A podcast from Beacon, NY
Episode List
Episode 132: How food stabilizes community, with Mike Diago
Mike Diago loves eating, and writing about, food, but his interest is only partly about the cuisine itself. In articles for Eater, Saveur, Chronogram, The Bittman Project and other publications, Mike has created a niche covering the critical role food and eateries play in stabilizing communities. This food-focused journalism is a side hustle, basically. In his day job, Mike is a social worker for the Peekskill school district, and over time he has successfully blended his interest in cooking with his outreach to teens.
Episode 131: The choral-cosmic works of Heather Christian, MacArthur Fellow
Heather Christian is a singer, playwright, composer and recent winner of a MacArthur Genius grant. Her compositions use spiritual music forms to explore themes as varied as ghosts, grief, Homer’s Odyssey and the works of Carl Sagan. She describes them as “ choral-based complex music theater works,” and that seems as close as you can get without experiencing them directly.
Episode 130: Carolyn Glauda is an optimist in dark times
As the only candidate running for city council representing Ward 4, Carolyn Glauda is pretty much a shoe-in for the seat, but she still wants to earn your vote. In this interview, she shares her vision for a safer, more affordable and more sustainable Beacon.
Episode 129: How’s the cell phone ban going? With Beacon teachers Christina Dahl and Lesli Tomkins
In this back-to-school episode, we hear from two longtime teachers in the public schools. High school history teacher Christina Dahl and JV Forrestal kindergarden teacher Lesli Tomkins talk about changes for the 2025-26 school year, the largest of which is a new “bell-to-bell” ban on cell phones at Rombout Middle School and Beacon High School.
Episode 128: Making art through life’s changes, with Margot Kingon
Our new interview with Margot Kingon, an artist and the founder of Second Wave Supplies, has a wonderful sweep to it. As an artist and creative instigator, much of Margot’s work could be labeled “art as social practice.” Her many projects have included a long-running pop-up dance party (Dance/Play), a year-long series of Covid-era family portraits, and most recently, an art supply thrift store in Beacon.
Episode 127: In pursuit of connection, with Gracelyn Woods
Originally from Seattle, Gracelyn Woods grew up housing insecure, food insecure and raised by a single mom. From these tough beginnings, she cultivated a fierce attitude of hard work and self-determination that resulted in a successful career in TV and event production in New York City. But after 20 years of this work, culminating in a big job with the landmark Apollo Theater, Gracelyn found herself mired in unhappiness. So in 2018, she moved to Beacon – alone – and started a new life.
Episode 126: Beacon needs bikes, with Meg Lazaros
Meg Lazaros, one of the founders of the Beacon Bicycle Coalition, discusses the work being done to improve Beacon’s roads for bike use. Beacon Bicycle Coation was founded to advocate for bike infrastructure, including both short-term improvements and changes to our comprehensive plan that could enshrine a cycling ethos in Beacon’s vision for its own future. They also organize fun group rides on the last Thursday of every month.
Episode 125: Gen X women are not done, with Lena Rizkallah
Lena Rizkallah has carved out a niche giving financial advice to women in their 40s and 50s, often helping them navigate transitional moments in their lives. For these clients — who may be going through a divorce, starting a businesses or taking on a new creative project — Lena helps frame out a financial plan that can enable the vision. “Money equals freedom,” she says.
Episode 124: How Sergei Krasikov turned his love of nature into a civic purpose
Our interview with Sergei Krasikov is a must-listen if you’re into trails, open spaces, water sheds and being outside in any weather.Originally from Belarus, Sergei has made Beacon his home in every sense. He is a community builder and civic volunteer with a special focus on land conservation.
Episode 123: Paulette Myers-Rich’s art book collaborations
Paulette Myers-Rich has collaborated with dozens of artists and writers during a long career in fine art printing. In this interview we talk about many of them – including a series of books featuring Irish poets produced in collaboration with the Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas.
Episode 122: Raising animals builds compassion, with Kim Pennock
Kim Pennock is an educator and the poultry lead at the Stony Kill educational farm and 4H club. Stony Kill has chickens, cows, sheep, rabbits and bees, with a focus on heritage breeds. Each August, its 4H youth are represented at the Dutchess County Fair, and some go on to participate in the youth livestock sale. They come away with useful skills, friendships and a commitment to raising animals ethically and humanely.
Episode 121: We’re all gonna die, with Riverview Funeral Home director Pat Halvey
Patrick Halvey is well acquainted with death and grieving. He was 13 when his father first initiated him into the family funeral business, and he’s worked with the deceased and the bereft ever since. That business, Riverview Funeral Services, recently merged with Beacon’s other multi-generational death and funeral services provider, Libby.
Episode 120: The strange history of Pollepel Island and Bannerman Castle, with Neil Caplan
While living in Brooklyn in the early 1990s, Neil Caplan saw a drawing of Bannerman’s Castle on Pollepel Island – situated between Beacon and Cold Spring. Inspired, he set out to gain stewardship of it, shore up its historical features, create a system for public access and ultimately stage theater there. The result is the Bannerman Castle Trust: one part historic preservation, one part public park and one part arts organization.
