Well, that escalated quickly. In the first week of Chicago’s social distancing and self-isolation due to COVID-19, AirGo takes a moment to wish you and yours some love, and share some laughs from a recent recording session. We’ll be back next week with full AirGo episodes. Keep your hands washed and your hearts full!
Episode 226 - Unelectable Vol. 1
Unelectable is anlive podcast event series that engages electoral politics through the filter of radical imagination. AirGo and Black Youth Project are using the 2020 election cycle to have tangible conversations about impactful issues dismissed as being too big or unrealistic by mainstream political media. Vol. 1 happened on Feb. 26 at the Silver Room in Hyde Park, and featured Ald. Jeanette Taylor and Chicago Teachers Union VP Stacy Davis Gates. It was a great conversation about what protecting the public looks like, what elected officials need from movement workers, and how we learn about politics in the classroom.
Check out Black Youth Project: blackyouthproject.com/
Episode 225 - Benjamin Earl Turner, Pt. 2
Time stands still sometimes for Benjamin Earl Turner. The emcee, writer, craftsman, and intellectual has a theory and praxis for his writing and music-making that creates some of the most remarkable raps in the world, in which he can challenge himself and his listeners to see themselves, their shortcomings, and the complexity of their spirits. Dame and Kiss went to his home studio in Burbank, CA for a sitdown that turned to an all-nighter, which we are releasing in two parts. On part 2, Benjamin tells a mythical story, talks through how he's thinking about masculinity and growth, and a remarkably comprehensive beef with the 20th century.
Music on this week's episode is all from @benjaminearlturner's album Bad Nature, which you should stream now!: soundcloud.com/benjaminearlturner/sets/bad-nature
Follow Benjamin on twitter: twitter.com/benjaminearltea
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 224 - Benjamin Earl Turner, Pt. 1
Time stands still sometimes for Benjamin Earl Turner. The emcee, writer, craftsman, and intellectual has a theory and praxis for his writing and music-making that creates some of the most remarkable raps in the world, in which he can challenge himself and his listeners to see themselves, their shortcomings, and the complexity of their spirits. Dame and Kiss went to his home studio in Burbank, CA for a sitdown that turned to an all-nighter, which we are releasing in two parts. On part 1, we talk about finding his craft, his bond with Damon, and the magical summer of 2012 that he spent creating and growing in Chicago. Part 2 drops next week!
Music on this week's episode is all from @benjaminearlturner's album Bad Nature, which you should stream now!: soundcloud.com/benjaminearlturner/sets/bad-nature
Follow Benjamin on twitter: twitter.com/benjaminearltea
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 223 - #BYPSpotlight with Jawanza Malone
As part of our #BYPSpotlight series, Dame and Kiss talk with Jawanza Malone. Jawanza is the Executive Director of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, or KOCO, a nearly 50 year-old community stalwart fighting for the communities of the Kenwood Oakland neighborhood. Jawanza talks about his journey as a father, living in Fred Hampton's legacy, the fight for a Community Benefits Agreement in connection to the new Obama Presidential Center, and more.
Learn more about KOCO: kocoonline.org/about-us/
Support the CBA fight: www.obamacba.org/
Join the fight to lift the rent control ban: www.ltbcoalition.org/
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 222 - Debbie Southorn
Debbie Southorn knows how to throw down. Debbie is the cofounder of the city's Black and Pink chapter, was a central figure in the #NoCopAcademy campaign, and is a founding member of We Are Dissenters, a new group activating students toward anti-militarism and anti-war organizing on college campuses. She also works at the American Friends Service Committee, a century-old Quaker social justice organization. We talk about her path into the work, DINOSAURS, dealing with serious burnout, the impacts of militarism, and more.
Follow Debbie: twitter.com/madlittledebbie
Check out We Are Dissenters: wearedissenters.org
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 221 - Dominique James
Dominique James is a word-based multimedia artist, educator, and teaching artist at Young Chicago Authors. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Howard University, and has completed research fellowships at the University of California-Riverside and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. After graduation, she was a TRIALS Fellow at Harvard Law School and a University of Chicago HBCU Bridge Scholar. She is also the matchmaker behind a pretty special relationship, a relationship that has some pretty big news to share on this episode…
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 220 - #BYPSpotlight with Jasson Perez
As part of our #BYPSpotlight series, Dame and Kiss talk with movement stalwart Jasson Perez. Jasson is one of the founding members of BYP-100, a labor organizing veteran, and a pivotal member of the Afrosocialist caucus within Chicago's Democratic Socialists of America chapter. He breaks down the lessons learned from organizing across movements, his alternative life as a rapper of legendary Chicago rap group BBU, and how the spiritual life of the recovery community have taught him how to build more loving and effective revolutionary movements.
Check out the whole #BYPSpotlight at blackyouthproject.com
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 219 - Lynsey Ann Moxie
Lynsey Ann Moxie brought her energy with her. She's a vocalist, performer, Chicago schoolteacher, and interdisciplinary artist from the South Suburbs of Chicago. She grew up in the Cantata choir as a 1st soprano, before finding her jazz roots at Spelman College, and then ultimately ending up back home in Chicago. She breaks down the wisdom she's found through craft, therapy, and the classrom, as well as a whole bunch of other quotable gems. Come along on this fun ride with the guys to kick off another year of AirGo!
NOTE: Come through our Art and Activism series #TodayatApple series this month!: apple.co/artandactivism
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 218 - Check-in 6
With the year and decade coming to a close, Dame and Kiss check in one last time in 2019–on Kiss's birthday, no less! They start beef with the 2010's, talk about the new exciting projects and partnerships launching in the New Year (a month of programs at the Apple Store, a talk show from the future, an Environmental Justice limited podcast series, a live event series about electoral politics and radical imagination called Unelectable), share some thank yous, and envision the 2030 of their imaginations. Plus, a call from a very special grandma guest...
