CHIRP Radio Podcasts

Chicago-based filmmaker Joe Swanberg visited the CHIRP studios to talk with Dylan Peterson about hyper-localism in his work, Greta Gerwig's actual first film, forgetting to tell his little brother that he kind of made a movie about him, and carrying on the Chicago spirit that has defined the city since the World's Fair of 1893. Season 2 of Easy is available now on Netflix. produced by Dylan Peterson (@_dylanclub_)

Kyle Kelly is the co-owner and head chef of The Cajun Connoisseur. He's a self-taught Cajun chef starting out his second winter in the “deliciousness business” of Chicago’s food truck scene. With his crew of family on board, Kelly serves grits, jambalaya and po'boys, makes plans for his brick-and-mortar restaurant, and offers opportunities to young people from his Englewood neighborhood. But his mantra of good food and forgiveness can't prevent gun violence from touching his business and his life. This story was produced as part of new collaboration between CHIRP Radio and City Bureau, a Chicago journalism lab. City Bureau reporter Sarah Conway worked with CHIRP producer Dan Epstein to create this day-in-the life radio portrait as part of City Bureau's fall 2016 cycle on Englewood's food desert.

In this three-part interview, CHIRP's Dylan Peterson visits the studio of Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi to talk about the art, history, and philosophies of Sonnenzimmer. Butcher and Nakanishi discuss their origins and working relationship as visual artists, the audio/visual/literature project Graphic Arts Future, and the importance of Chicago as a setting for creative work. Sonnenzimmer's solo show Vector Sculptures runs until May 21st at Elastic Arts in Chicago, with a live discussion on April 21st with curator Jordan Martins. produced by Dylan Peterson (@tdvsbl)

CHIRP DJ Bobby Evers caught up with author Amelia Gray during her recent stop through Chicago for her book tour in support of her new collection of short stories, Gutshot. They discuss the tour, sign some books, and admire Chicago style hotdogs. Produced by Bobby Evers

CHIRP's Eve Szokolai attended The Hideout's Summer Psych Fest where she talked to organizers about what the festival means for Chicago as well as other cities that celebrate psychedelic music. Before their performance at the fest, Chicago's VCSR talked about the experimental synth recordings they made over 30 years ago, and finally distributing their music via Permanent Records in 2015. produced by Eve Szokolai

If you’re into infographics, then you probably know about Edward Tufte. He’s arguably the world’s foremost expert in the visual presentation of data, and leader of the campaign against “chartjunk,” the gimmicks and gadgets that frequently adorn and confuse the graphs, tables and charts we see online, in print and at work. When he’s not working on a new book or teaching his one-day course on presenting data and information, Tufte spends his time making sculptures. A collection of his sculptures is devoted to what Tufte himself calls “maybe the greatest data visualization ever done,” a way of graphically depicting sub-atomic particle behavior developed by physicist and Nobel laureate, Richard Feynman. Appropriately enough, an exhibit of that collection is on display at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) until June 26th. CHIRP’s Dan Epstein went to Fermilab recently to talk with Tufte, and with physicist John Campbell, about Feynman diagrams, and the “intense seeing” that art and science have in common. Special thanks to Don Lincoln of Fermilab for providing additional background and a Feynman diagram calculation. produced by Dan Epstein

Chicago writer & performer, Alisa Rosenthal sat down with Bobby Evers and Jessi D after a performance of her variety act, "The Plucky Show," to discuss her stage persona and what it's like to assemble independent theatre in Chicago. The conversation took place as they were striking set, and a series of puppets were enclosed in a dark bag. The next performance of "The Plucky Show" will take place Thursday April 10 at Gorilla Tango.

