CHIRP Radio Podcasts

Ariel Van Cleave is the Managing Director of Audio at Chicago Public Media. She also founded and runs her own non profit called HostCon. She has experience as a reporter, producer, host and editor. Ariel had her first brush with public radio while working at WCBU as a student at Bradley University. Since then she’s reported or edited stories on just about everything, including the Illinois statehouse, education issues, Alaska fisheries, tribes in western Washington and the history of soap operas. - The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs’ in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by a cover of the storyteller’s choosing, performed by our house band: The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney.

Hillary Stone is a musician living in Chicago. She is the co-creator of “Pet Cemetery with a C: the Musical!,” and plays in local bands Otter Petter, Shrimp Forks, and Rosemary's Baby Carrots. Find her on Instagram at @thrillarytcat. - The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs’ in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by a cover of the storyteller’s choosing, performed by our house band: The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney.

Dr. Faiz Jiwani is a primary care doctor and spoken word poet who enjoys finding new ways to witness how our lives are changed by our bodies (medicine) and how our bodies help carry out life (poetry). Alongside his medical work and teaching, he is also a committed medical advocate, delivering health education talks and carrying forward the spirit of patients’ stories into legislative advocacy. He has performed Spoken Word poetry at venues in New York City, Houston, and Lisbon, Portugal, and also recently performed at Chicago City Hall during Mayor Johnson's Navroz Celebration. - The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs’ in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by a cover of the storyteller’s choosing, performed by our house band: The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney.

Jess DeBakey is an East Coast raised, Chicago based podcaster, marketer, and sometimes-comedian. She co-hosts Not For Everyone, a comedy-meets-self-help podcast about the things we all feel but rarely say out loud, and hosts Peaking, where she interviews women entrepreneurs about the low moments that sparked their best ideas. Trained in standup at The DC Improv and Chicago’s Lincoln Lodge, Jess brings sharp humor and candid perspective to every story she tells. - The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs’ in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by a cover of the storyteller’s choosing, performed by our house band: The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney.

Eunji Kim is a comedian, actor and writer based in Chicago. She was a Senior Writer for Cards Against Humanity and can be seen performing stand-up all over the country (Laugh Factory, Zanies) and has opened up for national headliners like Fortune Feimster and Dave Attell. Her sold-out solo shows entitled, OUT OF CONTEXT and IN BAD TASTE, were part of Steppenwolf Theater's 2024 and 2022 LookOut Series. She was a 2017 Bob Curry Fellow at Second City and a featured performer in the Netflix Is A Joke Festival and the 2017 NBCUniversal Break Out Festival. Some of her on-screen credits include: Chicago Fire (NBC), Chicago Med (NBC), Work In Progress (Showtime) and Best In Dough (Hulu).  Eunji unsurprisingly, has a podcast with fellow Korean-American, Peter Kim called, 2 Kims 1 Pod. She is currently an Adjunct Faculty member in DePaul University’s Comedy Arts Program.   The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs’ in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by a cover of the storyteller’s choosing, performed by our house band: The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney.

Kat Sachs is the co-managing editor of Cine-File Chicago and a columnist on moviegoing for the Chicago Reader.   The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs’ in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by a cover of the storyteller’s choosing, performed by our house band: The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney.

Stand up comedian Audrey Jonas has been drawing audiences all over the Midwest since 2014. She has performed at clubs and festivals all over the country, participated in the Stand Up NBC 2018, and in 2016, she was a Finalist in the Stand Up Siam International Comedy Competition in Thailand. Audrey also teaches Fem Com, Chicago's only all-female stand up comedy class and the Wedding Toast Warm Up, where she teaches people how to write the perfect wedding toast.    The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs’ in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by a cover of the storyteller’s choosing, performed by our house band: The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney.

Boston-raised, Chicago-braised drummer/singer/songwriter Gerald Dowd has been described as “the hardest working drummer in Chicago” (Richard Milne, WXRT), playing on over 100 albums, while averaging 150 live dates a year around the world. He has spent the last 30+ years playing drums for Grammy™-nominated artists Robbie Fulks and Justin Roberts, Nora O'Connor, Chris Mills, and has helmed the drum chair in the First Time Three™ since its inception. He's also played and/or recorded with Eddie Vedder, Mavis Staples, Rich Little, Norah Jones, David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas (of Los Lobos), and A Prairie Home Companion, among many others. Over the last decade or so, he's released several albums of his original material to muted acclaim.  www.geralddowd.com The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs’ in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by a cover of the storyteller’s choosing, performed by our house band: The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney.

Amy is a writer, performer, director and arts educator. Her work has been published in The Coachella Review, Mulberry Literary and Hippocampus Magazine. Amy is a Ragdale alum and the 2nd runner up of the Daisy Pettles Women’s writing contest. She’s been seen onstage at Write Club Chicago, Louder Than a Mom, Tuesday Funk, the Stoop and Movie Club among others.  She currently co-hosts the Lady Live Lit show MissSpoken with Jasmine Davila on the last Monday of the month at Cole’s Bar. She is the founder of Mudlark Theater Company.   The First Time is a live lit and music series recorded at Martyrs’ in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood. Each reader tells a true first tale, followed by a cover of the storyteller’s choosing, performed by our house band: The First Time Three. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney.

Veronica I. Arreola is a professional feminist, women’s sports evangelist, retired 16” softball player, former soccer mom, and writer. She serves as the chair of the 24th district council, Chicago’s effort to bring community voices to public safety policy and police accountability. Veronica is also a children’s book author, her book “J is for Justice: An Activism Alphabet” was published in 2023. You can keep up on what she’s doing by subscribing to her newsletter Peace, Love, and.... Or find her on Bluesky and Instagram @veronicaeye.   The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney. Show recorded by Tony Baker.

