Notes from Chicago

What does a longtime Chicago restaurant critic actually eat when nobody’s assigning the story? This week, Ashley sits down with Maggie Hennessy, a freelance food journalist, former Time Out Chicago restaurant critic, and author of The Burger Bible: Everything You Need to Know About the Humble Hamburger. Maggie left a financial journalism job covering hedge funds at Reuters for night classes at cul...

Jean Cate is a Chicago artist and the owner of Martha Mae: Art Supplies & Beautiful Things and The Center of Order and Experimentation, a coffee and gift shop on Grand Avenue in West Town. In this episode of Notes from Chicago, she tells Ashley how she opened her first shop in Andersonville while still at SAIC and rebuilt it after the original concept failed. She also explains how running that...

At 29, Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann was living in Los Angeles when the idea of building the synagogue she actually wanted to go to pulled her back to Chicago. Host Ashley talks with Rabbi Lizzi, Senior Rabbi and Founder of Mishkan Chicago, about growing up in Hyde Park, the South Side synagogue that shaped her, and why she set out to build a community for young adults who said, "Why would we go to synago...

Jane Beachy calls Chicago "the fountain of youth," a city where new ideas are always being born. She would know. As founder of Salonathon, the beloved weekly salon that ran from 2011 to 2018, she gave hundreds of Chicago artists a stage to share things they'd made just for that night, or had been quietly working on for years. Ashley talks with Jane, Senior Director of Public Engagement at Illinois...

This week on Notes from Chicago, we're at the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance with President & CEO Jennifer Van Valkenburg. Jen breaks down what it actually means to run one of the three largest conservatories in the country, from the 30-year public-private partnership with the Chicago Park District, to the community advisory board and youth council that shape every decision, to why they r...

Mark Payne has spent his career developing Chicago's next generation of civic leaders, and he learned to do it the same way he learned to love the city: from his family. His father, Jimmy Payne, was a celebrated Afro-Cuban and tap dancer who taught dance in Chicago from 1947 into his 90s; his mother drove the family up and down King Drive telling stories of the Great Migration. That upbringing in...

Chicago is a city of two truths: deep love and real weight, often in the same breath. In this final mini-episode from our summer archive series, we're revisiting five conversations that capture both sides of the story. Chris Smith makes the case for exploring the South Side beyond Hyde Park. Dr. Mimi Guiracocha shares what it took for a Pilsen community to physically stop ICE from entering their n...

What brought you to Chicago, and what has it given you in return? In this mini-episode from our summer archive series, host Ashley Phillips shares her own origin story before revisiting three unforgettable conversations about what this city means to the people who call it home. Hear from cross-stitch artist Emma McKee (aka StitchGawd) on the traumatic visa saga that led her to Chicago and how a Ch...

This summer, we're revisiting some of our favorite conversations. In this episode, we talk about the weight artists and organizers carry, and why they keep carrying it anyway. Photographer Kenn Cook Jr. reflects on capturing the West Side's true story and the West Sider who moved him to tears with her reaction to his work. Muralist-turned-fiber-artist Andy Bellomo opens up about painting through a...

We just hit a milestone!!! 40 episodes and almost a year of Notes from Chicago. To celebrate, we're kicking off a summer series of mini-episodes built around themes from the archive, and this first one is about accidental beginnings. None of these five people planned for their project to become what it became. Our 40th episode kicks off a short summer hiatus. We'll be back with new full-length int...

Dyanna Knight Lewis is the publisher of the Chicago Defender and regional VP of Real Times Media. Her connection to the paper started long before her career did. In this episode, Dyanna joins Notes from Chicago to talk about stewarding one of the most storied Black institutions in American media, 121 years old and counting. Follow the Chicago Defender: * Website: https://chicagodefender.com * Inst...

Before it was a 40,000-person festival, it was a Fourth of July picnic outside the Museum of Science and Industry. This week, Tony Hatchett of the Chosen Few DJs joins Notes from Chicago to trace house music's roots from The Warehouse and disco-era South Side parties to becoming a founding member of the crew behind the world's longest-running house music festival. Follow Chosen Few DJs: * Website:...

In this episode of Notes from Chicago, host Ashley Phillips talks with Isis Ferguson (Senior Director of Engagement & Partnerships) and Alyssa Gregory (Marketing Manager) of Arts + Public Life, a University of Chicago initiative rooted in Washington Park that connects, supports, and amplifies South Side artists and culture. Isis and Alyssa break down the four venues that make up Arts + Public...

