Steve Cushing, the award-winning host of the nationally syndicated public radio staple Blues before Sunrise, has spent over thirty years observing and participating in the Chicago blues scene. In his upcoming […]
Category: new books
Mushroom Monday: Mycena semivestipes
Mycena semivestipes (Peck) A.H. Smith Saprobic on the deadwood of hardwoods; causing a white rot; Usually growing in dense clusters; fall and early winter (but occasionally found in summer and […]
Sci Fi Friday: meet Greg Egan
The Modern Masters of Science Fiction series is devoted to books that survey the work of individual authors who continue to inspire and advance science fiction. In her MMSF title […]
Volvariella bombycina, a silky haired and stately mushroom
Volvariella bombycina (Schaeffer) Singer [The cap is] oval at first, becoming bell-shaped to broadly complex or nearly flat; whitish or tinged yellowing to brownish in age; the margin not lined; […]
Fixing Illinois: steering the conversation to the future
In the 1950s, thriving commerce , strong leadership, and geographical good fortune made Illinois one of the most envied states in the nation. The authors of Fixing Illinois: Politics and Policy […]
On Mutinus elegans, a mushroom both slightly naughty and very smelly
Mutinus elegans (Montagne) E. Fischer Usually at least partially submerged in the ground; appearing like a whitish to pinkish or purplish “egg” up to 4 cm high; when sliced, revealing […]
Exploring Illinois: Mermet Lake Conservation Area
In Exploring Nature in Illinois: A Field Guide to the Prairie State, naturalists Michael Jeffords and Susan Post invite you to discover fifty preserves, forests, restoration areas, and parks in the […]
Q&A with Autism and Gender author Jordynn Jack
Jordynn Jack is an associate professor of English at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She is the author of Autism and Gender: From Refrigerator Mothers to Computer Geeks. She recently answered […]
Mushroom Monday: Morchella esculentioides
Morchella esculentioides (M. Kuo, Dewsbury, Moncalvo, & S.L. Stephenson) Edible and very good. Previously known as Morchella esculenta, which recent studies have determined to be strictly European. DNA reveals Morchella […]
Jim Rooney: on the road and In It for the Long Run
In 2009 Jim Rooney received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. In his new book In It for the Long Run Rooney recounts a lifetime’s worth of musical […]
Mushroom Monday: Coprinus comatus
Coprinus comatus (O.F. Müller) Persoon Often called the “shaggy mane.” Edible and good when collected in the button stage (when the gills are still white), but compare it carefully with Amanita […]
Exploring Illinois photos on exhibit
Michael Jeffords and Susan Post, authors of Exploring Nature in Illinois, are celebrating both the release of their new book and an exhibit of nature photography in May and June. […]