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A radio show, podcast, and radical media hub showcasing culture workers reshaping Chicago for the more equitable and creative. Listen to longform humanizing conversations with artists, organizers, performers, comedians, scholars, and more who are reimagining Chicago and beyond toward liberation. Hosted by Damon Williams and Daniel Kisslinger.
Jasmine Sanders is a writer from the South Side of the city. Her work explores generations of family, and is remarkably and thoroughly grounded in the streets, stories, and histories of place in a way that the "internet writing" world often is unable to accomplish. She's been published in Rookie Mag and Buzzfeed, and has a twitter name more stellar than most. Recorded live 7/14/16 at WHPK 88.5FM Music from this week's show: Off Beat - @chuckinglish Holy - @jamilawoods
Pidgeon Pagonis is an intersex activist and artist whose work, art, and joy, centers "their community’s human right to bodily autonomy and justice." From Chicago, Pidgeon facilitates workshops, discussions, and presentations around the world about the medical violence and stigmatization for intersex folks. They are a shining, unrelentingly positive face and voice in the city, encouraging and empowering artists and organizers alike to imagine new worlds. They also design and sell some of the coolest merch in the world, which you can cop at their online store. Recorded live 6/7/16 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music from this week's show: LV - YEVRS I Think It's Going to Rain Today - Nina Simone We Love Us - @RicWilsonisme
A couple weeks ago, when we put on We 'Go Vol 2: A Chicago Showcase and Celebration, we were fortunate enough to have the good folks over at Postloudness come through and record the show in its entirety. On this week's episode we share the audio from the exciting, soul-restoring evening, including performances by AirGo alumni E'mon Lauren, Fati Asghar, Kevin Coval, @defcee, @LAVanGogh, @deathViaLove, and @jamilawoods. Recorded live 6/30/16 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Thanks to Postloudness for recording the live event and providing the audio.
When Avery R. Young gets going, joy starts shining, and it's next to impossible to stop it–not that you would want to. A Cave Canem fellow, he is a fixture of Chicago's creative community, and has been reshaping language and community in new, remarkable ways on stages and in classrooms for years. Combining song, poetry, and interviews about race and politics, his most recent project "booker t. soltreyne" is an album and archival project that reflects on how old pedagogies and processes of racism still exist in the Obama Era. Recorded live 6/23/16 at WHPK88.5FM in Chicago Music from this week's show: Waiting - tnight/tmrw Cauleen's Joint - @averyryoung Icarus - April Fools feat. @averyryoung Ham Sammich(Is) - @Averyryoung
Dorothy Holmes has found her way into the movement through the most terrible of circumstances–her son, Ronald "Ronnieman" Johnson was murdered by CPD officer George Hernandez on October 12th, 2014. Dorothy has emerged as an organizer and activist, coupling the fight for justice with a loving campaign to provide resources, support, and love to others who have had to face violence as she has. She joins AirGo to talk about her own path, Ronnieman, and more. Recorded live 6/16/16 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music from this week's show: Fall From Grace - nicodxmvs Take It - Sirens
Come to We 'Go: A Chicago Showcase and Celebration, on Friday 6/17! Free and all ages. https://www.facebook.com/events/913429428756200/ Vanessa Sanchez is the Director of Yollocalli Arts Reach, a remarkable organization and branch of the National Museum of Mexican Art that works with youth, primarily in the city's Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods. In a city full of of nonprofit efforts that talk the talk, and ultimately take up space and resources without fostering dynamic spaces for young people to create, Yollocalli stands tall as a welcoming, unpretentious home for free art and new media programs, including street art, mural internships, experimental video, music, storytelling, radio and journalism. Vanessa is also one of the creators of Villapalooza, a fantastic annual festival, community celebration, and block party in Little Village. Recorded live 6/9/16 at WHPK in Chicago Music from this week's show: Only Time Will Tell - @kodyakhiphop Keep You In Mind - @guordan-banks
Tweak Harris is an MC and activist whose forceful bars and warm smile have been central to the movement across Chicago, especially in the victorious fight for a trauma center on the South Side of the city. Coming off an electrifying performance at the magnificent "Ain't No Mothership: An Expedition of She" event last month, Tweak comes by the studio to talk about her new music and more. Recorded live 6/2/16 on WHPK 88.5FM Music from this week's show: sinsisaw/thedeepestblue - ELWD Real Talk - Tweak God (The Rookies) - Tweak
Sol Patches is an actor, rapper, poet, organizer, and gender abolitionist from Chicago. Under the guidance of AirGo alum Ricardo Gamboa and Coya Paz at the Free Street Theater, Patches has tackled roles on stage and screen, including Louder Than a Bomb as a member of the Goodman Theater team and in Pronouns, a new film that has been accepted to the Tribeca Film Festival. They are also an activist and organizer, working with the Let Us Breathe Collective and other organizations across the city. Recorded live 6/26/16 at WHPK 88.5FM Music from this week's show: TWOsDay II - Two Fresh What White People Invented - @SolPatches
Shani Crowe is an interdisciplinary artist from the South Side of Chicago. Her newest exhibition, Braids, is a series of portraits of Black women whose hair has been braided and styled into "a variety of original looks and wearable works of art." She joins Damon and Daniel to talk about the project, her lineage as a visual artist, and more. Recorded live 5/19/16 at WHPK88.5FM in Chicago Music on this week's show: Breakdance Lesson N.1 - @kaytranada Braid My Hair - Mario BLK Girl in the Auditorium - @JBambi All Falls Down - Kanye West
Felonious Monk is a comedian and commentator who has built some of the city's most vibrant, subversive comedic rooms. His work with Dave Helem on the Blipster Life comedy series, produced in venues across the city, has brought comedy into the movement, and has created in-between spaces for one of America's most segregated art forms. He is a regular contributor to The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. Recorded live 5/12/16 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music from this week's show: Say You Won't - @Brasstracks Heavn - @JamilaWoods Dance With My Father - Luther Vandross
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