SSW Radio

Artists from throughout Chicago will be participating in a new, multi-venue festival this weekend (November 16-18). Decibel Crawl Fest, organized by Beverly native Clyde Moreau, started with the goal of highlighting local artists of color and LGBTQ+- and women-identifying artists, and paying them fairly “in exchange for what they give to inspire us.” The new DIY festival has shows in venues across...

Illinois has been making moves toward reducing incarceration, but there is a large group of people who are being left behind. People like 21-year-old Joe Montgomery, who have been sentenced with Class X felonies, make up almost a third of Illinois’ prison population according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. Some say these individuals who need the most help are instead left with few opti...

Chicago rapper Matt Muse joined South Side Weekly's Music Editor Chris Good on July 18 to talk about Muse's newest album NAPPY TALK. In this live interview broadcast on WHPK, the two talked about influences, hair, and the album's striking artwork. The music heard during this segment was "Getting To It" and "Shea Butter Baby" from NAPPY TALK. The bumper at the beginning features SSW reporter Erisa...

Note: At the time of this interview, Pat Frazier used different pronouns. Now, Frazier uses they/them pronouns. In May, Pat Frazier became the National Youth Poet Laureate—the first ever from Chicago—after being named the city’s Youth Poet Laureate last September. Inspired by poets like Gwendolyn Brooks and Safia Elhillo, and their own activism work with Assata’s Daughters—an intergenerational col...

South Side Weekly's Maya Horton talks with Ciera Mckissick, founder of AMFM magazine and gallery in Pilsen, about the growth of the gallery space and it's role in the arts community as an incubator for emerging artists. (Note: This interview was conducted on June 5, 2018.) Music heard during this segment was composed by Nick Hennessey. The bumper at the beginning features members of the rap collec...

Missed Pitchfork? South Side Weekly Radio's got you covered. Listen to festival attendee reactions to South Sider performances. This piece was produced by Erisa Apantaku. The bumper at the beginning features SSW reporter Bridget Vaughn and the Chicago band Malafacha and was produced by Jed Lickerman. For more news, visit www.southsideweekly.com.

Melkbelly—comprised of Miranda Winters (guitar and vocals), Bart Winters (also guitar, and Miranda’s husband), Liam Winters (a bassist and Bart’s brother), and James Wetzel (drums)—recently sat down with the Weekly's Erisa Apantaku in a cozy practice space in East Garfield Park. Amongst Christmas lights, a number of effects pedals, and jamming from adjacent practice rooms, Melkbelly’s members shar...

In the Fall of 2017, it was announced that all four of the last remaining Englewood neighborhood high schools would be closing. Three of them will be dissolved over the next three years, but Paul Robeson High School, which opened in 1977, had it's last day of school on Tuesday, June 19. It will be demolished to make way for a new, $85-million high school. Since its opening four decades ago, Robeso...

With a plethora of Chicago artists in this year's Pitchfork lineup, Adam Krefman, Senior Director of Festivals and Activations, joined SSW Radio host Olivia Obineme for a chat about what we can expect from this year's festival. South Side Weekly Radio airs live on Tuesdays from 3-4pm at WHPK 88.5 FM - The Pride of the South Side - with your hosts Andrew Koski, Sam Larsen, and Olivia Obineme. The b...

For Jenny Kendler, one aspect of an artist’s job is to “make invisible things visible.” This summer, Kendler and UIC’s Gallery 400 are trying to do just that with the issue of climate change. Partnering with community groups, Garden for a Changing Climate aims to show the local effects of climate change in four neighborhoods around Chicago. This piece was produced by Sam Larsen. South Side Weekly...

Last time we had Open Mike Eagle on the show, the city was cutting trees outside his house. Chainsaws rumbled throughout the interview. This time when we spoke with Mike, his day was at “some weird intersection between weird and crazy,” but that didn’t stop him from having a great convo with South Side Weekly’s Christopher Good and Andrew Koski about his upcoming Pitchfork performance and his rece...

When Patrice Patterson was young, her favorite cousin was killed. "Back then I did not have the healing to deal with that." She started Mama Moore's Community Garden on 79th and Dobson in Chatham as part of a way to heal. "When I suffer from anxiety I always just feel like I need a place to go and just heal [...] and I always think of nature." This piece was produced Stefania Gomez. Music heard du...

Last week we heard Pascal Sabino's piece on affordability in Englewood rents. This week, he joined SSW Radio hosts Olivia Obineme and Andrew Koski to talk more about his reporting around housing in Englewood as part of his work in the City Bureau reporting fellowship. City Bureau is a Woodlawn-based civic journalism lab. For more information go to www.citybureau.org. South Side Weekly Radio airs l...

