This week, we are joined by Silas Leslie. Silas (they/them) serves as Hire Trans Now Coordinator, Trainer, and Data Analyst at Chicago Therapy Collective. Silas provides free training & education built around actionable & accessible best practices to small businesses (many of which are in Andersonville). As a biracial, queer, trans, and neurodivergent person, Silas is deeply committed to an intersectional approach to diversity. Having called the Andersonville area home for a decade, Silas is dedicated to helping Andersonville be accessible, diverse, and thriving.

This week, we are joined by Eddy Ocampo. Founder and Owner of Skin Care For Gents and of the upcoming new addition to Andersonville, Apothecary EO. Eddy, an Andersonville native and seasoned dancer turned skincare expert, brings over a decade of experience in the beauty industry. As a licensed esthetician and laser technician, he has worked with top skincare brands like Image Skincare and PCA Skincare. Eddy's dedication to men's skincare led him to create a website catering to the everyday person's esthetic needs. His mission? Revolutionizing men's skincare, making it accessible and mainstream.

We're excited to present this special episode discussing the state of drag in Chicago and the country. Drag is important for its role in artistic expression, challenging gender norms, fostering inclusivity, serving as a platform for activism, providing safe spaces, offering entertainment and contributing to the cultural and historical fabric of society. 

This is our final episode in our series for our Say Hej campaign in January Health & Wellness month. In each episode, we’ve spoken with local experts on different aspects of health and wellness, correct some common misconceptions, and offer some insight and resources for achieving your own state of wellness in the new year.

We're continuing our health and wellness podcast series this week talking about sexual health, aging, and menopause with Early to Bed owner and sex educator Searah Deysach, and award winning queer feminist activist, author, and educator Heather Corinna.

This is our second episode in our series for our Säg Hej campaign for January Health & Wellness month. In each episode, we’ll talk with local experts on different aspects of health and wellness, correct some common misconceptions, and offer some insight and resources for achieving your own state of wellness in the new year.

We're excited to introduce this episode as the first in our series for our Säg Hej campaign for January Health & Wellness month. In each episode, we’ll talk with local experts on different aspects of health and wellness, correct some common misconceptions, and offer some insight and resources for achieving your own state of wellness in the new year.

This week I am joined by Bergen Anderson, founder and primary clothier of Lilla Barn Clothing, and Krissy Calahan, owner, designer, and printer of Earth Cadets. Lilla Barn makes thoughtful, durable products for adventurous kids of all ages that create room for individuality, reflect our considered values, and last from one person to the next. They value self-expression, especially when it comes to gender, and offer adaptable prints, colors and patterns for everyone who loves to stand out. Sustainably-made with organic textiles and a Scandinavian sensibility. 

This week I am joined by photographer and Andersonville resident Kathleen Hinkel. Since 2005, Kathleen has been using her photography to capture stories of community and the experiences that connect us to each other with a particular focus on local Chicago communities and the global community of LGBTQ+ persons. Kathleen is a multiple Peter Lisagor award winning photographer for her work programming queer spaces and LGBTQ+ joy in Chicago as well as for her project “How Live Music Works During COVID”. She’s currently a finalist for a Chicago Journalists association award for her Chicago reader story covering the final day at Dave’s Records. She lives in Andersonville with her wife Amanda and their 14 wonderful house plants.

This week I am joined by Dusty Brown, Artistic Director of Redtwist Theatre. Redtwist strives to create searing hot drama, from name-brand blockbusters, to risky new works and obscure buried treasures that pack emotional force, examine moral dilemmas, and reveal greater truths…by transforming their tiny black box and its explosive immediacy into a thematic asset, specifically tailored for every show and intended to close the gap between actor and audience, thus blurring the line between seating and staging…by utilizing a little red twist in the concept and design of each production to provide a totally unique theatre experience that is simultaneously intimate, comfortable, and safe, yet intense, edgy, and thrilling, at a distance only inches away.