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The May issue of the Chicago Reader is online now! Explore the issue at the link in our bio. Distribution of the print paper begins Wednesdays and continues through Friday.

What's inside? In the latest installment of Just Neighbors, features writer Katie Prout takes readers through the final days of an encampment at Legion Park, culminating in the eviction of 20 or so people from their tent homes.

Contributor Dave Byrnes examines Cook County state’s attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s complicated relationship with the Pretrial Fairness Act. Plus, theater and dance editor Kerry Reid details how theatermakers and advocates are reckoning with AI’s place onstage.

On the cover: Calamity June by Chicago-based illustrator and writer @hannahbessross

Being a tipped worker in certain contexts can be incredibly lucrative. At Michelin-starred restaurants in the Gold Coast, big spenders leave big tips. But these servers don’t represent the vast majority of the 80,000 tipped workers in Chicago, many of whom struggle to make ends meet.

If an employee doesn’t make enough tips to bring their hourly wage to the minimum, their employer is supposed to supplement their pay. But many workers argue that bars and restaurants routinely flout the law and that merely earning minimum wage doesn’t leave them with enough to survive.

In 2023, tipped workers and advocates successfully fought to eliminate the subminimum wage in Chicago, part of a compromise between the proworker One Fair Wage campaign and the pro-industry Illinois Restaurant Association.

That debate reentered the zeitgeist this winter as restaurant owners, represented by the IRA, sought to undo the compromise just two and a half years into the five-year phase-out of the subminimum wage.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Devyn-Marshall Brown (DMB) (@dmbrown_tboy)
📸 Nguyen Tran for Chicago Reader (@ontheleft)

Being a tipped worker in certain contexts can be incredibly lucrative. At Michelin-starred restaurants in the Gold Coast, big spenders leave big tips. But these servers don’t represent the vast majority of the 80,000 tipped workers in Chicago, many of whom struggle to make ends meet.

If an employee doesn’t make enough tips to bring their hourly wage to the minimum, their employer is supposed to supplement their pay. But many workers argue that bars and restaurants routinely flout the law and that merely earning minimum wage doesn’t leave them with enough to survive.

In 2023, tipped workers and advocates successfully fought to eliminate the subminimum wage in Chicago, part of a compromise between the proworker One Fair Wage campaign and the pro-industry Illinois Restaurant Association.

That debate reentered the zeitgeist this winter as restaurant owners, represented by the IRA, sought to undo the compromise just two and a half years into the five-year phase-out of the subminimum wage.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Devyn-Marshall Brown (DMB) (@dmbrown_tboy)
📸 Nguyen Tran for Chicago Reader (@ontheleft)

Being a tipped worker in certain contexts can be incredibly lucrative. At Michelin-starred restaurants in the Gold Coast, big spenders leave big tips. But these servers don’t represent the vast majority of the 80,000 tipped workers in Chicago, many of whom struggle to make ends meet.

If an employee doesn’t make enough tips to bring their hourly wage to the minimum, their employer is supposed to supplement their pay. But many workers argue that bars and restaurants routinely flout the law and that merely earning minimum wage doesn’t leave them with enough to survive.

In 2023, tipped workers and advocates successfully fought to eliminate the subminimum wage in Chicago, part of a compromise between the proworker One Fair Wage campaign and the pro-industry Illinois Restaurant Association.

That debate reentered the zeitgeist this winter as restaurant owners, represented by the IRA, sought to undo the compromise just two and a half years into the five-year phase-out of the subminimum wage.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Devyn-Marshall Brown (DMB) (@dmbrown_tboy)
📸 Nguyen Tran for Chicago Reader (@ontheleft)

Being a tipped worker in certain contexts can be incredibly lucrative. At Michelin-starred restaurants in the Gold Coast, big spenders leave big tips. But these servers don’t represent the vast majority of the 80,000 tipped workers in Chicago, many of whom struggle to make ends meet.

If an employee doesn’t make enough tips to bring their hourly wage to the minimum, their employer is supposed to supplement their pay. But many workers argue that bars and restaurants routinely flout the law and that merely earning minimum wage doesn’t leave them with enough to survive.

