The City Lights Collective

✦ We live in a time where women's rights, visibility, and autonomy are under assault and being eroded daily. Writer Trenton Judson has decided to write a film that challenges and flies in the face of these attacks. Enter, Bad... well, the second word also starts with a B and rhymes with Mitch. So, for the sake of FCC-monitored radio, let's call the film BB. Enter BB, an independent vigilante film...

✦ Have you ever watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off or The Wizard of Oz and thought, "Where are all the Black characters?" Dad's Garage is answering that burning question in their show "Blackground," which is on stage through September 27. WABE arts reporter Summer Evans sat down with Jon Carr, the artistic director of Dad's Garage and one of the show's participants to learn more. ✦ City Lights Colle...

✦ Grease is the word, and it's also the film we're screening for our next City Lights Cinema event. Join us at the Plaza Theater next Saturday, August 16, at 4 pm for a movie plus shenanigans. We'll have a couple of competitions ahead of the screening – one for the hand jive - the ridiculous patty-cake type routine that the entire graduating class at Rydell High does during the school dance,...

✦ In good art, there is often beauty, offense, challenge, common ground, and that special little something that stays with you long after you've experienced it. When City Lights Collective co-host Jon Goode went to The Balzer theater to see the True Colors theater's presentation of "Ain't No Mo," by playwright Jordan E Cooper, he didn't know what he was in for but left knowing he'd just seen some...

✦ Multidisciplinary artist Brill Adium argues that artistic styles are mere constructs—and that venturing beyond your creative comfort zone can spark innovative solutions to everyday challenges. His first solo show, "Brill Adium: Finding My Rhythm," is currently on view at One Contemporary Gallery through September 6. WABE arts reporter Summer Evans spoke with Adium, along with One Contempor...

✦ We've all felt a little "othered" at times, but the shy, serious, teenage Leela, born in India, and on the autism spectrum, might have a bit of extra insight into the feeling. She's the lead character in the acclaimed play "Orange" by Aditi Brennan Kapil, which opens at Stage Door Theatre on August 9 and runs through the 24. City Lights Collective co-host Kim Drobes recently spoke with director...

✦ Atlanta is a city rife with creativity. One of the artistic endeavors that Atlanta, and Georgia for that matter, has seen hockey stick growth within is film making. Not to be forgotten, however, amongst the known stars, million-dollar budgets, and expensive studios are the indie-film makers. City Lights Collective co-host Jon Goode sat down with poet, indie-film maker, and Atlanta native Malik S...

✦ If you're looking for your next much-needed laugh, Atlanta comedian Joel Byars has plenty of them ready for you at his "Funny Fridays" comedy showcase.  The next event in the series is scheduled for August 22 at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center and will feature performances by Lace Larrabee, Carlos Rodriguez, and Emily Holden. Byars recently joined WABE arts reporter Summer Evans to...

✦ What's the unlikeliest place you can think of to start a podcast? Well, back in 2016, the creatives behind the hit podcast Ear Hustle launched their show from inside California's San Quentin State Prison. Their goal? To tell first-hand true stories of life during and after incarceration. The show is co-hosted by Earlonne Woods, who spent over 20 years in prison, and Nigel Poor, who first came to...

✦ 61 years ago, racial minorities had no legally protected right to vote. A new documentary film “Harmony of Freedom” reminds us of this unsettling fact while celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, through the power of music. WABE has partnered with Georgia State student conductor and filmmaker Jackson Allred to air “Harmony of Freedom” on August 4th. Th...

✦ If artists are the heartbeats, pumping out music, then DJs are the people with their fingers on the pulse. People in-tune with the rhythms that allow you to feel how love, longing, and light in a song, and in your soul. There are DJs that play arenas, clubs, weddings, backyard BBQs, and every place in-between. They can make or break or night, but my goodness the right DJ can transform a dance fl...

✦ From street corners to collectors' closets, sneakers have become more than just footwear. They're currency, they're conversation starters, and they're Culture. In Atlanta, sneakers have found their way into exhibitions, college degrees, and even job opportunities. WABE arts reporter Summer Evans recently laced up to learn more about the billion-dollar industry behind the kicks that turn heads an...

✦ 0:30 - Atlanta's music scene is often associated with sold-out arenas, local small stages, or eclectic late-night venues. But hidden in corners of the city, another kind of music space is thriving, one powered by turntables, vintage speakers, and the warm crackle of vinyl. These are Atlanta's listening rooms, where music isn't just played; it's experienced. The rooms come in various flavors, sha...

