Monthly Archives: February 2026

Teen sensation charms Chi-town

I was walking up Michigan Avenue on my way to the Art Institute the other day when I noticed what looked like a Japanese teenager in front of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra building. She was holding a girly-pink violin case and posing for selfies in front of a framed poster advertising upcoming shows. Must be a student, I thought, or a music-loving kid on a school tour.

Nope. It was Himari, the 14-year-old Japanese violin prodigy, cutely posing beside a poster of herself. She’s playing here this week. We had to satisfy ourselves with a YouTube video of her, but she’s sensational. (She was 12 at the time of this performance.) And I love our city.

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Talking about Russia and free speech

Financial adviser Chris Everett recently featured us on her new podcast. Check out what we had to say about freelancing from Russia, writing my J6 novel The Insurrectionist, and defending freedom of speech here in the United States. And Nonna has wisdom to offer about growing up in the Soviet Union, and why we celebrate America.

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