Kelly Nøthing runs D.I.Y. space Animal Kingdom, books & promotes rock shows at several other venues, spins records at The Owl, and plays in The Lemons, The Rubs, Sky Maul. She & Charles the AK cat talked with CHIRP DJ JimK about the ephemeral nature of DIY spaces, some local bands she loves, and the appeal of a cheap & lawless town. produced by JimK and Jenn Rourke

CHIRP DJs Bobby Evers and Jessi D sat down with playwright Julia Weiss at The Bad Apple to discuss her new play "Forgiveness." They discussed manic pixie dreamgirls, the patriarchy, and Beyonce. "Forgiveness" will run at The Cornservatory until February 15th. produced by Bobby Evers and Jessi D

The Underground Multiplex (TUGM) is an arts advocacy and community outreach group founded in 2010 by Lew Ojeda and Richard Lewis. TUGM is a "transmedia" group, which means they advocate on behalf of all media types. They helped break the story of the possible sale of the Portage Theater, which led to a campaign to help save local independent movie theaters and video stores. More recently, they mounted a Kickstarter campaign to help recover hundreds of marionettes hand-crafted by Ralph Kipniss, a third-generation Russian puppeteer who ran a marionette theater on Chicago's north side. That campaign didn’t reach its goal. CHIRP's Kwame Shorter spoke with Ojeda and Lewis about the campaign and why it was important to help save the lost marionettes of Ralph Kipniss. Music from The Soldier's Tale by Igor Stravinsky Additional editing by Dan Epstein

People want to be recognized on their own terms. But there are times when your success is more closely associated with something or someone else. When it comes to the work of Frank Zappa, it’s hard to think about anyone but Zappa as being responsible because his personality loomed so large. But artist Cal Schenkel isn’t worried about being defined only in terms of his association with Zappa. “I mean, it has its pros and cons, you know,” says Schenkel. He created the album art for a long list of Zappa records-- Uncle Meat, The Grand Wazoo, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Hot Rats, to name just a few. “It’s certainly gotten me a lot of recognition and also connections all over the world, really…I think my work speaks for itself, both the work I did then and the work I’m doing now.” CHIRP’s Dan Epstein talked with Cal Schenkel at Firecat Projects Gallery in Bucktown where Schenkel’s work, both past and present, is on display until August 17.

One night Davy Rothbart found a note on his car. It was a very personal note. Except it wasn't for him. The writer had mistaken Davy's car for her boyfriend's car. And it was that note that got Davy started on Found Magazine and the website foundmagazine.com. It's a collection of notes, scraps and photos found by people all over the world, items that are sometimes inexplicable and usually funny, perplexing and raw. They are always very personal in that they reveal something about the soul of the writer. Now after ten years of publishing other people's innermost feelings, Davy has turned the lens on himself with his new book of personal essays, My Heart is an Idiot. He's on a 79-city tour to promote the book and to celebrate Found Magazine's tenth anniversary. He's been traveling with his brother Peter, a musician who writes songs based on found notes. Peter's new CD is You Are What You Dream. Before their show at the Old Town School of Folk Music, Davy sat down with CHIRP's Dan Epstein. Davy popped open his briefcase, shuffled through the hundreds of scraps of paper inside and chose a few of his favorite found notes to share. (music heard in this story: The Baddest Nissans in the Northwest and You Are What You Dream, both by Peter Rothbart)

The Chicago Writers Conference took place in mid-September downtown at the Tribune Building. The conference was a weekend of seminars and talks for all types of writers about the business of writing. CHIRP’s Jessi DiBartolomeo and Dan Epstein talked with executive director Mare Swallow. Her mission is to help writers get their writing published.

Social justice movements have historically turned to the arts to build awareness of issues and to gather like-minded people together around those issues. Occupy Chicago is following this tradition with the Occupy Chicago Rebel Arts Collective (OCRAC). Josh Fox and Dan Epstein tell us how OCRAC is using the arts to keep the Occupy movement front and center and to expand the focus of Occupy beyond just the economy.

Pastor Corey Brooks of New Beginnings Church in Woodlawn believes you have to take a stand for your beliefs, even if that means some personal sacrifice. Pastor Brooks has had enough of murders in his neighborhood, so much so that he’s been living in a tent on the roof of the abandoned motel across the street from his church on South King Drive. And he’s not coming down until he can raise $450,000 to buy the property and put up a community center. He’s been up there since Thanksgiving. The community center would be part of Project HOOD (Helping Others Obtain Destiny), and Pastor Brooks hopes his efforts can bring a positive change to his neighborhood. CHIRP News spoke with Pastor Brooks in December.