For the Chicago Tribune

Robert Loerzel

Robert Loerzel is a copy editor and freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune. He also writes for Chicago Magazine.

The author looks through a box of federal lawsuit files from the 1920s at Chicago's National Archives, pulling out the file for a 1922 case called United States of America vs. Forty-Five Cans, More or Less, of Chloroform. (Robert Loerzel/for Chicago magazine)

What We Lose When the Chicago Branch of the National Archives Closes

July 24, 2026 at 11:50 a.m.

At a time when dubious information runs rampant, we need more — not less — access to our history.

Chicago’s top real estate agents

July 24, 2026 at 1:53 p.m.

To see Chicago’s top real estate teams, click here. Related: Pro tips for buying and selling a home Agent Company Sales (in millions of $) 1 Jena Radnay @properties Christie’s...

Chicago’s top real estate teams

July 24, 2026 at 1:53 p.m.

To see Chicago’s top real estate agents, click here. Related: Pro tips for buying and selling a home Team Company Sales (in millions of $) 1 Dawn McKenna Group Coldwell...

Photo illustration of Jena Radnay, an @properties Christie’s associate who racked up $392 million in residential sales to top Chicago magazine's annual rankings of individual agents for 2026. (Ben Kirchner/for Chicago magazine)

Jena Radnay’s Big Year

July 24, 2026 at 3:37 p.m.

Thanks to a red-hot North Shore market, the @properties Christie’s associate tops our latest rankings of real estate agents.

Couples dance on the Aragon Ballroom's 21,000-square-foot dance floor in 1966. The venue would be briefly rebranded as the Cheetah nightclub later that year. (Quentin C. Dodt/Chicago Tribune)

Vintage Tribune: The Aragon Ballroom once lived up to its name, enchanting dancers with music from the ‘Waltz King’

July 12, 2026 at 8:09 a.m.

The Aragon Ballroom, which later generations experienced mainly as a shabby, sticky home for rock music, was once the North Side’s hub for romance.

A group of women at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago display decades of bathing suit fashions in 1930, with a nod to the future of bathing suits through 1940. From left are Cleora Miller, Tiny Dini, Opal Begeman, Irene Daniels, Diane Suthard, Della Dean, Gloria Ellyn and Joan Goldman. Editors' note: This historic print shows some hand painting. (Chicago Evening American)

Chicago ordinance once forced female swimmers into cumbersome ‘bathing dresses’

May 10, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

By 1911, critics were complaining about rowdy behavior and “scantily clad bathers” at Chicago beaches.

Around 1933 the Marx Brothers were, from left, Leonard as Chico, Herbert as Zeppo, Julius as Groucho and Arthur (born Adolph) as Harpo. (General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Making the Marx Brothers: Groucho, Harpo and the rest honed their shtick on local vaudeville stages

April 12, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The Marx brothers were born in New York, but Chicago was the true birthplace of the act called the Marx Brothers, one of the world’s funniest.

Brick City

July 2, 2026 at 11:15 a.m.

Here’s what we learned from a new book on Chicago’s checkered history with the ubiquitous building blocks.

The Justice League of Chicago

July 2, 2026 at 11:17 a.m.

What we learned from a new book about a vigilante group that chased down local bootleggers and extortionists in the early 1930s

The crowd sings under the direction of Margaret Hillis at the “Do-It-Yourself ‘Messiah’” event at Orchestra Hall on Dec. 9, 1980. The holiday event was so popular, crowds were turned away. (John Bartley/Chicago Tribune)

Handel’s ‘Messiah’ wasn’t meant to be Christmas music, but it still became a Chicago holiday staple

December 14, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Some Chicagoans came to appreciate “Messiah” as a piece of music with appeal that extended beyond its Christian themes.

All Stories