Streets Dept Podcast

The city of Philadelphia's newly elected City Controller, Rebecca Rhynhart has spent her first year in office working to make our city government more transparent and accountable, auditing Philly's 10-year tax abatement, uncovering unfair property tax assessments, and advocating for better sexual harassment prevention policies and procedures. Today we talk with Rebecca about what she&apo...

The founder of Men's Style Pro, a consulting firm and editorial site, Sabir M. Peele  helps men understand, breakdown, and expand their personal style. Today we chat with Sabir about how he's built one of the Philly area's most successful men's lifestyle blogs and social media accounts, and how he regularly works with major style brands around the world to grow his influence. (...

Inga Saffron is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and architecture critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Since 1999, she's been thinking and writing about  Philadelphia's architecture, design, public space, city planning, and all that goes into making a city worth living in. Today, we talk with Inga about Philly's past, present, and possible future!

Today we chat with interdisciplinary poet, performer, activist, and recording artist Ursula Rucker , whose work reflects the world and our times, as well as her own personal history. Ursula characterizes her work as situated "along the edge of the terrains of poetry." She's released five albums and collaborated with a wide range of artists, including King Britt, Josh Wink, and The R...

Morgan Berman  is the CEO of MilkCrate , a mission driven tech company that helps other mission driven organizations achieve their impact goals. Named one of the "Top 10 Female Entrepreneurs to Watch" by the UN Foundation, Morgan has presented at Forbes  30 Under 30 and has been a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. In her spare time, Morgan practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and she recomme...

Marcus Branch is a NYC/PHL-based photographer who is taking the art world by storm. In recent years, Marcus has shot for Afropunk, Marie Claire, i-D Japan, VICE, and Interview Magazine to name a few. His seemingly effortless talent, drive, and eye combined with his passion for documenting queer, black, non-binary communities, and people of all backgrounds, makes his body of work look and feel like...

Just named as the next Poet Laureate of Philadelphia,  Raquel Salas Rivera  is a bilingual poet, writer, and translator. In this Season One finale, Conrad Benner talks with Raquel about how they plan to use their new influential position to advocate for Puerto Rico and address issues around community and gentrification in Philly. (Season One of the Streets Dept Podcast is brought to you by our spo...

Chill Moody  is a West Philly-based hip-hop artist, a businessman and a beer-maker, and Philadelphia's official Music Ambassador. Conrad Benner talks with Chill about his many projects both in and outside of his breakthrough music career. (Season One of the Streets Dept Podcast is brought to you by our sponsors at  The Navy Yard  and  Indy Hall ! Episodes are mixed and edited by our Producer...

Antoinette Marie Johnson is a writer, a former Army service member, and the CEO of Cohere , an urbanism-focused creative agency on a mission to build better cities. Conrad Benner talks with Antoinette about building Cohere out of her previous company, At Media. (Season One of the Streets Dept Podcast is brought to you by our sponsors at  The Navy Yard  and  Indy Hall ! Episodes are mixed and edite...

A writer, a podcaster, a builder of communities, and of course the guy who started one of the longest running co-working communities in the world, today Conrad Benner sits down for an extended chat with Indy Hall's  Alex Hillman . (Season One of the Streets Dept Podcast is brought to you by our sponsors at  The Navy Yard  and  Indy Hall ! Episodes are mixed and edited by our Producer Mike Meh...

eL Seed is a Tunisian-French artist and graffiti writer who's exhibited work on every continent of the globe! Conrad Benner talks with eL Seed about his beautiful, intricate murals and artwork that blends the historic art of Arabic calligraphy with graffiti to portray messages of beauty, poetry, and peace. (Season One of the Streets Dept Podcast is brought to you by our sponsors at The Navy Y...

Caledonia Curry (aka  Swoon ) is a classically trained, Brooklyn-based visual artist and printmaker, and easily one of the best-known street artists in the world! Caledonia sits down with Conrad Benner to talk about her career and her retrospective open now at the Contemporary Arts Centre in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Season One of the Streets Dept Podcast is brought to you by our sponsors at The Navy Yar...

A New York City-based multi-media, performance, video, and installation artist,  Marisa Williamson is seeking to make history alive in people's worlds. Marisa sits down with Conrad Benner to talk about all the ways she's working to do that, including her new app, a video scavenger hunt that explores the African American historical struggle for freedom. (Season One of the Streets Dept Pod...

A grassroots community organizer involved in Philadelphia education reform since 2006, Helen Gym is a first-term councilperson and the first Asian American woman to ever serve on Philadelphia's City Council. Councilmember Gym sits down with Conrad Benner to talk about her calls for the removal of a monument to the divisive former Philly mayor, Frank Rizzo, about growing up in the U.S. with pa...

R. Eric Thomas  is a Senior Staff Writer for Elle.com where he writes 'Eric Reads the News,' which has quickly become an online humor staple with over a million social media shares. R. Eric sits down with Conrad Benner to talk about his burgeoning career, his faith, and the possibility of spending an eternity in heaven with Cher. (Season One of the Streets Dept Podcast is brought to you...

Welcome to the Streets Dept Podcast. Well, what will be the Streets Dept Podcast. This is just a little introduction episode to explain exactly who I am and what I'm trying to do here!  Each episode of the Streets Dept Podcast is mixed and edited by our Producer Mike Mehalick, and recorded at Indy Hall.