In 2023, tipped workers and advocates successfully fought to eliminate the subminimum wage in Chicago, part of a compromise between the proworker One Fair Wage campaign and the pro-industry Illinois Restaurant Association.

That debate reentered the zeitgeist this winter as restaurant owners, represented by the IRA, sought to undo the compromise just two and a half years into the five-year phase-out of the subminimum wage.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Devyn-Marshall Brown (DMB) (@dmbrown_tboy)
📸 Nguyen Tran for Chicago Reader (@ontheleft)

Mercado Central via Avondale . . .

. . . opens for business when @_chefshirley_aka Margot’s Fusion Kitchen, debuts at the next#MondayNightFoodball, the @chicago_reader’s weekly chef pop-up at @thattuchicago. Guatemalan street food: shuco mixtos, pupusas, chuchitos, and more this Monday, May 11, 5 PM till sellout. Happy hour starts with $5 beers and nonalcoholic drinks, and $12 bespoke cocktails by @the_coffeefairy until 7 PM. Swipe for the menu and full Foodball schedule. Story linked in bio. 📸 by Shirley Cisneros

Mercado Central via Avondale . . .

. . . opens for business when @_chefshirley_aka Margot’s Fusion Kitchen, debuts at the next#MondayNightFoodball, the @chicago_reader’s weekly chef pop-up at @thattuchicago. Guatemalan street food: shuco mixtos, pupusas, chuchitos, and more this Monday, May 11, 5 PM till sellout. Happy hour starts with $5 beers and nonalcoholic drinks, and $12 bespoke cocktails by @the_coffeefairy until 7 PM. Swipe for the menu and full Foodball schedule. Story linked in bio. 📸 by Shirley Cisneros

Mercado Central via Avondale . . .

. . . opens for business when @_chefshirley_aka Margot’s Fusion Kitchen, debuts at the next#MondayNightFoodball, the @chicago_reader’s weekly chef pop-up at @thattuchicago. Guatemalan street food: shuco mixtos, pupusas, chuchitos, and more this Monday, May 11, 5 PM till sellout. Happy hour starts with $5 beers and nonalcoholic drinks, and $12 bespoke cocktails by @the_coffeefairy until 7 PM. Swipe for the menu and full Foodball schedule. Story linked in bio. 📸 by Shirley Cisneros

Mercado Central via Avondale . . .

. . . opens for business when @_chefshirley_aka Margot’s Fusion Kitchen, debuts at the next#MondayNightFoodball, the @chicago_reader’s weekly chef pop-up at @thattuchicago. Guatemalan street food: shuco mixtos, pupusas, chuchitos, and more this Monday, May 11, 5 PM till sellout. Happy hour starts with $5 beers and nonalcoholic drinks, and $12 bespoke cocktails by @the_coffeefairy until 7 PM. Swipe for the menu and full Foodball schedule. Story linked in bio. 📸 by Shirley Cisneros

Mercado Central via Avondale . . .

. . . opens for business when @_chefshirley_aka Margot’s Fusion Kitchen, debuts at the next#MondayNightFoodball, the @chicago_reader’s weekly chef pop-up at @thattuchicago. Guatemalan street food: shuco mixtos, pupusas, chuchitos, and more this Monday, May 11, 5 PM till sellout. Happy hour starts with $5 beers and nonalcoholic drinks, and $12 bespoke cocktails by @the_coffeefairy until 7 PM. Swipe for the menu and full Foodball schedule. Story linked in bio. 📸 by Shirley Cisneros

Mercado Central via Avondale . . .

. . . opens for business when @_chefshirley_aka Margot’s Fusion Kitchen, debuts at the next#MondayNightFoodball, the @chicago_reader’s weekly chef pop-up at @thattuchicago. Guatemalan street food: shuco mixtos, pupusas, chuchitos, and more this Monday, May 11, 5 PM till sellout. Happy hour starts with $5 beers and nonalcoholic drinks, and $12 bespoke cocktails by @the_coffeefairy until 7 PM. Swipe for the menu and full Foodball schedule. Story linked in bio. 📸 by Shirley Cisneros

Mercado Central via Avondale . . .

