AirGo

Ashley Battle knows her craft, and is figuring out what do with it. She's a filmmaker, director, DP, and music producer who has worked extensively on both the commercial and indie sides of the Chicago film and TV industry, and has directed or DPed a few projects alongside Damon and Daniel including the web series Signal Flow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFHLM5g0rxs). She talks about figuring o...

Andy Clarno is an associate professor of Sociology and African American Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago, who has developed a research collective model in collaborations with local radical organizers. He has recently been heavily involved in the Erase The Gang Database campaign (http://erasethedatabase.com), and is the author of Neoliberal Apartheid, a book focusing on the overlaps of...

adrienne maree brown is brilliant. She is a Detroit-based organizer, doula, facilitator, community builder, and writer of seminal books Emergent Strategy and Pleasure Activism. While in town for a talk at the Chicago Humanities Festival, adrienne swings by AirGo to talk with the guys about her birth work, learning from Grace Lee Boggs, fluidity, and much more. Plus, Damon and Daniel geek out about...

Squeak is on the boards! The DJ, producer, and West Side native swings by with a very special guest (his daughter Xuri) to talk about the rise of Pivot, getting comfortable with himself, learning through experience, and much more. Plus stay tuned at the end for a special cameo in the commercial! Recorded 5/1/19 in Chicago Music from this week's show: Bigger - Broadway Muse x SqueakPIVOT Snow - @fe...

Trina Reynolds-Tyler is an organizer, community builder, restorative justice facilitator, and graduate student at UChicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. She also works at the Invisible Institute, a journalism production studio founded by Jamie Kalven (who was on the show a couple weeks back). She talks about the University’s relationship to her childhood and neighborhood, learning from experie...

Richard Wallace is breaking down our economy. And not just explaining it–like trying to break it down into pieces and rebuild it more equitably. He’s the founder of Equity and Transformation (EAT), an organization that works with individuals operating in the informal economy to uplift the faces, voices, and power of the vast disenfranchised and excluded Black workforce in Chicago. He’s also a memb...

Cathy Cohen brings the pieces together beautifully. She is a professor at UChicago, a long-time organizer, a founding board member and former co-chair of the board of the Audre Lorde Project in NY, on the board of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press as well as the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) at CUNY, and the founder of Black Youth Project, a website devoted to Black youth from which...

Jamie Kalven fights for his neighbors. He’s a journalist, human rights worker, and founder of the Invisible Institute, a journalism production studio based on 62nd and Dorchester. He comes into the studio ready to swing through the years with Damon and Daniel, and shares his thoughts on guerilla journalism, his years working out of an apartment at Parkway Gardens, transparency and data, and much m...

Southpaw Swade is a mensch, to get Yiddish about it. The Florida-born, Chicago-based rapper and producer shares podcast space with a grace not often seen, and is truly a joy to talk to. He recently put out his Three Piece EP, which is available everywhere. Get tuned in, and make sure to stay tuned at the end for some bonus Hebrew Israelite conversation! Music from this week's show: FLTM - @southpa...

Essence McDowell is a communications strategist, organizer and co-author of Lifting As They Climbed: Mapping a History of Black Women on Chicago’s South Side. Working in collaboration with AirGo alum Mariame Kaba, Lifting As They Climbed maps dozens of locations across Chicago's South Side and connects them to the Black women who have shaped the histories of Chicago. She talks about the project, u...

Odinaka Ezeokoli is a comic, actor, and writer who came into the AirGo studio ready to talk, dig deep, and laugh. He starred in an episode of Easy, the Netflix series by Joe Swanberg that takes place in Chicago; was a central cast member of Brown Girls, the hit web series by Sam Bailey and AirGo alum Fatimah Asghar; and performed in Nothing to Lose But Our Chains, the hit Second City show written...

Charlene Carruthers is with the shits. She has served as the founding National Director of BYP-100, an activist member-led organization of Black 18-35 year olds dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people, for the last five years, and is the author of Unapologetic: A Black, Queer and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements. She talks about stepping out of her role at BYP-100, ste...

Krista Franklin just might be a whole-ass genius. She's definitely brilliant. The Ohio-born spirit is a poet, visual artist, curator, educator, mentor, and semi-professional hermit who has supported and shaped so many of the people we've interviewed on the show. Her humility and commitment to herself and the people she loves shines through in her poetry, collage, and mentorship. Her transgenre boo...

