Christopher Schroeder
@chrislschroed.bsky.social
an award-winning researcher who has published books, chapters, and articles and an emeritus professor who earned a PhD with distinction in rhetoric, linguistics, and US American literatures
"Of all the political dysfunction surrounding Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union, the obsession with buildings is perhaps the most bizarre of all." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/05/e...
Editorial: The heartbeat of a Chicago public school is a teacher and a student. Not a building.
Consolidation of CPS schools does not have to mean ‘torture and torment.’
chicagotribune.com
"The DSA comes tantalizingly close to diagnosing what frustrates so many young Americans: the influence of money in politics, a widening wealth gap and an economy that no longer seems to reward playing by the rules." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/30/e...
Editorial: What do Democratic socialists want? We took a look at their platform.
Chicagoans have already watched what happens when ideological ambitions collide with budget math, political compromise and the practical realities of governing. The result is dysfunction.
chicagotribune.com
"I find it troubling, and more than a bit ironic, that the US AI industry is adopting a centralized, authoritarian approach to AI governance, while China has taken the lead on open development of AI." @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Be skeptical of OpenAI’s rogue hacker agent story | John Thickstun
If OpenAI loudly proclaims how dangerous AI is, investors will hear how powerful it is. And who benefits from that?
theguardian.com
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804560...
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout: 9798217154746 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “profound, resplendent novel”* from Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout, a chance incident sparks a...
penguinrandomhouse.com
"But McGovern left a key element of fascism out of his speech yesterday: the alignment between the government and favored businesses. Fascism subordinates business activity to the needs of the government." @hcrichardson.bsky.social heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-22-2026
July 22, 2026
“The Republican Party’s new favorite talking point is calling Democrats communists,” Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) said yesterday on the floor of the U.S.
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
"A well-designed contemporary effort is perhaps the most agreeable and politically neutral way for the U.S. to overcome its present elite- and primary-driven polarization." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/22/o...
Political scientists: Why the US should consider making voting compulsory
There is a politically and legally feasible path to greater representation in the United States: compulsory voting.
chicagotribune.com
"Unfortunately, Chicago employers largely fail to take advantage of this because of how they evaluate, recruit and develop their employees." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/20/o...
Andrea Sáenz and Anna Truong: Chicago’s untapped treasure is our first-generation professionals
Chicago’s first-generation college graduates bring strengths that can be harder to recognize on a resume.
chicagotribune.com
"The teachers union has been unwilling to acknowledge the district’s lack of resources; now the union has to deal with the consequences of that painful reality." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/20/e...
Editorial: CTU’s ‘dead on arrival’ sound bite is no answer to the CPS budget woes
What happens when an immovable CTU meets an unstoppable CPS crisis.
chicagotribune.com
"But Americans shouldn’t buy that narrative. You cannot spend two decades building social media platforms that fuel misinformation, destabilize institutions and harm children, and then expect approval for a new technology that will hyperscale these problems." www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/16/o...
J.B. Branch: Brace yourself for the AI public relations blitz
Big Tech has a major accountability and responsibility problem. But the tech bros see it as nothing more than a serious PR problem.
chicagotribune.com
"Now, five years later, the results of the Republicans’ signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), passed without a single Democratic vote and signed into law last July, are revealing a very different set of priorities." @hcrichardson.bsky.social heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-15-2026
July 15, 2026
Exactly five years ago, on July 15, 2021, I wrote:
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
The Supreme Court closed its term with a major decision on digital privacy. The ruling holds that the Fourth Amendment applies to personal online data, a significant step in safeguarding private information from arbitrary government access.
Digital personal data is protected by the Fourth Amendment
The Supreme Court finished its term by reinforcing the fact that consumers' online information is constitutionally protected against the government. Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, law professor at George Wa...
marketplace.org
theconversation.com/reading-for-... @us.theconversation.com "But reading for pleasure also helps children learn more effectively and broadens how they view, interpret and interact with the world. It gives them a form of expression that fuels their imagination and empathy for themselves and others."
Reading for pleasure builds empathy in children, but fewer kids are picking up books just for the fun of it
As schools focus more on evidence-based reading instruction, less time is available for children to practice reading for pleasure.
theconversation.com
"A more practical goal is to reduce unnecessary and repeated exposures when doing so is easy and inexpensive, and does not create new problems." @us.theconversation.com theconversation.com/exposure-to-...
Exposure to everyday chemicals can add up – a toxicologist offers simple steps to reduce your dose
There’s no such thing as a ‘chemical-free’ life, but some simple steps can help you minimize exposures to daily chemicals.
theconversation.com
"At 250, that catastrophe is here. "Five platform corporations — Amazon, Google, Meta, Apple and Microsoft — perform functions once distributed across thousands of independent businesses." chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/...
