...It's what Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne might be hotly debating as they walk into the studio -- just before they get on mic.

That's what you'll hear on "11 Central Ave," Chicago Public Radio's new comic strip, also airing on WBUR Boston, WUSM Hattiesburg, KUOW Seattle, WLRN Miami, KUT Austin and WUGA Athens.

"11 Central Ave," produced weekly, is a self-contained drop-in for NPR's Morning Edition C segment or in WESAT or WESUN from the B seg cutaway @ 34:20 to headlines @ 39:00.

This four minute radiostrip plays out in the kitchen of 11 Central Ave, the home of an extended family where a hodgepodge of other characters regularly drops in. As they rush around in the morning drinking coffee, reading the paper, looking for their shoes, they're talking about everything from the most compelling topics of our time (the Supreme Court nominee and his views on abortion) to the most ridiculous (mommy blogging), and everything in between -- covenant marriage, teens hooking up, the next pandemic, the fog of internet dating.

It's a wry look at America's zeitgeist in four minutes. Come hear something new "11 Central Ave" - the radio comic strip.

Main Characters (actors):

Nat (Will Lebow)
Fifty year old father. He recently lost his job as an advertising executive and now is a househusband, unable to find new work.

Christine (Paula Plum)
Nat's forty year old wife who now has to support the family and isn't at all happy about it.

Rick (John Kuntz)
Christine's thirty two year old brother who lives with them. He's a libertarian with a master's degree in government who works at Kinko's.

Anneliese (Harper Kaye)
Nat and Christine's fourteen year old daughter, just starting high school. And just starting a lot of other things no one in the family wants to think about.

Elena (Melinda Lopez)
Christine's best friend. She came from Cuba as a child, and her husband has just left her.

Dante (Jason Bowen)
Dante is an African American college student who has befriended Anneliese.

11 Central Ave is created, written and produced by Susan Shepherd. Walter Dixon mixes. Kat Tatlock directs.

Co writers are Diane Toomey, Ramona Hamblin and Sandra Miller.

Susy Pilgrim Waters produced all of the artwork.
George Hicks composed and performed the music.
Special thanks to WBUR in Boston, where the show is recorded. Hide full description

...It's what Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne might be hotly debating as they walk into the studio -- just before they get on mic. That's what you'll hear on "11 Central Ave," Chicago Public Radio's new comic strip, also airing on WBUR Boston, WUSM Hattiesburg, KUOW Seattle, WLRN Miami, KUT Austin and WUGA Athens. "11 Central Ave," produced weekly, is a self-contained drop-in for NPR's Morning Edition C segment or in WESAT or WESUN from the B seg cutaway @ 34:20 to headlines @ 39:00. This four minute radiostrip plays out in the kitchen of 11 Central Ave, the home of an extended family where a hodgepodge of other characters regularly drops in. As they rush around in the morning drinking coffee, reading the paper, looking for their shoes, they're talking about everything from the... Show full description