Mister Wallace is glowing up, out, and all around. They're the cool mom and founder of Futurehood, a collective spaceship full of emerging Chicago hip hop artists who are queer, which has reached a new level of visibility in recent months with a showcase performance and spectacle as part of last November's Red Bull Music Festival Chicago. Wallace also recently dropped a new project entitled Cool M...

Alex Fruchter is the man behind Chicago independent label Closed Sessions, the founder of hip hop blog Ruby Hornet, and a writer and DJ. His work has helped bring forward multiple waves of Chicago hip hop, from the Napster days into the streaming age and beyond. He talks about the industry, the role of a label, his own shift in perspective in the last year, and Morgan Park Academy, which is both h...

Wow. Hoda Katebi is a brilliant style designer, organizer, and writer who comes through for one of our favorite episodes ever. She's the founder of JooJoo Azad, a radical online fashion publication; the author of Tehran Streetstyle, a street fashion book of photos taken on the streets of her home country; and the founder of the newly launched Blue Tin Production, a fashion production co-op run by...

David Stovall is a professor at UIC whose work focuses on reshaping education and the school-to-prison nexus (which he explains, don't worry). He's also just a very good dude. We take a deep dive into classrooms, shaping our definitions of abolition, and much more. Recorded 2/29 in Chicago Follow AirGo - instagram.com/airgoradio bsky.app/profile/respairmedia.bsky.social Find us live! - www.respair...

Camonghne Felix is new to town, but she's already working to challenge power at the highest level in the city. The poet, political campaign maneuverer, and BRONX NATIVE is here working as Communications Director for the mayoral campaign of AirGo alum Amara Enyia. She pops in to talk first Chicago impressions, the legacies and conflicts of the Obamas, political futures, and much more. Recorded 1/23...

Vincent Martell is the founder of VAM Studio, an independent film and media production company consisting of primarily queer people of color that produces videos for musicians and record labels, foundations, and non-profits, nightlife and art identities. He is the director of Damaged Goods, a new web series celebrating a group of friends in Chicago's underground DIY scene. Recorded 1/15/19 in Chic...

For the last few months, AirGo partnered with the Real Chi newsroom at Free Spirit Media, a youth media nonprofit here in Chicago. On the final episode of their first season, the Real Chi squad talks bond reform and e-carceration with folks from the Chicago Community Bond Fund, plus a lot of other great deep dives into the news and North Lawndale community. Get on board! Follow AirGo - instagram.c...

Swopes is a photographer, graphic designer, influential instagrammer, and somewhat reformed socialite. Her trademark Chicago skyline pieces, which layer natural forces on aerial shots of the city, are immediately recognizable, and she has worked with dozens of national and global brands as a marketing consultant, graphic designer, and influencer. She talks about her craft, her determination toward...

Spurred by the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries, many women in the creative community here in Chicago have brought forth memories and allegations of sexual assault, rape, and sexual violence by men in the scene. Damon and Daniel talk about the moment, what we've learned, how they've processed and understand their respective responsibilities, and some potential next steps. Recorded 1/7/19 in Chicago F...

Ryan Keesling is the first guest to ask, in the interview, why we decided to have him on the show. The answer, at least on our end, is self-evident. For the last 18 years, he has worked as the founder and director of Free Write Arts and Literacy, an organization that works with young people in and outside the walls of Chicago's Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. He is also a tremendous DJ, holdi...

Benji Hart is ready and willing to get reflective. They have a wonderful conversation with Damon and Daniel about emergent understandings of liberation, growing toward loving their blackness, voguing and its history, and much more. They’re a freelance artist, educator, workshop leader, and retreat facilitator based here in Chicago. Follow AirGo - instagram.com/airgoradio bsky.app/profile/respairme...

It’s a big deal for Tempestt Hazel to get behind the mic, but she does it with grace and openness on this episode of AirGo. The curator, writer, artist, and founder of 60 Inches From Center talks about healthy and unhealthy collaborations, Keith Sweat, and, most importantly, the ARCHIVES! Archives are our joint! AIred 12/6/18 in Chicago Follow AirGo - instagram.com/airgoradio bsky.app/profile/resp...