Lannon Broughton was born and raised in Englewood. Throughout his life, he was pushed out of the neighborhood due to railroad developments and unaffordable rents. Now that Lannon's back in Englewood, he's working with other residents to attack issues of unaffordability and displacement. As City Bureau reporting fellow Pascal Sabino reports, it's about more than just rent. This piece was produced i...

When a laidback trip to Beverly to pick up some cabinets becomes something more. James Gordon shared this harrowing story at West Side Stories: Stand Up To Violence event in January. South Side Weekly Radio airs live on Tuesdays from 3-4pm at WHPK 88.5 FM - The Pride of the South Side - with your hosts Andrew Koski, Sam Larsen, and Olivia Obineme. The bumper at the beginning features SSW reporter...

"For many many years, I wanted to talk to somebody about it. And when [they] began to ask me, I just began to flow." Gwen Bennett, in conversation with her grandchild Ireashia Monét, about the domestic abuse and violence she experienced over the course of her life. Ruminations on that trauma are present in Monét's short films THE PEARLS YOU GAVE ME and GRANDMA'S WISDOM. Both films were shown last...

Last year, Bridgeport's famous Johnny O's hot dog stand was devastated with two losses: Johnny O and his son, John Jr., both passed away. As a result, the 24-hour hot dog stand had to reduce its hours. "We've had a handful of our night owls be a little upset about that, and there is some third shift workers that come through that are a little upset about it," says Alex Veliotis, son of Johnny O. S...

"Negrow Disco was more of an ode to people, the queer Black and brown folks that started disco. Soul Bounce was kind of more of me coming and establishing my sound / genre. And BANBA is just people getting to know me more." South Side rapper Ric Wilson joined SSW's Olivia Obineme and Chris Good in studio to talk about everything from the new EP BANBA to modeling to prison abolition. Music in this...

Born and raised in Chatham, Tracye Eileen's musical career started in a school play when she was 8. Now, she runs her own label, has monthly shows at Buddy Guy's Legends, and is about to drop her second CD WHY DID I SAY YES. In a conversations with South Side Weekly's Bridget Vaughn, Eileen talks about her musical journey and her newest release. South Side Weekly Radio airs live on Tuesdays from 3...

Last month, the Chicago Community Bond Fund hosted City Bureau’s 58th Public Newsroom. Director of Advocacy Irene Romulo and volunteer Liz Corrado talked through Cook County’s money bond system and shared findings from a 2017 courtwatching initiative led by the Coalition to End Money Bond. Here they answer questions posed by a curious audience. Notes: As of early May, the Circuit Court of Cook Cou...

"All my college papers, gone, gone, gone. My mom’s wedding dress, gone." Basement flooding in Chatham resident Lori Burns' home wiped out decades of memories. The same can be said of many in Chatham. Now, the Center For Neighborhood Technology is working with residents to implement interventions to help curb the damage. This piece was reported and produced by Morgan Levey. South Side Weekly Radio...

Note: At the time of this interview, Pat Frazier used different pronouns and a different first name. Now, Frazier uses they/them pronouns. Pat Frazier was recently announced the Youth Poet Laureate of Chicago. In honor of the accolade, South Side Weekly Radio re-broadcasted our previous interview with the poet. Last fall when we interviewed Frazier, they had just been named Chicago’s Youth Poet La...

Nigel Jackson, who goes by HarmonicSapien, doesn't seem himself as a producer as much as a conductor. Jackson pulls samples from throughout the musical landscape to create his beats. Talking with SSW Radio's Erisa Apantaku, Jackson described his first exposures to music, beatmaking, and how he likes to approach collaborations with other artists. Music featured in this segment is from HarmonicSapie...

Raised on jazz, when Jorie Johnson got the chance to show her stuff to then-format chief Richton Guy Thomas, she did not disappoint. The hour-long "audition" left her with a show on WHPK. For the past four years, Jorie K's Journey has shared all types of jazz with her listeners. Johnson joined WHPK hosts Olivia Obineme and Andrew Koski in studio for a deeper look at her show and her hopes for the...

At a #PublicNewsroom in March, researcher Daniel K. Hertz shared excerpts from his upcoming book on gentrification in Lincoln Park. Audience members reacted to the excerpts, giving feedback to Hertz and discussing the cyclical nature of historical discussions of gentrification. City Bureau's #PublicNewsroom is a series of free, weekly workshops and discussions aimed at building trust between journ...