. . . opens for business when @_chefshirley_aka Margot’s Fusion Kitchen, debuts at the next#MondayNightFoodball, the @chicago_reader’s weekly chef pop-up at @thattuchicago. Guatemalan street food: shuco mixtos, pupusas, chuchitos, and more this Monday, May 11, 5 PM till sellout. Happy hour starts with $5 beers and nonalcoholic drinks, and $12 bespoke cocktails by @the_coffeefairy until 7 PM. Swipe for the menu and full Foodball schedule. Story linked in bio. 📸 by Shirley Cisneros

Looking for a print copy of the Reader? We've got you covered.

The May issue is out online now—explore the issue at the link in our bio. Distribution begins today and continues through Friday.

Looking for a print copy of the Reader? We've got you covered.

The May issue is out online now—explore the issue at the link in our bio. Distribution begins today and continues through Friday.

Looking for a print copy of the Reader? We've got you covered.

The May issue is out online now—explore the issue at the link in our bio. Distribution begins today and continues through Friday.

Looking for a print copy of the Reader? We've got you covered.

The May issue is out online now—explore the issue at the link in our bio. Distribution begins today and continues through Friday.

Looking for a print copy of the Reader? We've got you covered.

The May issue is out online now—explore the issue at the link in our bio. Distribution begins today and continues through Friday.

What do you want to know about the multibillion-dollar Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park? Come ask us!

Join the Reader and local coffee shop the Brew for coffee, pastries, and a community-centered conversation about the proposed quantum computing megadevelopment being built at the former U.S. Steel South Works site in South Chicago.

Reader contributor Grey Lucas will lead a moderated discussion between community groups, local business owners, and politicians, followed by an audience Q&A.

Chicago real estate developers Related Midwest and CRG have begun construction on a state-of-the-art quantum computing campus on the former U.S. Steel South Works site in South Chicago, with plans to finish the first few buildings in 2027.

Local organizers say many residents who live closest to the development still know very little about the controversial project, known as the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), coming to their neighborhood, and are concerned about its potential to displace residents, its ties to the military, its impact on the environment, and whether local residents will benefit from jobs it creates.

To learn more, the Reader asked major players involved in the project about their role in the development, their research in South Chicago, and how quantum technology could be used in the future.

We’ve compiled their responses, along with other publicly available information. Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Grey Lucas
📸 Shira Friedman-Parks (@shifripar)

Chicago real estate developers Related Midwest and CRG have begun construction on a state-of-the-art quantum computing campus on the former U.S. Steel South Works site in South Chicago, with plans to finish the first few buildings in 2027.

Local organizers say many residents who live closest to the development still know very little about the controversial project, known as the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), coming to their neighborhood, and are concerned about its potential to displace residents, its ties to the military, its impact on the environment, and whether local residents will benefit from jobs it creates.

To learn more, the Reader asked major players involved in the project about their role in the development, their research in South Chicago, and how quantum technology could be used in the future.

We’ve compiled their responses, along with other publicly available information. Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Grey Lucas
📸 Shira Friedman-Parks (@shifripar)

Chicago real estate developers Related Midwest and CRG have begun construction on a state-of-the-art quantum computing campus on the former U.S. Steel South Works site in South Chicago, with plans to finish the first few buildings in 2027.

Local organizers say many residents who live closest to the development still know very little about the controversial project, known as the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), coming to their neighborhood, and are concerned about its potential to displace residents, its ties to the military, its impact on the environment, and whether local residents will benefit from jobs it creates.

To learn more, the Reader asked major players involved in the project about their role in the development, their research in South Chicago, and how quantum technology could be used in the future.

We’ve compiled their responses, along with other publicly available information. Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Grey Lucas
📸 Shira Friedman-Parks (@shifripar)

Chicago real estate developers Related Midwest and CRG have begun construction on a state-of-the-art quantum computing campus on the former U.S. Steel South Works site in South Chicago, with plans to finish the first few buildings in 2027.