Episode 119: The two sides of Curtis Harvey
Curtis Harvey’s creative work has played out on two parallel tracks. As a musician, he helped define a certain 1990s post-rock sound as guitarist and singer for Rex, and he has gone on to play with many other bands in Beacon and beyond. As director of exhibitions at Dia:Beacon, Curtis has installed the work of Fred Sandback, Meg Webster and other major artists. Most recently he supported the installation of Steve McQueen’s massive and immersive “Bass” installation on the basement level, and this interview has an extended discussion of this work.
Episode 118: Are the little kids alright? With pre-K educator Meredith Hairston
Tioronda Learning Center is a longstanding pre-K program led by executive director Meredith Hairston. In our final interview of 2024, Meredith talks about her journey from Vermont to New York City to the Hudson Valley, TLC’s place in the community over many decades, and how to help kids thrive creatively, emotionally and cognitively.
Episode 117: Ordinary Devotion, with Kristen Holt-Browning
Kristen Holt-Browning is a poet, editor and (now) novelist. Her debut work of fiction, Ordinary Devotion, juxtaposes the lives of two women separated by 700 years. Kristen grew up nearby in the hamlet of Stone Ridge, spent some years in New York City (Manhattan, then Brooklyn) before moving back to Beacon 15 years ago.
Sam Anderson is a master of the essay form whose work spans a huge range of human experience and culture. As a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, Sam has interviewed and written about Weird Al Yankovic, writer John McPhee, NBA point guard Russell Westbrook, travel guru Rick Steves, Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami and the people trying to rescue Michaelangelo’s David from ruin. He has spent time with the last two white rhinos on Earth and visited the bat volcano in Calakmul, Mexico. And he wrote a book, Boom Town, about Oklahoma City which is both a profile of one Midwestern municipality and a meditation on the dueling forces of rapacious development and “place making” that are at war in every American city, including Beacon.
Episode 115: Meet Yvette Valdes-Smith, the Democrat trying to flip NY State Senate District 39
Raised in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, Yvette went to college in New York, became a public school teacher and started a family before winning a seat on the Dutchess County Legislature, where she is Minority Leader. She knows firsthand how spiraling housing costs have made Beacon unaffordable to many. Yvette and her husband rented in Beacon for years, but moved to Fishkill when they realized they couldn’t afford to buy a home here.
Episode 114: Beacon Occultism! With Amy Wilson, owner of Otherworldly Waxes
Amy is the owner of the Otherworldly Waxes spell making shop at the old high school building, where she offers a variety of occult services. Her main offering is “candle magick” — essentially custom spells in the form of candles that are inscribed with the intentions of her clients and burn for seven days. She and her shop have deep connections to NYC’s occult scene, which exploded in 70s and 80s.
Episode 113: America vs. Amerikaland, with author Danny Goodman
Danny Goodman is the author of Amerikaland, a new novel that presents a twisted mirror-image of America and New York City. It centers on two characters, both professional athletes, ensnared by dark forces unleashed by a national white power movement. Danny started writing Amerikaland in 2017, in the wake of Donald Trump’s election.
Episode 112: Firefighters Of Beacon
Fire chief Tom Lucchesi and veteran firefighter Pat Kelliher talk about fires and firefighting in Beacon. Not so long ago, volunteer firefighting in Beacon was a generational tradition. “When I started, there were 200 volunteers,” says Pat. “Your grandfather was one. Your father was one. You were one.” In those days the city’s three firehouses had as many as 75 volunteers each. By contrast, today’s fire department has 18 career firefighters and just five volunteers.
Episode 111: How to become who you are, with Taylor Jackson (aka Black Satin Venus)
Taylor Jackson’s introduction to astrology and the tarot was casual and fun, but quickly grew into a more dedicated practice. In our interview, she talks about the evolution of Black Satin Venus and how she supports her clients’ spirtual, personal growth and mental health journeys.
Episode 110: Transitioning, with Lucy Sante and Hannah Brooks
Lucy Sante is the author of “Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York,” “The Other Paris,” and many other works. Her latest book, “I Heard Her Call My Name,” is a memoir that examines her life through the lens of gender and details her decision to transition from “Luc” to “Lucy” in her 60s.
Episode 109: The amazing and true adventures of Bob Bozic
Bob Bozic’s life story reads like pulp fiction. After a tough upbringing, Bob ran away at 14 and lived on the streets of Toronto. A gangster bookie took him under his wing and taught him to fight. Bob won bout after bout, eventually becoming the amateur heavyweight boxing champ in Canada and fighting Larry Holmes at Madison Square Garden (Bob didn’t fare well). After retiring in his 20s, Bob got mixed up in smuggling and attempted to rob a bank, among other escapades.
Episode 108: Shane Killoran, dramaturg and performing arts curator
Shane Bly Killoran is the force behind a crazy assortment of film, theater and literary arts programming in Beacon — many under the banner of Hit House Creative.
Episode 107: Fifty-plus years of music, with the Towne Crier owner Phil Ciganer
Phil Ciganer, who founded The Towne Crier in the early 70s, has a long history staging folk acts in the Hudson Valley. As a young man, Phil prowled the folk scene in Greenwich Village, a wellspring of American music. He initially based his venue in Beekman and has moved twice, most recently to Beacon 11 years ago.
