Shows
Phone Messages169 The Wedding (Dad)The building for the old Minnesota Club is now occupied by a restaurant
dedicated to Herb Brooks. The St. Paul Athletic Club building now
hosts wedding receptions and special events, and guests can stay
in its boutique hotel.
2022-04-2409 minPhone Messages153 It's Mom (Mom 7)Porky's drive in opened on St. Paul's university avenue in 1953 and closed in 2011. It's space age building and neon pig's head now reside at The Little Log House Pioneer Village in rural Hastings.
2022-01-0209 minPhone Messages151 Paul Calling (unknown)In the nineteenth century, phone companies began training operators to speak with a telephone voice. These vocal techniques soon became expected of all callers, but women especially were told to discipline their tendencies to be shrill.
2021-12-1908 min
Phone Messages120 Paul Masson (outgoing 23)Like George in the Seinfeld episode "The Burning," sometimes you feel there's nothing more to say.
2021-05-1604 minPhone Messages96 I'm Running (outgoing 19)Rolling Stones fans are legendary: some dedicate their lives to transcribing guitar solos from fifty year old live concerts, others to chasing down grandfatherly idols for an autograph.
2020-11-2905 minPhone Messages95 I wish you the best of luck (Andy 2)When Thomas Frank moved from the University of Virginia to the University of Chicago to begin graduate school, the Baffler, which self identified as The Journal that Blunts the Cutting Edge, moved there as well.
2020-11-2209 minPhone Messages94 Aunt Leora (Grandma 4)In 1973, Robin Morgan addressed The American Home Economics Association as "the enemy." The organization changed its name to the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences in 1994.
2020-11-1507 minPhone Messages93 Noisy Toys (Chris 18)Toys made of plastic were rare before World War II. Their late twentieth century ubiquity came to symbolize the excess of consumer society.
2020-11-0808 minPhone Messages92 The Poet (Andy 1)In the 1960s, most soda pop was sold in reusable glass bottles, but in the 1970s these were replaced by cans and plastic. The last Coca Cola plant to produce reusable bottles closed in 2012.
2020-11-0109 minPhone Messages91 An Art Form (James 12)Back in 2006, Alison S. M. Kobayashi produced a video based on an answering machine tape she found in a thrift shop.
2020-10-2504 minPhone Messages90 I Don't Want a Girlfriend (Chris 17)Moses Asch created Folkways Records in 1948 to document the beautiful and extraordinary diversity of human expression through sound.
2020-10-1809 minPhone Messages89 Happy Birthday (Brian 5)From Chicago's Maxwell Street to Colorado's Rocky Mountains, it can be a dog eat dog world.
2020-10-1108 min
Phone Messages88 The Article (James 11)Harvey's Chicken Shack is one of many little restaurants in Chicago's Bronzeville that may have faded from memory. But with the help of archivists like those at the Obsidian Collection, the role these small businesses played in the community might be preserved.
2020-10-0406 minPhone Messages87 Cooperative Living (Maura)In the 1980s, clothing was optional at Madison Wisconsin's Nottingham Coop.
2020-09-2709 minPhone Messages86 Dreamerz (James 10)In the late 1980s, Club Dreamerz on Milwaukee Avenue marked Wicker Park's transition from old immigrant neighborhood to trendy tech hub.
2020-09-2005 minPhone Messages85 Dinosaur (outgoing 18)With the help of festivals like the New Orleans Jazz Fest, Cajun music saw a revival in the 1960s and 70s. Many of the voices from this revival were captured in Les Blank's poetic J'ai Été Au Bal and Alan Lomax's more historical Cajun Country.
2020-09-1305 minPhone Messages84 Five of Twelve (James 9)In 1989, 1.4% of U.S. households had cell phones while 28% had an answering machine. In 2020, there are 1.29 cell phones per person in the U.S. and only 40% of households still have a landline.
2020-09-0605 minPhone Messages83 Softball (Brian 4)Ted Williams was a hall of fame left fielder and a Sears label for certain sporting goods, including bicycles made in Austria by Steyr-Daimler-Puch.
