The B-Side: Recent Episodes
14EAST
The B-Side is a podcast run by 14East Magazine. It is here that we turn previous stories into an audio podcast. Experience the best and the brightest of 14East in a brand new way!
This weeks episode comes from Staff Writer Billie Rollason. Originally performed at 14East's live storytelling eveny 14East Live. The theme for 14East live was "memory". Billie shares the memory of her father, Geoffrey Rollason, otherwise known as The Riot, in this piece that details the life and love of her motorcycle riding, fun having, and above all, loving dad.
Our next installment of the B-Side highlights Senior Associate Editor Hailey Bosek’s story Sex Work and Dollar Signs. This article features Chicago sex workers sharing a behind the scenes look at erotic labor. Through the lens of an OnlyFans worker, a stripper and a DePaul sex worker, the article explores the financial and emotional cost behind sex work. This was released in May for 14 East’s business issue.
Story by Hailey Bosek
Produced by Hailey Bosek and Sam Freeman
Edited by Kiernan Sullivan
The first installment of the B-Side this academic year features Engagement Editor Citlali Perez looking back on the memories of their childhood including many stories they heard from their family. The story, Lessons on Convivencia Through Memory, was performed at 14 East Live, our annual live storytelling show, last May.
Our eighth episode of The B-Side features an investigative story from a team of DePaul reporters and 14 East contributors. Originally published in May 2021, “Who Wants General Iron?” discusses in-depth how the metal recycling company came to choose the Southeast Side for its new location and the years of organizing that followed.
In this piece — one in an award-winning series of 14 East stories — residents, activists and community members examine the negative impacts of historic industrialization, pollution and the future of their neighborhood.
Story by Elly Boes, Lara Diaz, Adriana Talavera, Citalli Velez
Recorded by Claire Malon
Produced by Elly Boes
Published in 2019, “Why My Mom Carries Cash” dives into the harmful nature of stigma regarding homelessness. Featuring a collection of interviews from those experiencing homelessness, housing organizers and advocates and community members, Editor-In-Chief Grace Del Vecchio writes about culture around homelessness in Chicago and how stigma plays a direct hand in stopping those experiencing it from getting the help and resources they need.
Story by Grace Del Vecchio
Recorded by Claire Malon
Produced by Grace Del Vecchio
The start of the COVID-19 pandemic called into question certain aspects of our lifestyles that we weren’t forced to address before and this certainly was the case of former 14 East Editor-In-Chief Francesca Mathewes. In the personal essay first performed at 14 East’s live storytelling event, 14 East Live, “A Softer Look in the Mirror” looks inward at Mathewes’s personal and professional development throughout the first year of the pandemic and the process of learning to give herself grace while adapting to the ever-changing world around her.
Written and recorded by Francesca Mathewes
Produced by Grace Del Vecchio
This week’s episode of The B-Side is a story from Pueblo co-founder and former Creative Editor Julián Martinez. “How Do You Say ‘Country Pop’ in Spanish” is a narrative essay on Martinez’s family and their assimilation into a new country through musical compromise.
Martinez shares his childhood influences on country music and what they mean to him now. He writes, “Country music scenes are notoriously, historically white. Country music, a withstanding stereotype of whiteness, is so deeply indebted to, among others, Mexican culture.”
Story by Julián Martinez
Recorded by Richie Requena
Produced by Richie Requena
Podcast episode originally posted on March 14th, 2022
Our fourth episode of The B-Side features the untold history of DePaul’s football team, and the attempt to bring the sport to the university since its dissolution in 1938. In “The Un-Undefeated Gridders of Lincoln Park,” complete with photography straight from DePaul’s archives, Managing Editor Cam Rodriguez details the start, end and importance of DePaul’s forgotten team in this homage to the gridders of Lincoln Park.
Story by Cam Rodriguez
Recorded by Cam Rodriguez
Produced by Grace Del Vecchio
Podcast episode originally February 21st, 2022
Our third episode of The B-Side features a cultural commentary from former Associate Editor Malik Pitchford. In this piece, titled, “Beware of the White Gaze,” Pitchford discusses the critical impact of the white gaze, a concept popularized by acclaimed author Toni Morrison.
Using the examples of Toni Morrison and rappers Noname and Kendrick Lamar, Pitchford examines the lack of power and sovereignty Black creators have over their art, music and cultural productions due to ethnocentrism and white supremacy.
Story by Malik Pitchford
Recorded by Aneesah Shealey
Produced by Claire Malon
Podcast episode originally uploaded on February 7th, 2022
Our second episode of The B-Side features a story from Pueblo Managing Editor Richie Requena. Published in May of 2019, "Paying Out of Pocket" details the experiences of three undocumented college students as they struggle to afford the cost of tuition amid discriminatory laws preventing them from receiving financial aid.
In this piece, Requena describes how local undocumented students are finding ways to pay their way through school and explains the efforts by leaders to change the law to make higher education more accessible to all.
Produced and written by Richie Requena
Recorded by Claire Malon
Podcast episode originally posted January 24th, 2022
This week’s episode is a story from contributing writer Lara Diaz. Published in the fall of 2021, “Next Stop, Van Buren,” is a powerful narrative essay about community, identity and belonging.
Diaz, who was born and raised on the Southeast Side of Chicago, describes how she was forced to grapple with her identity as a Mexican American while attending predominantly white schools on the North Side. Using her commute on the Metra Electric train as a vehicle through which to understand her transition from familiarity and community to, Diaz seeks to show how the deeply rooted love and understanding of where we come acts as a guide to interpreting the world around us — and our place in it.
Story by Lara Diaz
Produced and recorded by Claire Malon
Podcast episode originally posted on January 11th, 2022
Our next installment of the B-Side highlights Senior Assistant Editor Hailey Bosek's story Sex Work and Dollar Signs. This article features Chicago sex workers sharing a behind the scenes look at erotic labor. Through the lens of an OnlyFans worker, a stripper, and a DePaul sex worker, the article explores the financial and emotional cost behind sex work. This was released in May for 14 East’s business issue.