Why 'Chicago Public Square'?

Almost five years ago, WBEZ-FM approached me to launch a news blog for its website.

My proposal was … drum roll, please … “Chicago Public Square.” I mocked up a layout (as shown here), complete with the iconic square you see on this site now.

WBEZ decided instead to go with a blog under my name, but the Twitter account I set up as part of the demo for “Chicago Public Square” has been pinging me ever since, so the idea’s never been far from consciousness.

Also: I’m in Chicago. In public. And I happen to be boringly square. So it works.