Morganella pyriformis (Schaeffer) Kreisel & D. Kruger The habitat on wood and the abundant white rhizomorphs make this puffball easy to identify. Morganella versus Lycoperdon. It’s the mycologist’s version of pepperoni or […]
200 Years of Illinois: Scott Field and the Balloon Man
On May 4, 1927, balloonist Hawthorne C. Gray, a captain in the Army Air Corps, reached new heights in human endeavor. Literally. Taking off from Scott Field near Belleville, Gray […]
Backlist Bop: May Berenbaum on what’s the buzz
It’s spring, and the insects have returned in force. Though, unless you live in Antarctica, it’s doubtful you go a day without seeing an arthropod even in winter. These creatures […]
Bilge Yesil on Democracy Now!
Bilge Yesil, author of Media in New Turkey: The Origins of an Authoritarian Neoliberal State appeared on Democracy Now! last week to weigh in on the Turkish referendum, whether Turkey will become a […]
Saluting the opening of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition
On May 1, 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago and soon took its place among the magnificent public entertainments of the modern age. The following is an excerpt from Chicago’s […]
200 Years of Illinois: The Artful Pose
Today marks the birthday of famed sculptor Lorado Taft, born in 1860 in Elmwood, Illinois. A graduate of the Illinois Industrial University—forerunner of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—Taft studied in […]
Q&A with Debra Shattuck, Author of “Bloomer Girls”
Debra A. Shattuck is Provost and Associate Professor of History at John Witherspoon College. She recently answered some questions regarding Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Pioneers. […]
Contradictory environmental messages in the media commons
An excerpt from the new book The Media Commons: Globalization and Environmental Discourses, by Patrick D. Murphy. ….Integrated media systems promote the pursuit of wasteful cultural practices and ecologically unsustainable […]
Backstreet Bop: Rhythm of the rails
On this day in 1947, the City of New Orleans made its first run between the Chicago and the Crescent City on the Illinois Central line. The City traveled the early 921-mile […]
The AAUP’s best covers and jackets
Once again, the U. of Illinois Press is hosting the Association of American University Presses’s 2017 Book, Jacket, and Journal Show. Held in the UIP Grand Ballroom, the touring show stops every year […]
200 Years of Illinois: John B. Anderson Versus the World
On April 25, 1980, longtime Rockford congressman and powerful House leader John B. Anderson launched his independent campaign for the presidency. Today, April 26, marks the anniversary of his first full […]
200 Years of Illinois: Disaster in Naperville
One of the state’s lesser-known catastrophes, the Naperville Train Crash on April 25, 1946 marked a turning point in the town’s history. In those days half-rural, with some of its […]