What happens when folk musicians from every tradition descend on Chicago for a weekend? What does it take to plan and make a folk festival? And how has the folk community changed and stayed the same since the 1960s? Kate Early, who's volunteered for the University of Chicago Folk Festival since the 80s, gives us the inside scoop. We also sample music from some of the performers at this year's fest.

#48 - UChicago Folk Festival Turns 60

What’s in these tubes? Would you believe...algae? And would you believe an LLC on the Southwest Side is using these little green creatures to turn waste into power and food? John Edel manages the Plant, an accelerator for sustainable small businesses in Back of the Yards. The Plant is on the cutting edge of creating environmentally sustainable protein, aka lab-grown meat.

#49 - John Edel - The Plant

How are musicians responding to coronavirus? In this episode, Mollie Stone, director of UChicago's University Chorus, Women's Ensemble, and the Chicago Children's Choir's Hyde Park Ensemble, returns to the program. We talk about examples from around the globe of people singing together in lockdown, and how these songs offer medical advice, cultural pride, and hope.

#50 - Musical Responses to Coronavirus - Mollie Stone

Char Daston interviews creative people--people who brought their big ideas into the real world. Send us your questions and we just might ask them on the air.

Dreams, Ideas, and You

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