Chicago Humanities Festival — discussions and performances

Chicago Humanities Festival is in its spring run now, with neighborhood-based days and author talks stretching from April 18 to May 17 across Chicago and Evanston. (chicagohumanities.org, choosechicago.com) The spring lineup is organized around three anchor dates: Bridgeport Day on April 18, Lakeview Day on May 9, and Northwestern University Day on May 17. Chicago Humanities Festival says its spring program mixes talks, readings, walking tours, bus tours, and performances. (chicagohumanities.org, chicagohumanities.org) Bridgeport Day used Ramova Theatre and Co-Prosperity as its main hubs, with programs on housing justice, public health in the fentanyl era, adaptive reuse, and Chicago music history. The April 18 schedule also included tours with Shermann “Dilla” Thomas and Brick of Chicago, plus appearances by Ibram X. Kendi, Mayor Brandon Johnson, Yann Martel, and Art Spiegelman. (chicagohumanities.org) Lakeview Day is set for the Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture on May 9, with David Axelrod and David French scheduled at 11 a.m., Jelani Cobb at 4 p.m., Kimberlé Crenshaw at 6:30 p.m., and Jad Abumrad with Lynda Barry at 7 p.m. The same day also includes architecture programming from Brick of Chicago and Peter Sagal’s Constitution Sessions. (chicagohumanities.org, chicagohumanities.org) Northwestern University Day closes the spring festival on May 17 in Evanston, with Mary Beard at 11 a.m., John Waters at 5 p.m., and Chicago-born novelist Veronica Roth at 7 p.m. Festival listings show Beard’s event is sold out, while Waters and Roth were listed with tickets available as of this week. (chicagohumanities.org, chicagohumanities.org, chicagohumanities.org, chicagohumanities.org) The festival’s format has shifted from a single-day event into a year-round arts-and-ideas program over more than 30 years. Chicago Humanities Festival says its annual events now run across the region, from Englewood and the South Shore to Evanston, and feature authors, artists, journalists, policy makers, and scholars. (chicagohumanities.org) That wider footprint shows up in the venues. This spring’s programs are appearing at places including Francis W. Parker School, Ramova Theatre, Co-Prosperity, the Athenaeum Center, Salt Shed’s Three Top Lounge, and Northwestern’s Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. (chicagohumanities.org, chicagohumanities.org, chicagohumanities.org) The schedule is still moving. One example: Chicago Humanities Festival currently lists Padma Lakshmi on its May 9 Lakeview Day page, but an archived event page says her “Padma’s All American” appearance was canceled and ticket holders would be refunded automatically. (chicagohumanities.org, chicagohumanities.org) For people planning around the remaining dates, the clearest guide is the festival’s live events page and box office, which also notes a new ticketing system is in place this spring. The through line is the same one Chicago Humanities has leaned on for decades: big public conversations, spread across neighborhoods, with books, politics, architecture, music, and performance sharing the same bill. (chicagohumanities.org, chicagohumanities.org, choosechicago.com)