City So Real with Kevin Coval

You'll find Good Things Vending at ten locations across Chicago, including at the Chicago Avenue stop on the CTA's Red Line. Kevin is directing Shards of Me and My starring Marc Kelly Smith at the Kimball Arts Center January 21st-25th. It's Marc's not-to-be-missed first one-man show of monologues and poems. Get full access to Kevin's Substack at kevincoval.substack.com/subscribe

The Trib’s Rick Kogan is one of Chicago’s last great newspaper men. His magnetism as a writer is fed by an insatiable appetite for listening . As a kid, Rick’s ears were filled with the mystical voices of Nelson Algren, Studs Terkel, Marcel Marceau and countless other renowned characters who joined his parents’ late night parties in their Old Town living room. In this conversation, Kogan speaks th...

This week's guest is the ring leader of a sideshow that sits under the el tracks at Van Buren & Clark. Anais tends bar at a joint named after a carnival ride made famous by the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition. This is a conversation about what it means to grow up on four blocks, how Humboldt Park might be heaven, and why real superheroes live amongst us on the regular. Get full access to Kevin...

Jerod grew up with high expectations hooping in the same neighborhood as some of the city’s greatest rappers. Then, an injury and a deeply personal loss changed everything. In our debut episode, Jerod gets real about the gifts he was hiding. Jerod Haynes is on an epic run as an actor, with performances on Hulu’s Good American Family , 9-1-1 Nashville on ABC , Madina in the Summertime , and Horsegi...

When you love a place for real, you’ll tout its beauty while shooting straight about its painful truths. City So Real is a series of conversations about life and work in Chicago, right now. You’ll hear some names you know, but mostly voices you don’t know. Either way, you’ll get stories that contrast beauty and struggle from all walks of existence: laborers and artists, activists and inventors. Ho...