Mark Caro

Mark Caro is a freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune.

Think you know your Oscars? Test your mettle on the Tribune’s quiz

February 20, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.

breaker breaker breaker breaker breaker breaker breaker breaker breaker breaker breaker The Oscar quiz is here to rock you. Will you be the champion? Or bite the dust? You're under...

An Oscar statue appears at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif. Feb. 4, 2019

Heavens to Mercury! It’s Oscar quiz time, and the show must go on

February 20, 2019 at 3:39 p.m.

The Oscar quiz is here to rock you. Will you be the champion? Or bite the dust? You’re under pressure. So play the game. (Note: Years mentioned refer to when...

Will Illinois Help Fix the Weed Industry's Diversity Problem?

July 2, 2026 at 2:49 p.m.

As the state preps for the inevitable legalization of cannabis, questions linger about minority business owners being left behind.

What’s the Price of Justice?

July 2, 2026 at 2:56 p.m.

For Jon Loevy, go-to lawyer for the wrongfully convicted, that’s the multimillion-dollar question.

Carrie Coon

July 2, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.

The career-surging actress, who has earned acclaim thanks to some darkly heavy screen and stage roles, wants you to know she’s in a perfectly happy place.

Big Data Dining: Where Everybody Knows Your Name

July 2, 2026 at 3:34 p.m.

And your spouse’s name, your ex-spouse’s name, your dog’s name, what kind of Chardonnay you like, how you treat the valets, and a whole lot more. Welcome to the data-driven...

The Lonely Crusade of Jim DeRogatis

July 2, 2026 at 3:38 p.m.

Over the past 17 years, the city’s loudest rock critic has been consumed by an increasingly high-profile undertaking: investigating the allegations of sexual abuse against R&B star R. Kelly.

Review of Prince’s halftime performance from Super Bowl XLI

August 18, 2019 at 8:44 p.m.

This article originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Feb. 5, 2007 from Super Bowl XLI when the Chicago Bears played the Indianapolis Colts. Prince has long touted his relationship...

Dalton High School student Kirsten Swafford, 18, center, works on her certification as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at Georgia Northwestern Technical College, based in Rome, Ga. She's training with fellow students Sarah Ramirez, left, and Christian Herald on Nov. 6, 2015.

Chicago’s future hinges on retooling schools for digital age

May 22, 2019 at 6:19 p.m.

Mario Arzate embodies the type of workforce transformation needed in Chicago and other American cities. Less than a year ago, the 19-year-old son of Mexican immigrants was wiping counters, frying...

Izidorius Laurinaitis, 19, of Palatine, works on checking the levels inside of a machine at Felsomat USA in Schaumburg on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. Laurinaitis is a Palatine High School graduate and current Harper College student enrolled in a manufacturing apprentice program which hopes to offer students more hands-on and specialized experience in the manufacturing area. Laurinaitis hopes to be an engineer one day.

Career-oriented educational programs sprout in Chicago area but scale small

May 22, 2019 at 6:19 p.m.

When education expert Timothy Knowles moved to Chicago about 12 years ago, he wondered why the city's public school system let about half of its students drop out. "I think...

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