Local organizers say many residents who live closest to the development still know very little about the controversial project, known as the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), coming to their neighborhood, and are concerned about its potential to displace residents, its ties to the military, its impact on the environment, and whether local residents will benefit from jobs it creates.

To learn more, the Reader asked major players involved in the project about their role in the development, their research in South Chicago, and how quantum technology could be used in the future.

We’ve compiled their responses, along with other publicly available information. Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Grey Lucas
📸 Shira Friedman-Parks (@shifripar)

Chicago real estate developers Related Midwest and CRG have begun construction on a state-of-the-art quantum computing campus on the former U.S. Steel South Works site in South Chicago, with plans to finish the first few buildings in 2027.

Local organizers say many residents who live closest to the development still know very little about the controversial project, known as the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), coming to their neighborhood, and are concerned about its potential to displace residents, its ties to the military, its impact on the environment, and whether local residents will benefit from jobs it creates.

To learn more, the Reader asked major players involved in the project about their role in the development, their research in South Chicago, and how quantum technology could be used in the future.

We’ve compiled their responses, along with other publicly available information. Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Grey Lucas
📸 Shira Friedman-Parks (@shifripar)

Chicago real estate developers Related Midwest and CRG have begun construction on a state-of-the-art quantum computing campus on the former U.S. Steel South Works site in South Chicago, with plans to finish the first few buildings in 2027.

Local organizers say many residents who live closest to the development still know very little about the controversial project, known as the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), coming to their neighborhood, and are concerned about its potential to displace residents, its ties to the military, its impact on the environment, and whether local residents will benefit from jobs it creates.

To learn more, the Reader asked major players involved in the project about their role in the development, their research in South Chicago, and how quantum technology could be used in the future.

We’ve compiled their responses, along with other publicly available information. Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Grey Lucas
📸 Shira Friedman-Parks (@shifripar)

What do Sunshy, Cloakroom, and Lovesliescrushing all have in common? All three Chicagoland bands will perform at the Aragon Ballroom on May 23 as part of the inaugural Chicago iteration of @slideawayfest. The festival celebrates shoegaze in all its forms, and as the aforementioned local bands show, there's no single way to make this noisy rock subgenre.

As the style's popularity continues to surge, Reader staff writer Leor Galil wanted to know: is there a distinct midwest shoegaze sound? He posed this question to more than a dozen musicians and experts for a sprawling feature about the history and legacy of this region's shoegaze scene. It's in the Reader's May issue, and online now.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Leor Galil (@therealimleor)
📸 Chloe Dutton; Eric Tan; Ayethaw Tun

What do Sunshy, Cloakroom, and Lovesliescrushing all have in common? All three Chicagoland bands will perform at the Aragon Ballroom on May 23 as part of the inaugural Chicago iteration of @slideawayfest. The festival celebrates shoegaze in all its forms, and as the aforementioned local bands show, there's no single way to make this noisy rock subgenre.

As the style's popularity continues to surge, Reader staff writer Leor Galil wanted to know: is there a distinct midwest shoegaze sound? He posed this question to more than a dozen musicians and experts for a sprawling feature about the history and legacy of this region's shoegaze scene. It's in the Reader's May issue, and online now.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Leor Galil (@therealimleor)
📸 Chloe Dutton; Eric Tan; Ayethaw Tun

What do Sunshy, Cloakroom, and Lovesliescrushing all have in common? All three Chicagoland bands will perform at the Aragon Ballroom on May 23 as part of the inaugural Chicago iteration of @slideawayfest. The festival celebrates shoegaze in all its forms, and as the aforementioned local bands show, there's no single way to make this noisy rock subgenre.

As the style's popularity continues to surge, Reader staff writer Leor Galil wanted to know: is there a distinct midwest shoegaze sound? He posed this question to more than a dozen musicians and experts for a sprawling feature about the history and legacy of this region's shoegaze scene. It's in the Reader's May issue, and online now.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Leor Galil (@therealimleor)
📸 Chloe Dutton; Eric Tan; Ayethaw Tun

If Chicago taught artisanal metalsmith Julyssa Rose how to notice beauty, Florence taught her how to forge it. In 2021, after months of researching metalsmithing on her own, she took a small drop-in class at Lillstreet Art Center.

