House music was born in Chicago 40 years ago. To celebrate the genre’s birthday, the city is celebrating with events all year long.

Darlene Jackson – also known as DJ Lady D, who the Chicago Reader named “Best House Music DJ in Chicago” – is on the House Music 40 planning committee and is scheduled to spin some music at Wicker Park Fest July 28.

“The roots of House come from disco,” she said on the Rundown podcast. “Frankie Knuckles actually popularized that statement, that House music is disco’s revenge.”

Jackson talked to host Erin Allen about the attempted “demolition” of disco in Chicago and the rise of House music, the legend of late House DJ and record producer Frankie Knuckles, and why the genre is having a resurgence.

Oak Park-born musician Kara Jackson is taking the stage at Pitchfork Music Festival for the first time.

Vocalo’s Nudia Hernandez spoke with her ahead of her performance, and asked her how she would describe her sound.

“While the foundation feels like folk – and I really just write songs mostly with me and my guitar – I think there’s so many other influences that show themselves,” Jackson said. “I’ve loved jazz and R&B and all types of music, so I think those influences definitely bleed out in the music too.”

Pitchfork named Jackson’s most recent album one of the 50 best of 2023. She takes the stage at the annual music festival on July 20. On today’s episode, we hear about her early life in Oak Park and her blooming career.

Major Taylor was both a world champion American cyclist who once held seven world sprint records and an activist who demanded equal treatment in the face of racist competitors and race organizers.

Brenda Dixon, the president of the board for the Major Taylor Trail Keepers, puts Major Taylor on par with Jesse Owens, Arthur Ashe and other trailblazing American sports heroes who “stand on his shoulders without even realizing it.”

“He was an activist before his time,” Dixon said of Taylor, who competed around the turn of the 20th century. “Everyone should know who he is.”

A cycling and walking trail through Chicago’s South Side bears Major Taylor’s name, and this year’s annual celebration ride in his honor is scheduled for Sept. 7.

In this episode, Dixon is joined by Keith Holt, a founding member of the Major Taylor Cycling Club Chicago and a pivotal part of the establishment of the Major Taylor Trail, to tell us Major Taylor’s story and the story of the community through which his trail passes.

This episode was originally published on Aug. 16, 2023.