AirGo

Melissa DuPrey is dope. You could say that about a lot of the people we've had on the show, but it's indubitably true with Melissa. She's an actress, comedian, and activist who is a native of the city's Humboldt Park neighborhood. She's also the General Manager of Free Street Theater, the amazing youth theater organization that has been a home for AirGo alumni Ricardo Gamboa and Sol Patches.

Recorded 9/1/16 in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

Papers - @Sangobeats

I Love Soul (feat. Avery R. Young) - @ricwilson

Why are your house, block, and city the way that they are? Daniel Kay Hertz has some ideas, and he's excited to share them with you. Hertz is an urban planner and Chicagoan who breaks down and reshapes housing and transportation policy in ways that illuminate how this city works, and often doesn't work. Get your crash course with the sexiest AirGo episode of all time.

Recorded 8/25/16 in Chicago, IL

Music from this week's show:

#1 - @Lefty_Loosey

On this week's episode, we celebrate our Associate Producer Chris Cannon, who has been holding it down as a member of the AirGo staff all summer. As he prepares to go back to college, we share his thoughts on working with the show, as well as an audio piece that he co-produced this past semester about street harassment.

Get @neonpajama's new book "Paper Wind": http://dustyintl.com/paper-wind-by-ben-niespodziany/

Music from this week's show:

So Gone (feat. Missy Elliott) - Monica

Midnight City - M83

End of the World - @lupefiasco

Diamond Sharp is a poet and essayist from Oak Park, whose words and presence celebrate the melancholy and the shadows we all carry in a way rarely seen in artist communities, organizing rooms, and simply in the world overall. A member of BYP-1oo and an editor for Rookie Mag, Diamond swings by AirGo Studio B (Daniel's house) for this week's episode while the station is getting fixed up.

Recorded Wednesday 8/3/16 in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

mr. fox mr. fox - @squeakPIVOT

Shadow Man (feat. @sabapivot, @sminoworld, 1992phoelix) - @noname

When the world acts, AirGo creates and transforms, so this week's episode is a little different. Rather than lifting up one particular Strong Young Voices, Episode 53 brings together shorter conversations with several folks around Freedom Square, the now week-long occupation led by the Let Us Breathe Collective across from the infamous CPD torture site Homan Square. Listen, stop by the ongoing 24/7 occupation at 1100 S Homan, and support by bringing one of the needs listed on the Let Us Breathe Facebook page every morning.

Recorded 7/26-7/28 at Freedom Square in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

Family Business - @kanyewest

Lonely Lonely - @jamilawoods

Recess - @Ravynlenae

Twenty Three - Lowkey

Sonia Denis is a standup comic who has been tearing up stages across the city. A member of the cast for The Second City's Afrofuturism show, Sonia gracefully and gleefully dances the fine line between confessional and silliness. She hops on the show to talk standup, the city's comedy scene, and more.

Recorded live 7/21/16 at WHPK 88.5FM

Jasmine Sanders is a writer from the South Side of the city. Her work explores generations of family, and is remarkably and thoroughly grounded in the streets, stories, and histories of place in a way that the "internet writing" world often is unable to accomplish. She's been published in Rookie Mag and Buzzfeed, and has a twitter name more stellar than most.

Recorded live 7/14/16 at WHPK 88.5FM

Music from this week's show:

Off Beat - @chuckinglish

Holy - @jamilawoods

Pidgeon Pagonis is an intersex activist and artist whose work, art, and joy, centers "their community’s human right to bodily autonomy and justice." From Chicago, Pidgeon facilitates workshops, discussions, and presentations around the world about the medical violence and stigmatization for intersex folks. They are a shining, unrelentingly positive face and voice in the city, encouraging and empowering artists and organizers alike to imagine new worlds. They also design and sell some of the coolest merch in the world, which you can cop at their online store.

Recorded live 6/7/16 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

LV - YEVRS

I Think It's Going to Rain Today - Nina Simone

We Love Us - @RicWilsonisme

A couple weeks ago, when we put on We 'Go Vol 2: A Chicago Showcase and Celebration, we were fortunate enough to have the good folks over at Postloudness come through and record the show in its entirety. On this week's episode we share the audio from the exciting, soul-restoring evening, including performances by AirGo alumni E'mon Lauren, Fati Asghar, Kevin Coval, @defcee, @LAVanGogh, @deathViaLove, and @jamilawoods.

Recorded live 6/30/16 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago

Thanks to Postloudness for recording the live event and providing the audio.

When Avery R. Young gets going, joy starts shining, and it's next to impossible to stop it–not that you would want to. A Cave Canem fellow, he is a fixture of Chicago's creative community, and has been reshaping language and community in new, remarkable ways on stages and in classrooms for years. Combining song, poetry, and interviews about race and politics, his most recent project "booker t. soltreyne" is an album and archival project that reflects on how old pedagogies and processes of racism still exist in the Obama Era.

Recorded live 6/23/16 at WHPK88.5FM in Chicago

Music from this week's show:

Waiting - tnight/tmrw

Cauleen's Joint - @averyryoung

Icarus - April Fools feat. @averyryoung

Ham Sammich(Is) - @Averyryoung