✦ 0:40 - The five main food groups that are important for anyone’s diet include—fruits, vegetables, protein, grains, and chocolate…okay, maybe not the last one. However, it remains an essential building block of a balanced diet. A new exhibition at the Museum of Design Atlanta, also known as MODA, explores the origins of chocolate, its evolution into a global commodity, and the...

✦ The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever is dancing into its 10th year in Atlanta on Saturday, July 26, in Candler Park. City Lights Collective member, Chantelle Rytter, has more on this odd Atlanta tradition that brings Kate Bush and Emily Brontë fans together in a public dance. ✦ Today marks the 5th anniversary of Congressman John Lewis' death. Lewis dedicated his life to advancing the cause o...

✦ It's hard to believe that just a two-hour drive north of Atlanta, just past the end of 985 on Highway 441, brings you to a place where art, nature, and history converge in the most beautiful ways. City Lights Collective Member Zachary Brown recently hit the highway to learn more about the Hambidge Center. ✦ Atlanta's first-ever Halal Food Festival is coming to Atlantic Station on Saturday. Mouth...

✦ Can you name a feeling? Dashill Smith and the musicians and vocalists that join him at TenATL certainly think so. City Lights Collective co-host Jon Goode recently went to visit TenATL in East Atlanta to learn more. ✦ In honor of MLB All-Star Week, Truist Park isn’t the only place in Cobb County to see baseball this summer. A new exhibition at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art features the w...

✦ World Listening Day, coming up on July 18th, celebrates the simple yet profound act of listening. As we tune in to the world around us, more of us are also experiencing our favorite stories through sound. City Lights Collective member and "Bookmarked" contributor Alison Law recently explored the growing popularity of audiobooks and what's next for this booming industry. ✦ The Happy Black Parent...

✦ WABE's "Sounds Like ATL" music documentary series explores Atlanta's renowned music scene. Each episode spotlights a local Atlanta musician, allowing viewers to witness their creative process while they perform a couple of songs. The weekly segments are released on our YouTube channel, @WABE ATL, and we share a preview of their recent episode, spotlighting singer and songwriter E'lanah. ✦ Atlant...

✦ Summertime is officially upon us, and there’s nothing better to help cool you off on hot Atlanta days than ice cream. City Lights Collective food contributors Akila McConnel and Chef Asata Reid know this well, and they’re taking us back to 1870 to learn the history of ice cream in our city.   ✦ Praised by jazz legends Ramsey Lewis and Les McCann, Atlanta jazz pianist Joe Al...

✦ When City Lights Collective co-host Jon Goode was told that High Bias is a good thing, he wasn't entirely sure what that meant. So, he decided to go to Block and Drum on a Wednesday night to find out for himself. Created by STLNDRMS, High Bias is a deep listening experience. Each week, they explore the highest level of music curation in a room designed for true fidelity. A fully treated space, a...

✦ If you go to the Decatur Recreation Center on a Friday evening, you’ll see about 75 people dancing to a live fiddle band, and they look like the happiest people in town. City Lights Collective member Gillian Anne Renault learns more about Atlanta Contra Dance . ✦ Latinas in Media Atlanta , also known as LIMA, creates opportunities for Latine artists to tell untold stories from the Latin di...

For over a decade, Lois Reitzes made City Lights a welcoming home for Atlanta’s artists. Now, we’re opening the doors even wider and carrying on her legacy with a chorus of voices. Welcome to The City Lights Collective , WABE’s new weekday show where you’ll discover the best of what Atlanta’s arts and culture scene has to offer. You’ll hear short stories, rich v...

After more than 45 years at WABE, Lois Reitzes hosts her final episode of City Lights ahead of her retirement. In this grand finale, Lois is joined by her producers and very special guests, as they share heartfelt memories and celebrate her legacy as Atlanta's foremost champion of Arts and Culture. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lois presents the inaugural “Lois Reitzes Leader of the Arts Award.” Plus, Lois’s conversation with film scholar Eddy Von Mueller, recorded live at the Tara Theater this past Sunday, and Susan Booth, Artistic Director of the Goodman Theater in Chicago and former Alliance Theater Artistic Director, joins Lois for a final interview ahead of Lois’s retirement. See omnystudio.c...