Later, over the course of a month in Florence, she refined her skills by studying intensively under a master for eight hours a day.

Rose also makes metal pet tags and journal charms, inspired in part by her pup Florence, a chocolate Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, named for the city that changed everything. In a recent Instagram post, Chappell Roan’s creative director, Ramisha “Misha” Sattar, showed her journal adorned with a Julyssa Rose pendant, another sign of how Rose’s work enters private life.

For some wearers, her pieces become little vessels of remembrance, carrying weddings, loved ones gone, and fleeting intimacies with the natural world.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Leslie Hurtado (@leslie_hurtado_)
📸 Ashley Lane (@anfchicago)

If Chicago taught artisanal metalsmith Julyssa Rose how to notice beauty, Florence taught her how to forge it. In 2021, after months of researching metalsmithing on her own, she took a small drop-in class at Lillstreet Art Center.

Later, over the course of a month in Florence, she refined her skills by studying intensively under a master for eight hours a day.

Rose also makes metal pet tags and journal charms, inspired in part by her pup Florence, a chocolate Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, named for the city that changed everything. In a recent Instagram post, Chappell Roan’s creative director, Ramisha “Misha” Sattar, showed her journal adorned with a Julyssa Rose pendant, another sign of how Rose’s work enters private life.

For some wearers, her pieces become little vessels of remembrance, carrying weddings, loved ones gone, and fleeting intimacies with the natural world.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Leslie Hurtado (@leslie_hurtado_)
📸 Ashley Lane (@anfchicago)

If Chicago taught artisanal metalsmith Julyssa Rose how to notice beauty, Florence taught her how to forge it. In 2021, after months of researching metalsmithing on her own, she took a small drop-in class at Lillstreet Art Center.

Later, over the course of a month in Florence, she refined her skills by studying intensively under a master for eight hours a day.

Rose also makes metal pet tags and journal charms, inspired in part by her pup Florence, a chocolate Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, named for the city that changed everything. In a recent Instagram post, Chappell Roan’s creative director, Ramisha “Misha” Sattar, showed her journal adorned with a Julyssa Rose pendant, another sign of how Rose’s work enters private life.

For some wearers, her pieces become little vessels of remembrance, carrying weddings, loved ones gone, and fleeting intimacies with the natural world.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Leslie Hurtado (@leslie_hurtado_)
📸 Ashley Lane (@anfchicago)

In 2006, Chicago producer and DJ Beau Wanzer and his friend Chris Pappas launched a monthly dance series at Danny's dedicated to underground sounds. Named after a Throbbing Gristle song, Hot on the Heels mostly focused on minimal wave, industrial, experimental/noise, Dutch electro, and the weirder side of techno/house.

In the ensuing years, H.O.T.H. has showcased more than 600 live performers and DJs, and in the process its grown into the center of gravity for a busy solar system of subterranean dance music. Wanzer spoke to Gossip Wolf about the night's history and legacy ahead of its 20th anniversary blowout at the California Clipper on Saturday.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Leor Galil (@therealimleor)
📸 Drew Ryan (@mrdrewryan)

Community historian Will Quam’s new book shows that the story of brick and the story of Chicago are forever intertwined.

I thought I knew brick: red, made of clay, pretty to look at. Quam’s page (@brickofchicago) opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities. I lapped up his beautiful photos of bricks in different colors, shapes, and combinations, each accompanied by some fact about the building or architect or material. Even then, I didn’t think much about why the city had so many bricks. For that, I have to thank Quam’s debut book, Fire and Clay: How Bricks Reveal the Hidden History of Chicago (University of Chicago Press).

Fire and Clay is part history, part architectural study, part bricklaying for dummies. It begins with brick’s early years as a mostly utilitarian material that turned a booming frontier town into a permanent city, and it concludes with brick’s use today as an almost entirely decorative element. Along the way, Quam transports readers from building to building—some famous but most remarkably ordinary—to illustrate the constant push and pull of form and function that gives Chicago its distinctive feel.

