Vocalo's Barber Shop Show

On this installment of the Barber Shop Show, we’ll talk about all that’s fit to print in the world of sports, from the Baseball Season’s opening week, to The Bulls’ hopes for a post-season. We’ll also talk about the new Jackie Robinson Bio-pic, “42”. The movie is in theaters April 12th. We’ll be joined at the shop by WBEZ’s sports analyst Cheryl Rae Stout, WBEZ’s Jason Marck, and Vocalo.org’s own film critic Reggie Ponder (the Reel Critic). Plus, we will talk to some folks fro...

In like a lion, out like a lamb. That’s what they say about weather in the month of March. Even though the weather seems to be turning around, it also seems as though the local news headlines still have quite a bit of “lion” left in them. On Friday’s Barber Shop Show, we focused on Education News, checking in with: · Linda Lutton, Education Reporter at our sister station WBEZ · Maudlyne Ihejirika, Urban Affairs Reporter from the Chicago Sun Times · and Talk Show Host...

The play “From Doo Wop to Hip Hop” (now at the Black Ensemble Theater) is about the fictional community of Unison Hills, whose population is made up of music industry people. The Whites and Blacks who live in Unison Hills have a very special bond, until tragedy hits, a racial tragedy that tears their congenial neighborhood apart. Jackie Taylor, founder of The Black Ensemble Theater, joined us at the shop as well as two actors from the Theater’s production (David Simmons and Dwight Neal). We c...

On this installment of the Barber Shop Show, we check-in with our favorite local journalists and bloggers. They tell us about developments in the news that they liked and ones they disliked. Then they tell us those moments that made them go WTF!?! Joining us at the shop were: · Yana Kunichoff of The Chicago Reporter · Becky Vevea, Education Reporter at our sister station WBEZ · Allison Glenn, curator at the Washington Park Arts Incubator, a new University of Chicago com...

This episode of the Barber Shop Show is straight out of the current issue of The Chicago Reporter. In this issue, The Reporter is highlighting how harsher drug legislation is impacting communities. The Reporter’s own Angela Caputo tackles two facets of this situation: and the increasing number of convictions for drug-related crimes, and the growing cost to incarcerate those who are convicted. We talk to Michael Flowers and Eric Ware. They are from a block in Chicago's Austin Community that has t...

Chicago Public Schools recently released a list of 129 schools that are "under consideration for closure". Most of these schools are on the West or South Sides. On today’s Barber Shop Show, we talk with Ms. Beaulieu, an art teacher at one of the schools on the list. She talks about that school's struggle to improve test scores, even while 25% of their student population is homeless. We also talk with Lorraine Forte, editor of Catalyst Chicago (sister publication of the Chicago Reporter) about...

On this installment of the Barber Shop Show, we were joined by Adam Poss and Rashaad Hall (who play Drew and Nicky, respectively) in the Goodman Theatre’s production of Christopher Shinn’s “Teddy Ferrara”. They are pictured here. The play was inspired by the life and death of gay Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi. Clementi killed himself in 2010 after his roommate secretly taped him having sex with another man, and put the video online. We also talk about real issues impacting LGBTQ...

This is our February Mid-Month Mash Up where we invite our favorite journalists and bloggers to talk about the recent headlines that they liked, disliked, or that made them go WTF?! Joining us in this discussion: Salvador Munoz, a blogger and a community activist with the Latin Community Housing Association of Humboldt Park. Angela Caputo of the Chicago Reporter and Steve Bynum of WBEZ In this installment, we talk about cruise ships, school closings, and foreclosures (among many other ...

On this week's Barber Shop Show, we talk about the legacy and future of the Black Poetry Scene in Chicago. Our guests this week are: Haki Madhubuti, poet activist, educator, and publisher Avery R. Young, poet, singer, and educator (pictured) and Malcolm London, a poet who has recently transitioned from being a Young Chicago Authors student into an educator. We also feature Mario Smith talking about the Chicago 1990s slam poetry scene immortalized in the film “Love Jones”.

On this installment of the Barber Shop Show we talked to Chicago Public Schools high school students Lily Moore and Diamond Trusty. They are also investigative journalists through the Columbia Links program (through Columbia College Chicago). They are creating work with a strongly anti-violence message. We also talked with that program’s executive director, Brenda Butler. Plus, we spoke with Carlos Javier Ortiz (whose original photo is featured here). He is a photographer working with the Chicago...