Have you ever walked past a door and wondered what story it's holding? This week on Notes from Chicago, we sit down with Ronnie Frey, interior designer turned photographer, and the creator behind the wildly popular Instagram account Doorways of Chicago. What started as a pandemic-era pastime has grown into walking tours, a stunning new coffee table book (already the #1 seller at his publisher and...

This week on Notes From Chicago, host Ashley Phillips sits down with Johnny Jones, documentary filmmaker, founder and CEO of The Lingo Chicago, and proud North Lawndale native. Johnny opens up about growing up in Rockwell Gardens housing projects on the west side, losing his mother at a young age, and how those formative experiences became the foundation for everything he creates today. Johnny sha...

David Manilow is a Chicago institution. As the creator of the beloved PBS series Check, Please!, which ran for nearly 20 years in Chicago and expanded to over 10 cities, including San Francisco, Miami, and even Vienna, David helped Chicagoans discover the city's neighborhoods through the lens of food. He's now the host of The Dining Table podcast with Crain's Chicago Business. In this episode, Dav...

For decades, The Hideout has been one of Chicago’s most beloved music venues, a place where musicians, comedians, artists, and neighbors come together in a way that feels uniquely Chicago. In this episode of Notes From Chicago, Ashley Phillips sits down with Teri O'Brien, the venue’s new owner, to talk about taking over an iconic institution, preserving independent music spaces, and what makes The...

Steph Krim, founder of Good Things Vending, joins Notes From Chicago to share how she transformed old snack vending machines into one of Chicago’s most innovative community art platforms. From sourcing vintage machines to supporting hundreds of local artists, Steph discusses: Starting Good Things Vending from scratch Entrepreneurship and creative risk-taking Building a Chicago-based brand CTA coll...

What if one of Chicago’s most beloved family destinations was also quietly helping save endangered species around the world? In this episode of Notes from Chicago, Ashley Phillips sits down with Lisa Faust, Senior Director of Population Ecology at Lincoln Park Zoo, to explore the groundbreaking conservation work happening behind the scenes. From modeling wildlife populations to supporting species...

Spring in Chicago means one thing: unpredictable weather, cautious optimism, and finally finding ways to enjoy the city after a long winter. This week on Notes from Chicago, Ashley Phillips welcomes returning guest and producer Tanisha Blakely to the mic for a fun, candid conversation about surviving Chicago winters, navigating “fake spring,” and making the most of the city as it begins to thaw. F...

What does it take to create world-class comedy? In this episode of Notes from Chicago, we sit down with Jen Ellison, Vice President of Creative at Second City, the legendary comedy institution that launched the careers of stars like Tina Fey, Steve Carell, and Amy Poehler. Jen takes us inside the creative process behind improv and sketch comedy, how ideas evolve from spontaneous moments into iconi...

What would it actually take to fix Chicago’s biggest challenges? In this episode of Notes from Chicago, the CEO of Center for Neighborhood Technology, Nina Idemudia breaks down real, actionable solutions, from accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to bus rapid transit. She explains why change might be closer than we think. We discuss: Why affordable housing is still out of reach How simple policy shifts...

In this episode of Notes from Chicago, Emma McKee, the artist known as the StitchGawd, shares how she accidentally built a career in cross-stitching and what it felt like to watch WNBA legends try on her work on live national television. She also opens up about why she said no to Amazon and the NFL, the nine-foot Chairman Fred Hampton memorial she stitched on blue velvet, and the community map of...

What can biking tell you about a city like Chicago? In this episode of Notes from Chicago, we sit down with Viktor Köves, the creator behind Chicagoans Who Bike, a storytelling project capturing the lives, routines, and unexpected moments of people riding through the city. With nearly 100 interviews, Viktor has documented a wide range of experiences—from families biking with their kids to teens di...

Penny Gibbons started Trash People in 2022 with eight people, a plastic bag, and a reply to a stranger on the Logan Square community Facebook page. What began as a personal search for community has grown into an unexpected grassroots movement, now spanning nine neighborhoods. In this episode of Notes from Chicago, Penny talks about how a neighborhood cleanup became the "gateway drug" to community...