Jiggle It A Little It'll Open

Aaron Kahn and Ira S. Murfin
  • 4.9 (15)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
Jiggle It A Little It'll Open

Listen as two old friends and collaborators gradually fashion a podcast from nothing but their shared history by gently agitating whatever enters their field of perception, watching for some meaning or significance to eventually come tumbling out. Avenues of inquiry include, but are not limited to, their mutual hometown of Chicago, experimental theatre, the current cultural and political climate in the U.S. and Europe, and just what this podcast is all about, anyway. Occasionally some humor also arises. Aaron Kahn co-hosts (and produces) from his home in Paris, Ira S. Murfin co-hosts from Chicago.

  1. 05/19/2023

    19. Once Removed

    Following a thread about falling into things, Jiggle It a Little It’ll Open welcomes a surprise third guest, who also happens to be the grandson of the podcast’s first guest, and Aaron's first cousin once removed.Jesse Schumann stops by the virtual podcast studio with a tale to tell about the last six weeks. Since taking a temporary break from college for some self-discovery and recalibration, Jesse has practiced mindful self-compassion on a Canadian meditation retreat, launched a rap c...

    1h 25m

  2. 05/10/2023

    18. Theatre Why?

    For only the second time in its short history, Jiggle It A Little It’ll Open welcomes a guest. Melissa Lorraine, Artistic Director of Chicago’s Theatre Y, discusses her company’s journey from its founding as a venue for the work of Romanian playwright András Visky to its recent move from the neighborhood of Lincoln Square, where it was one of over 250 theatre companies dotting Chicago’s North Side, to North Lawndale on the city’s West Side. Melissa talks about what it means for a historically...

    1h 15m

  3. 04/27/2023

    17. Unmarked Doors

    The world is full of unmarked doors that some people know how to find and how to get through, and some people - by design or otherwise - do not. Aaron and Ira are thinking about ways that controlled access can both exclude and protect. When we offer each other access, what are we offering? And what are we giving up? Nascent online communities, clandestine cocktail bars, and city neighborhoods all maintain barriers to entry of one sort or another, until they don’t. And we can rarely control wh...

    1h 22m

  4. 04/13/2023

    16. Immersion Blender

    Immersion is all around us, and perhaps it always has been. But we keep discovering it anew every time an experience is unique enough that we notice we are having it. From Greek tragedies and Medieval passion plays to 1960s happenings and environmental theatre to installation art, live action game play, and pricey Instagram-ready themed “experiences,” immersion as aesthetic approach and marketing ploy always offers irresistible novelty amidst the ordinary. Immersive theatre and art over the l...

    1h 41m

  5. 03/29/2023

    15. Better Than Real Theatre

    The hour or so spent in this episode on the concept of process orientation both illustrates something about the topic, and demonstrates how slippery it can be. Ever gravitating to theatre no matter what the topic, Aaron and Ira weave a network of connections between resisting perfection, eschewing deliberate meaning, and valuing participation, hoping to find process orientation cocooned someplace within.The clouds start to part a bit around the parallels that become evident between holistic m...

    1h 24m

  6. 03/09/2023

    14. Beautiful Cacophony

    The idea of the collective suggests a set of possibilities that do not rely upon personal vision or independent will. It can expand upon, enable, and obscure individual contribution – sometimes all at once – and, at its best, it surprises everyone. But the collective also requires a certain level of individual sacrifice to larger organizing principles – be they theatre, yoga, or architecture. It can be easy to confuse the collective impulse with a desire for what may actually be its opposite:...

    1h 24m

  7. 02/23/2023

    13. Ambition, Ambition! Ambition!

    Either Aaron and Ira have become mature adults, or they’re rationalizing their own failure, but either way, ambition no longer seems to hold the same power for them that it once did. As Ira puts it, “We do not want to live our lives as sacrifices to what might happen in the future.” So is ambition by definition a young person’s game? And is letting go of it a sign of maturity, or resignation? Gradually abdicating long-held and largely unexamined ambitions, a couple of middle aged guys might s...

    1h 59m

  8. 02/09/2023

    12. Art Time + Life Time

    As Aaron observes early in this episode, the relationship between art and life is something that has been considered by everyone from Stanislavsky to Ani DiFranco, but JIALIO decides to give it a whirl anyway. The discussion of art and life quickly becomes a meditation on how to live a life in art, and what is required to do so. It seems that money, scale, yoga, and happiness each may help, or get in the way, depending on which way one is heading. The words of a surprisingly insecure AI langu...

    1h 35m
See All (19)

Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

Listen as two old friends and collaborators gradually fashion a podcast from nothing but their shared history by gently agitating whatever enters their field of perception, watching for some meaning or significance to eventually come tumbling out. Avenues of inquiry include, but are not limited to, their mutual hometown of Chicago, experimental theatre, the current cultural and political climate in the U.S. and Europe, and just what this podcast is all about, anyway. Occasionally some humor also arises. Aaron Kahn co-hosts (and produces) from his home in Paris, Ira S. Murfin co-hosts from Chicago.

Information

  • Creator
    Aaron Kahn and Ira S. Murfin
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2023
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023 Jiggle It A Little It'll Open
  • Show Website
    Jiggle It A Little It'll Open

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