Culture

Matthew Desmond won a Pulitzer Prize for his book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. His newest book tries to answer the questions, "Why is there so much poverty in the United States, and how can we finally end it?”

Great Performances is broadcasting a performance of Marin Alsop conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in her mentor Leonard Bernstein's "Kaddish" symphony at Ravinia, where she is chief conductor. The soprano soloist is a Chicago area native.

Finales of Grantchester and The Great American Recipe sit alongside an immersive five-part documentary on the The Troubles in Northern Ireland, featuring the stories and memories of everyday people.

Take our July news quiz to see how much you know about the stories in and around Chicago that made headlines this month.

Meet the performers of the 43rd iteration of PBS's broadcast of the Independence Day celebrations, songs, and fireworks from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

Between black bear sightings and jockeying for a new Bears stadium, there were plenty of local and state headlines to keep up with this month. How much news do you know? Take our monthly news quiz. 

A new series examines all the ways that humans have changed the planet, another follows the training and pairing of puppies with owners, while we also have a new detective show, A Capitol Fourth, and documentaries on the Kennedys. 

The final season of Endeavour, a second season of another thriller, and a new detective show provide drama and mystery, while Frontline and Independent Lens provide looks at American issues, and The Great American Recipe returns.

Did you keep up with the news in Chicago and the rest of Illinois this month? Take our May news quiz now!

The 34th annual National Memorial Day Concert airs Sunday, May 28 at 7:00 pm and 8:30 pm on WTTW. Here's a list of the performers scheduled to appear. 

“You can understand another person’s perspective when you see their neighborhood and what it’s like to live there,” says Tonika Lewis Johnson, the founder of the Folded Map Project, who is organizing tours in partnership with the city and popular historian Shermann "Dilla" Thomas.

Nick Sheedy spends hundreds of hours digging through records and paper trails to discover the ancestors of guests on Finding Your Roots. “You want to have a feeling that you belong and that there’s a community out there that belongs to you," he said of the interest in genealogy.

The coronation of King Charles III in the United Kingdom is soon, with all the accompanying pomp. Here are some shows both historical and fictionalized to sate your curiousity about royalty in the meantime. 

Take our ten-question April news quiz now to see how much you paid attention to the news in Chicago and Illinois this month.