2020-08-3009 minPhone Messages82 Hey Dude (James 8)The word "Dude" had a strange historical journey before becoming a popular sign of young male solidarity, and Dudeism is now a serious philosophy inspired by the 1998 film the Big Lebowski.
2020-08-2305 minPhone Messages81 That's My Kitty Kat (Joel 4)Some historians claim the mass killing of cats in medieval Europe led to the Black Death. These days, researchers have found domestic cats fail at urban rat control while harming billions of native birds.
2020-08-1604 minPhone Messages80 Someone is right (Sikay 4)Chinese restaurants came to the United States in the 19th century with
Cantonese migrants who worked in mines and built railroads. But Chinese restaurants that were also Vegetarian did not emerge until the 1980s.
2020-08-0908 minPhone Messages79 I Am Sweating (outgoing 17)For the AACM 20th anniversary celebration, Cecil Taylor performed at Mandel Hall with Roscoe Mitchell, Douglas Ewart, Malachi Favors and Steve McCall. After the concert he recorded a station ID for WHPK.
2020-08-0206 minPhone Messages78 A Tree for Unc (Joel 3)Somewhere in the Wayne National Forest, a massive blue spruce memorializes a Florida flea market dealer from Fond Du Lac Wisconsin.
2020-07-2608 minPhone Messages77 TV is Depressing Me (Chris 16)The Polk-A-Lay-Lee was a ukulele like instrument created for Polk Brothers Electronics in 1965. One could buy it for five dollars with the purchase of a tape recorder or TV.
2020-07-1909 minPhone Messages76 I Love Y'all (outgoing 16)Scholars debate the origins of the term y'all. It's usage typically but not always marks one as from the South.
2020-07-1206 minPhone Messages75 The Point (Liz 2)In 1980s Chicago, Hyde Park's Promontory Point had a semblance of racial integration, but most of the city was marked by a history of severe segregation imposed by violence and racist institutions.
2020-07-0508 minPhone Messages74 At Jason's Radio Show (outgoing 15)The University of Chicago's first radio station began broadcasting to Burton Judson Courts in 1945. In 1951 they extended to the entire campus as WUCB, in 1968 moved to the FM dial as WHPK and in 1985 increased their power from 10 to 100 watts.
2020-06-2806 minPhone Messages73 In Minnesota (Chris 15)In the late 80s, the artist Garry Hayes brought a couple of lucky kids to the happiest place on earth: a legendary Minneapolis bar called the Gay 90s.
2020-06-2108 minPhone Messages72 He is Mine (Jason 4)In the Spring of 1989, a fatwa by the Iranian Leader called for the killing of Salman Rushdie. During his first few months in hiding, Rushdie moved dozens of times. Could one of these hideouts have been my studio apartment in Hyde Park?
2020-06-1405 minPhone Messages71 Art School (Chris 14)The Art Institute of Chicago has one of the most highly rated art schools in the country. But is going to art school worth it?
2020-06-0707 minPhone Messages70 Wake Up (unknown 4)Arthur Mann, whose class on American Social Movements was always packed, researched and practiced the ideals of urban order.
2020-05-3106 minPhone Messages69 Maybe Next Time (Sikay 3)Les Misérables has been on London's West End continuously since 1985. Its first Chicago performance came in the Spring of 1989 at the Auditorium Theater, and at least two tickets went unused.
2020-05-2408 minPhone Messages68 Midway Studios (Sikay 2)An old barn on the south side of Chicago's Midway Plaisance became the center of artistic creativity throughout the twentieth century.
2020-05-1708 minPhone Messages67 Chicken Temptation (Sikay 1)Living above Harold's Chicken Shack can have surprising effects on a vegetarian.
2020-05-1008 minPhone Messages66 Kick Ball (Liz 1)When playing four square at Hyde Park's Promontory Point, be prepared to address the physical needs of toddlers.
2020-05-0307 minPhone Messages65 Angel (Chris 13)Watching nineteen seventies television could be compared to eating cheeseburgers, but its screen angels should be taken seriously.
2020-04-2605 minPhone Messages64 If Anne Then (Outgoing 14)Can a 1980s answering machine function like a Star Trek transporter, moving me through space depending on the caller?