Meg has been a fixture in the local Chicago art and music scene for the past 20 years, playing her first show at 16 years old at the iconic Fireside Bowl with her all-female punk band, The Groodies. After a failed attempt to make it "big" in Los Angeles after highschool graduation, she returned home band-less and heartbroken and decided to attend art school. After obtaining a BFA in graphic design, she began her career as a designer and is currently working as a Senior Art Director at an experiential ad agency. Outside of her "day job", she continues to play in the local rock/punk bands Bleach Party and Vang! In her spare time, she writes and illustrates short stories (nutmegsays.com), rough-houses with her cats Rick and Steve, and most recently has been dabbling with animation. You may also recognize her from the infamous "People of the CTA" website, where she was featured not once, but twice by strangers who posted candid photos of her on the internet. It's surely the hair, right? Right. IG: @bleachpartyband    The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney. Show recorded by Tony Baker.

Lucia’s clever, feminist perspective paired with a shameless storytelling style has made her a favorite comedian to audiences in Chicago and all over the country. She has opened for some of the biggest comics working today, including Dave Attell, Janeane Garofalo, Atsuko Okatsuka, and Langston Kerman among others. Lucia is a cast member of the Lincoln Lodge in Chicago, has contributed to The New Yorker, and is a cohost of the environmental history podcast What a Waste.   The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney. Show recorded by Tony Baker.

Liz Mason publishes zines with names like Caboose and Cul-de-sac. Her work has been in places like Punk Planet, The Zine Yearbook and the back of the toilet at her friends’ houses. She has worked at Quimby’s Bookstore since 2001 and is currently in the Master of Science in Library & Information Science program at Chicago State University. She once made an appearance on a reality show on NBC where executives called zines "pamphlets" like they were Marxist propaganda. Catch her on CHIRP Radio Wednesday mornings 6-9AM CT and find her on the internet @caboosezine and at LizMasonIsAwesome.com.   The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney. Show recorded by Tony Baker.

Deana [dee-nuh] Lewis is a queer, Black mixed race, cisgender woman who is pro-abortion, pro-immigrant, pro-trans rights, pro-liberation, and pro-receiving gifts/applause. She participates in the work of Love & Protect and Survived & Punished, two prison abolition collectives dedicated to supporting trans and cis women, trans men, and gender-expansive folks of color who are harmed by interpersonal violence and criminalized by state violence. Deana is also one of the founding members of Just Practice Collaborative (JPC), whose purpose is to build communities’ capacities to respond to intimate partner violence and sexual assault without relying on state-based systems. JPC with Creative Interventions just released a podcast (April 2025) that Deana hosts called Stories for Power. Deana daylights as a Senior Associate Director at the Institute for Research on Race on Public Policy at the University of Illinois Chicago also known as IRRPP. We do rad work.   The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney. Show recorded by Tony Baker.

Dacey Arashiba spent a dozen years in the Asian American comedy troupe Stir Friday Night; hosted a family of Peregrine Falcons that took over his apartment balcony for four years, which resulted in a BBC Nature nature documentary called “World’s Fastest Animal”; and somehow has a song 17 minutes into “D2: Mighty Ducks Two”; These days, he is an IT Manager who sings in a punk rock choir called The Blue Ribbon Glee Club.   The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Executive producer is Bobby Evers. Assistant producer is Celina Dietzel. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney. Show recorded by Tony Baker.

Stephanie Douglass is a host of The Moth in Chicago. She is a Moth GrandSLAM Champion, cofounder of the New York Theatre Company the TEAM, and was the head writer for OLN's "Outside Magazine's Ultimate Top Ten.” She hosts Story Club North Side and cohosts the Englewood Storytelling Open Mic at Kusanya Cafe. Stephanie is grateful to serve as the Chief Program Officer of the Greater West Town Community Development Project, helping Chicago’s students to complete high school and serving adults with barriers to employment. She has worked as the Farm Enterprise Director at Growing Home and is a co-founder of Cyahafi (Cha-HA-fi) Blooms, a resource training collective in southwestern Uganda. She recently performed her original solo show, “LIVE! NUDE! COMPLICATED! GRIEF!” at the National Women’s Theatre Festival, winning Best Solo Performer, and wrote a series of humorous organic farming training videos for the Organic Agronomy Training Service. The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Directed by Bobby Evers. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney. Recorded by Tony Baker.

Elizabeth Moen creates music that strikes a perfect balance between humor and raw emotion. Her voice is a powerhouse, but it’s in the quiet moments - when she whispers - that her true strength shines. Blending American folk music with an indie-rock edge, her sound is raw and real, drawing from personal experiences to craft lyrics that are both deeply relatable and emotionally honest. Since her debut in 2016, Elizabeth’s music has resonated with listeners, earning her a place in the hearts of fans and critical praise from outlets like American Songwriter and No Depression. In 2022, her independent release Wherever You Aren’t was praised for its authenticity and a voice that manages to be both vulnerable and commanding. Looking to the future, Elizabeth Moen is preparing to release her highly anticipated new album, produced by Spencer Tweedy (Waxahatchee). As she continues to grow as an artist, this upcoming project is set to capture even more of the complexity and honesty that have defined her music and her life. IG: elizabethmoenmusic Linktree: linktr.ee/elizabethmoenmusic The First Time is hosted by Jenn Sodini. Directed by Bobby Evers. Podcast produced by Jim Mulvaney. Recorded by Tony Baker.