Producer for @SpookedPod from @SnapJudgment. Otherwise: @loveandradio, @NPRWeekend, @StoryCorps, @InStyle
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Articles by Anne Ford
Emoji Meaning: A Battle of the Ages
Emojis make up a large portion of our digital communication, and using the right ones can take social copy to the next level. However, some emojis have also taken on dual meanings beyond their literal image. These meanings can also vary among different generations and groups of people. As a brand, itโs important to know your audience when writing social copy that includes emojis to ensure your message carries the intended meaning (weโre looking at you, eggplant emoji).
Looking back
The Chicago Reader just posted this article from 2005. It’s a breezy read. Food TV by Anne FordFebruary 10, 2005 You don’t have to be a foodie to be a guest on WTTW’s Check, Please! In fact, your chances might be better if you’re not. David Manilow, creator and executive producer of the weekly show, which features ordinary people discussing their favorite local restaurants, doesn’t care nearly as much about expertise as he does about personality and diversity.
A veteran elementary school custodian considers himself a 'lucky man'
click to enlarge Parker Bright Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Michelet Boursiquot, elementary school custodian. "I'm the head custodian. I'm in charge of the whole building, and I love it. I clean, I repair things. Whatever is needed to assist the kids, I'm there. "I get there at six in the morning. I'm not a morning person, but I don't have no choice.
Making a fresh start
At this year’s Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Chris Wells won over a general session audience with a combination of high-energy showmanship and a serious message about mental health, drawn from his own experience. A few years after graduating from Leicester’s De Montfort University in 2011 with a First Class Honours degree in Media Production, Chris found himself depressed. “I’d felt a bit crap for months and months and months,” remembered Chris, now 29.
A church and community partnership helps bring fresh groceries to a Chicago food desert
In some ways, the Whole Foods in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side looks the same as Whole Foods does everywhere; there are pyramids of avocados and bouquets of fresh-cut flowers. But it also has unique touches, such as a small children’s lending library and a mural of the neighborhood. The Englewood Whole Foods is more than a place to grab groceries.
Think you want to be a travel writer? A pro describes the 'not sexy' reality of the job
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Elaine Glusac, freelance travel writer. "If you’ve ever flown in an airplane, you’ve probably read something by me; I write a lot for the in-flight magazines. I also write quite frequently for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic Traveler, Departures, Afar.
This week's Chicagoan: Margie Kruse, court reporter
A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. "When I went to court reporting school, there were 90 of us who entered and eight who graduated. The standards are really high—anything under 97 percent is an F—and you want them to be high, because we're making a verbatim record. If it was your lawsuit or your death penalty case, you'd like the guy taking the notes to get it perfect. An appeal can live or die on the correct record. So we really can't make mistakes.
‘This is a march of civil disobedience’ [PHOTOS]
Last Thursday protesters converged on Lake Shore Drive during rush hour and shut down traffic as they marched to Wrigley Field, where the Cubs were playing the Padres. Police estimated that 150 protesters proceeded to the ballpark, and while the organizers disputed that head count, they judged the event a success at "redistributing the [city's] pain" by disrupting the streets full of buses, fans, and tourists."This was an excellent showing.
Chicago trash man fears 'monsters of the garbage'
"Chicagoans" is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Jaime Queroz, commercial garbage man. "The hardest part of the day is probably waking up. My morning starts at 2:30 AM. There's an alarm that goes off. I wait another five minutes, and then I have another alarm that goes off. From there, I assemble my sandwiches.
April Abbott, ex-matchmaker, on love, hate, and Republicans
I haven't been doing matchmaking for a couple years now. I started in 1986. Initially, I was excited and hopeful, and then after a while I got burned out. I just got tired of being nice. Women would come in and say, "Oh, I'm so attractive, I spend so much time on myself, I'm so well-read, and I work out every day," and I would want to say, "Go fuck yourself." For a long time, the main fun was hearing all the stories.
