In the ’20s and ’30s, Chicago’s Washington Square Park was a hotbed of rhetoric as poets, preachers, left-wing agitators, and crackpots waxed radical before curious spectators. Popularly known as Bughouse Square, the park eventually fell into disuse, but in the ’80s its reputation as a mecca of free speech and public discussion was revived with the Newberry Library’s annual Bughouse Square Debates.

Flavorpill is the proud media sponsor of this Saturday’s 23rd Annual Bughouse Square Debates. We sat down with Newberry Library’s Director of Public Programs Rachel Bohlmann, Ph.D. to learn more. Read More »