Episode 106: Adam McKible on his book, ‘Circulating Jim Crow’
Adam talks about his research, the major themes of this book, and the freakish popularity of black minstrelsy in the first half of the 20th century (including in Beacon). Adam grew up in Newburgh and moved to NYC, where he met his wife Julie and started a family before moving back to the area. “We spawned then swam upstream,” he says.
Episode 105: Ruth Danon, Poet and Literary Instigator
Ruth Danon grew up on the grounds of a mental hospital where her mother was a psychiatrist and many neighbors were European immigrants fleeing the devastation of World War 2. She forged a winding literary path, publishing four poetry collections and developing a style of teaching that treats writing as a studio art.
Episode 104: Should we build vertically or protect the view? With council member Pam Wetherbee
Pam Wetherbee grew up in Newburgh and moved to Beacon in 1986 for an almost unfathomable reason: affordability. In this episode, she talks about changes to Beacon in the 38 years since she moved here and her hopes for the city now.
Episode 103: Confronting Beacon’s housing crunch, with Ward 1 council member Molly Rhodes
As she kicks off her second term, Molly Rhodes comes on the podcast to discuss the major issues facing Beacon and her ward.
Includes a lengthy discussion of the Fishkill Avenue Corridor zoning process, which could have a huge impact on Beacon’s future building stock.
Episode 102: Art, archeology, and the ‘neolithic package,’ with Greg Slick
Greg Slick is an artist whose work reflects a fascination with late stone age art. In this interview he shares childhood memories of neolithic ruins and how their “muteness” provided fodder for his creative practice.
Episode 101: Zandy Mangold, ultrarunner and coach
Zandy Mangold is an ultramarathon runner, running coach and high-spirited guy who has completed — and in some cases won — some of the world’s toughest endurance races.
Episode 100! With Beacon High School principal Corey Dwyer
Our guest this week is Beacon high school principal Corey Dwyer, who has just started his second full school year in the role. Corey attended BHS himself and has an interesting story to tell about his journey as an educator and administrator.
Episode 99: Soon Is Now, with Eve Morgenstern and Gary Hilderbrand
Eve Morgenstern is the founder of the Soon Is Now festival, taking place Sunday, October 1 at Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park. Gary Hilderbrand is a renowned landscape architect and founding partner of Reed Hilderbrand, which oversaw the design and construction of the park.
Episode 98: George Mansfield moves on from Dogwood and city council
George talks about his decision to sell Dogwood to Brendan McAlpine nearly 11 years after opening the bar.
Episode 97: Twenty years of change, with Beacon beat reporter Jeff Simms
The Highlands Current’s Beacon beat journalist Jeff Simms returns to the podcast to recap the paper’s recent editorial package on all the dizzying changes to our city. Jeff has attended more council, planning board, zoning board of appeals and school board meetings than perhaps any other resident and shares his informed perspective on current city business and the forces that will shape Beacon in years to come.
Episode 96: A passion for movement, with Calli Rothberg
Calli Rothberg is the owner of Passion – The Adult Dance Studio on Main Street. Calli grew up in Beacon as part of a big family. When the pandemic hit, she and all her siblings moved home to Beacon. This led to a period of soul searching that in turn inspired her to open her studio in early 2022.
Episode 95: Singer-songwriter Noga Cabo
Noga released her first single “Catch Me,” in June and will release her debut EP “Lady Sun” in July. Her upcoming performances include an EP release show on Sunday June 30 at the Howland Cultural Center.
Episode 94: Building a pollinator highway through Beacon, with One Nature’s Blair Patterson
On the surface, One Nature is a landscape design business and nursery, but that doesn’t fully describe it. Its real work is the engineering of outdoor spaces that build community and biodiversity.
Episode 93: Building a climate movement in Beacon, with Thomas Wright and Erin Ashoka
Thomas Wright and Erin Ashoka, two founders of Beacon Climate Action Now, discuss how the city’s recent electrification law came to pass and what it will mean for the city.
Episode 92: George Atkinson, 96-year-old lifelong Beaconite
George Atkinson still lives in the same house on Locust Place where he was born in 1927. In this episode he shares memories and historical anecdotes spanning nine decades, recounting the city’s changes through the Great Depression, World War 2, the economic doldrums of the 70s and 80s, and eventual renaissance.
Episode 91: Chocolatier Håkan Mårtensson (Interviewed by Alana Semuels)
Håkan Mårtensson is a Sweden-born confectioner and pastry chef who opened his Beacon storefront Håkan in 2021. In this interview, Håkan talks with Alana Semuels about his culinary philosophy and what he’s trying to accomplish with his Beacon storefront. Evident throughout the episode are his incredible work ethic and deep love of chocolate.
Episode 90: The life of Harry Van Tine, with Diane Lapis
Diane Lapis, former president and current trustee at the Beacon Historical Society, discusses the life of a notable native son of Beacon and offers a lesson on the importance of postcards to the study of Beacon’s history.
Episode 89: Helping queer youth and other people, with Kk Naimool
Kk Naimool was born in Trinidad and Tobago and followed a winding path to Beacon. Kk, who uses all pronouns, has worked closely with Newburgh’s LGBTQ Center and the Cornwall school district to support gay and trans people. She is also on Beacon’s Human Rights Commission and helped found a consulting group called Collective Justice that works with mutual aid pods and other community nonprofits.