This week’s Chicagoan: Jennifer French, FBI special agent/wedding coordinator
A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. "I investigate white-collar crime—bank fraud, money laundering. I was on the wire team for the Blagojevich case. I always find it funny when people go, 'God, I've never met an FBI agent before.' That's, like, the only people I know. "I don't look the part, which is kind of fun. My first bureau car was a minivan. I had a guy who wouldn't give me documents for a subpoena.
This week's Chicagoan: Saundra Bryant, square-dance caller
A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. "At one point, there were 25 or 30 African-American square-dance callers. Now there are probably 12 or 14 of us in the whole world. This is my job, and there are times I work more than 40 hours a week. Prior to that, I was an accountant. "It's hard to get African-Americans into square dancing, because the media still pushes it as an old-fashioned, redneck kind of thing. It is not.
Does creativity breed entitlement?
Based on the research of Maryam Kouchaki and Lynne Vincent But there was a catch. Lynn soon realized she would be putting up with a lot from these performers. Take, for instance, the vocalist who—if his music stand was wobbly or someone nearby was wearing too much perfume—would throw tantrums so violent that a security guard sat in on rehearsals. “There were times I would go to a concert, look at the personalities on stage, and think, ‘You’re a jerk.
Is it really lonely at the top?
Based on the research of Charleen R. Case, Kyle E. Conlon, Jon Maner, Adam Waytz, Eileen Chou, Joe C. Magee and Adam D. Galinsky It is a familiar stereotype: the isolated, beleaguered senior executive, surrounded by minions—yet crying on the inside, as emotionally forlorn as an orphan. Yes, as everyone knows, it’s lonely at the top. Or is it?
This week's Chicagoan: Kelwin Harris, DJ and former assistant to Mayor Daley
A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. "I was born and raised on the south side, in Auburn-Gresham. I went to high school, however, at Francis Parker in Lincoln Park. I was offered a scholarship, I visited the school and shadowed a freshman, and I was in love with the place. "I was completely accepted at Parker. I think they were as intrigued by me as I was by them. One of the things that bound a lot of us, white and black, was hip-hop culture.
Chicagoans: How I Got Into Gore
Part of an occasional series of oral histories, as told to Anne Ford I'm a freelance gore-effects artist for independent films in Chicago. It started off as just me dicking around in the bathroom with makeup that I bought at the costume shop down the street. Then when I started going to horror-movie conventions, I wound up meeting a lot of effects artists who were willing to teach me. People started offering me film jobs after seeing the makeup I wore to costume contests. I'm 21.
All Hyde Park wants to know: Where’s Bobo?
Lauren Salas Karen Bradley has put up more than 250 signs since Bobo's disappearance. Hyde Park resident Karen Bradley has been asking for her neighbors' help in finding her beloved mourning dove Bobo, who escaped from a window in her home last month. Bobo's plight gained the attention of the Hyde Park community when hand-drawn signs started popping up all over the neighborhood. Bradley has put up more than 250 of them, sometimes posting them for six hours a day.
We remember our coworkers’ misdeeds, but what about our own?
Based on the research of Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino New research from the Kellogg School’s Maryam Kouchaki may help explain why. Simply put, her findings suggest that people recall their unethical behaviors with less-than-vivid clarity—increasing the likelihood that they will take similar actions in the future. “It’s a phenomenon that we see over and over in organizations, in everyday life—people repeatedly engaging in unethical behavior,�
This week's Chicagoan: Rene Cudal, bike messenger
A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. "I've been in this business since '95. Seventeen years. The average is two to five years. A lot of people last a year. Those are the ones who try it in the summertime, and winter comes around, and next thing you know, they're like, 'Ah, that's it.' "My first day, I got lost, which was embarrassing. They gave me a run, and I was maybe a block away from it, but I ended up going the opposite direction, and I kept going for a while.
This week's Chicagoan: Andy Wilson, mushroom expert
A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. "Mushrooms are incredibly important, and also incredibly mysterious. My boss likes to say that fungi keep their secrets close to their chests. They're not like plants, where you can walk right up to them and measure their leaves. You have to dig in the soil. I do a lot of molecular work with DNA to address the questions that fungi try to hide. "It's so tempting to just lump them in with plants, because they don't move around.