2020-04-1906 minPhone Messages63 Hip Tunez (Chris 12)Walking west on Chicago's Grand Avenue provides ample time to formulate rap rhymes.
2020-04-1207 minPhone Messages62 Just Want To Know About Ya (Grandma 3)Chicago in the 1920s could be an exciting place for a young, church going woman of small town Michigan.
2020-04-0506 minPhone Messages61 Lawrence Welk (Chris 11)Lawrence Welk was born in 1903 in Strasburg North Dakota. His TV show started on a local L.A. station in 1951 and ended on PBS in 1982. After that, reruns continued to be shown on PBS hosted by Welk and after his death in 1992, by former cast members.
2020-03-2907 minPhone Messages60 This is Tauneel (Tauneel 2)A parent's love can sometimes be expressed by saving old issues of the Grey City Journal.
2020-03-2207 minPhone Messages59 Vacuum Maintenance (unknown)These days it is difficult to find shops that repair vacuum cleaners, but Repair Cafés have opened around the world to rebuild a culture of conservation.
2020-03-1506 minPhone Messages58 The Reg (Julia 1)The University of Chicago's Regenstein Library was constructed on the former location of Stagg Field in 1970.
2020-03-0808 minPhone Messages57 Turn Turn Turn (Chris 10)The lyrics to Pete Seeger's Turn Turn Turn come from the Book of Ecclesiastes. In 1965, the Byrd's version of the song topped the charts.
2020-03-0108 minPhone Messages56 Jimmy's (James 7)Jimmy's Woodlawn Tap opened in 1948. It was one of many Hyde Park bars at the time, and one of the few to survive urban renewal.
2020-02-2306 minPhone Messages55 A Child of the Sun (Grandma 2)Frank Lloyd Wright designed the campus of Florida Southern College in Lakeland Florida. He called it a Child of the Sun.
2020-02-1605 minPhone Messages54 Sixteen Candles (Chris 9)Sixteen Candles, performed by the Crests, became a doo-wop hit in 1958. The song's sentimentalism is ideal for a punk guitar to rip apart.
2020-02-0905 min
Phone Messages53 Hanah Jon Taylor (James 6)In the 1980s, the superb flute and saxophone player Hanah Jon Taylor performed regularly at the Cove and the Hotel Del Prado in Hyde Park. In the 1990s he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where in 2019 he opened Cafe Coda.
2020-02-0205 min
Phone Messages52 Tauneel Again (Tauneel 1)In the late 80s, The Grey City Journal staff also produced The Chicago Literary Review, a quarterly supplement to the Chicago Maroon.
2020-01-2604 min
Phone Messages51 Canonet (James 5)The Canon Canonet was an affordable 35 mm rangefinder camera first released in 1961. The Canonet G-III, released in 1972, sold over a million copies before being discontinued in 1982 and was used by the title character in the 1998 film Pecker.
2020-01-1904 min
Phone Messages50 I want to tell you (Chris 8)When we remember the past, sometimes we must confront behaviors that now make us cringe.
2020-01-1106 min
Phone Messages49 I'll Be Around (Chris 7)The Young Dogs, a poetry club that performed at the University of Chicago Reynold's Club Theater, welcomed odd musical groups, some of which later ended up on the stage of the Knitting Factory.
2020-01-0407 min
Phone Messages48 Mumbo Jumbo (Chris 6)Sometimes the least common denominator between the corners of your mouth is a piece of chewing gum in the snow.
2019-12-2905 min
Phone Messages47 Now You're Gone (Gordon 1)The Chicago Maroon could consume the life of a college student, but it could also launch a career.
2019-12-2208 min
Phone Messages46 Memo Function (unknown 3)The dictation machine can be traced back to Edison and Bell's inventions in the 1870s and 1880s. In the 20th century, the Dictaphone and IBM improved upon the technology.
2019-12-1506 min
Phone Messages45 Possibly Anjali (unknown)Herbert George is an exceptional sculptor, and as a teacher. he inspired many students at the University of Chicago.
2019-12-0805 min
Phone Messages44 Keeping Warm (mom 6)Chicago winters were notorious. Below zero windchills could easily overcome the weak radiator heat of a studio apartment.
