AirGo

Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib loves his city like Chicagoans love Chicago. He writes Columbus, Ohio with care and love, as a poet, essayist, and journalist with MTV. His new book of poems, "The Crown Ain't Worth Much," is raw as hell, and available now. Recorded 10/15/16 in Chicago, IL Music from this week's show: Piece of What - @RJD2

José Olivarez talks about Chicago the way Kanye talks about Kanye. Originally from Calumet City, a southern burb of Chicago, he's a product of the Young Chicago Authors community and former staff member of the organization. He has since moved to New York, where he is the Program Director of youth poetry organization Urban Word NYC. He's the cohost of interview podcast The Poetry Gods, and isn't a huge Nas fan. Recorded live 10/13/16 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music from this week's show: Let Nas Down - @JColeMusic Hate Me Now - Nas

Daniel Kyri is an actor and space-builder who is the cofounder of The Dojo, a radically inclusive performance, art, and community space in Pilsen. Built in principles of communal accountability and free expression, the Dojo has carved a beautiful, slapdash space for the city's turnup. In addition to his work at the Dojo, Daniel has acted on stages across the city, including The Second City and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Recorded live 10/6/16 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music from this week's show: A Little Soul - Pete Rock

Monica Trinidad's work as a visual artist and organizer has been pivotal in shaping the ways art and activism cocreate in this moment, movement, and city. The co-founder of For The People Artists Collective, she has illustrated how communal art-making is necessary for our fights and for our spirits. Recorded 9/16/16 Music from this week's show: Casanova- @lostclubmusic Complejo de Salvador Blanco - Cochina

Page May is one of the city's strongest voices in the fight for Black liberation. She is a cofounder of Assata's Daughters, and has been leading in different ways across the city, from the podium to the classroom to the streets. The day after the actions responding to Laquan McDonald's murder last November, she and Damon sat down on AirGo to process and heal together. She joins us again for a conversation about damn near everything. Recorded 9/14/16 in Chicago Music from this week's show: Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst - @kendricklamar World in My Hands (feat. @sminobrown & Legit) - @SabaPIVOT

Once upon a time, way back on Episode 4, Nate Marshall came to the WHPK studio and everything went wrong. Damon was out of town, Daniel forgot an Aux cable, and the room was sweltering. An hour later, Daniel screamed obscenities when he discovered that the episode hadn't even recorded, and their conversation was lost to the AirGo ages. A year later, the BreakBeat Poet, rapper, and educator swings by for the episode he has always deserved. Recorded 9/7/16 in Chicago Music from this week's show: Harold's (Instrumental) - @Madlib

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