Life Without a Script
Thomas James Jagodowski tries not to worry his parents. So when the mystery symptoms he'd been experiencing for months—the dizziness, the loss of coordination, the confusion, the constant sense of rocking back and forth—got especially bad one evening in the summer of 2000, he didn't call them. A fixture of Chicago's comedy community, Jagodowski has plenty of close friends, but he didn't call any of them; everyone he could think of was performing in a show somewhere. And he didn't call 911 either.
This week's Chicagoan: Marty Couch, Wiccan
A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. "If I ever write a book, it's going to be called Free and Cheap Wicca, because it's a religion that people can spend a lot of money on. You can buy everything from robes to crystals to cauldrons—all these things people think are going to make everything that much more magical—and for the most part, they're just making revenue for the source. You don't need to buy anything at all. The god and goddess are everywhere.
Getting Blunt about Medical Marijuana
When dispelling qualms about cannabis, Jennifer Hendzlik takes a highly hands-on approach. Hendzlik, a collection buyer for Anythink Libraries in Adams County, Colorado, helped lead a presentation on medical marijuana and libraries at the 2016 Public Library Association Conference in Denver. As part of the presentation, Hendzlik handed out rolling papers and oregano and taught attendees how to make their own joints—“just to take the fear out of it,” she says.
Bringing Harassment Out of the History Books
Melvil Dewey with the 1888 class of the School of Library Economy at Columbia College, New York City. Photo: ALA Archives As stories of sexual misconduct continue to dominate the news, some alleged perpetrators bear household names (Kevin Spacey, Garrison Keillor, Harvey Weinstein, James Franco), and some don’t (Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle, NPR editor Michael Oreskes, Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine).
June 2018 | American Libraries Magazine
Christina Orlando writes: “We are still celebrating Pride in June, and part of Pride is carrying the weight of the queer past, knowing that LGBTQ+ folks have fought to find joy and love over the years and how exciting it is that we can find joy and love today. If you’re interested in learning more about queer history, these 50 books are a good place to start. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but feeling connected to our past helps us connect to each other now.
Bryan Bowden, a substitute teacher who uses comedy as a learning tool
Five years ago, I got my master's in elementary education. I was doing comedy at the time, but I thought, "Let's do something more stable, like teaching. They'll always need teachers, right?" I taught full-time for a year and a half. I was in a room with 38 eighth graders on the west side. In the classroom I had, seven kids had their fathers shot to death. It was really hard to be like, "Hey, math is important!" Now I've been subbing for three years.
Sister in Arms
To the doctor on duty in a Philadelphia military hospital one day shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War, the unconscious soldier Robert Shurtliff probably seemed like just another feverish body on another sweaty sickbed. But when the doctor put his hand on Shurtliff's chest in search of a pulse, he discovered that his patient suffered from a condition then extremely rare among soldiers--womanhood.
Changing abusers' behavior gives domestic violence counselor hope
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Luana Lienhart, 39, a domestic violence counselor. An alarming number of my clients, 30 percent at least, were in an abusive relationship and didn’t realize it. One was upset that her partner had changed something on her Facebook page. I said, “How did that come to pass?” The partner said, “Oh, I’ve got her password. I’ve got all her passwords.
Adulting 101 | American Libraries Magazine
A library patron practices new sewing skills at Adulting 101, a program at Forsyth County Public Library in Cumming, Georgia.Photo: Jennifer Forbes When Teresa Lucas decided to teach basic life skills to young adults via an “Adulting 101” library program series last year, she was not expecting a media onslaught. But that’s what she got. “We had tens of thousands of Facebook hits, of calls, of emails.
Donald Trump impersonator: Just don't punch me, please
By nature's curse or benefit or whatever, I just happen to look like Donald Trump. It takes me five, ten minutes to make myself up. Most of the other impersonators who do Trump need some kind of facial prosthetic, but I can just throw on some foundation. And I'm as fat as Trump is, so I don't need any assistance there either. If I have to apply the hairpiece, that can take maybe 20 minutes.I've done advertisements in South Korea and Hong Kong, and I did an advertisement for Twinkies in Cairo.
