Our Best Idea Yet

Tickets go on sale today for the fifth annual Chicago Ideas Week, a weeklong confab of la-di-da ideas that has matured from modest interview series to full-fledged civic must-do. Where else can you get an underground tour of Chinatown and a profound conversation on race inequality in America all in the same week? Seats to the best events go quick, so don’t dilly-dally. Below, we dogear five of the best.

The State of the Union
Sanders. Clinton. Trump. Pacesetters change, but ideas remain the same. As the 2016 presidential campaign gets more helter-skelter with every little bureaucratic breadcrumb, this roundtable — moderated by former Meet the Press host David Gregory — serves up the whole roll and then some.

Time for “The Talk:” Your New Guide to Getting It On
Sex Ed for adults! InsideHook’s resident sexpert has illuminated us on the state of sex in the modern age (Ed. note: her latest on sexual loss in long-term relationships is right here), and this talk should be no different, with an array of perspectives from therapist Chris Donaghue, sex worker-turned-educator Ducky DooLittle and more.

Cultural Icons: You Know the Headlines. Now Learn the Truth.
As the title says. Tom Arnold on the late, great writer and columnist David Carr. Jan Gaye on Marvin Gaye. Lesley-Ann Jones on Freddie Mercury. Cheryl Pietra on working for Hunter S. Thompson.

It’s Time to Update Your Passwords … Again
Luxury in the digital age: privacy. Hackers. Drones. Cybersecurity. Are we safe? Who’s next? A few cyber heroes give the lowdown on the enterprise of safety as we go deeper and deeper into the Internet of Things.

Food as Medicine
What exactly is culinary medicine? A discussion on this new field of study will explore the intersection of food and science; medical and nutritional advice from doctors and foodies alike, including our Great Steak Debate judge and pal Monica Eng.