The Chicago Thinker

This article was originally published here by Eduardo Vidal in the Miami Independent on May 5th, 2026. Chicago, Illinois — The Obama Presidential Center is scheduled to open next month on the lakefront in Chicago’s South Side. It sits next to the Kenneth Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, which is housed in a building surviving from the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. The Center’s architectural style blends Soviet Brutalism with Nazi flak towers (Flaktürme), as shown below.

This article was originally published here by Eduardo Vidal in the Miami Independent on May 5th, 2026. Chicago, Illinois —...

On May 19th, seven-term Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky’s 4th District lost his Republican primary to Trump-endorsed challenger Ed Gallrein in what became the most expensive House primary race in American history. According to FEC data, more than $35 million was spent on the race, with super PACs heavily supporting Massie’s challenger spending more than $16.4 million to aid Gallrein’s campaign efforts.

On May 13th, the University of Chicago announced that beginning Autumn 2027, undergraduate students from families earning under $250,000 annually will receive free tuition, and those earning below $125,000 will have their housing, meals, and fees covered in full. Out of the many elite universities that have undertaken financial aid expansion over the past years, this is by far the largest; free tuition at this threshold would cover roughly 90 percent of American households.

Across America, people are once again holding their breath as events unfold aboard the MV Hondius Cruise ship, evoking unavoidable flashbacks to the pandemic years. While it may seem a distant memory at this point, the coronavirus pandemic was fraught with political tension, flip-flopping medical and political guidance, and a continual atmosphere of uncertainty — something no one wants to go back to. But what lessons did the pandemic offer for how to approach such incidents in the future?

The Chicago Thinker is proud to bring together a distinguished group of economic experts to discuss 21st-century challenges to a free-market orthodoxy. The panel will be moderated by Noah Bauserman, the Chicago Thinker’s Deputy Editor, and will include Nobel Laureate James Robinson, Harald Uhlig, Lydia Newman, and Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould.

There is a growing sense of concern about the widespread adoption of generative AI among college students. As one UChicago student wrote in a Maroon article, “the purpose of generative AI is to avoid doing work,” further suggesting that its usage in classrooms was comparable to “giving elementary schoolers calculators while they’re learning arithmetic.” They ultimately argued that allowing AI in academic settings would produce graduates incompetent to tackle the world’s challenges.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of America’s independence, we are presented with an opportunity to reflect on America’s past, examine how it has evolved into its present form, and debate its future. What does it mean to be an American in the 21st century? Is America a nation of ideals or one of heritage? What path is America set to follow over the next 250 years, and is this path in the right or wrong direction according to our citizenry and founding principles?

On May 7, 2026, the criminal extortion group “ShinyHunters” announced its breach of Instructor, the parent company of Canvas, a widespread online learning platform used at the University of Chicago and 9,000 other institutions.

Disclaimer: I worked on policy for Lt. Governor Earle-Sears’s gubernatorial campaign from June to September. The views I express in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears politician or her campaign. What do Bernie Sanders, the socialist senator from Vermont, and Ron DeSantis, the MAGA-aligned governor of Florida, have in common? They both oppose data centers.