Quam celebrates the book launch on Tuesday, May 5 at the Driehaus Museum alongside Emmy-winning Public Television writer, producer, and host Geoffrey Baer.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Shawn Mulcahy
📸 Will Quam (@brickofchicago)

Community historian Will Quam’s new book shows that the story of brick and the story of Chicago are forever intertwined.

I thought I knew brick: red, made of clay, pretty to look at. Quam’s page (@brickofchicago) opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities. I lapped up his beautiful photos of bricks in different colors, shapes, and combinations, each accompanied by some fact about the building or architect or material. Even then, I didn’t think much about why the city had so many bricks. For that, I have to thank Quam’s debut book, Fire and Clay: How Bricks Reveal the Hidden History of Chicago (University of Chicago Press).

Fire and Clay is part history, part architectural study, part bricklaying for dummies. It begins with brick’s early years as a mostly utilitarian material that turned a booming frontier town into a permanent city, and it concludes with brick’s use today as an almost entirely decorative element. Along the way, Quam transports readers from building to building—some famous but most remarkably ordinary—to illustrate the constant push and pull of form and function that gives Chicago its distinctive feel.

Quam celebrates the book launch on Tuesday, May 5 at the Driehaus Museum alongside Emmy-winning Public Television writer, producer, and host Geoffrey Baer.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Shawn Mulcahy
📸 Will Quam (@brickofchicago)

Community historian Will Quam’s new book shows that the story of brick and the story of Chicago are forever intertwined.

I thought I knew brick: red, made of clay, pretty to look at. Quam’s page (@brickofchicago) opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities. I lapped up his beautiful photos of bricks in different colors, shapes, and combinations, each accompanied by some fact about the building or architect or material. Even then, I didn’t think much about why the city had so many bricks. For that, I have to thank Quam’s debut book, Fire and Clay: How Bricks Reveal the Hidden History of Chicago (University of Chicago Press).

Fire and Clay is part history, part architectural study, part bricklaying for dummies. It begins with brick’s early years as a mostly utilitarian material that turned a booming frontier town into a permanent city, and it concludes with brick’s use today as an almost entirely decorative element. Along the way, Quam transports readers from building to building—some famous but most remarkably ordinary—to illustrate the constant push and pull of form and function that gives Chicago its distinctive feel.

Quam celebrates the book launch on Tuesday, May 5 at the Driehaus Museum alongside Emmy-winning Public Television writer, producer, and host Geoffrey Baer.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Shawn Mulcahy
📸 Will Quam (@brickofchicago)

In the days that followed violent immigration raids in Humboldt Park last October, Austin Moulder made a decision: He was going to quit his stable corporate job and work full-time on Studio E, a Latin social dance studio he had started in March.

Moulder frequently attended socials like Mambo Revival, Salsa Sundays at Cubby Bear, and Baila Tuesdays Barcocina. He started teaching dance classes at the Humboldt Park Wellness Center in the summer of 2025: salsa on Tuesdays and bachata on Thursdays, with other pop-ups around the city.

These classes morphed into Studio E, a dance studio dedicated to making salsa accessible, rooted in the idea that salsa and bachata are community-based dance forms meant for the kitchen, for the barrio, for the streets. Latin social dance is improvisational by nature—Moulder wanted his students to learn enough salsa and bachata to participate in community events.

Chicago residents who signed up for Studio E classes found them to be a source of community as ICE continued its presence in the city.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Anika Asthana
📸 Austin Moulder (@austinrene_official)

In the days that followed violent immigration raids in Humboldt Park last October, Austin Moulder made a decision: He was going to quit his stable corporate job and work full-time on Studio E, a Latin social dance studio he had started in March.

Moulder frequently attended socials like Mambo Revival, Salsa Sundays at Cubby Bear, and Baila Tuesdays Barcocina. He started teaching dance classes at the Humboldt Park Wellness Center in the summer of 2025: salsa on Tuesdays and bachata on Thursdays, with other pop-ups around the city.

