Shane Killoran, dramaturg and performing arts curator
Beaconites!
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. To list a few... She has curated movie screenings, documentary series’ and comedy standup nights at the Beacon Movie Theater. She’s about to kick off a series of play readings at Reserva, in which Hudson Valley playwrights (and other writers) will workshop their plays-in-progress in front of a supportive live audience. She has acted in plays including Red Silk and the Vagina Monologues. And she is a co-curator of Beacon...
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Fifty-plus years of music, with the Towne Crier owner Phil Ciganer
Beaconites!
The Towne Crier, founded by Phil Ciganer 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 during the 60s. He initially based his venue in Beekman and has moved twice, most recently to Beacon 11 years ago. Among the first musicians to play the Towne Crier was Pete Seeger, and this interview contains some great lore about Beacon's favorite late native son. Speaking of which, the Crier will host its annual celebration of Pete's life on May 3, the anniversary of his...
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Adam McKible on his book, ‘Circulating Jim Crow’
Beaconites!
Adam McKible is an associate professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He 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. Adam’s new book, “Circulating Jim Crow,” examines how The Saturday Evening Post advanced a racist ideology that supressed Black modernity through dialect fiction authored by white writers. In our interview, Adam talks about his research, the major themes of this book, and the freakish popularity of black minstrelsy in the first...
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Ruth Danon, Poet and Literary Instigator
Beaconites!
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. She moved to Beacon in 2020 and now teaches privately and curates literary events such as the Spring Street Reading Series at Atlas Studios in Newburh and the Beacon Lit Fest, In this interview Ruth talks about her life and reads a cluster of poems from her new collection,...
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Should we build vertically or protect the view? With council member Pam Wetherbee
Beaconites!
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. In this episode... Affordability. Pam also shares her perspective on housing affordability, including a recent study that found the city needs more of both lower income and luxury homes, but not necessarily middle-income homes. Can this be believed? Views. And, Pam wants to preserve views of Mount Beacon for as many residents as possible. “Looking at...
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Confronting Beacon's housing crunch, with Ward 1 council member Molly Rhodes
Beaconites!
As she kicks off her second term, Molly Rhodes comes on the podcast to discuss the major issues facing Beacon and her Ward. Molly grew up in New York City, the child of UK immigrants. Her first exposure to the Hudson Valley came when she was young and her family rented a house in Cornwall. This episode includes a lengthy discussion of the Fishkill Avenue Corridor zoning process, which could have a huge impact on Beacon's future building stock.
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Art, archeology, and the 'neolithic package,' with Greg Slick
Beaconites!
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. Greg also shares memories of Beacon’s gallery scene in the years after Dia:Beacon opened and assesses the Hudson Valley art scene today. Greg was the co-owner of a celebrated gallery, Go North (2006-2009), and his wife Karlyn Benson operated her own gallery, Matteawan (2013-2018). Learn more about Greg and his art at his .
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Zandy Mangold, ultrarunner and coach
Beaconites!
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. Zandy shares experiences running the Spartathlon (153 miles), Western States (100 miles), Badwater (135 miles) and the Atacama Crossing (155 miles). In his coaching life, Zandy works with people of all ability levels at any stage of their running journey. On the side, he has a business baking plant-based cookies. Even if you aren’t an endurance athlete, you’re likely to gain something from this episode and be drawn in by...
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Episode 100! With Beacon High School principal Corey Dwyer
Beaconites!
Corey Dwyer has just started his second full school year as principal at Beacon High School. Corey attended BHS himself and has an interesting story to tell about his journey as an educator and administrator. In this interview he talks about many facets of the high school experience - including academics, clubs & extra-curriculars, mental health support, college advisory services and more. Corey has a hearing impairment and has worn hearing aids most of his life, and I think this makes him a great leadership figure in particular for students who may face physical and other challenges...
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Soon Is Now, with Eve Morgenstern and Gary Hilderbrand
Beaconites!
Eve Morgenstern is the founder of the Soon Is Now festival, taking place Saturday September 23 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. In this episode, Gary, who grew up in Wappingers Falls and whose dad worked at the Nabisco box plant, shares memories of Beacon's waterfront from the 1960s and 1970s. And Eve and Gary talk about how artists, landscape architects and others are responding to the environmental violence wrought by climate...
info_outlineHåkan Mårtensson is a Sweden-born confectioner and pastry chef who opened his Beacon storefront Håkan in 2021. At age 15, Håkan (pronounced Ho-kan) enrolled in the Culinary Institute in Kristianstad, Sweden. At 22, he was recruited as a sculptor on the Swedish National Culinary Team. Despite competing against chefs with decades of experience, Håkan brought home gold medals from the World Cup in Luxembourg, and the Culinary Olympics in Erfurt. He moved to Beacon by way of New York City, where he was master chocolatier at FIKA NYC before that company went under.
In this interview Håkan talks 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.
Håkan is interviewed by Alana Semuels, a journalist from Boston who spent more than a decade as a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and then The Atlantic. She is now senior economics correspondent at TIME magazine. She’s done podcasting work for Marketplace and Planet Money, and has co-hosted NPR's The Indicator, sometimes recording audio from the closet of the Beacon house she is renting. She moved to Beacon with her husband and toddler in summer 2022 from San Francisco. Thank you to Alana for leading this interview!