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 217 - Lewis Raven Wallace
Lewis Raven Wallace is a trans journalist, movement worker, and the author of The View From Somewhere, a new book and podcast dispelling myths in journalism and issuing a call to action for journalists to account for their own biases, challenge power, and reshape journalism into a tool for liberation. While on book tour, Lewis stops by to talk about the book, their Chicago organizing days, how the field can be held more accountable, and how to commit acts of journalism with a new lens.
Buy the book and listen to the podcast here: www.lewispants.com/the-view-from-somewhere
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 216 - Jenna Anast
Jenna Anast will change up your whole energy. Jenna is an actor, filmmaker, comedian, singer, and community builder. She's the Head of Community for Open TV, and is a member of the #LetUsBreathe Collective. We talk about growing up as an adopted Black kid, reconnecting with her birth mom, being a part of the amazing film Sorry to Bother You, and much more.
Learn more: www.journeyswithjenna.com/
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RATE, AND REVIEW AIRGO ON YOUR PODCAST APP!
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO
Episode 215 - #BYPSpotlight with Asha Ransby-Sporn
Black Youth Project has joined forces with AirGo for a year-long #BYPSpotlight series, featuring our favorite Black academics and activists. This month’s #BYPSpotlight episode features Asha Ransby-Sporn, an organizer, movement worker, and National Organizing Co-Chair for Black Youth Project-100. She also was one of the central organizers who pushed Columbia University to divest from private prisons over the past few years. We talk community organizing basics, what are some ways to bring people into the work, how we can begin to rethink our relationship to land, designing her hypothetical commune, and her relationship with her mom Barbara Ransby (who was the first #BYPSpotlight guest).
Show Notes:
BYP-100 - http://byp100.org/
Columbia Prison Divestment -www.columbiaspectator.com/the-eye/2018…ate-prisons/
She Safe, We Safe: www.shesafewesafe.org/
Please subscribe, rate, and review AirGo on your podcast app!
Help Amplify this conversation with a tax-deductible donation to AirGo: airgoradio.com/donate
Episode 214 - Tiff Beatty
Tiff Beatty invites you into the circle. Tiff is the founder of Art is Bonfire, a seasonal open mic and cypher around a fire pit at Promontory Point in Hyde Park, and is the Programming Director of Chicago Humanities Festival, an event series bringing authors, thinkers, artists, and celebrities together in conversation around a central theme. The convo bounces between Tiff’s childhood in Washington State, her path to Chicago, building sacred space around the fire, transforming the humanities, and more.
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO!
Episode 213 - Third Coast International Audio Festival
Third Coast International Audio Festival is a nonprofit arts organization that celebrates the art and craft of narrative audio storytelling. Every year, radio-makers from around the world converge in Chicago for a conference that explores the medium, the radio industry, and the creative bounds yet to be explored. AirGo talked with a crew of Chicago producers about their experiences making radio in the city, relationship to the medium, and the stories they're trying to figure out how to tell. Also–check out the individual interviews with each radio-maker below.
Episode 212 - Frank Bergh
Frank Bergh is as embodied as it gets. He's the founder of Beyond the Grid, a company that builds renewable energy microgrids in countries across the global south. He's also one of the founders of Emmaus House, a Catholic Worker community in North Lawndale, that has been instrumental in the work of the #LetUsBreathe Collective, and is the founder of Chicago's chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice, a national network of groups and individuals working to undermine white supremacy and to work toward racial justice. We talk about how his relationship to God and religion show up, how he found himself living in Lawndale, some lessons from working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and much more.
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO!
Episode 211 - Monica Cosby
Monica Cosby is an organizer, activist, and mother who was incarcerated for 20 years in the state of Illinois. She now works for the Westside Justice Center, is the lead organizer of Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration, and is a wonderful and valuable spirit in the Chicago movement community. She talks about growing up in Uptown, the lessons about liberation and abolition she learned while inside, the transition after coming home, and a very special moment that makes Damon cry.
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO!
Episode 210 - #BYPSpotlight with Janae Bonsu
Black Youth Project has joined forces with AirGo for a year-long #BYPSpotlight series, featuring our favorite Black academics and activists. This month’s #BYPSpotlight episode is with Janae Bonsu, an organizer and scholar whose work centers the intersection of structural and gender-based violence. She recently stepped away from her position as National Co-Director, National Public Policy Chair, and Chicago Chapter Co-Chair of BYP 100, a member-based organization of 18 to 35 year old Black activists whose mission is to achieve economic, social, political, and educational freedom and justice for all Black people through nonviolent direct action organizing, education, and advocacy. She talks about learning stillness and finding peace, imagining new interventions when gender violence needs to be addressed, her cheese game, and much more.
Check out the whole #BYPSpotlight here: blackyouthproject.com/byp-x-airgo/
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO!
Episode 209 - Chicago Black Social Culture Map
The studio gets a lil' crowded this week, as a squad of collaborators behind the Chicago Black Social Culture Map, an interactive digital map documenting Chicago's Black social culture from the Great Migration through the end of the 20th century from blues to house. This project has evolved from the dance floor, to the internet, and now to event spaces across the city for conversations about how Black people in Chicago have created vibrancy, innovation, and joy in rooms across the city.
HELP AMPLIFY THIS CONVERSATION WITH A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO AIRGO!
Episode 208 - AirGo Live! with Akenya and Page May
On the third AirGo Live episode, Damon and Daniel get everyone talking about how we can communicate in conflict with love. Plus a performance and conversation with musician and composer Akenya, and organizer and Assata’s Daughters founder Page May. And a special small furry guest joins us as well!