The Time Out Chicago blog team

Is it your responsibility to talk a friend out of a risky financial decision? Would you leave if you found out your longtime partner was hiding the fact that they’re in significant debt? And do the ultra-rich owe it to their friends to lend them money in times of dire need? These questions are difficult to discuss even with those closest to us, so naturally, I paid $20 to debate them with people I’ve never met before at The Scout Waterhouse + Kitchen in Old Town. Arguing With Strangers is a new event from the Chicago-based series Let’s Do Fun Things. Founded in 2024 by Sam Mahafzah, LDFT hosts more than 20 events across the city every month, from board game nights and dance classes to lectures on medical mysteries, pickup beach volleyball and even an adult prom night. RECOMMENDED: The best free things to do in Chicago this month As with all of their events, AWS is designed to get Chicagoans out of their homes and into meaningful interactions with new people. This was the second AWS event, both of which sold out, and the theme of the night was Money and Relationships. Not a touchy subject at all, right? View this post on Instagram A post shared by @arguing.with.strangers The idea is to show up alone, which I did, and be paired with a group of other solo strangers. Often, events like this claim to be inviting for solos but end up being filled with cliquey groups who showed up together. This event, though, was, to my surprise, filled with more than...

Chicago woke up Thursday looking more like a city wrapped in fog than one basking in the middle of a July heat wave. But that hazy curtain hanging over the skyline isn't mist—it's wildfire smoke from Canada and it's pushing air quality across the region into levels that health officials say everyone should take seriously. By this morning, Chicago's Air Quality Index (AQI) had climbed into the "unhealthy" category, with readings around 180 in parts of the city. Communities farther north saw even worse conditions: Waukegan has reached "very unhealthy" levels, while parts of northwest Indiana briefly entered the AQI's highest "hazardous" category. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has issued an Air Pollution Action Day for much of northern Illinois and the National Weather Service has placed nearly the entire Chicago area under an Air Quality Alert through this evening. The smoke is arriving from hundreds of active wildfires burning across Canada, continuing a pattern that's become all too familiar over the last several summers. Thick plumes drifted into the Midwest overnight, leaving downtown smelling faintly of a campfire and obscuring views of the skyline from the lakefront.  The timing also couldn't be much worse. Chicago is also in the middle of another stretch of 90-degree temperatures, and heat can worsen ground-level ozone formation, adding another layer of pollution to an already smoky atmosphere. Together, wildfire smoke and ozone make a difficult...

Chicago is about to become the setting for a very specific kind of holiday miracle: one involving snow, romance and, apparently, the Chicago Bears. Hallmark is officially bringing its NFL Christmas movie franchise to the Windy City with Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story, a new original film that will premiere later this year as part of the Hallmark Channel's 17th annual Countdown to Christmas. Yes, Bears fans, your football team is getting the full Hallmark treatment. The Bears are teaming up with Hallmark Media, the NFL and Skydance Sports for the movie, which will begin production this summer and film entirely in and around Chicago. According to the team, the movie will feature iconic local spots, beloved Chicago traditions and the franchise's famous fan culture. Hallmark is keeping the actual plot under wraps—but given the title, we're going to assume someone falls in love while wearing a Bears scarf and holding a suspiciously perfect cup of hot chocolate. (Bonus points if a misunderstanding is resolved somewhere within sight of Soldier Field.) “After the tremendous success of our first two Holiday Touchdown movies, we knew we wanted to continue the tradition by partnering with another iconic NFL franchise and fan base,” Hallmark Media president and chief brand officer Darren Abbott said in a statement. “The Chicago Bears have a rich history, passionate supporters, and a culture that extends far beyond the football field, making them a perfect fit for a heartwarming...