2019-12-0105 min
Phone Messages43 Please Talk to Me (mom 5)When does a juvenile prank cross the line to cruelty? And can one make amends for past acts that crossed the line?
2019-11-2403 min
Phone Messages42 Call Screening (outgoing 13)Before Caller ID, the answering machine was used to identify who was calling before picking up.
2019-11-1704 min
Phone Messages41 Missing Disk (David)In the late eighties, publishing a college literary journal could be filled with late night stress.
2019-11-1009 min
Phone Messages40 Not Too Bad (Chris 4)Feeling bad is a relative thing, and according to Daniel Johnston, a better life brings better orgasms.
2019-11-0308 min
Phone Messages39 Worried Shoes (outgoing 12)Daniel Johnston was a musician and visual artist who embodied the eccentric spirit of 1980s Austin.
2019-10-2704 min
Phone Messages38 Slacker (James 4)In 1989 Richard Linklater filmed a love letter to the city of Austin and redefined the concept of Slacker.
2019-10-2004 min
Phone Messages37 Fast Talker (Jason 3)John Moschitta Jr. became famous for talking fast in a 1982 Federal Express commercial. His skill proved hard to imitate.
2019-10-1304 min
Phone Messages36 Brian's Violin (Brian 1)In Chicago, if you want to have a jam band in your apartment, it's helpful to have neighbors who are doing equally loud things.
2019-10-0609 min
Phone Messages35 Rekha Recalls (Rekha 1b)Madison Wisconsin in the 1980s was a great place for campus activism, but personal experiences around this activism were often complicated.
2019-09-2908 min
Phone Messages34 The Wailers (outgoing 11)Bob Marley died in 1981, Peter Tosh in 1987, but their spirits remain strong, especially in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush.
2019-09-2204 min
Phone Messages33 Grandma's First Message (Grandma 1)In fall of 1988 I went to visit my grandmother in Lakeland Florida. She was born not just before answering machines but also before the technology of automatic switchboards were widespread.
2019-09-1507 min
Phone Messages32 Brandy doesn't live here (unknown 2)What happens when some Chicago kids confront a novel technology? The answering machine was invented in the 1940s but was still uncommon in 1980s homes.
2019-09-0806 min
Phone Messages31 Emile Westergaard (Chris 3)Emile was my college dorm neighbor and a decent musician. He also inspired a song by Chris Pearson.
2019-09-0109 min
Phone Messages30 Albert Died Today (outgoing 10)My pet rat Albert died in fall of 1988. He was buried in an empty lot behind Bret Harte Elementary School.
2019-08-2504 min
Phone Messages29 Guitar Riff (James 3)In the 1990s, Chicago became the center of a so called "post-rock" scene. Did my record collection, passed on to James Warden, play a role in this?
2019-08-1804 min
Phone Messages28 Brian's First Message (Brian 1)Brian Omelia hails from the Quad Cities, where my father's parents also have roots, specifically in Davenport's Germantown.
2019-08-1107 min
Phone Messages27 Madison (Jason 2)Madison Wisconsin, known for its hippie lifestyle and radical politics, also had great dance clubs.
2019-08-0404 min
Phone Messages26 Doing Bad (Chris 2)Chris Pearson describes his life in 1988 Chicago and how he entered his career as a decorative painter.
2019-07-2808 min
Phone Messages25 Albert Ayler (outgoing 9)Albert Ayler lived a brief high intensity musical life in search of spiritual unity. John Coltrane and a few other supporters saw him as visionary, but he was largely underappreciated in his time.
2019-07-1906 min
Phone Messages24 Durenberger (mom 4)David Durenberger served as Minnesota Senator from 1978 to 1995. He fell in the moderate middle of the Minnesota Republican Party,
2019-07-1306 min
Phone Messages23 The Anne Question (Anne)Was it Anne that left this message in Fall of 1988? If it was Anne, which Anne was it? And where was I that night? Did we go up north as planned? This and other mysteries are explored.
2019-07-0705 min
Phone Messages22 Up North (James 2)While living in Hyde Park, the north side of Chicago provided a space to escape our neighborhood joints and dance in nightclubs like Club Berlin and the Smart Bar.
