Alex Kotlowitz

After Oscar Snub, 'The Interrupters' Honored

Posted 02.26.2012

"The Interrupters," a film about former criminals working to stop violence in Chicago, was named best documentary at the Film Independent Spirit Award...

PHOTOS: Barbershop Of Second Chances

Chicagomag.com | Chicagomag.com | Posted 10.26.2011

In Cicero, on 26th street, a paved vacant lot on one side, a chiropractor's office on the other, sits an unassuming barbershop with the unassuming nam...

Mighty Movie Podcast: Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz on The Interrupters

Dan Persons | Posted 10.25.2011

Dan Persons

In the new documentary The Interrupters, director Steve James and producer Alex Kotlowitz follow several members of CeaseFire as they attempt to defuse conflicts before they occur.

Behind The Scenes With The Director And Producers Of The Interrupters

Elysabeth Alfano | Posted 10.24.2011

Elysabeth Alfano

Steve James and Alex Kotlowicz detail the incredible journey of filming the ground-breaking work of the violence interrupters who struggle to cease violence before it erupts on the South side of Chicago.

Amy Lee

The News Cycle May End, But The Violence Doesn't

HuffingtonPost.com | Amy Lee | Posted 10.04.2011

Stop the shooting: That's the motto of CeaseFire, an organization dedicated to reducing the violence plaguing the streets of Chicago. A new docume...

Violence, Interrupted: Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz on The Interrupters

Kristin McCracken | Posted 10.03.2011

Kristin McCracken

In their new doc, duo Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz profile some criminals-turned-activists who find redemption through mediation on the streets of Chicago. We recently sat down with James and Kotlowitz to discuss their film.

True Stories of False Confessions

John Maki | Posted 05.25.2011

John Maki

In most police and courtroom dramas, crimes are solved as soon as a character confesses. However, as a new book shows, a confession is sometimes only the beginning of the real story.

Public Health Key To Reducing Urban Violence: Kotlowitz

The Daily Northwestern | Lauren Kelleher | Posted 05.25.2011

According to acclaimed author Alex Kotlowitz, an unlikely tool - public health - can be used to help combat violence in Chicago's impoverished neighbo...

The Chicago Public School Teacher's Husband

David Murray | Posted 05.25.2011

David Murray

Our troubles had begun when my wife Kirsten took the job teaching art, K-8, at a West Side elementary school. Then came the informal adoptions.

Hello Britain, Meet Chicago: Granta Takes a Toddlin' Town Tour

Victoria Lautman | Posted 05.25.2011

Victoria Lautman

It's Chicago's turn to inspire an issue of Granta, the esteemed British literary journal that seems to instantly confer upon the subscriber a mantle of elevated intellect, or at least the appearance of it. I talked about the issue with editor John Freeman.

Studs Terkel's Final Face-To-Face Interview: 'Hope Dies Last'

AARP | Alex Kotlowitz | Posted 05.25.2011

Shortly before his death in October at age 96, I visited my dear friend Studs Terkel. His crackling voice was thinner than it used to be, and he didn'...

How Chicago Made a Liberal of Me

David Murray | Posted 05.25.2011

David Murray

I could have gone either way, and I think that when I arrived in Chicago, fresh out of college in 1992 I was neither liberal nor conservative. But then . . .