Salem Collo Julin

In late 2017, I started making a playlist of music and sounds that were regularly in my ears in some way that year. I compiled my list by picking apart the top streams from listening services like Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube views, searching my internet search histories for lyrics I tried to find or musician’s bios, and just looking at my trove of cassettes, CDs, and albums and seeing which ones were consistently dust-free and at the top of the piles.

For the talented designers in Chicago’s fashion scene, an issue persists: How does an independent and/or emerging maker compete with global corporations spewing out fast fashion, established luxury brands, and the consumers distracted by both of them? Entrepreneur DeAnna Spoerl, 36, is making space in the Chicago market for independent designers who prioritize quality and authenticity.

Here’s what Chicago needs: Safe, consistent, high-speed public transportation that darts around the city like a flock of spirited birds. Truly cross-neighborhood travel, where you don’t have to go downtown to transfer for every route, and buses and trains run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Here’s what else Chicago needs: free, anonymous (if you need it to be), unbiased, and trauma-informed mental health care available on demand to community members.