2019-06-3003 min
Phone Messages21 James's First Message (James 1)This week I describe meeting my friend James at a Hyde Park party.
2019-06-2302 min
Phone Messages20 Chicago Bohemian (outgoing 8)In this episode I describe my low income life of 1988. This included an early morning job unlocking buildings on the University of Chicago campus using a little known passageway that went from Cobb Hall to the Business School.
2019-06-1605 min
Phone Messages19 Rekha's First Message (Rekha 1)This week we here a message from my friend Rekha, and I recount an incident driving through Wisconsin.
2019-06-0905 min
Phone Messages18 Southend (outgoing 7)This week I discuss volunteering for Southend Musicworks, an organization led by Leo Krumpholz that brought alternative music to Chicago from 1987 to 1994.
2019-06-0205 min
Phone Messages17 Joel's Love (Joel 2)This week's episode contains a longer than usual message from my friend Joel.
2019-05-2408 min
2019-05-1903 min
2019-05-1203 min
Phone Messages14 Energetic Days (outgoing 5)In this week's message I talk about going to see Edward Wilkerson's Eight Bold Souls at Salon of Modalisque and Hal Russell's NRG Ensemble at Lower Links in September of 1988.
2019-05-0507 min
Phone Messages13 Hairy Song (Chris 1)This week we here a song from Chris Pearson, fellow member of folk/punk/noise band Open Sauce.
2019-04-2805 min
Phone Messages12 Sun Ra (outgoing 4)This week I discuss going to see Sun Ra at the 1988 Chicago Jazz Festival.
2019-04-2106 min
Phone Messages11 Jason's First Message (Jason 1)This week I discuss my friend Jason Veitzer and our plans to see Sun Ra at the 1988 Chicago Jazz Festival.
2019-04-1407 min
Phone Messages10 Art Ensemble (outgoing 3)This episode is the first in a trilogy about the 1988 Chicago Jazz Festival. I discuss the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
2019-04-0709 min
Phone Messages9 Court Appearance (mom 2)In this week's episode, I discuss an incident that took place near the University Apartments in Hyde Park leading to my appearance in a Chicago courtroom.
2019-03-3110 min
Phone Messages8 Librarian (Kevin)This week I discuss the desegregation of Minnesota schools in the 1970s. I also describe the open school design of Longfellow Elementary in St. Paul. Finally, I highlight the recent initiative by Mayor Melvin Carter to eliminate fines at St. Paul public libraries.
2019-03-2407 min
Phone Messages7 Injured (unknown 1)In this episode I examine the history of telemarketing and robocalls--from a 1942 Popular Mechanics article describing an auto-dialer to efforts by the FCC to address the recent resurgence of robocalls.
2019-03-1704 min
Phone Messages6 Second Outgoing Message (Outgoing 2)This episode recalls the old Maxwell Street Market and the first night game at Wrigley field.
2019-03-1007 min
Phone Messages5 Savitri's First MessageIn this episode I recall my time writing for the Grey City Journal and discuss the hymn that inspired the title of GCJ. The lyrics by Edwin H. Lewis were inspired by Chicago's 1893 Columbian Exposition and became the University of Chicago's alma mater.
2019-03-0303 min
Phone Messages4 FIrst Outgoing Message (Outgoing 1)This week’s episode leads me to discuss the “ship of fools” allegory from Michel Foucault’s History of Madness, a brief history of Illinois Central Railroad and the nineteenth century California writer Bret Harte.
2019-02-2406 min
Phone Messages3 Joel's First Message (Joel 1)Joel's first message leads me to discuss South Chicago's AACM and the 1987 World Series win of the Minnesota Twins.
2019-02-1704 min
Phone Messages2 Mom's First Message (Mom 1)This episode contains a message from my mom. Since last week was my explainer episode, this is the first actual message I play. The twenty second message provides a nice insight into my mom's personality.
2019-02-1002 min
Phone Messages1 The ExplanationIn this episode I explain the origins and purpose of the Phone Messages podcast. I realized later that I had recorded only on one channel--apologies!
2019-02-0202 min