Sidetrack with Jason Croft
First Saturday of the month at 6 pm
Fun stories, quirky interviews, thought-provoking commentaries, great tunes, and more!
Sidetrack is AM 580's monthly news/features magazine hosted by Jason Croft. Sidetrack's goal is to bring you the stories you might have otherwise missed--the stories that sometimes get overlooked during the busy day-to-day headlines. The stories are sometimes off-beat, sometimes unusual, but never dull. It's a fresh look at the what's going on in our backyard and around the world. Be sure to explore program contents for links to more info and a few surprises.
Subscribe to the Sidetrack podcast
May 2008
Program air date: Saturday, May 03, 2008
On this month’s program, we talk to the organizers of WILL’s Vintage Vinyl Sale. We’ve pulled some records from the sale for your listening enjoyment. Also the state of Polka music in Chicago. And memories of Japanese-Americans starting over, after being incarcerated by their government during World War Two…We’ll have those stories and more, this time on Sidetrack.
Menu:
- WWII Memories
- Chicago Polka
- Essay: “You Are What You Spill”
- WILL's Vintage Vinyl Sale
Audio:
Play now:
Download: mp3 file
April 2008
Program air date: Saturday, April 05, 2008
This month we talk to a husband and wife team from Portland, Oregon, who run a black velvet painting museum called the Velveteria…we find out the burlesque revival in Chicago…learn about some award-winning mustard from the Midwest…and hear one man’s story about growing up as a Catholic schoolchild were the fear of nuns with rulers permeated his life…
Menu:
- Chicago burlesque revival
- Award-winning mustard
- Chicago window washers
- Essay: "Another Wrong Career"
- The Velveteria--The Black Velvet Painting Museum
- Essay: "Under The Ruler"
Audio:
Play now:
Download: mp3 file
March 2008
Program air date: Saturday, March 01, 2008
On this month’s program, we talk the inventor of the Nubrella—a modern take on the classic umbrella…we find out about the new website Book Glutton based in Urbana that combines an e-library with a social networking site… Appalachian hip-hop…a modern-day cowboy’s ride across America…a vaction ranch for computer programmers...a primer of who you'll meet at a comic book convention...and a former Cubs manager's infamous news conference tape.
Menu:
- Rising Appalachia
- Modern cowboy's ride across America
- Book Glutton (web site)
- Comic Book Convention
- Big Nerd Ranch
- Nubrella (web site)
- Former Cubs manager's infamous tape
Audio:
Play now:
Download: mp3 file
August 2007
Program air date: Saturday, August 04, 2007
This month Sidetrack takes a look at the fight to save Berwyn's (in)famous art structure known as the Spindle...we hear about the life of a Chinese bicycle mechanic with ties to Urbana...learn about a way to buy land in America one inch at a time...talk to the creator of Pizza Beer--beer that tastes like pizza...and we have an audio essay on the joys of the water park.
Menu:
- Berwyn's Spindle (web site)
- Chinese Bicycle Mechanic
- Selling America By The Inch
- Pizza Beer (web site)
- Water Parks Essay




