According to the Oscar voting rules, nominees for Best Animated Short Film are judged on the basis of “originality, entertainment, and production quality without regard to . . . subject matter.” In practice, though, short animation has been the kids’ table since the 1930s, when the first eight awards all went to Walt Disney. Occasionally the nominating committee will make room for some dark, hand-drawn vision like Don Hertzfeldt’s hilariously gory Rejected (nominated in 2001) or Daniel Sousa’s haunting Feral (nominated in 2014)....

At 5 PM Saturday, March 21, Governor J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 Executive Order No. 8, aka the Stay at Home order, took effect. Here’s a daily-ish journal of how Reader staff, our friends, family—and our pets—are spending our time. Loba baked goods Middlebrow pizza kit Hopewell beer to go What we’re watching:

“I wrote this thing that I was convinced was brilliant,” says the comedian J. Michael Osborne, a producer-host of the shame-based storytelling show We Still Like You. “It was like, [about] Jesus, but it’s in the modern day, Fox News commentators don’t like him very much, isn’t that interesting? I was sitting in the middle of this party and was like, I have to get this down. Then one of the guys that lived there asked me what I was writing on, and I flipped it over, and it was a newspaper clipping of this old guy, I didn’t know anything about him, and he was like, ‘Oh that’s the last [existing] photograph of my dead dad, and that’s the only copy that I have....

If nothing else, this trio of one-acts that explore the uphill battles of 19th-century suffragettes will make you grateful. I mean, thank Whatever we no longer live in a world where repeated cries of “shoot them down!” or some such slogan are deployed by the patriarchy whenever women demand something ridiculous like autonomy over their own bodies or equal treatment under the law. Oh wait. OK, scratch that. In pairing Evelyn Glover’s A Chat With Mrs....

Last week the city announced an upcoming event honoring the retirement of Tim Samuelson, its first and—since there’s no plan to hire a replacement—only, cultural historian. Never mind that the city council last month passed a resolution congratulating him “on the occasion of his retirement from city service”: he says there’s no way he’ll be giving up the job that’s been “a dream gig for a classic obsessive history nerd like me....

When it comes to improving Chicago transportation, city officials and advocates often focus on infrastructure, reasoning that street redesigns, public transit improvements, and better pedestrian and bike facilities will help make travel safer and more convenient for all residents. Ware, 21, grew up in Rochester, New York, and now lives in the Austin neighborhood, where he runs a restorative justice program at Austin College and Career Academy. #LetUsBreathe was formed as a fund-raising initiative to provide aid to Ferguson protesters....

This summer was the hottest on record, and the scorching temperatures coincided with an endless succession of violent tragedies across the U.S. In June a 29-year-old security guard gunned down more than a hundred people in a gay nightclub in Orlando, 49 of whom died, before police stormed the building and killed the perpetrator in a shootout. Less than a month later, at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, a 25-year-old army veteran killed five cops and wounded 11 other people, holing up in a community college building for a few hours before he was taken out by a state-of-the-art robot armed with plastic explosives (his death marked the first time a police robot had killed a suspect in the U....

I ’ve been obliged to review an excess of high-profile hotel restaurants in 2017, and it’s been making me grouchy all year. Even the good ones follow a formula that implies they aren’t for Chicagoans. By their nature hotel restaurants encourage visitors to stay in their bubble and avoid exploring the thousands of other cheffy cheeseburgers the city has to offer—they’re about keeping in, not attracting. Sunflower hummus with flaxseed crackers sounds like a depressant at a vegan commune, but the creamy swirl of nut butter is suffused with tangy artichoke and almost cheesy thanks to nutritional yeast....

If COVID-19 hadn’t shuttered all the theaters in town about a month ago, Scott Silberstein estimates that his company, HMS Media, “would have been in ten different theaters over five or six days, capturing everything possible.” Par for the course for HMS, which has recorded live performances of everything from small dance companies to touring Broadway productions over the years, as well as creating original documentaries about Second City and John Kander and Fred Ebb, the legendary songwriting team behind Cabaret and Chicago, for WTTW....

Among the contenders for the title “Best pizza” this year, you might have been surprised to see the name of Reader staff writer Leor Galil. How does a music writer become a pizza, you ask? Like many major happenings these days, the story starts with Twitter: while promoting Best of Chicago 2016, Leor tweeted that voters could write in any candidates they pleased—for example, they could nominate him for best pizza....

The first-ever Chicago Cocktail Summit, which took place recently at the Logan Theatre, offered so much information that my head’s still spinning (the drinks that accompanied each session probably contributed). It lasted two days: Sunday was devoted to home mixology, while Monday was aimed at bar and restaurant professionals. Each day was made up of four session blocks of several one-hour talks, with the starting times staggered so that you could stay for part of one lecture and then pop into another....

Some thought 2016 would never end, but somehow we made it through. Whether you want to drink to forget or celebrate what’s to come, we’ve got you covered. Some of our top New Year’s Eve picks are below, with an ever-updating list here. Lalah Hathaway 7:30 and 11 PM, City Winery A Over the Rhine 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music A Patti Smith 9:30 PM, Park West 18+...

When Mayor Rahm left office, my friends and colleagues consoled me, as though I’d lost my reason for existence. And then, as if the TV gods were looking down on me, ABC hired Rahm as a contributor. And there he was last week, offering pre- and postdebate advice on what Democrats must do to defeat Donald Trump. As much as possible, go in the opposite direction of the way he recommends....

Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker responded to COVID-19 swiftly by imposing a statewide shelter-in-place order on Saturday, March 21. But even at that point, Chicago music venues had already been dealing with the onrushing pandemic for more than a week. Venues began to cancel shows en masse on Thursday, March 12—the same night Goose Island sponsored citywide concerts (some of which went on as planned) as part of 312 Day. In short order, the torrent of tour cancellations and refund requests turned the live-music industry upside down....

Q: I am a pretty handsome gay (I have been told) and I am dating a gorgeous man. I am 34, and he is 31. I am bottom only, and he is top only—so it’s a good match. He seems sincerely interested in me and we are talking about being together. But here is the thing: He noticed that I have a rather small penis. I am under the average, and his dick is quite big and long....

Movies transport us to a land of fantasy and make believe, which is why there’s a new comedy about a 50-year-old runway model; Zoolander No. 2 opens today. And check out our new reviews of: Arabian Nights, a trilogy of dramatic features that use the classic folktale collection One Thousand and One Nights to explore economic tumult in Portugal; Bridgend, a drama based on a real-life epidemic of teen suicides in Wales; Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds as a Marvel superhero; Hail, Caesar!...

November 2, 7 PM, the polling place. I am the key judge. (I got the call on Saturday at 5. “I’ve never done this before,” I say. “There’s nothing to it,” says the woman from Board of the Elections. “You just unlock the door.”) I have to go downtown to get the key. They are shocked I have biked the whole way. They tell me checking the supplies cabinet the night before is optional....

ARTIST: Andy Burkholder SHOW: Ultimate Painting, EZTV, and Deeper at Hideout on Fri 12/2 MORE INFO: andyburkholder.com

ARTIST: Lupe Garza-Martinez SHOW: Otro Ritmo south-side punk showcase featuring Pkdores, Conciencia, DJ Malice & DJ Orno, DJ Agnam1312, DJ Winkel, and DJ Grosero at One City Tap on Tue 6/11 MORE INFO: instagram.com/gordotron666