Episodes

On today's Kaatscast, we checked in with Bill Merchant, Deputy Director for Collections, historian, and curator at the D&H Canal museum, recently transplanted to the historic Depuy Canal House in High Falls, NY. Not every visit to the museum comes with Bill's VIP tour, so here's an opportunity to soak up his encyclopedic footnotes before embarking on your own to the D&H Canal Museum. Many thanks to this week's sponsors: ⁠Briars & Brambles Books⁠, ⁠The Mountain Eagle⁠, and the Central Catskills ...

Bill Abranowicz is a renowned photographer who started snapping pictures 50 years ago. Bill's career has taken him around the globe many times over, taking pictures for the likes of Condé Nast Traveler, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Vogue, Bon Appétit, Martha Stewart Living, and the list goes on. In his latest photography book, Country Life: Homes of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley Bill turns his camera on our very own Catskills, and a portfolio of 20 m...

On the heals of Indigenous People's Day, Kaatscast sat down with Justin Wexler, of Wild Hudson Valley, for an overview of the Catskills' own native history. If you've ever wondered about the people who came before us, and where they are today, consider this "Indigenous Catskills 101." For a glossary of terms and recommendations for further reading, download Justin's handy Lenape Resources PDF. Kaatscast would like to thank the Nicholas J. Juried Family Foundation for a generous grant that hel...

Welcome to a special edition of Kaatscast: the Catskills Podcast. This is episode 100, and we've got lots in store –– including a conversation with a 100-year-old Catskills native; an interview by Mollie Zoldan with the host of this podcast ... me! And a top 10 list of our most listened-to stories. Got a few minutes? We'd love to get your feedback -- here's a link to our listener survey. Send us your thoughts, and we'll send you a sticker! Many thanks to our sponsors: The Mountain Eagle, H...

In late September, the basketball court at Shandaken's Glenbrook Park serves as a community dance floor, where area residents and visitors are transported through music to eastern Europe. This year marks the third anniversary of the Balkan Mountains Music Festival. Hear from organizers Beth Waterman, Max Fass, and Samantha Awand-Gortel about this festive Catskills tradition. Thanks to our sponsors: Briars & Brambles Books, The Mountain Eagle, the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway, and Hanford M...

Late last year, and 20 episodes ago, Michael DiBenedetto joined us in the studio and made a convincing case for copper bullets over lead, citing collateral damage to our Catskills bald eagles. On today's show, we reconnected with Michael -- in Ukraine -- where he's volunteering as a driver with an organization called Road to Relief. Michael drives a truck in the Catskills, too, making deliveries for his company, Vly Mountain Spring Water. That's given him some preparation for the mission at hand...

Ann Cihanek is a goat farmer whose herd of semi-retired goats are employed across the region to clear sites of invasive plants, brush, and overgrowth. We caught up with 10 of her Green Goats at the John Burroughs Memorial State Historic Site, in Roxbury, NY. Years of overgrowth on hilly, sensitive terrain, called for a novel approach to restore a historic view of the fields and mountains below. Many thanks to our sponsors: Briars and Brambles Books, the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, Han...

In July, a small group of hikers was apprehended and ticketed for leaving two Adirondack chairs at the summit of Slide Mountain. Those hikers' actions, while misguided, may have been good-intentioned. But they fly in the face of outdoor ethics and "leaving no trace." At the core of "Leave No Trace" are 7 principles that provide a framework of minimum impact practices for safe and sustainable experiences in nature. Moe Lemire is a licensed outdoor guide and a LNT master educator. We joined him...

Nearly a century ago, famed photographer and innovator Emile Brunel purchased Boiceville's Brown Hotel and transformed it into Le Chalet Indien, a world-class resort frequented by famed artists and politicians of the day. Brunel's fascination with Native American culture manifested in an adjoining sculpture park, which still stands and is now stewarded by the Friends of Brunel Park, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Even concrete is no match for a hundred years of Catskills weather, though...

Wave Farm –– in Greene County's Acra, NY –– is a 29-acre campus that's not only home to WGXC 90.7 FM, but a hub for terrestrial radio, transmission arts, and resident artists. Hear from Executive Director Galen Joseph-Hunter how Wave Farm has been pioneering the "transmission arts" genre for more than 25 years. Thanks to our sponsors: Briars & Brambles Books Hanford Mills Museum Ulster Savings Bank Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce The Mountain Eagle Visit our website to make a donat...

Silver Hollow Audio had the honor of recording –– and this month, publishing –– the audiobook version of Kim Brown Seely's Uncharted: A Couple's Empty-Nest Adventure Sailing from One Life to Another. Faced with an empty nest, stagnant jobs, and an economy in freefall, Kim and her husband decided to embark on a grand adventure. On an impulse, they purchased a sailboat, learned to sail, and set off toward untamed wilderness in search of the elusive blonde Kermode bear that only lives in a secluded...

The Catskills naturalist John Burroughs once wrote, "The place to observe nature is where you are; the walk to take to-day is the walk you took yesterday. You will not find just the same things: both the observed and the observer has changed; the ship is on another tack in both cases." His 1886 essay, "A Sharp Lookout" predates terms like "sit spot," "forest bathing," and "shinrin-yoku" by about a century. But the sentiment is the same, and Catskills practitioner Lara Land is a master at it. ...