Meet Chicago's contest queen: She enters up to 100 sweepstakes a day-and once won $100K
I remember really getting into it around 2010. I went to an event at the zoo, and they had a raffle to win this huge cake that had fondant monkeys all over it. I won the cake that night, and my kids were still little; they were so excited. I looked online and found a ton of websites for people who enter contests, and the people on there said, "I win a few big prizes a year," or "Every couple of years, I might win a car or a vacation." So I started to get into the habit.
‘The minute you're bored, you're not doing your job,’ says Shahna Richman, FBI agent turned bodyguard and security expert
In the FBI, I focused exclusively on bank robbers, fugitives, serial murderers, kidnappers, and sex traffickers. I have discharged my firearm, but I have never killed anyone, thank goodness. Like most law enforcement officers, I would not want to even begin to count the number of people that I could have shot in good faith, but I always made every effort to use an alternative method.
For Chelsea Rectanus, 30, owning a used bookstore is ‘as great as the romance would lead you to believe’
By Anne Ford @allthingsanne click to enlarge Chelsea Rectanus at her Edgewater store, Heirloom Books Michelle Kanaar Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. Pretty much every morning when I wake up, I try to remember my dreams right away, and then gather myself and figure out where I am mentally for the day ahead. It always starts with: "OK, what do we do today? You own a bookstore.
‘Eye of the Tiger,’ Berwyn musician’s biggest hit, started with ‘Bam! Bam bam bam!’
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Jim Peterik, 67, musician and songwriter ("Vehicle," "Eye of the Tiger"). Colleen Durkin "I can't go to the supermarket with my wife, because it bothers her when she's trying to pick out broccoli and there's a fan who wants a photo," says Jim Peterik. I grew up in Berwyn, and my dad was a member of a polka band.
Musician Jim Peterik's biggest hit started with ‘Bam! Bam bam bam!’
I grew up in Berwyn, and my dad was a member of a polka band. I started playing sax and going on jobs, playing at the VFW or the Knights of Columbus with his band. I didn't get paid, but I got all the White Castles at midnight I could eat. Pretty heady stuff for an 11-year-old.In high school, I started playing with the Ides of March. We used to rehearse at my friend Larry Millas's parents' house.
2018 Midwinter Wrap-Up
Winter storms snarled many travel schedules but ultimately could not keep attendees from the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2018 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Denver February 9–13. Just over 8,000 registrants came to the Mile High City for five days of presentations, conversations, and innovations, many of which centered on the importance of making sure that people from all socioeconomic backgrounds and walks of life have a voice in our national dialogue.
For Chelsea Rectanus, 30, owning a used bookstore is ‘as great as the romance would lead you to believe’
Pretty much every morning when I wake up, I try to remember my dreams right away, and then gather myself and figure out where I am mentally for the day ahead. It always starts with: "OK, what do we do today? You own a bookstore. This is your life now." I don't have family in Chicago, I don't live with anyone, I don't have any pets, so it's just me and the shop and my friends.I make myself coffee, I get ready for the day, just standard stuff. I usually walk or bike to the shop. Turn all the lights on.
Aces of fades
Nasee Yehuda is the proprietor of Madison Street Barbers (2429 W. Madison) on the near west side. During last month's Major League Barber Original Midwest SuperBarber & Stylist Tradeshow at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, the 39-year-old took first place in the Fastest and Cleanest Fade event. He spoke about how he got immersed in the world of competitive barbering. When I was younger, my parents couldn't afford to send me to the barber shop.
Being a straight go-go dancer in gay nightclubs can be tricky, even dangerous
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Ben Krane, go-go dancer. I've always been the dancing guy in my circle of friends. Somebody knew somebody who knew the owner of Hydrate, and he said, "You know, they're always looking for dancers." The first time, it's like you're trying to focus on Be sexy, be sexy, be sexy, and it didn't work. After that, I decided Do your own thing.
