A two-night docuseries charts the history of Black comedians as they boldly pushed boundaries from the civil rights movement to today. "The Flash" faces more challenges in the Season 8 finale.
LOS ANGELES — Ibram X. Kendi has spent years studying racism's history, and he is intimately familiar with its violence, horrors and brutalities. So when he became a father six years ago, the thought of exposing his daughter to the legacy and realities of racism deeply troubled him. The issu…
It's summer, and here with it are all the pleasures of reading outside. Consuming a good book out in the world binds you closer to it: I can still remember the exact feel, smell and location of the grassy hill where I finished "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" during summer more than a …
NONFICTION: Ed Yong's luminous new book on animal senses expands our understanding of the web of life. "An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the World Around Us" by Ed Yong; Random House (464 pages, $30) ——— Six years ago, Ed Yong stunned and delighted readers and critics with his dazz…
NONFICTION: The author of "Wide Sargasso Sea" had a complicated and turbulent life. "I Used to Live Here Once: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys" by Miranda Seymour; W.W. Norton (368 pages, $32.50) ——— The best biographies marry the talents of a perceptive biographer and a complicated subject. I…
Don't miss "Mushroom Foraging and Feasting" by Victoria Romanoff; Abbeville Press (127 pages, $25) ——— I've never understood the passion that my friends have for hunting mushrooms — to be honest, I don't much like mushrooms — but now, after reading this gorgeous and vivacious book, I get it.…
FICTION: Jess Walter's new story collection features a return to Italy and a riotous take on climate change. "The Angel of Rome" by Jess Walter; Harper (288 pages, $27.99) ——— Fans of Jess Walter's novel "Beautiful Ruins" will likely be thrilled by the titular story of his new collection, "T…
NONFICTION: Corporate profits vs. doing the right thing. No contest, as "Wastelands" shows us once again. "Wastelands" by Corban Addison; Alfred A. Knopf (464 pages, $30) ——— Given all that's going on in the world, I thought I'd reached my limit of outrage. But Corban Addison's "Wastelands" raised my anger threshold to new heights. It is a story of corporate greed, of politicians who follow ...
FICTION: A poignant look at growing up in Chicago public housing by a debut novelist who lived in one of the city's most notorious developments. "Last Summer on State Street" by Toya Wolfe; William Morrow (224 pages, $27.99) ——— From their completion in 1962 until their demolition began in 1998, Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes were the United States' largest public housing development and one of ...
As “Avalon” opens, Bran, the young woman at the heart of Nell Zink’s coming-of-age story, sprawls on a grassy Southern California hillside and imagines that the “smear of moonlight” before her leads to Avalon. Not the town on Santa Catalina Island, though a few paragraphs later she recalls a childhood trip to the island off the Southern California coast, one of her few half-good memories of ...
Stacker
Rom-coms are one of the most popular genres in all of film, and there is no shortage of great ones out there to discover over and again.
Local Events
Affiliate
Clair Peterson prepares for his final John Deere Classic as tournament director. He leaves an indelible impact on the Quad-Cities' most impactful sporting spectacle.
Photos from the practice round of the 51st annual John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run Tuesday, June 28, 2021, in Silvis.
When COVID hit, “nursing homes were suddenly the firefighters holding the tinderbox with fire all around us."
Geifman family donates to local food bank