Chicago Humanities Festival — Talks & Performances

Chicago Humanities is in the middle of its spring run, with author talks, panel discussions and live performances scheduled across Chicago through May 17. (chicagohumanities.org) The nonprofit’s spring festival is organized around citywide events and three larger neighborhood days: Bridgeport on April 18, Lakeview on May 9 and Northwestern University in Evanston on May 17. Public ticket sales for the spring lineup opened on February 26. (chicagohumanities.org) This year’s lineup includes writers, media figures and public officials, with programs featuring R.F. Kuang on April 11, Michael Pollan on April 15, NPR’s *Planet Money* on April 23, Padma Lakshmi on May 9 and Mary Beard on May 17. (chicagohumanities.org) (chicago.suntimes.com) The festival’s neighborhood format pushes some of its biggest events outside a single downtown venue. Bridgeport Day paired talks at Ramova Theatre and Co-Prosperity with bus and walking tours, while Lakeview Day is set for the Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture and Northwestern Day will spread across multiple campus spaces in Evanston. (chicagohumanities.org) That structure reflects how Chicago Humanities has been presenting the spring season: not as one weekend convention, but as a weeks-long series that mixes national headliners with local historians, artists and neighborhood institutions. The organization said the program ranges from politics and healthcare to literature, food, architecture and music. (chicagohumanities.org) The Bridgeport slate showed that blend clearly. It included a conversation with Mayor Brandon Johnson and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, a housing justice discussion with Tonika Lewis Johnson, Amanda Williams and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, tours led by Shermann “Dilla” Thomas, and a performance from composer Charles Joseph Smith. (chicago.suntimes.com) (wbez.org) The later festival days lean on a similar mix of civic and cultural programming. Lakeview Day includes David Axelrod and David French in conversation, and Northwestern Day includes programs on politics, history, healthcare, literature, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, along with a session on Frida Kahlo’s legacy featuring three of her great-nieces. (chicagohumanities.org) (wbez.org) Chicago’s tourism agency lists the festival in its 2026 citywide event guide alongside larger music, food and neighborhood festivals. The remaining spring dates give the series another three-plus weeks on the calendar before it closes on May 17. (choosechicago.com)