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The Chicago Maroon
David Axelrod and Karl Rove Discuss Upcoming Election
On October 17, David Axelrod, former chief strategist to the Obama campaigns and founding director of the Institute of Politics (IOP), sat down with Karl Rove, former senior advisor to President George W. Bush, to analyze the upcoming 2024 presidential election. The event, entitled “Battleground Banter,” was part of the IOP’s Speaker Series for autumn quarter.
Sigur Rós: A Love Letter to the Ensemble
College is all about learning what of your parents’ advice holds in the real world. After experiencing Sigur Rós live, I can say that my father’s tip to see them may have been the best I’ve received. On September 21, Sigur Rós brought an atmospheric performance to Auditorium Theatre, accompanied by the Wordless Music Orchestra’s forty-one-piece ensemble.
The Spirit that Self-Negates
I was heartened to read the Maroon’s coverage of Professor Ben Zhao. His project, Glaze, employs developments in AI to both hinder and attack the ability of image models to recognize and catalog faces. It’s the kind of technology that is going to make the lives of some people—namely, image and video model developers—a little more difficult for a while to come. It seems perverse, that this technology is now being deployed against itself. And yet, this was the first AI-related story I’ve read in months that genuinely excited me.
Beauty and Horror in “East Texas Hot Links” at the Court
It is 1955 in East Texas, and in the worn down, “colored only” Top o’ the Hill Café, anxiety simmers among East Texas Hot Links’ community of eight bantering, diverse characters. For most of the play this anxiety is like a shadow, ready to engulf the characters and pierce their facade of normalcy at any moment. In the otherwise relaxed and humorous bar atmosphere of the play, which opened September 6 at the Court Theatre, apprehension builds with a horror that is at once both engrossing and terrifying.
Sit Down. Sturgill Simpson Has Things That You Need to Hear.
“Sit down, baby,” Sturgill Simpson sings. “I got some things that you need to hear.”. These words lead the last track on country singer Simpson’s most recent album, Passage du Desir. On the winding nine-minute track, Simpson searches for a way to tell his lover that it’s time they moved on. “What if I told you / I’m not the man that you think I am?” Simpson wonders. “Would you listen / or would I only hear / the door behind you slam?”
The Arts Podcast, E2: BRAT Summer
Tune in to hear the second episode of the Arts podcast, where Elizabeth and Tiffany talk all things Brat (Charli xcx’s newest album) and the Sweat tour with Charli xcx and Troye Sivan with Shygirl as the opener. On this episode, they’ll also share their thoughts on whether Sam...
Faculty Forward Delivers Petition to UChicago Administration, Demands Wage Increases and Fairer Contracts
On October 3, about thirty members of Faculty Forward, the union representing non-tenure track faculty at the University of Chicago, gathered near the entrance of Levi Hall at 4 p.m. and delivered a petition to University administrators. The petition, addressed to University President Paul Alivisatos and signed by 415 union members—more than 80 percent of Faculty Forward—calls for competitive salaries, benefits comparable to other Top 20 schools, and fairer contract terms.
Special Report: Perspectives on the Pro-Palestine Encampment (Collected Interviews)
UChicago’s pro-Palestine encampment began last spring on April 29 and was cleared by UCPD on May 7. The Maroon‘s Celeste Alcalay conducted interviews over those nine days with an organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine, representatives for Maroons for Israel, a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine, and other groups and onlookers present at the encampment.
Photo Essay: UCUP Protest Ends With Three Arrests
A UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP) walkout and rally on October 11 escalated into physical confrontations between protesters and police after protesters locked Cobb Gate, graffitied University buildings and art, and surrounded a University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) police car that was holding a detained protester. Police responded with pepper spray and batons, and several protesters pushed and kicked officers. According to a University spokesperson, officers from UCPD and the Chicago Police Department (CPD) arrested three protesters for “criminal damage” and “battery to a police officer.”
LIVE UPDATES: UCUP Locks Cobb Gate, Protesters Arrested
The Chicago Maroon reported live from UChicago United for Palestine’s (UCUP) October 11 rally, which ended with the arrest of three protesters. Protesters locked Cobb Gate, which stands at the entrance of the main quad, before proceeding north toward Ratner Athletics Center, where several police officers used pepper spray and batons on protesters. The rally, which began at 2:30 p.m., morphed into a brawl involving at least 200 University- and community-affiliated protesters, 20 University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) officers, and more than 30 Chicago Police Department (CPD) officers.
Magic Protects This Space
It’s 5:30 a.m. on Thursday at Promontory Point. Two swimmers chart their course from the rocks, strapping swim caps around their chins and clipping brightly colored inflatable buoys around their waists. They descend the ladder on the edge of the rocks, wading through waist-high water before slipping in, bright neon swim caps indistinguishable from the buoys floating on the rippling surface. Surprised laughter echoes out as skin meets cold water. The sun is only just crossing the horizon, dyeing the sky a blazing pink and orange.