Episode 88: Barnaby! With Mimi Sun Longo and Mike Rasimas
Mimi and Mike, two members of rock trio Barnaby!, talk about the band’s formation, how its sound has evolved and what it means to live a life dedicated to music. Sadly missing from this interview is bassist Harrison Cannon, who was out of town on the day we recorded.
Episode 87: Beacon in 2023, With Mayor Lee Kyriacou
In this “state of the city” episode, Beacon’s senior-most elected official offers a preview of key issues that are bubbling up this year.
Episode 86: Donna Minkowitz, Queer Activist and Multiple Memoirist
Donna Minkowitz is a journalist and memoirist who has written extensively about LGBTQ politics and culture. She covered gay issues and AIDS activism for The Village Voice from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s. In her book “Ferocious Romance: What My Encounters With the Right Taught Me About Sex, God, and Fury,” she describes how she went undercover as a 16 year old christian evangelical boy to investigate Focus on the Family and other anti-gay groups on the Christian Right and surprisingly found she had a lot in common with them.
Episode 85: Emily Murnane Channels Eliza Howland
Eliza Woolsey Howland was a Civil War nurse, philanthropist and historical writer who was a member of the upper crust in Beacon during the middle of the 19th century. Among other contributions to the city, she co-founded the Howland Library, which celebrated its 150th anniversary this year. In honor of that anniversary, local historian Emily Murnane comes on the podcast to talk about Eliza’s life and legacy in this community.
Episode 84: The Beacon Bonfire Festival, With Jeremy Schonfeld
The Beacon Bonfire music & arts festival is coming up on Friday Nov 4 & Saturday Nov 5. This week’s episode features Jeremy Schonfeld, one of the festival’s organizers and an accomplished musician and composer. Jeremy grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, the child and grandchild of holocaust survivors, and made his way to NYC as a young man before moving to Beacon with his family.
Episode 83: Documentary Filmmaker Anne Alvergue
Anne Alvergue’s film The Martha Mitchell Effect, now streaming on Netflix, a funny and fascinating documentary centered on the wife of Nixon attorney general John Mitchell. In this episode Anne describes how she got into non-fiction TV and film and how Nixon-era politics connects to our current discourse. Plus: Craig House anecdotes, Beacon’s filmmaking community.
Episode 82: Julie Shiroishi Wants More Than Your Vote
Julie Shiroishi is running to represent New York’s newly created 39th Senate District. Dismayed by the 2016 election outcome, Julie began attending meetings of the Beacon Democrats and quickly rose through the ranks in Dutchess County progressive politics, volunteering her time to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot. In this episode she tells her story and makes an appeal for more community involvement in the electoral process.
Episode 81: Mountain Running, With Greg Buzulencia
Greg Buzulencia is a backcountry skier and trail runner who has explored wild places around the world. He’s also a startup founder who runs a travel company called ViaHero. In this episode, Greg tells the story of an alpine skiing expedition outside Tehran and offers advice for those curious about the trail running experience in the Hudson Highlands.
Episode 80: Steve Rossi, Interdisciplinary Artist
Steve Rossi is an interdisciplinary artist and the sculpture program head at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Among other topics, we talk about Steve’s time at the Tallix art foundry in Beacon, a fine art metal fabrication business that was one of this city’s last connections to its industrial past before it merged with Polich Art Works and moved away in 2006.
Episode 79: Talking Trash (And Composting) With Amber Grant
Amber Grant is a two-term former city council person and an advocate for local sustainability initiatives. We talk about Beacon’s trash and waste streams, and we learn more about a new citywide composting pilot program that’s giving Beaconites access to subsidized compost bins and new dropoff sites that will accept things you probably don’t want to throw in your backyard – including bones, dairy and meat.
Episode 78: Zakiyah Maynard Is Looking For A Home (interviewed by Kara Dean-Assael
Zakiyah Maynard moved to Beacon in 2014 and lived here until last summer when she was forced to move and wound up living in a shelter. Nine months later, she’s still in search of permanent housing. Special guest interviewer Kara Dean-Assael talks with Zakiyah about her often frustrating journey, including minimally useful section 8 vouchers, social workers who sometimes have little to offer and harrowing stays at several temporary residences.
Episode 77: Understanding Beacon’s Good Cause Eviction Law, With Councilman Day Aymar-Blair
In March, Beacon’s city council passed “good cause eviction” legislation, written to protect renters in an increasingly vicious housing market. Councilman Dan Aymar-Blair, who authored the law, joins us this week to talk about what it does and doesn’t do and what may come next in the high stakes battle over housing affordability.
Episode 76: Into The Woods, With Beacon Players Officers Jonah And Shep
The Beacon Players are about to stage their spring show, Into The Woods, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Cast members Jonah Mensch and Shep Rodgers talk about what went into the production.
Episode 75: Asher Pacht, Program Director at the Beacon Institute
Test your knowledge of our river’s (ahem estuary’s) natural and human history, and learn about upcoming community outreach programs at Clarkson University’s campus at Dennings Point.
