🤘 Punk 11-year-olds, all grown-up

Plus: Kam Buckner wishes Jimmy Carter a happy birthday. [View this email in your browser]( | [chicagoreader.com]( by Maja Stachnik Good morning—big thanks to everyone who offered kind words of encouragement about the newsletter redesign! Read on for the latest from Gossip Wolf, what to watch on streaming this week (including Demi Lovato and Nicola Marsh’s newest documentary), and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’s first national tour. The 2024 lineup of Verböten [Credit: Jaycee Rockhold] [Evanston punks Verböten release their debut album 41 years after breaking up]( This January 2020 piece from Leor Galil, entitled [“What turns kids punk?”]( is great supplementary reading for this week’s Gossip Wolf, a joint effort from Galil and DMB. Most punk bands don’t have an 11-year-old guitarist, but Foo Fighters Dave Grohl credits his 1982 encounter with the short-lived band with inspiring him to play punk. Help celebrate Verböten’s reunion and debut album release at SPACE this Saturday; fittingly, the show is all ages and teen postpunk trio Uniflora open. Plus: Ralph Rivera and Marten Katze collect players for a rock lotto, and Viva Acid takes over Podlasie Club for a four-day celebration of acid house. [READ MORE](  ARTS & CULTURE - Amanda Finn recommends the James M. Nederlander Theatre’s production of [Harry Potter and the Cursed Child]( though I heartily agree with her that J.K. Rowling’s work has been [forever tainted by her TERF-ness](. However, this first national tour of the show reminds us how magical theater can be. What makes this play so enthralling are “the effects, mesmerizing choreography, and Hollywood blockbuster-caliber score.” It runs through February 2025; a limited number of $40 lottery seats are available each performance. - Kerry Reid recommends Jackie Taylor’s latest for Black Ensemble Theater, [Blue Eyed Soul Sung by Brown Eyed People]( which is exactly what it sounds like. Catch it to find out whether “blue eyed soul” is “Black music sung by white people” or “white people who sound Black.” The show runs on Saturdays and Sundays through November 10 at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center.  FILM & TV We’ve got a few options this week for those watching at home and not in theaters: - There are few people better equipped than Demi Lovato to treat a documentary exploring the unique experience of having massive fame at a young age with the care it deserves. [Lovato speaks to Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci, Raven-Symoné]( and other child stars as the Internet has made it harder to regulate family-run accounts using children as content creators. Kylie Bolter recommends the documentary, now streaming on Hulu. - Nicole Kidman delivers more heartbreak—[this time in your living room, not an AMC](. Writer Maxwell Rabb doesn’t recommend [The Perfect Couple]( a whodunit with a “bizarre” and “cherishable” flash mob title sequence. On the plus side, the unmasking of the killer still manages to surprise the audience (or, at least Rabb). - Streaming on Netflix: [Rez Ball]( revitalizes the inspirational sports drama with an honest, heartfelt story grounded by its spirited portrayals of Navajo youth. It’s based on the 2019 novel Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation by Michael Powell—who’s also credited as a cowriter of the film. Rez Ball follows an ensemble of Navajo high schoolers, their community, and their basketball team, the Chuska Warriors, as they navigate the grief of losing their star player and teammate. [Laya Lee]  PODCASTS [Happy belated 100th birthday, President Carter!]( Ben Joravsky sat down with [state representative Kam Buckner]( who “offers some millenialistic riffs” on the former president. Buckner is also uniquely positioned to talk about the Chicago Bears: he played football in college, and is the state representative from the 26th legislative district, which includes Soldier Field.  BEHIND-THE-SCENES Special shout-out to the White Sox for making history: their 41—121 season broke the record for most losses in a Major League Baseball season. I was at last Wednesday’s game hoping to catch the historic moment, comforted by cheap tickets and draft beer—here’s to whatever happens next year. We’re [raffling off four lower-level Sox tickets for April/May 2025]( and I’m sure they’ll make it interesting! 📰 LATEST ISSUE: FALL THEATER & ARTS 📰 [READ ONLINE]( | [COVER]( | [DOWNLOAD PDF]( [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [X icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [Threads icon]( [YouTube icon]( [logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! [Sign up for emails from the Chicago Reader]( | [Forward this e-mail to a friend]( © 2024 Chicago Reader. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616