The Machine Broadcasting Network (Audio)

In the studio today, Nicholas is joined by Chicago's hardest working pop act; Canasta. This six-piece crafts atmospheric music that elevates your attitude and soul. Called "the heartbeat of our local music scene" by your host, this band has quite a story. You won't regret tuning in for this.

Is faith all you need to accomplish extraordinary feats in fitness? Darnell Williams, founder of the faith-based Elijah Running Club says no. Faith and behavior are a partnership that should not be separated.

Life in the city can be chaotic and complex, unless you have the right tools. Today on Dispatch, Sam Vermette, CEO of Transit App, joins Joshua and Nicholas to discuss how public transportation (through buses, trains, and bike sharing systems) is redefining personal mobility.

Refreshing, delicious, and you can make it yourself.

When Bishop Jim Swilley came out to his mega Church in 2010, he knew it was something he had to do, but couldn't know how announcing he is gay would affect his life and ministry. The results turned out to be overwhelmingly beautiful and positive.

Outside of the pop-country system that dominates much of Nashville's mind-share, a new group of artists is growing. They draw from Music City's deep folk heritage, but spin their craft in a new direction, and there is no finer example of this style than Jacob Thomas Jr. Hear his story, and tracks from the recently released "Original Sin" full-length today on Inside the Machine.

Andre Slay has been featured in major newspapers, magazines and sporting publications and has completed the Super Bowl of running events. In this episode of Ordinary Mortals, we talk to Slay, who became a famous athlete after a tragic accident made him an amputee showing the world that what can seem devastating at first can become salvation in the end.

It's just a day in the life for Kickstarter. After removing restrictions on which projects appear on the site, jokesters have flooded the once interesting list of projects with pointless fundraisers. Are they funny, or do these adolescent pranks degrade Kickstarter's proud and creative atmosphere? We discuss.

All the hots, without the Buster Poindexter.

In October 2010, Bishop Jim Swilley, pastor of a mega-church near Atlanta, announced to his congregation that he is gay. Before that, he had only had relationships with women and had mostly lived a celibate life. Jim exemplifies the shift taking place in the church as more and more believers are finding freedom from fundamentalism.

Removing (or replacing) reeds in a pipe organ might seem like blasphemy to some, but for Coppice, it's a daily task that forwards their career. Born in 2009, this Chicago duo is pressing forward, and creating sounds that capture the raw emotional power of audio. Today, they join Nicholas in-studio for Inside the Machine.

When a top collegiate athlete is faced with a devastating injury that threatens to take away all the hard-worn effort of a life devoted to sport, what's the next step? Well, if you're Bianca Perry and Jessica Weaver you create a wave of motivation for a legion of girls and women with a sliver of fabric and an avalanche of good will.

For the past year, we've had many opportunities to share the stories of creatives, lessons from their businesses, and how they overcame frustrating (sometimes) debilitating needs in both their private and artistic lives. In this episode, we look back at our first year on the air, and offer a "listener's guide" to the last 51 hours of Dispatch.

Heading to parts unknown, looking back at home.

Reverend Vince Anderson is a preacher who, for nearly 20 years, has been singing what he calls dirty gospel in a bar in Brooklyn called Union Pool. He drinks, cusses, and lives to love people who might not fit in at any normal kind of church.