Episode 74: Melissa McGill’s Sweeping Public Art Projects
Melissa McGill is an artist who creates large and collaborative site-specific artworks. Her Constellation project created a new LED constellation in the airspace over Bannerman’s Island from 2015-2017. And her Red Regatta project staged four regattas in the waters of Venice, featuring 52 boats with red-painted sails.
Episode 73: New Beaconites Jaime Levitt & Benjamin Lieber
The pandemic washed a wave of refugees up the Hudson River. In this episode, we hear from two people who moved to Beacon during Covid times.
Episode 72: Laura Leigh & Sam Abby
Laura Leigh and Sam Abby are co-owners of The Studio @ Beacon, a spinning and boxing fitness studio on Main St. They describe how they met and married after pledging the same sorority, and why they decided to start a gym in Beacon.
Episode 71: The Power Of Radio, With Vicki Vergolina
Vicki Vergolina is a radio professional who co-founded a Beacon-focused internet radio station called The Ground, which aired from 2015 to 2020. In this episode, she talks about that experience as well as her years making radio for WBAI, Air America and SiriusXM.
Episode 70: What Is The Foundation For Beacon Schools? With Anna Sullivan
A new nonprofit that was founded during the dark days of the pandemic will direct funds toward innovative curriculum in the school district.
Air Nonken Rhodes is wrapping up their time as Beacon’s city council person representing Ward 2. Ahead of a planned move to Maine, Air discusses the council’s role in Beacon’s affairs and key challenges facing the city in 2022.
Episode 68: A Centuries-Old Tanning Tradition, With Pergamena Owner Jesse Meyer
Jesse Meyer traces his family’s history of leather tanning back to Renaissance Europe. He worked in his father’s tannery as a teenager before heading off to study fine art at SUNY New Paltz. He later returned to run the business, introducing new ideas and processes including a method of parchment making from animal skins that dates back thousands of years.
Episode 67: Compass Arts Founder Gina Samardge
Gina Samardge is a performer, music educator and the founder of Compass Arts, a nonprofit music and arts school. As you’ll hear in this interview, Gina radiates positivity and total dedication to Compass’s mission of collaborative learning.
Episode 66: Feeding Beacon’s Students, With BCSD Food Services Director Karen Pagano
The school district serves 2,000 meals a day across its six cafeterias. But this fall, supply chain bottlenecks are plaguing the big food suppliers it has traditionally relied on. Food services director Karen Pagano has responded by building stronger connections to local food growers.
Episode 65: Imam Abdullah Wajid Of Beacon’s Islamic Teaching Center
Imam Abdullah talks about his path to Islam, the Muslim community in Beacon and the evolving place of Islam in American culture.
Episode 64: Rachel Saunders, Candidate For Dutchess County Family Court
Rachel Saunders is running for Dutchess County Family Court Judge. She describes how her local upbringing and legal career have prepared her for the often wrenching cases that come before our county’s family court system.
Episode 63: Obsidian Soundsystem, With Jonny Taylor And J Brooks Marcus
Jonny Taylor and J Brooks Marcus compose and record music together under the name Obsidian Soundsystem. Among their music creations is the Beaconites podcast theme – a tune called Heliographs.
Matt and Emily Clifton are home cooks and life partners who publish original recipes, give food advice and write cookbooks – including a new one on dutch oven cooking. A funny episode about life, work and scotch eggs.
Episode 61: Singer, Songwriter & Fiddler Sara Milonovich
Sara talks about her new album “Northeast,” her seventh record overall and her third playing with Daisycutter.
Episode 60: Singing In Church Choirs And Pete Seeger’s Folk Group, With Sharlene Stout
In the early 1960s, Sharlene Stout was about 14 years old – a gifted singer in church choirs – when she Pete Seeger asked her to join his folk group. She went on to sing and tour with him for the next six years.
Episode 59: Judge For Yourself
We speak with the two candidates running for Beacon city court judge: Tim Pagones, the seasoned three-term judge and lifelong Beaconite, and Greg Johnston, a public defender with 17 years’ experience who has been endorsed by the Beacon Democrats.
Episode 58: The Pure Joy Of Movies, With Story Screen Founder Mike Burdge
Beacon’s independent movie theater opened in 2019, but it’s not only a theater. Founder Mike Burdge and his team – a “family” of 12 or so employees, partners, friends and his partner Diana DiMuro – have built a full-on community around the appreciation of movies, complete with festivals, online screenings, drive-in movies at University Settlement Camp, online criticism and podcasts.
Edwin Torres is an accomplished poet who has published more than 15 poetry volumes. During the 1990s he was a member of the The Nuyorican Poets Café, a creative meeting place and cultural institution for the vibrant community of Puerto Rican artists living in New York City. This episode alternates between interview and readings.
Episode 56: Reforming The BPD, With Pastor John Perez
John Perez is pastor of the Faith Temple Church on Cedar Street and co-chair of Beacon’s police reform committee. In this episode, he talks about the work being done to transform how the force operates and how policing in this city might change going forward.