When Mel Bellar established his Andes, NY landscape design company, the Catskills were considered "zone 4" on the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Thanks (?) to climate change and warmer winters, the region is now solidly in "zone 5." We talked with Mel about that shift and how it's reshaping our options. Join our conversation for many more Catskills landscaping considerations, like complementing the environment with natural materials, Mel's favorite plants, go-to suppliers, and things we tend to ...

Spring has sprung in the Catskills, and with the reemergence of our native flora and fauna, invasive species are also happy to awaken. Catskill Regional Invasive Species Partnership (CRISP) director John Thompson tells us what to watch out for, how to report our findings, and what we can do to stem the tide of invasive pests. Plus, two emerging invasives to add to our radar! Report your findings at: https://www.imapinvasives.org/ Thanks to our sponsors: Briars & Brambles Books, Hanford Mil...

April is Financial Literacy Month! It's also National Jazz Appreciation Month, National Fresh Celery Month, Foot Health Awareness Month, World Landscape Architecture Month, and National Soft Pretzel Month. But let's just stick to finance for now, a topic that affects us all throughout the year. And for a refresher on that topic, we met up with our local bank branch manager, Samantha Awand-Gortel, for a conversation on banking and finance in the Catskills and beyond. Did we mention April is...

Just two weeks before the start of trout season, the Catskills lost a paragon of angling. Henry "Hank" Rope, Jr. wore out a pair of wading shoes every year, fishing Catskills creeks and tributaries. Hank shared his love of the sport through his Big Indian Guide Service and volunteered his time with Trout in the Classroom at a community elementary school. We recorded Mr. Rope on several occasions over the years, and this week we're joined by two friends –– Bethia Waterman and Jane Wolfrom –– w...

Radio Catskill hit the airwaves in 1990 and operated out of a hydro-powered station in Jeffersonville. But when a building was recently offered in nearby Liberty, WJFF shed its 30-year skin and relocated to the now fully-renovated, modern production facility. Technological advances aside, this small public radio station is still very much focused on local news and Catskills culture. Many thanks to our sponsors: Briars & Brambles Books The Mountain Eagle Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway ...

As Catskills black bears emerge from hibernation, we spoke with three bear experts –– wildlife rehabilitator Kristine Flones, and conservationist couple Patti and Bill Rudge –– who shared some handy tips for coexisting peaceably with our Catskills bears, including ... the best time to wrap up your wild bird food (and why) the importance of taking out the trash (at the crack of dawn) equipping your Catskills home with a ... marine signal horn? resisting the urge to run from a bear! ...

As any skier knows, squeezing into a pair of ski boots can be quite the challenge. For skiers with physical and cognitive disabilities, though, preparing for a day on the slopes can require exponentially more time and effort. But that doesn't stop skiers like Todd Reid, who lives with spina bifida, from savoring a day on skis. At the base of Windham Mountain, the 7200 square foot Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center is headquarters for the Adaptive Sports Foundation, which, for almost 40 years,...

If the Catskills seem busier lately, you're not imagining it. According to a new report, visits to the Catskills more than doubled between 2018 and 2021, when the region welcomed an estimated 12 million travelers––that's roughly equivalent to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone, combined! The ongoing deluge, it turns out, is the very reason for this report, prepared over two years by the Catskill Advisory Group, or CAG, and recently delivered the New York State Department of Environme...

Washington Irving was an early author to set his fictional tale in the Catskills, but he certainly wasn't the last. If Rip Van Winkle were alive today, he'd have no shortage of contemporary Catskills suspense stories to help keep him awake. Kelli Huggins is on a mission to read all things "Catskills," and she hankers for horror. If a novel features a Catskills town, hotel, or reservoir, it will likely make it onto Kelli's reading list. Here's a short list of Kelli's recent faves: Just Like...

There's a "herd" of sewing machines in the hundreds, in Delancey, NY, and they're in the loving and capable hands of one Billy Hancock, owner of Billy's Make & Mend, an outpost for sewing machine repair and maintenance, sewing work, machine lessons, and plenty of history. Thanks to our latest sponsor, Ulster Savings Bank, which was established the same year as the Singer sewing machine company, 1851! Thanks also to the continued support of the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway and The Mountain ...

To start off the new year, we visited Shea in the Catskills, a tarot practitioner, artist, facilitator, organizer + contemplative, for a (deeper than perhaps expected) conversation on community, tarot, inspiration ... and some insights for 2023! Check out Shea's own podcasts! They're simply produced, clean, and inviting -- rumination and curation in a welcoming voice ... Shea in the Catskills The Ritualists Many thanks to our sponsors: the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce and The Moun...

Just off the Kingston traffic circle, you'll find a couple of gas stations, a used car dealer, and a drive-through vegetarian burger joint. But in the 1940s, this was the site of "Seal College," a training facility for some of the most famous sea lions to share the stage with the likes of Abbott and Costello, Bob Hope, and Ed Sullivan. In his new book, Sharkey: When Sea Lions Were Stars of Show Business, author Gary Bohan, Jr., delves deep into the history of his great-grandfather's trained sea ...