Beaconites!

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.

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.

Steve established the scuplture program at St. Joseph's with the goal of building hooks into other departments. And Steve has brought digital fabrication technologies like 3D printing, laser cutting, and digital rendering into the curriculum there.

Listeners to this episode may want to follow along on steve's website at steverossisculpture.com

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.

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 a series of temporary residences.

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 in this city.

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.

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.

The pandemic washed a wave of refugees up the Hudson River. We hear from two people who moved to Beacon during Covid times.

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.