The wind comes off the lake cold sometimes, even in June, whistling through the gaps in the elevated train tracks down on Wells Street. It’s the kind of morning where people duck their heads, hurrying to get inside, some to the high-rise trading floors with the panoramic views, others to the windowless cubicles where the Read More …
Tag: studs
The Golden Calf in the Cloud
It has always been a theory of mine that if you want to know what the Lord God thinks of money, you have only to look at those to whom He gives it. But these days, one doesn’t even have to look very hard; the details are delivered directly to the glowing little glass bricks Read More …
The Gilded Pew: A View from the Street
Channeling the Spirit of Studs Terkel The tape is rolling. It’s 2026, and the air in Chicago is thick with the same old promises, just wrapped in newer, shinier digital foil. We’re talking about faith today folks. Not the kind that moves mountains, but the kind that moves poll numbers. I’m sitting here thinking about Read More …
A View from the Floor
Workers everywhere feel very bad about their job security By Studs Terkel (as if today) I was talking to a fella the other day, let’s call him Joe. Joe’s a machinist, or he was, until the shop “realigned” its priorities. He’s got calloused hands and a Bible on his nightstand that’s seen better days. Joe Read More …
The Gospel of the Bottom Line
I’ve been walking the blocks of Chicago lately, from the glass canyons of the Loop to the bungalows of Canaryville, and I’m hearing a new kind of silence. It’s the silence of a machine, specifically, those Waymo rigs now prowling our streets, cameras spinning like the eyes of a mechanical spider. They call it “testing.” Read More …