Always Andersonville: The Podcast

Episode 176: Navigating Mental Health & Family Connections with Family Matters Therapy

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.

This week, I am joined by experts from Family Matters Therapy. Founder and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor Wendy Cohen and Licensed Clinical Social Worker Dan Stribling. Family Matters Therapy was founded with the goal of helping families come together and build a stronger connection. They assist families of all kinds but also have specialty in working with LGBTQ clients including gay couples and teens.

Episode 175: Sexual Health, Aging, Menopause, and more with Searah Deysach and Heather Corinna

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.

Searah, owner of Early to Bed and Trans Essentials, Chicago’s first women-owned sex shop, is a queer sex educator. She lectures on masturbation, sex toys, and positive sexuality. Heather Corinna, an award-winning queer feminist activist, author, and educator, founded Scarleteen. They've authored books like "S.E.X" and hold the sexuality chair at Our Bodies, Ourselves. Together, Searah and Heather lead discussions on sustaining a healthy sexual lifestyle through aging and menopause. They provide guidance for parents and LGBTQIA+ teens. Join this insightful conversation on navigating sexuality with two influential voices in the field.

Episode 174: Awareness for your body and mind with Cat Koo

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.

This week, I am joined by Cat Koo, founder and operator of Chicago Hot Yoga. Chicago Hot Yoga is a place for all people to come and heal. Open for over 15 years, they have helped thousands of students of all abilities, ages and conditions learn to make positive changes for themselves in a welcoming environment. Cat's mission is to help people create positive changes in their lives, body, mind and soul in a warm and welcoming environment.

With Cat, we cover the importance of practicing mindfulness, finding balance in your life, building healthy habits, and the power of meditation and community.

Episode 173: Evaluate Your Health in a Healthy Way with Senad Drpljanin & Leah Casey

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, we are joined by experts from Powered by Movement Fitness Center, co-owner and head coach Senad Drpljanin and PXM’s wellness leader and coach Leah Casey. PXM’s mission is to help you understand, redefine, transform, and reshape your connection with fitness through strong community connections and personalized health plans covering fitness, nutrition, and body awareness.

With Senad & Leah, we cover healthy avenues for improving your physical fitness, but also how embracing a community can improve your healthy habits, your self-confidence, and even your sleep!

The episode is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, anywhere you get your podcasts!

Episode 172: The story of Lilla Barn & Earth Cadets with Bergen & Krissy

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. 

Earth Cadets is a company committed to creating unique, hand printed home goods and clothing for the whole family while respecting our environment. All Earth Cadets' products are designed and hand screen printed in Chicago by owner Krissy Callahan, using eco-friendly, water-based inks and incorporating organic and recycled materials wherever possible.

Episode 171: The story of photographer Kathleen Hinkel

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.

Episode 170: The story of Redtwist Theatre with Dusty Brown

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. 

Redtwist Theatre's production of Wolves runs through Sunday, November 5. Tickets can be purchased here!

Episode 169: The story of Paper & Pencil with Tyler McCall

This week I am joined by Tyler McCall. Tyler McCall is co-owner of Paper & Pencil at 1480 W Berwyn alongside his husband Eric Campbell. Paper & Pencil is Andersonville's friendly neighborhood stationery shop offering high-quality stationery goods and supplies including greeting cards, notebooks, and writing tools. They feature products from independent brands from around the world alongside Japanese, French, British, & German stationery favorites. Paper & Pencil is local, independent, and queer-owned.

Episode 168: The new story of WasteNot Compost with Liam Donnelly

This week, we are joined by owner of WasteNot Compost, Liam Donnelly. WasteNot Compost, Chicago’s first and only zero-emission compost collection, was born in 2015. WasteNot Compost currently serves homes and all events and business types ranging from schools, cafes, bakeries, to farmers markets, and everything in between. They take the work out of composting for you so it can not only be easy to do so in an urban setting, but is a clean experience with all tools provided every pickup.

Additionally, The Edgewater Environmental Coalition along with our composting partners are conducting an exploratory survey all about compost. We are looking for more information about composting in the greater Edgewater Neighborhood, specifically what is your favorite way to compost, are you interested in composting, and what are your barriers to composting.

This survey will help understand the current composting community, connect interested neighbors and businesses to composting, and help understand any hesitation to composting.

Research boundaries are from Ravenswood West, Devon North, the Lakefront East, Foster South (with the inclusion of the WFCW, ASNA block clubs)

Take the survey here

Episode 167: The story of Shadow Carriers with Orion Couling and Zack Meyer

This week, I am joined by Orion Couling and Zack Meyer, founders of Shadow Carriers storytelling collective. Their multi-decade partnership has spun tales of the supernatural for audiences nationwide from tall ships to walking tours to backyard picnic tables, and anywhere a good legend is appreciated. Their podcast of the same name amplifies their storytelling style with immersive soundscaping and music design to take you into the darkness and out again. Previous seasons have explored the lore of Chicago, New Orleans, Big Cities; and they’re well into this year’s theme of Spirit Ships and Haunted Harbors.

Orion and Zack are coming back to Andersonville for their 4th year of walking tours to share the histories, mysteries, legends, and lore gifted to them by neighbors and businesses that take a peek into the darker side of these blocks. Shadow Carrier Andersonville events run from Sunday October 8 - Friday October 20 with both walking tours and sit down ghost stories at The Understudy Coffee and Books.

Shadow Carriers sit down ghost story at The Understudy takes place on Thursday, October 12 at 7:30PM!