🎉 Gossip Wolf Celebrates Ten Years in Print and Pixels  🎉

It all started with the Brothers Grimm [READER]( In January 2009, the Reader’s then editor-in-chief Alison True and managing editor Kiki Yablon asked me to audition for the paper by writing a few trial blog posts. Their ideas were a joke-laden baseball/sports blog about my rage regarding the White Sox’s catastrophic post-2005 World Series failures, and one celebrating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. (What can I say? I’m tall, I have a beard, and I’m from Illinois. I’m a Lincoln guy from birth.) What I wrote for them was very bad, but for whatever reason, they didn’t write me off completely. In February 2010, they offered me a music column with my best friend Jessica Hopper—a weekly clearinghouse for good tunes, scene rumors, celebrity snark and awful puns that Kiki wisely christened [Gossip Wolf](. (In 2010, for some reason, there was a micro-trend of bands with “wolf” in their name; there is also a hard-to-follow Brothers Grimm fairy tale about a Gossip Wolf who is tricked by a fox into stealing a chicken and gets lye dumped on her by angry farmers for her trouble. Make of that what you will!) Ten years and 500 or so columns later, [Gossip Wolf]( is still going strong, largely because of the diligent hard work and support of many Reader folks over the decade. When Jessica handed off her half of the column to [Leor Galil]( he and I didn’t know each other well. I’m so glad that he and I have become dear friends, and not just because he’s such an amazing storyteller and wit. It’s a high privilege to have Leor as my collaborator. Our work is only presentable due to the considerable efforts of music editor Philip Montoro, who always sharpens our prose, makes sure we don’t blunder the facts and keeps our goofy voices in check week after week. The Reader’s peerless art department always keeps the column awash in dope pictures and other good-looking visuals—a big shout-out to Sue Kwong for always having our backs. Keith Herzik’s amazing hand-drawn artwork set the manic tone for Gossip Wolf early on, and his wolf-y head is still our mascot. So many Reader writers past and present have offered advice, support, and story ideas over the years, including Peter Margasak, Kevin Warwick, Jake Austen, Luca Cimarusti, Miles Raymer, James Porter, Salem Collo-Julin, and Jamie Ludwig, among many others, as have countless interns who gave the column their (free) time. Finally, thanks to the Reader’s amazing leadership team, publisher Tracy Baim, and co-editors in chief Karen Hawkins and Sujay Kumar, for keeping us in print and pixels. In my humble opinion, the Chicago Reader is as outstanding a paper as it has ever been, and has a brilliant future ahead thanks to this top-notch leadership. All of that being said, Gossip Wolf’s longevity is mostly due to our readers and fellow Chicago music fans—and the musicians, artists, poets, photographers, DJs, choreographers, dancers, zinesters, scenesters and club kids that keep Leor and I busy. I never get tired of banging the drum: our music scene is the most vibrant, hardest-working, spirited, and diverse in the world, and new wonders keep arriving week after week after week. Let’s go for ten more! [Daisychain gives women and nonbinary DJs the platform they deserve]( Alicia Greco’s weekly podcast has already posted 110 mixes, fostering a community that won’t stay marginalized much longer. By [Leor Galil]( [@imLeor]( [The Pitchfork Music Festival announces its 2020 lineup]( For its 15th year, the famously eclectic fest has booked headliners the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Run the Jewels, and the National. By [Leor Galil]( [@imLeor]( [Defending your life]( How to Defend Yourself and Do You Feel Anger? ask us to consider how to survive patriarchy without losing our minds—and bodies. By [Kerry Reid]( [@kerryreid]( ["BUILD YOUR SELF," Light in Winter, Uppers and Downers, and more to do this weekend]( Arts and culture happenings from Fri 2/21 to Sun 2/23. By [Reader staff]( [‘The Allure of Matter’ pushes boundaries]( An exhibition in two parts—Part I: Wrightwood 659 By [S. Nicole Lane]( [@snicolelane]( [Heroes, terrorists, and the police]( The lack of congressional oversight on ITTA—a small police training company founded in Chicago that has trained more than 600 officers in El Salvador—is even more problematic given the behavior of some of the U.S. officers running the program. By [Dana Brozost-Kelleher]( [@brozost]( [Alison Flowers]( [@flowersalison]( [Ellen Glover]( [Danielle Mackey]( and [Annie Nguyen]( [@nguyen_ap]( [Illinois’s Equitable Restrooms Act is a victory for all]( The legislation requires all single-stall restrooms in the state to be designated all-gender. By [Phoenix A. Matthews]( [Issue of Feb 20-26, 2020 Vol. 49, No. 20]( [Download Issue]( (PDF) [DONATE]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2020 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader 2930 S. 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