Lumpen Radio

About Lumpen Radio

Lumpen Radio, WLPN-LP Chicago 105.5FM launched in 2016 and broadcasts 24/7. WLPN-LP is operated by a community of curators working to connect you with the music and ideas you love. Our aim is to spotlight the hidden parts of the city by amplifying its voices and sounds. We promote open media, uniting communities and magnifying the hard work of artists, musicians, activists and cultural workers like you. WLPN is a project of Public Media Institute (PMI).

Publisher

Public Media Institute (PMI)

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Mar 2024

Latest episode

19 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 429 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   19 Oct 2026

   Interzona • 07-08-26 • Ep. 4 • "Un poeta": El arte como refugio y condena

   ¡Bienvenides al Ep. 4 de Interzona! ¿Qué significa dedicar la vida al arte cuando el reconocimiento nunca llega? ¿Se puede salvar a alguien mientras uno mismo se desmorona? En este episodio conversamos sobre El poeta (2025), una película que explora los límites entre la creación artística, la obsesión y las heridas que implica crear en contextos como América Latina. • Películas discutidas: El Poeta (Simón Mesa Soto, 2025) • Canción reproducida: La Luna en tu Mirada, ( Los Zafiros, 1960). Por: Katalyn Solís y Dani Suárez---Airs: Segundo miércoles 7:00-8:00PM CST

2. 

   19 Oct 2026

   Gómez-Peña’s Mex Files • 06-17-2026 • What's on my mind lately?

   Welcome back to the Mex Files: Voices and Sounds from the End of Times, bienvenidex to the strange world of Gómez-Peña, Aranza Cortez Karam & La Pocha Nostra, on steroids. In 2026, amidst the ongoing Trumpocalypse, we are especially interested in radical spirituality, uncompromising humor and activist poetics, topics that can help us and our audiences navigate these dangerous times. In this episode, Gómez-Peña and Aranza share their recent obsessions, fears & flipeos about both the state of the world and their own personal lives. For this purpose, we have invited 3 amazing artists to join in: South African performance artist, rocker and filmmaker Marcelle Marais AKA, Princess Vuvu, Nuyo Rican Queer poet Carlos Manuel Rivera, and activist scholar Larry Bogad. They join us with their sounds, poems and irreverent ideas. 🔊

3. 

   11 Oct 2026

   Lumpen Special • 09-25-26 • Dos Santos: Es Amor

   A conversation with Alex Chávez, Jaime Garza, and Peter “Maestro” Vale of Dos Santos celebrating their new album, Es Amor, their first full-length record in five years. 🎶Hosted by Stephanie Manriquez, the conversation explores the making of the album and the many ideas and sounds that move through it: love, migration, memory, family, resistance, dance, and community, as well as the balance between musical tradition and experimentation. 🪘🎙️ Recorded live on Sunday, August 23 at Nighthawk Chicago in Albany Park, the conversation also reflects on what it means to make music about love in this particular moment and how the meaning of Es Amor has evolved since the album was recorded.¿Qué es amor? ¿Qué aprendieron del amor? ❤️

Inside a recent episode

Mutual Aid Report • 02-24-2026 • Minneapolis Rising with Emily Green & Nick Wylie

Published 2 Mar 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Can you go there? So, beyond commuting and dishanting, though, there's the other thing that's probably the most active is mutual aid, and that is extremely elaborate. There are a lot of different mutual aid initiatives happening. I know there are a couple of churches who have large operations going now to the point that they have actually rented warehouse base because they have gotten such an influx of donations of food. So, there are a lot of grocery stores, organizations who are doing food deliveries to folks who are vulnerable and do not want to leave their homes. There's a lot of sort of coordinating of ride for people who need to get laces. […]

Who has been a guest on Lumpen Radio

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• DJ Nanoos
• Kimberly Kim
• Sonja Thomsen
• Nika McKagen
• Kimmy Noonen

Podcast Authority Score: 23 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

46

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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