Episode 55: Home Cooking, With Jennifer Clair
Jennifer Clair is an expert on food and cooking and the founder of Home Cooking New York, a culinary school geared to home chefs. In this episode, she describes her journey in food (and food media) and offers advice for sourcing ingredients locally, dealing with burnout in the kitchen and more.
Episode 54: The Beacon Farmers’ Market Goes Big, With Sember Weinman
Sember Weinman is the executive director of Common Ground Farm, which oversees the Beacon farmer’s market. The market is moving to a much bigger location at the DMV parking lot, capable of supporting far more vendors. She talks about the change and the coming season at Common Ground.
Episode 53: Reopening, With George Mansfield
Dogwood owner and city councilman George Mansfield was the last guest we had in studio before Covid shut everything down. He’s reopening the bar this week and comes back on the podcast to talk about it. He also dishes on city business and what the summer might look like in Beacon.
Episode 52: Horticulturist Richie Cabo
After being shot, Richie left his career as a corrections officer to become a gardener. He worked his way up in the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation to become director of the Citywide Nursery. While there he cared for the Survivor Tree, a Callery pear that was crushed in the 9/11 terror attacks. In Beacon, he founded the Sargent-Downing Garden, a project began with Richie’s interest in a Magnolia acuminata (cucumber tree) near the Craig House mansion. His research on the tree led to a fascination with the local Beacon legacy of two landscape designers and friends, Andrew Jackson Downing and Henry Winthrop Sargent.
Episode 51: Tina Brown, Mother to 100
Since she was 18, Tina Brown has foster parented children and teens. Over the years she has cared for more than 100 kids including her two biological children.
Episode 50: Understanding Damskammer
For this special 50th episode of Beaconites, we offer a comprehensive look at the proposal to rebuild a gas-burning power plant at the Danskammer facility across the river.
Episode 49: Meeting The Moment, With Paloma Wake
Paloma Wake is all about civic participation. She is active with Beacon4BlackLives and Mutual Aid Beacon, and she sits on Beacon’s Human Relations Commission. She talks about her life, work and ideas for Beacon as she kicks off her run for city council.
Episode 48: New Police Chief Sands Frost And City Administrator Chris White
The City of Beacon recently made two critical appointments, naming a new chief of police and a new city administrator. Chief Sands Frost is a longtime Beaconite who has worked in the BPD for 37 years. Administrator Chris White is a former Beacon city councilor who most recently worked for Ulster County for 9 years as the deputy director of planning.
Episode 47: Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan
Scenic Hudson has protected huge swaths of land in and around Beacon. There’s Mount Beacon, Fishkill Ridge, Madam Brett Park and of course Long Dock Park. President Ned Sullivan discusses the legendary environmental group’s mission, its operating model and its priorities for 2021 and beyond.
Episode 46: Homespun Foods Owner Joe Robitaille
Joe Robitaile bought Homespun from previous owner Jess Reisman in late fall 2019, a few months before the pandemic overthrew his plans for the business.
Episode 45: Pete Seeger And The Hudson River, With Captain Steve Schwartz
Steve Schwartz is a longtime captain of the sloop Woody Guthrie. In this episode, he talks about Pete Seeger’s vision to bring people closer to the Hudson River as expressed through sailing. He tells the story of the sloops Clearwater and Woody Guthrie, both replicas of the sloop workboats that once numbered in the thousands in the mid-Hudson region.
Episode 44: Luthier And Musician John Vergara
Luthier John Vergara owns the Lord of the Strings instrument shop, where he builds and repairs a variety of stringed instruments, including the Arabic oud, the Puerto Rican cuatro, classical guitar and violin. Some are built simply, others extravagantly, inlaid with mother of pearl or constructed from Spanish cypress.
Episode 43: Beacon’s Housing Market, With Realtor Claire Browne
Claire Browne is a realtor with Gate House Realty who has abundant knowledge of city housing. In this episode she discusses trends in Beacon housing and home values.
Episode 42: Acting Local, With Guy Felixbrodt
Guy Felixbrodt is dedicated to improving Beacon – and the world – through large and small acts of giving. He describes some local causes anyone can support through simple donations of time, from cleaning up Fishkill Creek to volunteering with the Animal Rescue Foundation.
Episode 41: Marika Blossfeldt, Health Coach And Natural Foods Chef
Marika Blassfeldt has written two books on nutrition that are also books about living well. Her latest book, “Cooking with Marika: Clean Cuisine from an Estonian Farm,” provides a framework for thinking about nutrition, gut health and healthy weight loss.
Episode 40: The Beacon Players, With Anthony Scarrone
Over the last seven years, Anthony Scarrone has helped grow the Beacon Players into a regionally famous high school theater program.
Episode 39: Art And Covid, With Former Whitney Museum Director David Ross
David Ross was the director of SFMOMA, the Whitney and other art museums. In this episode he talks about Covid’s impact on the art world and recalls a glorious but ultimately failed attempt to transform Beacon’s 19th and 20th century brick buildings into repositories of contemporary art.
Episode 38: Hudson Valley Brewery Founder John-Anthony Gargiulo
Gargiulo was a dolly grip working on major films in LA, but he gave up a Hollywood career to return to his native Hudson Valley and start a brewing operation.
