—Warmer Winter Chicago (WarmestWinterChicago.com): Chicago’s Chance the Rapper and The Empowerment Plan have collaborated on this initiative, which aims to bring 1,000 EMPWR coats to the city’s individuals who are experiencing homelessness. (As of Jan. 12, the goal had been reached, but people can still donate. There are more than 125,000 homeless people in Chicago.)
—25 Degrees restaurant (25degreesrestaurant.com/chicago/): The Chicago branch of the chain offers some incredible burgers (like the very popular number one, which includes caramelized onion, Park Fontina, Mindoro Blue, applewood smoked bacon, arugula and Thousand Island dressing) and spiked shakes.
—Trader Joe’s Contemplates Inner Peas: These crunchy, baked green-pea snacks can be paired with dips, crumbled into salads—or these delicious items can just be eaten out of the bag.
—The Hunting Ground: Although there are at least two sides to every story, this film is a powerful statement about the pervasiveness of sexual assaults on college campuses—and the frustration survivors encounter when they fight for justice against their attackers. Just one of the startling stats the movie reveals: If the system doesn’t change, approximately 100,000 students will be assaulted during the next school year.
—Square Affair: Chicagoan Timmothy J. Holt’s book chronicles the lives of five men in the 1960s who are arrested for public indecency when accused of having sex in a courthouse restroom. In telling this story (set in Dewers, Illinois), Holt weaves fiction with history as Square Affair looks at everything from public sex to gay men in heterosexual marriages. See TimmHolt.com.
—By Andrew Davis
(Andrew@WindyCityTimes.com and @azygous60610)