It’s a slightly rainy late November evening and the lights are all on at Pilsen Community Books. I’ve come here to attend a live recording of Eye 94, a weekly program on Lumpen Radio 105.5 FM that dives deep into the culture of publishing, authors, and books. It’s the only terrestrial radio show currently airing in the midwest that is completely devoted to books and writers, and possibly the first Chicago radio show to do so since Milt Rosenberg’s Extension 720 on WGN AM ended in 2012.
In January Eye 94 will celebrate its third anniversary, and the hosts are committed to continue making their favorite authors accessible to the listening audience. Past shows have featured some luminaries: Reader favorite Eve Ewing was featured for a February 2018 show (also taped live before an audience at Pilsen Community Books), and Gary Indiana phoned it in from New York later in 2018 for a fun and long-ranging interview that covered Three Month Fever, his move to the east coast, and an unusual look at the killer Andrew Cunanan. Trecker says that the Indiana interview is one of the most popular downloads in the Lumpen archives, and the show itself pulls some of the most listeners of any program on the radio station. This isn’t surprising given the care that writers receive on Eye 94: a full hour of talk devoted to not only the author’s words and ideas but also to examining the world of writing itself. v
Airs Thursdays and Sundays at 11 AM on Lumpen Radio (WLPN-LP 105.5 FM). Archives at eye94.org.
