Columnists

An app for Polymarket, an online prediction market site. Online prediction market platforms allow people to place bets on wide-ranging subjects such as sports, finance, politics and currents events. (Scott Olson/Getty)

David Greising: Prediction markets have caught states by surprise. Illinois has its work cut out for it.

By David Greising

March 27, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The stakes are high for the states as the conflicts and uncertainty over prediction markets...

Visitors stop to see Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day painting, March 4, 2026, at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Heidi Stevens: In a city where culture sets our pulse, one school’s struggle shows how arts education is at risk

By Heidi Stevens

March 27, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Arts education benefits the people within it and outside it equally, writes Heidi Stevens.

Then-Chicago mayoral candidates Willie Wilson, center, and Brandon Johnson chat at a mayoral forum at Steinmetz College Prep, Jan. 31, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Laura Washington: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s reelection campaign will be in trouble if Willie Wilson runs again

By Laura Washington

March 25, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

If Willie Wilson gets in the mayoral race, Black votes will come out of Mayor...

Dr. Jasmine Saavedra, medical director of pediatrics, examines 10-month-old Renata Garcia as she sits on am exam table near her mother Lety Ixquereu at the Esperanza Health Centers Brighton Park North Clinic on Dec. 31, 2025. Ixquereu brought her daughter in for her second flu shot and for a checkup because Renata was diagnosed with the flu last visit to the health center and she might have an ear infection, a possible complication from the flu. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Heidi Stevens: Stripping science from vaccine schedule chips away the dream of a better future for our children

By Heidi Stevens

January 9, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

I fear that skepticism and scorn have been elevated to the upper echelons of power,...

A demonstrator stands next to banners during an anti-Donald Trump protest at Plaza de Bolivar square on Jan. 7, 2026, in Bogotá, Colombia. After Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured on Jan. 3 by U.S. forces, Gustavo Petro convened Colombians to protest against the Trump administration and to defend Colombia' sovereignty, as both governments have exchanged hostile messages since Trump began his second term as U.S. president. (Andres Rot/Getty)

Elizabeth Shackelford: The United States is better off as a global power than a global bully

By Elizabeth Shackelford

January 9, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The Trump administration has consistently denounced this international order. We are not going to like...

President Donald Trump looks on as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Jan. 3, 2026. (Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times)

Steve Chapman: The lawless president launches a lawless war

By Steve Chapman

January 7, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

What sets Donald Trump's second presidency apart is his refusal to let any laws, domestic...

Birds fly past a giant banner with the image of President Donald Trump on the U.S. Department of Labor building on Jan. 5, 2026, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

Daniel DePetris: Donald Trump wants to be the emperor of Latin America

By Daniel DePetris

January 6, 2026 at 11:12 a.m.

What happened in Venezuela over the weekend is the most dramatic illustration of Donald Trump's plan...

Activists protest federal agents Sept. 30, 2025, in Chicago on North Michigan Avenue. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Laura Washington: Political goings-on in 2025 reflect anything but comity

By Laura Washington

December 31, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Donald Trump and Mayor Brandon Johnson ensured this departing year has been like no other.

People walk amid destroyed buildings in the Jabalia refugee camp north of Gaza City on Nov. 4, 2025. The U.S. pressed the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution that would enshrine President Trump’s Gaza peace plan. (Saher Alghorra/New York Times)

Daniel DePetris: The foreign policy moves Donald Trump got right this year

By Daniel DePetris

December 30, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

As erratic as Donald Trump can be, there were a few policy moves in the...

A neighbor walks past Pope Leo XIV's childhood home at 212 E. 141st Place on July 2, 2025, in Dolton. A roofing company renovated the home's roof shingles and placed a sign on the lawn the previous day, according to a Dolton police officer who was posted in front of the structure. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Edward Keegan: This year in Chicago architecture wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card

By Edward Keegan

January 13, 2026 at 1:26 p.m.

2025 included a few head scratchers: a papal pilgrimage site in suburban Dolton and an...

A Palestinian woman walks past Israeli soldiers as she carries her belongings ahead of planned home demolitions in the refugee camp of Nur Shams, in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, on Dec. 17, 2025. (Majdi Mohammed/AP)

Elizabeth Shackelford: No peace for Palestinians in the land of Bethlehem

By Elizabeth Shackelford

December 28, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Palestinians in the West Bank live in a state of fear and trauma that will...

Andre Rawls, center, cheers with other supporters of Leo High School during a watch party in Chicago’s Auburn-Gresham neighborhood as the school choir competes live in the finale of America’s Got Talent, Sept. 23, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Heidi Stevens: At the end of an imperfect year, a list that reminds us what tomorrow is for

By Heidi Stevens

December 25, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

There’s still more growing, healing, loving and protecting to do, so here are the things...

A Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter watches over guests attending the SDF victory ceremony announcing the defeat of the Islamic State group in Baghouz held at Omer Oil Field on March 23, 2019, in Deir Al Zor, Syria. The Kurdish-led and American-backed SDF declared the "100% territorial defeat" of the Islamic State group. (Chris McGrath/Getty)

Daniel DePetris: Attacks in Australia and Syria show how difficult it is to eliminate terrorism

By Daniel DePetris

December 23, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Terrorist groups don’t need control of territory to inspire attacks halfway around the world.