We ended a one-in-a-million summer with the release of our first film, One Million Experiments (2023)!
Our friends at SoapBox Productions & Organizing produced an amazing documentary about some of the community-led projects we've gotten the chance to highlight on our podcast series by the same name with Interrupting Criminalization. On the weekend of the 2023 Socialism Conference, we got the chance to celebrate the release amongst friends, family, and comrades near and far with a screening and show.
Relive the night with us and learn more about those projects at https://millionexperiments.com!
“We decided to do the guaranteed income, the $500, with the idea being, ‘let’s see if it works.’ Because we knew that poverty wasn’t working.”
“We decided to do the guaranteed income, the $500, with the idea being, ‘let’s see if it works.’ Because we knew that poverty wasn’t working.”
On Episode 1 of GUARANTEED, Michael Tubbs shares the formative thoughts behind the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), the innovative guaranteed income program he piloted with Economic Security Project in February 2019 as Mayor of Stockton, CA.
Hear more from Michael about being elected to govern the city he was born in, how his experiences equipped him to pilot SEED, and more from our other guaranteed income experts, Damon Jones and Juliana Bidadanure!
Episode 1 of GUARANTEED with Eve Ewing is available on all podcast apps, and you can click here to listen to it on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-1-guaranteed-income-101/id1692613772?i=1000621013177
“If we can see, as progressives, the power of universal healthcare, quality education, and childcare, I think we need to start thinking in the same way about cash.”
“If we can see, as progressives, the power of universal healthcare, quality education, and childcare, I think we need to start thinking in the same way about cash.”
Dr. Juliana Bidadanure is the Faculty Director of the Stanford Basic Income Lab, and she helps us break down the philosophy of guaranteed income, how one’s life changes with more financial stability, and how France’s welfare systems helped guide her work today.
Hear more from Dr. Bidadanure in Episode 1 of GUARANTEED with Eve L. Ewing, a podcast about what happens when regular people receive direct cash assistance: the choices people make, the dreams they pursue, and the impossible things that become a little more possible when their money is guaranteed.
Look up “Guaranteed with Eve Ewing” on your favorite podcast app, or click here to listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-1-guaranteed-income-101/id1692613772?i=1000621013177
Economist Damon Jones Explains Guaranteed Income
What is guaranteed income, how’s it different from universal basic income, and which one are we talking about over this season of GUARANTEED?
Leading economist and AirGo homie Damon Jones breaks down the two terms to kick off Episode 1 of GUARANTEED! Eve L. Ewing also talks with two other guaranteed income experts to find out what we need to know before we dive in to the stories of the different pilot programs across Chicago.
GUARANTEED is a podcast about the choices people make, the dreams they pursue, and the impossible things that become a little more possible when their money is guaranteed.
Listen to the first episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-1-guaranteed-income-101/id1692613772?i=1000621013177
You can also search for “GUARANTEED with Eve Ewing” on your preferred podcast app to subscribe!
Last month, Respair Production & Media held a release party for #HelpThisGardenGrow and y'all showed OUT! Thank you so much for a lovely evening in community on the top floor of the Harold Washington Library, and thank you Kai Foster for this perfect recap.
As the summer comes to a close, we have one more project that we're excited to bring into the world with you - we'll tell you more this Wednesday!
Subscribe to AirGo on your favorite podcast app to hear about it, and follow Respair Production & Media to read about it.
Today, we're releasing our first audio documentary into the world!
“Help This Garden Grow” is a docuseries telling the story of Hazel Johnson, a visionary of the Environmental Justice movement and a resident of the Altgeld Gardens community on the far South Side of Chicago.
Hazel is the founder of People for Community Recovery, a 40 year-old organization that fights to address the toxic industrial pollution that has been killing the members of her community. Over the course of this multigenerational multi part documentary, hosts Damon Williams and Daniel Kisslinger talk with organizers, policymakers, historians, and community members about how PCR emerged and led, the legacy of Ms. Johnson’s work, and how this marginalized Chicago pocket built the lineage of today’s vibrant, impactful, and necessary modern environmental justice movement.
Look up “Help This Garden Grow” on your favorite podcast app to subscribe and tune in!
Learn more on our website: https://www.respairmedia.com/help-this-garden-grow
#HelpThisGardenGrow #HTGG
Help This Garden Grow: Release Party, July 27 at 6PM!
Join us to celebrate the release of Help This Garden Grow, a new podcast docuseries telling the story of Hazel Johnson, Altgeld Gardens, and the birth of the environmental justice movement!
On Thursday, July 27 at 6PM in the Harold Washington Library’s Winter Garden on the ninth floor, we’re gathering for a fun & free evening with our friends at Elevate and People for Community Recovery — you won’t want to miss it!
