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, the Odyssey and the Big Bang. She describes them as " choral-based complex music theater works." They are often presented in the round, in part to obliterate the hierarchy between audience and performers.

"I'm interested in existence. I'm interested in unanswerable questions," she says in our interview. "Our lives have become so much about the in and out business of our civilization. The email, the phone alerts, the economy. When you zoom way way out, all of those things seem so arbitrary and small. I wanted [to] imagine what it would be like if we had the time, space and bandwidth to ask the big questions - like why and how we are here."

Heather's two best known works are Animal Wisdom, which was staged in 2017, and Oratorio for Living things, which has been staged three times, including a string of extremely sold-out performances in 2022.

Originally from Natchez, Mississippi, Heather has lived in Beacon for 13 years, largely under the radar.

"I've tried to keep a separation of church and state. Beacon is church," she says. "Beacon reminded me a lot of my hometown. There's something about river people. There's a reverence to the landscape you're inhabiting. We use it, it grounds us."

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.

Carolyn has been a member of the traffic safety committee since 2020, an experience that got her hooked on civic engagement. In this interview, she shares her point of view on Beacon's affordability crisis, sustainability initiatives, transit and other topics. She also indulges her interviewer in a detour on the failures of Democrats nationally and what, if anything, we can learn from our current debacle.

In her day job, Carolyn works for the Southeastern New York Library Resource Council, managing the Digital Navigators of the Hudson Valley. This is a program that provides community members with tech support in a world where digital access and fluency is increasingly a prerequisite for participation in society.

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. This is a huge experiment that's playing out across New York State, and Christina offers an early take on how it's going.

We also review some important curriculum changes that are picking up steam this year. A big one for elementary students is the addition of "science of reading" teaching requirements. In the high school, New York State is sunsetting the Regents Exams and shifting to a "portrait of a graduate" framework which emphasizes critical thinking, creativity and global citizenship.

In addition to their teaching roles, Christina and Lesli also lead the Beacon Teachers Association - the union representing educators in the district. We spend some time talking about the role of the union and what kind of support teachers need - namely, wages commensurate with cost of living.

Thanks so much to Christina and Lesli for taking the time out to chat during these hectic first weeks of school, to superintendant Matt Landahl for the introduction, and to school board VP Meredith Heuer for guidance on questions.

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.

When she takes something new on, Margot typically isn't only out to express herself creatively but also to invite others to engage and build something together.

All of this is fairly new. Margot grew up in Manhattan's Upper West Side during a period of high crime. (She was mugged multiple times). She took a million art classes as a kid but strayed from making art as she grew up. She only returned to it in force after working for decades in work she didn't love, as a lighting technician. The initial spark that renewed her creative life came when she became a mother, as she and her husband (musician Josh Stark) made a pact to do the work they wanted their child to know them for. But even after making that commitment, she grappled for nearly two decades with work/life balance, her responsibilities to her ailing mother, and how to live.

That all sounds rather serious but Margot recounts her stumbles and epiphanies with a lot of humor and insight. And of course she talks at length about Second Wave Supplies' mission to provide affordable access to art materials to folks in Beacon while keeping them out of the landfill.

Photo by Michael Isabell

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.

"The lifestyle of TV and event production had taken its toll. It had shown up in vices, it had showed up in drinking, it had showed up in overspending," she says in our interview. "My first step was to get the physical space I needed to have a moment to think about it."

So in 2018, she moved to Beacon – alone – and started a new life. She met her partner - an FDNY firefighter - and they had a child. Meanwhile, she took on a big new job as COO and co-owner of The Bellweather Agency. Through all this, Gracelyn directed her energies to her newfound community, finding support and friendship among other parents and the wider community.

There are plenty of good reasons to hope for a more bikeable Beacon. To name a few: 1) Improved safety (for drivers and pedestrians as well as for cyclists) 2) Reduced traffic congestion 3) Greater equity for people who can't afford a car or don't want to drive around for small errands. 4) Bikes are fun :)

In this interview, 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. Shining through this discussion of "the issues" is the pure joy Meg gets from riding bikes.

Learn more about Beacon Bicycle Colation and sign the petition at https://bikebeacon.org/. And, follow them on Instagram for information on group rides and other events: https://www.instagram.com/beacon.bicycle.coalition/

Related: New York recently granted $100,000 to study the viability of a bike-sharing program that would connect Beacon and Newburgh. One of the recipients of that grant is Thomas Wright, a leading voice for biking and sustainability (and a former Beaconites guest). You can help this effort by taking their survey. Visit https://tally.so/r/nW1XZP

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.

Born to Palestinian parents who immigrated to the US and raised in a suburb of Washington D.C., Lena followed a winding path to Beacon.

In this interview, we talk about:

• The Gaza catastrophe through the eyes of a second-generation Palestinian immigrant

• Lena's decision to give up a career as an Immigration lawyer to work in finance

• Her "moving to Beacon" story as a single woman, and why she kept her NYC apartment

• Her panels and speakeasies focused on women and female business owners

• What Gen X women have in common; common money mistakes; "Think big"

• The current investment climate; why economic doomerism is wrong

Lena's website: https://www.lenarizkallah.com/

Photo by Michael Isabell: https://www.michaelisabell.com/ Beaconites is recorded at Beacon AV Lab: https://www.beaconavlab.com/

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. As the chair of the Conservation Advisory Committee and founder of the Fishkill Creek Watershed Alliance, he has advanced a city-wide composting program, trail clearing, a water testing program and more. Right now he's focused on an inventory of open spaces that could eventually be adopted into the city's comprehensive plan.

On top of all that, Sergei is running for City Council for the consequential 2026-2028 term.

City business aside, it'll come as no surprise that Sergei is an active outdoorsman – a trail runner, swimmer and cross-country skier. We spent a chunk of this interview talking about things listeners can do outside in Beacon and surrounding areas.

Links and further reading:

Earth Day cleanup. The CAC is organizing its annual Sat April 26 Earth Day clean up, trail clearing & riparian buffer planting followed by a Green Fair at Hudson Valley Brewery. More info at: https://www.greenbeaconcoalition.org

Water testing. The Fishkill Creek Watershed Alliance, in partnership with Bard College Community Science Lab, Riverkeeper and Beacon Institute, is starting a community water quality testing program throughout the watershed this May. They're currently seeking volunteers to help collect samples that will be tested for metals, chemicals, biological markers and more. More info at https://www.fishkillwatershed.org

Photo by Michael Isabell: https://www.michaelisabell.com/ Beaconites is recorded at Beacon AV Lab: https://www.beaconavlab.com/

Paulette Myers-Rich has partnered with dozens of artists and writers during an accomplished career in fine art printing. In this interview we talk about many of those collaborations - including a series of books featuring Irish poets produced jointly with the Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas.

Paulette moved to Beacon in her fifties, choosing it in part because it visually echoed her industrial river city home of St. Paul, Minnesota. Once here, she continued to produce letterpress printed works under her imprint, Traffic Street Press, and opened the No. 3 Reading Room exhibition space. In our interview, Paulette talks about her creative partnerships with artists and writers, the setbacks of Covid, and the importance of fine art books today.

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.

In this interview, Kim discusses how 4H teaches young people about agriculture, animal husbandry, gardening, art and more. And she provides an overview of her work at Stony Kill, what children and adults experience through the educational programs there and more.