First Evanston Folk Festival Appreciates the Old and Attracts the New
During the first weekend of September, folk music fans from around Chicagoland and beyond dusted off their flannels, dug up merchandise from their local breweries, and donned their Carhartt overalls to head to the first ever Evanston Folk Festival in Dawes Park on the lake shore. The Evanston Folk Festival...
Chabad, Hillel Host Events Commemorating Anniversary of October 7 Attacks
On the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, Rohr Chabad at the University of Chicago and University of Chicago Hillel held two separate events in memory of those killed. Chabad organized a memorial and prayer in the Social Sciences Research Building, with guest speaker Emil Tessler, an Israeli citizen who served with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) special forces. Hillel held a concert in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, which included speeches by community members, musical performances, and a prayer for those killed in Israel on October 7.
A “Strange Few”: bôa at Thalia Hall
Few bands can claim to have written a song called “Strange Few” because, as lead singer Jasmine Rodgers quipped, “we’re strange, and there’s few of us maybe?” On September 20, British indie alt-rock band bôa played at Thalia Hall, the sixth stop in its sold-out North America tour; original band members Rodgers (vocals, guitar) and Alex Caird (bass) were joined on stage by Robin Diaz (drums), Harry Smith (multi-instrumentalist), Carlos Garcia (guitar), and Alex Patterson (violin). Original drummer Lee Sullivan was absent from the show.
Paul Alivisatos Discusses Free Speech, Budget, and 2030 Climate Plan
In an exclusive interview on October 2, co-Editors-in-Chief Kayla Rubenstein and Eva McCord and News Editor Tiffany Li spoke with University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos. In his autumn quarter welcome email to the community, Alivisatos reiterated the University’s stance on free speech expressed in the Chicago Principles. The University announced on September 26, a few days before classes started, that it had received a $100 million donation dedicated towards free speech which it intended to use for the Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression, and that it was launching a new climate and energy institute on October 30. The University also continues to face the financial challenges that came to light last year.
Crustsaders: a Scav Story
As I sprinted across the road separating Ida Noyes from the quad, the words of my soon-to-be-battle-worn comrades were drowned out by an ominous chant: “Max Pussy! Max Pussy! Max Pussy!” cried the voices, blending together with undeniable weight in a haze of matching purple t-shirts to represent Max Palevsky in this year’s hunt. I didn’t know it at the time, but this encounter would haunt the rest of my UChicago Scavenger Hunt (Scav) experience, foreshadowing our extremely close loss to the cat-based team. Extremely close. A minuscule difference. (They placed first and my team, the venerable Crustsaders, took home twelfth!) In any case, we had but one objective: to emerge victorious.
Eddie Izzard Presents a Suffocating yet Prescient Take on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is an intensely claustrophobic play. Set in a dreary Danish court, mired in a swamp of subtext-laden family drama, and lodged firmly within the lens of its famously neurotic protagonist, it can be a suffocating watch. It is doubly so when its eclectic cast of characters are all constrained to the repertoire of a single actress. But, while suffocation might sound like a bad thing, Eddie Izzard’s single-handed rendition of Hamlet transforms it into a revelatory force.
“I Saw the TV Glow”: When Reality and Fiction Collide
Who hasn’t gotten a little too invested in a TV show? Everyone has a show from which they can recite entire monologues, have the soundtrack playing on repeat, and even know all the behind-the-scenes drama. In their newest film, I Saw The TV Glow, director Jane Schoenbrun explores how such an innocent interest can turn into a darker obsession, making you doubt reality as fiction and fact collide. Simultaneously, the film presents Schoenbrun’s perspective on the complex and often conflicting emotions of the trans experience. After a sold-out screening at the Chicago Critics Film Festival and a successful festival run, I Saw The TV Glow has the potential to become a cult classic.
Falling Down the Rabbit Hole with Kokandy’s New Musical, “Alice by Heart”
Alice in Wonderland is a tale known to most: a girl sporting a blue frock and a white apron follows a rabbit down a hole that leads into the magical world known as Wonderland. But Kokandy Productions’ musical, Alice by Heart, takes the frequently used metaphor “down a rabbit hole” further, asking: What if Wonderland is the childlike world we escape to when things get tough?
Ride’s 2024 Tour Is Nostalgic Fun
Chicago’s babysitters were in short supply on May 16—every hip parent in the city was at Ride’s performance at Metro Chicago. The shoegaze band reunited in 2014 after breaking up following a 1988–96 stint. The concert’s attendees were clearly fans from the band’s original touring season; a decisive cheer erupted after singer and guitarist Mark Gardener asked who had been there for the band’s first run.
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First published in 1892, The Chicago Maroon is the University of Chicago's award-winning student newspaper of record.
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