Click here to RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/help-this-garden-grow-release-party-tickets-668272128927
More about Help This Garden Grow:
Hazel is the founder of People for Community Recovery, a 40 year-old organization that fights to address the toxic industrial pollution that has been killing the members of her community. Over the course of this multigenerational multi part documentary, hosts Damon Williams and Daniel Kisslinger talk with organizers, policymakers, historians, and community members about how PCR emerged and led, the legacy of Ms. Johnson’s work, and how this marginalized Chicago pocket built the lineage of today’s vibrant, impactful, and necessary modern environmental justice movement. Keep up with the project at www.respairmedia.com/help-this-garden-grow!
"An important part of our sovereignty is knowing how to feed ourselves so that we can free ourselves."
Ali Anderson speaks about her journey into growing food and what it means to feed a community with that food.
Hear more from Ali in Episode 320 of #AirGo, where we talk to the founder of Feed Black Futures, a California-based organization that feeds Black mamas/caregivers impacted by the carceral system in counties across the state by partnering with local Black and Brown-owned farms and food suppliers.
Check out the full episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-320-one-million-experiments-part-12-feed-black-futures/id1016530091?i=1000609801561
Ep. 320 is a part of #1MExperiments, a podcast series with Interrupting Criminalization and Project NIA that showcases and explores how we define and create safety in a world without police and prisons. Learn more on the website: https://millionexperiments.com/projects/feed-black-futures
"Nothing ends. You put an orange in compost, it can become soil. It can become something else."
"Nothing ends. You put an orange in compost, it can become soil. It can become something else."
Ali Anderson of Feed Black Futures speaks on the cycles of work and her hope for future transformation.
Listen to Ali proces the growth of food sovereignty and what she did to help feed Black caregivers in Episode 320 of #AirGo! The founder of Feed Black Futures breaks down how it grew from a 20-family supply effort into a statewide agricultural operation, the bonds her work has forged, and the regenerative joy people get from keeping their hands in the soil.
Check it out now! You can find us at AirGo on your favorite podcast app, or you can click here to listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-320-one-million-experiments-part-12-feed-black-futures/id1016530091?i=1000609801561
"You know, those of us who are being crushed under that weight, we have been left with very few options at this point. Now, it's not just simply about trying to maintain a balance of living under really insecure foundation; now, that foundation is being ripped and so we got to get up out of it. And that is, why I'm running for Mayor of the City of Chicago: because that floor. The ground in which the failed policies of old that have literally left families behind. That weight is crushing people.
I believe a better, stronger, safer Chicago is possible if we actually move on an agenda that actually speaks to the least of these."
Brandon for Chicago explains what he's trying to build as the Mayor of the City of Chicago on Episode 317 of #AirGo: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-317-brandon-johnson-returns/id1016530091?i=1000598893440
Chicago: You can vote (and register to vote) at any time and at any polling place from 6:00AM to 7:00PM! Find locations, language accessibility, and steps to register here: https://chicagoelections.gov/en/early-voting.html
"My job in this moment is to be responsive to the movement that brought us this moment."
"My job in this moment is to be responsive to the movement that brought us this moment. And being responsive to it means we have to do what works."
It's a big weekend for Chicago, as the runoff for the City's municipal elections are on Tuesday! The campaign behind Brandon for Chicago has been fueled by grassroots organizations that have worked directly with him in the classroom, on the streets, and more recently on the way to the polls.
Help coalesce that support into a Mayor that believes in a better, safer, stronger Chicago that's committed to efforts like #TreatmentNotTrauma! Early voting is open until runoff election day on Tuesday.
Check your voting registration info & nearest polling place here: https://chicagoelections.gov/en/your-voter-information.html
Hear the full conversation with Brandon on Episode 317 of #AirGo, where we talk with him about his understanding of what Chicago needs, his relationship to the movements that have elevated him, and much more: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-317-brandon-johnson-returns/id1016530091?i=1000598893440
"It’s very inspiring to have that mustard seed faith to inspire other folks to empower their families.”
“As a mode of organizing, it’s very inspiring to have that mustard seed faith to inspire other folks to empower their families.”
We all know Harriet Tubman’s story along the Underground Railroad, but Harriet's Wildest Dreams is inspired by the reverberations of the freedom fighter that they’re named after. Tubman’s main goal was to save her family, and that became a generational effort to push others to seek freedom and fight for the abolition of slavery.
Hear more about their work in Episode 319 of #AirGo! It’s also the 11th episode of #1MExperiments, a multimedia project with Project NIA and Interrupting Criminalization that showcases and explores how we define and create safety in a world without police and prisons! Learn more: https://millionexperiments.com/projects/harriets-wildest-dreams
Find us at AirGo on your favorite podcast app, or click here to listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-319-one-million-experiments-part-11-harriets-wildest/id1016530091?i=1000605547829
“What does community defense look like with a diversity of tactics?”
