesity, is a milestone for Lilly. It also introduces stiff competition for Novo Nordisk, which has had to limit starter doses of its obesity treatment Wegovy due to ongoing shortages… Lilly will sell Zepbound at a list price of $1,059.87 per month, about the same price as Mounjaro and about twenty-percent lower than the price of Novo’s Wegovy.”
Illinois-Based Cannabis Companies Could Cash In After Ohio Recreational Legalization
“Ohio voters approved Issue 2, a proposed law that will legalize and regulate recreational marijuana for adults statewide,” reports Crain’s. “Ohio is the twenty-fourth state (plus Washington, D.C.) to legalize recreational marijuana, joining Illinois and Michigan as Midwestern states with such approval… Several Chicago-based cannabis companies that already operate in the Ohio medical market are poised to cash in as recreational marijuana is legalized there. Cresco Labs, Green Thumb Industries, PharmaCann and Verano each have cultivation facilities and retail stores in the state.”
Texas And Florida Legislatures And Politicos Shush Public Health Officials On COVID Vaccines
“A rule added to Texas’ budget that went into effect September 1 forbids health departments and other organizations funded by the state government to advertise, recommend, or even list COVID vaccines alone,” reports NBC News. “Tennessee’s health department homepage, for example, features the flu, vaping, and cancer screening but leaves out COVID and COVID vaccines. Florida is an extreme case, where the health department has issued guidance against COVID vaccines that runs counter to scientific studies and advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Birds Named After Folks Molting Monikers
“The American Ornithological Society announced it plans to rename birds named after humans—beginning in 2024—to ‘address past wrongs and engage far more people in the enjoyment, protection and study of birds,'” reports the Sun-Times. In a statement, AOS President Colleen Handel said, “There is power in a name, and some English bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today. We need a much more inclusive and engaging scientific process that focuses attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves… Everyone who loves and cares about birds should be able to enjoy and study them freely—and birds need our help now more than ever.” The bird group estimates North America has lost about three billion birds since 1970.
Battle Rallies Over Government-Run Tax Preparation Versus Entrenched Industry
“The tax preparation industry claims that current efforts to create a government-run system that would allow eligible Americans to file their taxes for free could be prohibitively expensive,” reports The Lever. “But a new report reveals that the potential cost of such a free-file program could be less than the total tax subsidies scored last year by Turbotax, the biggest player in an industry that reaps billions from people using services that could be free.”