Life is sweet for a Chicago candy maker
“When people hear about my job, they often ask me, ‘Is there really candy everywhere?’ And the reality is yes,” Stacey Espinosa says. By Anne Ford @allthingsanne Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Stacey Espinosa, 31, global R&D senior manager for new benefits and mints, Mars Wrigley Confectionery. I 'm a big fruity confections fan.
The peculiar difficulty of being an AirBnb host on Chicago’s south side
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week’s Chicagoan is Afri Atiba, 51, AirBnb host. I got the idea from a friend who had started using AirBnb in New York. I thought it was strange to go and stay at somebody’s house that you didn’t know, but my friend is like that—a little peculiar. About a year after that, my husband and I separated. It was lonely being in this big house by myself. I have five siblings, so I had never been alone.
The U. of C.’s Game Changer Chicago Design Lab explores health and social issues through video games
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Ashlyn Sparrow, 29, game designer. For my birthday one year, my dad bought me a PlayStation. There were ending credits in the games, so I knew someone was making them, and I remember saying, "I want to do that." I thought I had to learn to draw, since that's the first thing you see in a game, so my mom got me an art teacher.
The peculiar difficulty of being an AirBnb host on Chicago’s south side
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Afri Atiba, 51, AirBnb host. I got the idea from a friend who had started using AirBnb in New York. I thought it was strange to go and stay at somebody's house that you didn't know, but my friend is like that—a little peculiar. About a year after that, my husband and I separated. It was lonely being in this big house by myself. I have five siblings, so I had never been alone.
Do millennials get Seinfeld?
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Jerry Pazin, 45, history teacher and Seinfeld Club adviser, Saint Rita of Cascia High School. When I started teaching, I'd make Seinfeld references in class, and there would be five or six guys who'd laugh. Then a few years went by, and it would be only one or two guys who laughed, but I'd still do it.
Illinois’s champion tree climber is also an arborist | Chicagoans | Chicago Reader
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Beau Nagan, arborist and winner of the Illinois Tree Climbing Championship. I climbed trees maybe more than your average kid. My dad did landscaping and tree work, so we never really got in trouble for climbing; I'm one of four boys, and he was just trying to keep us from beating each other up all the time.
A metal detectorist makes a living helping Chicagoans find lost jewelry
“Seventy percent of my calls are ‘ring tosses,’ where the spouse throws a ring in anger,” Jim Evans says. By Anne Ford @allthingsanne Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Jim Evans, 76, the metal detectorist. I get paid to find people's jewelry. I got a call to look for a guy's high school ring that he lost 42 years ago in his grandfather's backyard. He told me, "I can remember the day like it was yesterday.
This week's Chicagoan: Margie Lawrence, baseball artist | Chicagoans | Chicago Reader
A first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. "I grew up right down the street from Wrigley Field. My school was a block and a half away. It was pretty cool in the springtime when they opened the windows—we could hear the organ and crowd and everything. I wanted to be in Little League, but back then they didn't allow girls. "I used to go to 35 games a season. Now I go to five or six. They've priced me out.
Stop Sexual Harassment in Your Library | American Libraries Magazine
There was a time when Katie McLain, reference assistant at the Waukegan (Ill.) Public Library, had no idea what to say to patrons who acted inappropriately toward her. That time is over. “I’ve been in the middle of a normal library transaction and had the person say something about asking me out,” McLain says. “I look that person in the eye and say, ‘That’s inappropriate,’ and go back to what I was doing.
A longtime Playboy editor on working for Hugh Hefner | Chicagoans | Chicago Reader
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Barbara Nellis, 72, former Playboy editor. Here's the thing all you young folks need to understand: It was the late 60s, the early 70s, and nobody had the credentials to do anything. People were just looking for jobs.
What humans can learn from bees, according to Chicago’s bicycling beekeeper | Chicagoans | Chicago Reader
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week's Chicagoan is Jana Kinsman, 31, the bicycling beekeeper. I wanted to get more involved in urban agriculture, but I didn't like growing things. It was tedious, and I wasn't good at it. I thought livestock would be a better option, so I thought, "What would the smallest livestock be?" And that's bees. So I took a class, and the following summer I worked with a beekeeper.
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