2020. Read the article. 
2019. Read the story. 
2018. Read the article and see the faces of DACA. 
2017. Read the article. 
2016. Read the article. 
2015. See the bracket as it looked then. 
2014. See the blog posts looking at Pitchfork Saturday style and Pitchfork Sunday style that year. 
2013. Read the story. 
2012. Read the story. 
2011. 
2010. 
2009. Read the article. 
2008. 
2007. Read the article. 
2006. Read the story. 
2005. Read the early review. 
2004. Read the review. 
2003. 
2002. 
2001. 
2000. Read Richard Meltzer’s “Final Notes on the only century we had until last week.” 
1999. Read the full review. 
1998. Read the story. 
1997. Read the story. 
1996. Read the story. 
1995. 
1994. Read the article. Read the article. 
1993. Read the article. 
1992. 
1991. Read the article by Lewis Lazare. 
1990. Read the story. 
1989. Read the full review. 
1988 
1987 
1986 
1985 
1984 
1983 
1982 
1981 
1980. Read the story. 
1979 
1978 
1977 
1976 
1975. In 2011 the Straight Dope’s Cecil Adams took a look back at the Reader’s first 40 years. The first Straight Dope question was in 1973. The final Straight Dope column by Cecil Adams was in 2018. For more, see straightdope.com. 
1974 
1973 
1972 
1971 Download the first issue of the Chicago Reader as a free PDF.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Signer of the times
Michael Albert’s in the spotlight, but he wants us to know more about Chicago Hearing Society’s services.
Pangea has taken thousands to eviction court. The story of an apartment empire
The company has claimed credit for reviving south and west side communities, even as it’s filed more than 9,000 eviction cases since 2009.
Who are Chicago’s Dreamers? Here are the faces of DACA
Immigrants brought to the U.S. as children face an uncertain future with no compromise forthcoming.
Knox Fortune learned his trade in hip-hop, but he wants to make his name in pop
Producer Knox Fortune, aka Kevin Rhomberg, headlines his first show as a solo artist to celebrate his debut album, Paradise.
Meet the new cast of the Lincoln Lodge
In celebration of the show’s 17th season, get to know the members of one of the city’s most venerated alt-comedy groups.
What is the Greatest Ever Chicago Book?
Studs Terkel’s Working takes on Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns in the Reader tournament’s championship bout.
Street View 208: Pitchfork Sunday style
Isa Giallorenzo’s Street View 208
Street View 207: Pitchfork Saturday style
Isa Giallorenzo’s Street View 207
Chicken of the trees
The rural eastern gray squirrel has long been a valued food source, but what about its urban cousin?
The Real American Pie
Mince pie—the kind made with meat—was once inextricable from our national identity. We spent weeks preparing it and days digesting it. We ignored the clergy crusading against it and fought in court for the right to dose it with booze. We devoured it for breakfast, supper, and dessert, and we shipped it to our soldiers…
Browse the archives of Chicago Reader articles, which go back to 1971.