These classes morphed into Studio E, a dance studio dedicated to making salsa accessible, rooted in the idea that salsa and bachata are community-based dance forms meant for the kitchen, for the barrio, for the streets. Latin social dance is improvisational by nature—Moulder wanted his students to learn enough salsa and bachata to participate in community events.

Chicago residents who signed up for Studio E classes found them to be a source of community as ICE continued its presence in the city.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Anika Asthana
📸 Austin Moulder (@austinrene_official)

In the days that followed violent immigration raids in Humboldt Park last October, Austin Moulder made a decision: He was going to quit his stable corporate job and work full-time on Studio E, a Latin social dance studio he had started in March.

Moulder frequently attended socials like Mambo Revival, Salsa Sundays at Cubby Bear, and Baila Tuesdays Barcocina. He started teaching dance classes at the Humboldt Park Wellness Center in the summer of 2025: salsa on Tuesdays and bachata on Thursdays, with other pop-ups around the city.

These classes morphed into Studio E, a dance studio dedicated to making salsa accessible, rooted in the idea that salsa and bachata are community-based dance forms meant for the kitchen, for the barrio, for the streets. Latin social dance is improvisational by nature—Moulder wanted his students to learn enough salsa and bachata to participate in community events.

Chicago residents who signed up for Studio E classes found them to be a source of community as ICE continued its presence in the city.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Anika Asthana
📸 Austin Moulder (@austinrene_official)

In the days that followed violent immigration raids in Humboldt Park last October, Austin Moulder made a decision: He was going to quit his stable corporate job and work full-time on Studio E, a Latin social dance studio he had started in March.

Moulder frequently attended socials like Mambo Revival, Salsa Sundays at Cubby Bear, and Baila Tuesdays Barcocina. He started teaching dance classes at the Humboldt Park Wellness Center in the summer of 2025: salsa on Tuesdays and bachata on Thursdays, with other pop-ups around the city.

These classes morphed into Studio E, a dance studio dedicated to making salsa accessible, rooted in the idea that salsa and bachata are community-based dance forms meant for the kitchen, for the barrio, for the streets. Latin social dance is improvisational by nature—Moulder wanted his students to learn enough salsa and bachata to participate in community events.

Chicago residents who signed up for Studio E classes found them to be a source of community as ICE continued its presence in the city.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Anika Asthana
📸 Austin Moulder (@austinrene_official)

About ten families attended the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office’s sixth Missing Persons Day event last Saturday, April 18, where a mix of medical examiner personnel, law enforcement, and the family and friends of missing people shared DNA swabs, medical records, and other information in an effort to identify missing and unidentified people.

Chicago’s Missing Persons Day exists because, for too many families, the system meant to find their loved ones has fallen short.

Antonio Rogers said coming to Missing Persons Day was “like a breath of fresh air” because he felt like every person he spoke with paid attention to every detail regarding his daughter and what happened to her.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Madison Roth
📸 Shira Friedman-Parks (@shifripar)

About ten families attended the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office’s sixth Missing Persons Day event last Saturday, April 18, where a mix of medical examiner personnel, law enforcement, and the family and friends of missing people shared DNA swabs, medical records, and other information in an effort to identify missing and unidentified people.

Chicago’s Missing Persons Day exists because, for too many families, the system meant to find their loved ones has fallen short.

Antonio Rogers said coming to Missing Persons Day was “like a breath of fresh air” because he felt like every person he spoke with paid attention to every detail regarding his daughter and what happened to her.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Madison Roth
📸 Shira Friedman-Parks (@shifripar)

About ten families attended the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office’s sixth Missing Persons Day event last Saturday, April 18, where a mix of medical examiner personnel, law enforcement, and the family and friends of missing people shared DNA swabs, medical records, and other information in an effort to identify missing and unidentified people.

Chicago’s Missing Persons Day exists because, for too many families, the system meant to find their loved ones has fallen short.

Antonio Rogers said coming to Missing Persons Day was “like a breath of fresh air” because he felt like every person he spoke with paid attention to every detail regarding his daughter and what happened to her.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

✍️ Madison Roth
📸 Shira Friedman-Parks (@shifripar)