Mike Stephen talks with Geoff Smith, executive director of the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, about the state of rental housing in Cook County, connects with John O’Rourke, station manager at WELT-LP (95.7) in Fort Wayne, to learn about that station’s community programming, and connects with Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) to learn about the Secret History of Chicago organ player Deacon Jones. The local music this week is powered by soul-shakin’ blues powerhouse Curio. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our iTunes page or RSS feed.

Mike Stephen celebrates the 600th edition of the show by taking the production on the road to The Friendly Tap in Berwyn!  Youth leaders from VOYCE drop by to discuss combatting local educational inequities, Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) gives us the Secret History of Chicago blues rocker Cash McCall, and Chicagoland NASA Solar System Ambassador Mark Benson gets us fired up about all things space-related.  Also Mike’s dad, Mike Stephen, Sr., jumps on the mic to chat about a life of activism.  The live local music for the show is brought to you by The Black Oil Brothers! To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our iTunes page or RSS feed.

OTL#589- Boystown’s future, Chicago News Landscape, WLLU-LP in Decatur, IL

Mike Stephen talks with:   Zach Stafford, Documentarian and Editor-In-Chief of INTO about the future of Boystown;   Emily Van Duyn, researcher and co-author of Chicago News Landscape, and   Alexander Martin, station president at WLLU-LP in Decatur, IL.   This week’s local music is powered by Devil in a Woodpile. A young Mike Stephen interviews Chicago Pride Parade participants back in 2006. To subscribe to the OTL podcast, please visit our iTunes page or RSS feed.