“What does community defense look like with a diversity of tactics?”
Makia Green and Harriet's Wildest Dreams knows that there’s more power in solidarity than solitude. To answer many of the questions that came during the uprisings of 2020, this Black-led community defense hub crystallized over the next year to give a home to abolitionists in the Greater Washington, D.C. area!
Hear more in Ep. 319 of #AirGo! Makia breaks down the different pillars of the hub's work, the ways their work is shaped by historical Black revolutionaries, and the unique challenges of organizing for liberation in the center of the U.S. empire.
Find us at AirGo on your favorite podcast app, or click here to listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-319-one-million-experiments-part-11-harriets-wildest/id1016530091?i=1000605547829
“If you want a safe city — and I believe the people of Chicago want one — you have to do what safe American cities do around the country, and that’s invest in people.”
Mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson speaks on the place of love in his view for a better, safer Chicago.
Hear more in Ep. 317 of #AirGo! Brandon for Chicago’s a former teacher, current Cook County Commissioner, and hopeful future mayor of Chicago! We talk about his understanding of what Chicago needs, his relationship to the movements that have elevated him, and much more.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/airgo/id1016530091?i=1000598893440
What is news, and how are we informed about it?
Alec Karakatsanis does in-depth analysis of copaganda journalism, or any reporting that normalizes the carceral state or otherwise minimizes the impact and power of police. In doing so, he's been able to influence journalists that might be well-intentioned but not critically-minded about their work.
Hear more from Alec on Ep. 316 of #AirGo! The founder of Civic Rights Corps breaks down the importance of this analysis, the pathways to repair that he engages journalists in, and much more: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-316-alec-karakatsanis/id1016530091?i=1000596775884
As always, you can tune in at any time on any podcast app - we're AirGo everywhere!
"It's not like you're going to the Art Institute of Chicago to have an abolition meeting, but we should be."
Dr. Lisa Lee speaks on the ties between art and justice in Episode 315 of #AirGo!
Hear more from Lisa, the executive director of the National Public Housing Museum and a Professor of Public Culture and Museum Studies at UIC School of Art & Art History! We talk art, housing, justice, public squares, and everything between.
Check it out now on any podcast app - find us at AirGo everywhere!
Click here to tune in on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-315-lisa-lee/id1016530091?i=1000594051682
'South Side' Writers on the Hustle of Chicago
"Hustle, man. The art of the hustle."
Bashir & Sultan Salahuddin, brothers & collaborators on the hit show South Side, speak about how Simon on the show represents the hustle of their hometown, Chicago!
Hear more in Episode 314 of #AirGo: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-314-south-side-creators-bashir-diallo-sultan/id1016530091?i=1000590296660
To end out the year, AirGo hears from Bashir Salahuddin, Sultan Salahuddin, and Diallo Riddle, who have birthed a truly hilarious and visionary TV comedy that shows the rich fabric that is the south side of Chicago! The three co-creators talk about legibility and illegibility of Chicago-specific jokes, how the show focuses on the funny, and how their neighbors and loved ones have both contributed to and responded to the show.
Tune in now on your favorite podcast app! You can find us at 'AirGo' everywhere.
'South Side' Writers on Chicago's Hustle
"Hustle, man. The art of the hustle."
Bashir & Sultan Salahuddin, brothers & collaborators on the hit show South Side, speak about how Simon on the show represents the hustle of their hometown, Chicago!
Hear more in Episode 314 of #AirGo: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-314-south-side-creators-bashir-diallo-sultan/id1016530091?i=1000590296660
To end out the year, AirGo hears from Bashir Salahuddin, Sultan Salahuddin, and Diallo Riddle, who have birthed a truly hilarious and visionary TV comedy that shows the rich fabric that is the south side of Chicago! The three co-creators talk about legibility and illegibility of Chicago-specific jokes, how the show focuses on the funny, and how their neighbors and loved ones have both contributed to and responded to the show.
Tune in now on your favorite podcast app! You can find us at 'AirGo' everywhere.
"We try and show as many different types of Black people as possible."
Diallo Riddle talks about the spectrum of Blackness being represented on South Side!
In Episode 314 of #AirGo, we speak with Bashir Salahuddin, Sultan Salahuddin, and Diallo Riddle, who have birthed a truly hilarious and visionary TV comedy that shows the rich fabric that is the south side of Chicago!
Check it out now! Find 'AirGo' on your favorite podcast app to tune in, or click here to listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-314-south-side-creators-bashir-diallo-sultan/id1016530091?i=1000590296660