The American experiment depends on the acts of ordinary people
America faces a sobering reality on its 250th birthday: The distance between the people making decisions and those living with the consequences has grown too large.
chicago.suntimes.com
"The city’s greatest historical talent may actually be synthesis. Chicago takes regional energy and scales it nationally." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/02/o...
Bijan C. Bayne: Why we should celebrate Chicago’s many gifts to the country this July Fourth
Chicago spent most of the 20th century shaping modern America. Stress-testing it, wiring it together, commercializing it and electrifying it.
chicagotribune.com
"Meanwhile, as the number of announced candidates in next year’s mayoral election grows seemingly by the day, Mayor Johnson’s efforts to hide this evidence of his administration’s incompetence are slowly unraveling." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/26/e...
Editorial: Mayor Brandon Johnson almost threw away $800 million of Chicago’s money in massive parking meter blunder
Incredibly, the terrible parking deal almost got $800 million worse.
chicagotribune.com
"But we learned at Nuremberg that just following orders is no legal or moral defense. For everyone who espouses some measure of morality, there must be a red line they will not cross." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/26/o...
Elizabeth Shackelford: Civil servants should refuse to implement cruel policies, even if it costs them
President Donald Trump is deporting immigrants to African countries with travel advisories. Civil servants must resist.
chicagotribune.com
"Alderpeople learned Thursday that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration secretly offered about $3.3 billion last fall to reclaim control of the city’s parking meters — a whopping $800 million more than the next-highest bidder." @blockclubchi.bsky.social blockclubchicago.org/2026/06/25/m...
Mayor's $3 Billion Parking Meter Offer Was $800 Million More Than The Next Highest Bid, Investor Says
The Mayor’s Office has said a confidentiality agreement prevented them from sharing bid details, but private companies involved said the agreement has been waived “for some period of time.”
blockclubchicago.org
"The study . . . found the Loop’s creative economy generates $14.3 billion annually and supports 66,173 jobs, which is about 16 percent of all employment in the area." @blockclubchi.bsky.social blockclubchicago.org/2026/06/25/l...
Loop’s Creative Economy Generates $14.3 Billion A Year, Employs 66,000, New Study Says
The Chicago Loop Alliance says the findings bolster its push for a business improvement district to better market and support Downtown.
blockclubchicago.org
"Remember this - jazz gives you back your mind, reggae gives you back your body, but the blues, the blues, the blues will give you back your soul." @npr.org www.npr.org/2026/06/14/n...
Blues musician Taj Mahal discusses his new album 'Time'
NPR's David Folkenflik talks to blues musician Taj Mahal about his new album, "Time."
npr.org
To win a war means changing the politics of the enemy such that they must surrender. That is what Iran just did to the United States. snyder.substack.com/p/capitulati...
Capitulation Day
The dimensions of defeat, and the chance for recovery
snyder.substack.com
"This research speaks to a broader paradox between two of humanity’s deepest, and seemingly competing, motivations: certainty and curiosity. Both involve trade-offs." @us.theconversation.com theconversation.com/everyone-wan...
Everyone wants to think they’re open-minded – here’s why most people aren’t
Practicing existential humility means learning to live with the natural tension between our desires for certainty and curiosity.
theconversation.com
"What Wozniak understood — and what the booed speakers kept missing — is the distinction between labor and talent." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/17/o...
Philomena V. Mantella: Graduates cheered Steve Wozniak’s affirmation of humans over AI. Leaders, pay attention.
The story Gen Zers are being told about their future may be wrong. And the data is starting to agree with them.
chicagotribune.com
"Take a breath and let the police investigate for a day or two before you trot out a statement destined to land in international media and feed someone’s need for publicity." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/16/e...
Editorial: Has Chicago learned nothing from Jussie Smollett and his fake hate crime?
Politicians should take a breath before they make inflammatory statements.
chicagotribune.com
"Just 14% of 13-year-olds report reading for fun almost every day, the lowest level ever recorded by NAEP. In 1984, 35% of 13-year-olds read for fun daily." @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/16/n...
Editorial: Adolescents stop reading as America’s education crisis moves to middle school
Scrolling teens are forgetting how to read.
chicagotribune.com
"As of June, 25 office-to-residential conversions are underway in Downtown — more than the last 20 years combined, according to the city’s Department of Planning and Development." @chicago.suntimes.com chicago.suntimes.com/real-estate/...
Loop building goes residential in latest wave of office conversions
There's 25 office-to-residential building conversions happening in Downtown — more than the last 20 years combined, according to the city’s Department of Planning and Development.
chicago.suntimes.com
"The failure to respect language and dialect diversity threatens the fairness of the legal system for immigrants and citizens alike, as linguistic discrimination can extend to varieties of English as well." @us.theconversation.com theconversation.com/the-constitu...
The Constitution promises an interpreter for fair trials – US courts often can’t deliver
Federal protections promise a fair trial in a language you understand, but for millions who speak lesser-known languages, courts can’t keep that promise.
theconversation.com
