How is everyone’s weekend going? Thanks for spending a portion of it with the Six.
We are edging closer to the halfway point of 2022. By now, we all know just about everything costs a little bit more.
One notable exception from my travels into Chicago this week – public transportation.
I attended the Cubs game Thursday at Wrigley Field (attention all Cubs fans: they are bad. Scrappy, but bad). All Six readers who have been to the Wrigley neighborhood in the last half decade or so know the changes around the ballpark. It ain’t our father’s Wrigley (Byron’s Dogs has long since been bulldozed over).
After selling a kidney to pay for some beers and pretzels, I decided to take public transportation back to the suburbs.
The cost of ‘L’ fare? $2.50. That includes two transfers (I only used one to switch from red to purple line at Howard). I couldn’t believe it.
That price is still a $1 more than it used to be when I lived downtown in the late 90’s and ‘aughts and took the CTA often to get around. But $2.50 to ride the train up and down, east and west, around Chicago?
Best deal in town (the $6 Metra fare not bad either).
If only we could stay on the train.
That’s when the reality of our economy hits us like a ton of bricks.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
State Capacity Eats Interest Rates For Lunch.
The Fed raised rates by three-quarters of a point Wednesday, the largest increase since 1994. The hope is to get inflation down steadily without tipping the economy into a recession. For years after the 2008 crash, when interest rates fell to near-zero, America had a once-in-a-lifetime window to borrow big and rebuild infrastructure for decades to come. Why didn't that happen? It wasn't a money thing. It was a lack of political will, institutional focus and practical skills — "state capacity" — needed to execute big government projects, particularly building projects, effectively. A good, concise article on how “good governance matters more than interest rates.”
The Watergate Three. One Of Them Got Written Out of History.
Editors don’t get bylines. They rarely get the glory. But Barry Sussman, the editor of The Washington Post’s Pulitzer-winning and legendary Watergate coverage, was robbed. Famous author David Halberstam said Sussman had seen the direct connection between Watergate and Nixon “before anyone at the Post.” Sussman was cut out of the Robert Redford/Dustin Hoffman-starring “All the President’s Men” and because the film became the stuff of legend, Sussman quietly became one of journalism’s greatest forgotten heroes. Sussman died earlier this month, only a few weeks shy of the Watergate break-in’s 50th anniversary. A terrific piece from Nielsen Lab on Sussman’s legacy, all he did for “Woodstein,” investigative reporting and his country.
Real Estate Reality Shows Are Lying to You.
“Buying or selling a house is more complicated than looking at three homes and having a conversation over a glass of wine, buying a fixer-upper probably isn’t a bargain, and the Property Brothers are not going to spend weeks in your house personally hanging drywall and grouting tiles,” writes Jeff Somers of Lifehacker in this article showcasing the alternate reality of programming on HGTV and what most consumers go through when shopping for a home.
Sailing Was Supposed to Save Christopher Cross. It Drowned Him.
We’ve all walked into an office building, shopping center or pumping gas and heard the song. We can’t help but start humming along, the melody taking us to fantastical place far away from the humdrum of every day life. That song is “Sailing” by Christopher Cross. Did you know the song is over 40 years old? The writer and singer, Christopher Cross, became a literal overnight sensation when he won a Grammy for the tune in 1981. What the heck happened to Cross? Texas Monthly tells us and provides fascinating backstory on the rise and fall of a pop star who for a moment, was music’s Wonder Boy.
Happy Father’s Day To The Old Man Picking Up Litter.
A wonderful personal essay from Patch’s Mark Konkol. For more than a year Konkol’s father, Mike, has been wandering his neighborhood with a cart, picking up trash. He says it’s “how he gets his exercise” but his neighbors see it as an act of loving benevolence. From the article: “He's such an awesome person to care so much for his neighborhood, for our neighborhood, to continually do something on his own like this without being asked. He's out there — looks like to me every day — caring about our neighborhood. It's beyond words," Joyce Kennedy said. A perfect Father’s Day story where every paragraph will put a smile on your face (h/t to my sister, Heather, for sending me the article).
McCartney and Springsteen Sing Together In New York.
So Paul McCartney just turned 80 years old. He just finished a North American tour by playing a concert at Met Life Stadium in New York. Who joined him on stage to celebrate with a sing-a-long? No one other than Bruce Springsteen. A magical moment for everyone in the crowd and thanks to YouTube, we get to share the “Glory Days” moment.
Thanks for reading everybody and enjoy the rest of your Father’s Day weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.
Thanks for the articles Jon! I' don't read them all, but I'm always pleasantly surprised by the variety you send out. (And I think I'm a voracious reader!)😁
I gotta tell you that I think that you are brave, not only for venturing into the City, but also for using public trans ! Maybe because I'm a woman, (and no, I'm not a biologist) but I'm not up for either. And whether or not they listen to me, I try to caution my younger adult children about going there as I keep them, and my son in particular, informed of what is happening there as he looks forward to going into Chicago when he visits. (He is in the military and not in Illinois.)
Lastly, not to be a wet blanket, but I would guess that they should do some math and increase those L rates. Are we all subsidizing them?? But yet maybe ridership is down anyway. Idk
Happy Father's day to you (for your dad)! Don't know if you are one.