All Stories
Why “Revolver” still matters: The 50th anniversary of a Beatles masterpiece
Even if you scorn Boomer myth-making, the 50th anniversary of “Revolver” — perhaps the Beatles’ best album — is a big deal. It not only sent the band in a new direction, it showed new possibilities in rock music. Look…
At 60, The Beatles’ “Revolver” is still unfolding its secrets
For folks who spend the majority of their waking hours contemplating the music of The Beatles — and there are probably vastly more of us than you might think — “Revolver” (released on August 5, 1966, in the United Kingdom)…
RFK Jr.’s cooking show has no appetite
At the end of the debut episode of “The Real Food Show,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spears a single bite of salmon cake and brings it to his lips. “Amazing,” he says, giving chef Andrew Gruel a slack thumbs-up. The…
Trump admin withholds Medicaid funds in latest example of weaponizing real and imagined fraud
The Trump administration announced on July 21, 2026, that it’s withholding US$867 million in federal healthcare funding for California and $200 million for Minnesota – a total of more than $1 billion. Federal officials said the two states had failed…
The shrunken ambition of Ryan Murphy’s “Love Story”
For a time, John F. Kennedy Jr. was one of the most famous boys in America. He was three years old when a photographer captured him saluting his father’s casket, and for many years, that was how most of America…
This Miyazaki film sees who we really are at heart
Throughout July, The Swell celebrated the lasting cultural inspiration of animator Hayao Miyazaki and the legendary films he created with Studio Ghibli. As part of GKIDS’ annual Studio Ghibli Fest, which kicked off in June, you can enjoy theatrical re-releases…
Spokane wildfires are a warning to the rest of the world
If you need any proof that climate change is not some far off problem for future generations — it’s our disastrous present — look no further than the unfolding wildfire crisis gripping the globe. In Spokane County, Washington alone, three…
I was a farmers market failure
When I moved to Chicago, I assumed I would become a slightly different person. Not in the wholehearted country-song sense, where crossing the county line might allow me to outrun myself. The reinvention I had in mind was more municipal…
Spider-Man should give up romance and focus on his job
For a good portion of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” we watch all versions of the film’s namesake arachnid-juiced hero (Tom Holland) — full leotard, half leotard, sans leotard —cyberstalking Ned (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya), his best friend and love…
Library book found in fireplace returns 150 years late
An Australian library has welcomed home a book roughly 150 years overdue after it was discovered inside a tea crate bricked into a sealed fireplace. Ross Simmons found the water-damaged copy of “The Antiquities of Athens” while renovating a house…