Episode 37: Rebuilding New York’s Economy, With Senate Candidate Karen Smythe
Karen Smythe is running for New York Senate in the 41st district, a seat held by Sue Serino since 2014. In this episode, the candidate talks about health care, the economy, climate change, Black Lives Matter and other issues.
Episode 36: Beacon’s Hat-Making History, With Denise VanBuren
Denise VanBuren is a five-term president of the Beacon Historical Society and current president general of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She has written two books on Beacon’s history and is working on a third, a collection of writings by beloved local historian Bob Murphy, who passed away recently.
Episode 35: Beacon Is A Prison Town
Beacon Prison Action founder Laurie Dick talks about the lives of incarcerated people at Fishkill Correctional and Green Haven Correctional. She is joined by Priscila (last name withheld), who comes up from New York City regularly to visit her husband at Green Haven.
Episode 34: Storytelling, With Drew Prochaska and John Blesso
The Artichoke storytelling series is preparing for the return of live shows. Organizers Drew Prochaska and John Blesso describe their addiction to storytelling, their desperate efforts to keep performing during the pandemic and what comes next.
Episode 33: Growing Food, With Green Teen’s Helanna Bratman And Jeremiah Long
For 16 years, the Green Teen program has empowered young people in Beacon to become part of the local food system. Crew members gain experience with gardening, nutrition and entrepreneurship. In this episode, program director Helanna Bratman and crew leader Jeremiah Long, who is in the 10thth grade at Beacon High School, talk about the mission and the lessons of food.
Episode 32: Childbirth During Covid
Alyia Cutler and Meghan Conway are the founders of Wyld Womyn Birth & Postpartum, a collective of doulas operating out of Beacon. They talk about expecting parents’ changing mindsets during the pandemic and break down some common misconceptions about doulas.
Episode 31: Kalene Rivers And Dan Weise
Think of a public art project in Beacon over the last 10 years and there’s a decent chance Dan Weise and/or Kalene Rivers had a hand in it. Their undertakings have included the Electric Windows street art project, the “Welcome to Beacon” sign, Club Draw and the (late, great) Open Space gallery on East Main, to name a few.
Episode 30: Schooling This Fall, With Randolph School Director Josh Kaplan
Josh Kaplan is director of the Randolph School, a pre-K to 5th grade school on Route 9D in Wappingers Falls. Randolph prioritizes outdoor education and nature experience, an advantage during Covid times.
Episode 29: Coworking, With Beahive Founder Scott Tillitt
Scott Tillitt is the founder of Beahive, a network of coworking spaces in the Hudson Valley. He opened his Beacon flagship in 2009 at the Telephone Building on Main Street and expanded to Albany in 2012. Now here’s gearing up for new locations in Newburgh and Poughkeepsie.
Episode 28: Rabbi Brent Spodek of Beacon Hebrew Alliance
Brent Chaim Spodek is the rabbi at Beacon Hebrew Alliance, a Jewish community that dates back to the 1920s. Rabbi Brent is a creative and highly engaged spiritual leader to the BHA family, and he has brought new energy and congregants to the synagogue since he moved here in 2010.
Episode 27: Reopening, With Barber Lucky Longo
Lucky Longo is the owner of A Lucky Cut, a non-traditional barbershop that offers a wide range of services and styles – short hair, long hair, shaves, beard trims and kids cuts. Like all barbers and stylists, Lucky has been shut down since March, but now she’s scheduling appointments again.
Episode 26: Beacon4BlackLives, With Ciarda Hall and Justice McCray
Ciarda Hall and Justice McCray are two of the youth leaders of the Beacon 4 Black Lives team that has organized a series of marches for racial justice. Their next rally takes place this Friday June 19th – Juneteenth – at 6:30pm.
Episode 25: Working By Hand, With Melanie Falick
Melanie Falick is a writer and editor of books about ceramics, woodworking, knitting, metalsmithing and other kinds of “handwork.” She talks about the importance of making things by hand in a post-industrial era and especially during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Episode 24: Supporting Minority Communities, With Aisha Benson
Aisha is a senior executive at TruFund Financial Services, a non-profit financial organization (also known as a Community Development Financial Institution or CDFI) that facilitates loans and economic development in underserved communities.
Episode 23: Covering Beacon, With Highlands Current Journalist Jeff Simms
Jeff Simms’ newspaper work has drawn him gradually north from his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As the Beacon beat editor for the Highlands Current, he covers education, development and a host of other local issues.
Episode 22: Displaced, With Honorable Ink Owner Matt Montleon
Matt was forced out of his apartment after April’s big wind storm damaged his building. In this episode he talks about the double setback of closing his business during Covid-19 and then losing the roof over his head a few weeks later.
Episode 21: Coronavirus And Purple Socks, With Sergio Perez
In 23 years of teaching, Sergio Perez has never been as sick as he was after getting Covid. He talks about enduring the illness, teaching high school students during quarantine and the consolations of family life.
Episode 20: Beacon’s Butcher Shop Is Back, With Barbara Fisher
Barb closed up shop in mid-March, motivated by safety concerns for her employees and customers. Six weeks on, she is close to reopening after installing plexiglass barriers, hiring a new cutter and taking other precautions.
Episode 19: The Best Covid Move Is A Garden (And Local Resource List)
Cary Baker offers inspiration and advice to those of us trapped at home who may want to use the time to grow our own food.
Episode 18: Photographer Robert Rodriguez Jr
Robert is a landscape photographer and teacher. For those of us trapped at home, his interview offers a meditative listen on the artist’s relationship to nature and the solitary pursuit of a creative practice.
Episode 17: Mutual Aid Beacon Founder Dara Silverman
Dar is the organizer of Mutual Aid Beacon, a decentralized network of 250 volunteers who are helping people in need during the coronavirus outbreak.
Episode 16: Superintendent Matt Landahl
Young people are hugely affected by the coronavirus situation. Matt Landahl talks about the closure of the district’s six schools and what teachers and administrators are doing to help students cope and learn through the crisis.
Episode 15: Mayor Lee Kyriacou
How is Beacon’s new mayor responding to the pandemic? Lee Kyriacou has lived in Beacon almost 30 years and served nine terms on city council. He started his first term as mayor in January, just before the coronavirus brought one of the greatest challenges the city has faced in recent memory.
Episode 14: Fareground Rises To The Moment
Food security is a big concern in Beacon right now, with sudden unemployment and social isolation. Kara Dean-Assael and Karen George talk about how their non-profit Fareground Community Kitchen is getting healthy and affordable meals to people in need.
Episode 13: Feeding Beacon During The Crisis, With Kamel Jamal
Kamel Jamal owns three restaurants in Beacon – Tito Santana, Ziatun and Beacon Bread Company – as well as Angelina’s in Cold Spring. He is trying to keep some of his places open for curb service during the Coronavirus, even as the state bans on-premise food service.
Episode 12: What Just Happened? With George Mansfield
First in a series. George Mansfield is the owner of Dogwood and a longtime council member. He talks about the crisis engulfing the city and the world, with focus on the impacts for business (his and others) and city government.
Episode 11: Beacon Endurance, With Jane Cervone and Stephen Heath
Beacon Endurance was created in 2013 as a resource to organize training and racing for athletes in the lower Hudson Valley. Since then it has expanded into a supportive and inclusive group of 40 active members who support each other through health and fitness goals.
Audra Kizina and Matt Harle, the electronic/experimental music duo known as AudraSonic, perform in studio and discuss their collaboration. Catch them live at Dogwood on Sunday, March 15.
Episode 9: Music Man Stephen Clair
Stephen Clair is an accomplished singer/songwriter and the proprietor of Beacon Music Factory. In this episode he talks about his creative process, Beacon’s expanding music scene and the evolution of his music school on Route 52.
Episode 8: Destination Beacon, With Donna Haynes
Donna Haynes is a longtime resident who, along with her husband Jeff, has raised three kids in Beacon. She works for Metro North in a tourism role and talks in this episode about the steady stream of day trippers and weekenders who keep the Beacon and Hudson Valley economies humming, among other topics.
Episode 7: Beacon Connector Kelly Ellenwood (With In-Studio Performance)
Kelly Ellenwood is a driving force behind the Free Loop bus, Wee Play tot park and other Beacon initiatives. We talk about her journey from Lincoln, Nebraska to the Hudson Valley, her performing career and her steady work on behalf of Beacon’s local economy and the arts.
Episode 6: Pastor Ben Larson-Wolbrink
Ben Larson-Wolbrink was called to be Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church exactly 10 years ago, through 20 marriages, 31 baptisms, 40 deaths and 50 new members. In this interview, he describes his formative years, the life of his congregation and Beacon’s interfaith initiatives.
Episode 5: Meredith Heuer On Beacon’s Schools
Meredith Heuer is a photographer and two-term member of the Beacon Board of Education. In this episode she talks about her own school days growing up in Detroit, raising two boys in Beacon and key issues facing the city’s schools.
Episode 4: Musician Daria Grace (With In-Studio Performance)
Musician Daria Grace is a prolific bassist, ukulele player and singer who plays in six bands locally and in New York City. In this interview, she talks about her music career, sizes up Beacon’s expanding music scene and performs two songs on her baritone uke: “Night Owl,” popularized in the 30’s by Cliff Edwards (aka “Ukelele Ike”) and “Under the Milky Way” by Aussie rockers The Church.
Episode 3: Jean-Marc Superville Sovak (With Reading List)
Jean-Marc Supervllle Sovak is a Beacon-based artist whose work uniquely expresses the history of the Hudson Valley, including its industrial legacy and its art. He is also an art educator and a guide at Dia:Beacon.
Episode 2: Can Beacon Stay Affordable? With Terry Nelson
City Councilman Terry Nelson talks about growing up in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and how Beacon can resist the gentrification and spiraling housing costs that have stripped that neighborhood of its original character. Also: Four-story buildings, supporting the arts, creating jobs.
Episode 1: Mayor Randy Casale’s Exit Interview
Our first episode. Randy reviews Beacon’s changes during his lifetime, including the boom years (1950s-60s), the bust years (1970s-80s) and the revitalization. Also: Randy’s thoughts on development, Dia:Beacon, his election loss, Beacon’s future.
Episode 0: Announcing Beaconites!
Announcing a new podcast about Beacon, New York and the people who live here.