Outdoor Cats Podcast

Nine questions, folks. On Election Day you will be asked nine freakin’ questions, ranging from byzantine to slightly less so, and Question 2 is perhaps the most ‘in the weeds,’ as they say, but also nearest to our hearts. It asks whether the state’s public defenders have the right to form a union. That they don’t is due to a bizarre and longstanding clerical issue I couldn’t possibly explain to you. So we brought on Nathan Wong of the Yes on 2 campaign, himself a longtime public defender, to explain it to us, and talk about the overlooked and perhaps intentionally obscured role that public defenders play in keeping the democracy we have on paper a democracy in reality.

Listen to the end for Tuber Tourney updates and what I personally feel is the most pressing question before (certain select) voters in this midterm election.

Much like public defenders, local journalists are a ragtag and beleaguered bunch. We need your help to keep this little-outlet-that-could chug-chugging along. Paid subscriptions are best, but tips are also amazing :-)

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(Hey, Chris here making a late edit because we talk about Nathan and I’s beloved friend and colleague Adrian Angus. Here’s Adrian’s obituary, and an article in the Telegram about how his loss was felt in the Worcester legal community. We miss you and love you a lot, Adrian)Intro music by Bill Shaner 10.3.26

Outro music: “Count Em Up (feat Lil Fame)” by Masta Ace & Marco Polo

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We talk about the only thing people are talking about. What to make of it all? Putting the Toomey Wreck in the context of a wider crank meltdown of late. We give props to John Fresolo for his civilian review board mea culpable. Then we talk about big bears and salty fish. The episode’s namesake comes from this guy. If you know you know and if you don’t then you will.

In today’s episode we’re working heavily off the timeline piece I put up the other day: “Sticky, sticky, sticky” on the through line between the primary election to the Toomey Wreck to the CRB vote to the upcoming debate (tomorrow) on whether to fine people for not having a home.

Fresolo’s Petrone story

Lastly:

FAT BEAR WEEK 2026

Thank you for listening and friendly reminder we need new paid subscribers all the time in order to keep doing this show in perpetuity, which we will, so long as at least one of us has the time to do all the production, post production, reporting, editing, video editing, etc. etc. That is where you all come in!

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Intro music by Bill Shaner 9.21.26

Outro music: “When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around” by The Police

Fair listeners of this podcast in zip codes 01606 and 01604 and maybe a little bit of the other ones, LISTEN UP. On Tuesday you will be charged with voting in one of the most on-its-face boring Democratic primaries of all time. But, lying under the surface, perhaps in some sewer or crypt, are THE GOONS and their hidden, slippery machinations. Just by showing up on Tuesday to vote for Jim O’Day (01606) or Mary Keefe (01604), you can cast these wretched beasts back into their dark resting corners. What am I talking about? You’ll have to listen.

Check if you’re in state rep district 14 (O’Day) or 15 (Keefe) at this almost handy but still pretty annoying tool from the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.

And also everyone gets to vote against ‘competitiveness of high school sports guy’ Seth Moulton. So be sure to do that, no matter what an unenrolled member of the Bush family tells you.

This podcast is supported by its listeners and the other readers of this overall newsletter. But only about a quarter of those listeners, all of them volunteers and also very cool. You can be both those things if you sign up for a paid subscription. It’s only one Dunkies a month... what a deal, folks. A whole alt weekly by other means, and just for one little Dunkies.

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(Notes from Chris: It is so cool and extremely professional that we ended the episode only saying the names of the candidates you should not vote for! Vote O’Day in the 14th, Keefe in the 15th, Markey for Senate)We wrap up talking about Dolly Parton. Bill got derailed from what he intended to write about by “Here I Am” in this road-dog piece from 2023. It’s legit one of her best songs off of absolutely one of her best albums. Genuinely hard for me to pick a favorite Dolly song, but my favorite Dolly performance is when she did “Mule Skinner Blues” on Porter Wagoner’s show in 1970. In three minutes, she has the entire room on fire. She never even picks up her guitar. RIP Dolly)This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket Casts others via this RSS link.

Outro music: “Yr Op Ed Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore,” by Lex Walton

Intro music by Bill Shaner 8.29.26

Listen there’s a lot of good information readily available and no concerted effort to manufacture consent around a narrative that’s out of step in significant ways with what information we do have about the reality on the ground. Everyone is on the same page and wants to be! That’s why we thought it was the perfect time to spend an hour digging into the specifics of the emerging situation, to catch our listeners up on an event which has the potential to change everything.

After that, we talk about the most unnecessarily disgusting mailer in quite some time around these parts, courtesy West Boylston Selectman Raj (who, like Prince and Zendaya, is a one-namer if ever there was). See below:

Front…

Yoikes.

(Link to the image for those of you reading in your podcast player)

((This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket Casts others via this RSS link.))

Back…

(Link)

The primary election is on September 1 and there are two local races that are important, this being one. Full election guide in the next couple days. Check this site to see if you live in the 14th Worcester District (Burncoat-ish, southern West Boylston) or the 15th Worcester District (downtown / Grafton Hill-ish) where the same people propping up Raj are running Ron Waddell against Mary Keefe. And then mark your calendars for Sept. 1.

Vote O’Day, f**k Raj. Oink, oink.

Some other links:

MassLive: Can This Viral Food Hall Make It In Mass?

Eater.com: What’s the deal with Wonder?a

Video: AI Food Slop Is Here)

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Outro music: “Big Rock Candy Mountain” as sung by Harry McClintock

Intro music by Bill Shaner 8.22.26

Tackling the important questions, such as “why hasn’t Worcester seen a data center proposal yet?” “what’s this guy’s deal?” and “why do people on the Worcester subreddit have such bad taste in sandwiches?”

Far as news goes, it’s a light week. We spend considerable time working through a rough editorial by Massterlist’s Jon Keller about why Jim McGovern doesn’t get many challengers. It’s a trip. Some of the worst writing I’ve ever seen.

“The Untouchable Incumbent”

Maybe there’s a clue in that most rare phenomenon, a member of Congress facing absolutely no competition for reelection. No Democratic primary challengers. No Republican general election foe. Not even a stray independent or third-party wingnut who flits onto the ballot like a fly seeking purchase on a dog’s leavings, pending certain disposal by the voters.

(Hey it’s Chris, up top I talk about the Benn Jordan data center noise study thing. Here’s Benn’s full channel, he’s a foundational always-watch YouTube guy for me. I keep thinking about how we all kind of live in an oil field now? Most of Benn’s contemporary work is focused on surveillance-state/Big Tech-state resistance and avoidance, but I originally got into him through this mind-blowing video he made about how Aphex Twin sounds like Aphex Twin and why kind of no one else ever has or can.)

The Russell quote can be found in the last written Worcester Sucks post: “There will be no going off script.”

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And I was serious about needing a Watermelon research assistant: billshaner at substack dot com.

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Intro music by Bill Shaner 8.3.26

Outro music: “STAMPEDE” by Genesis Owusu

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Special episode today: Chris is sharing the first of what will hopefully be a series of field interviews he recorded at what sounds like a very special bluegrass festival he attends every years. While it’s not Worcester related per se I think listeners will find that the interview hits on many of the themes around community, atomization and belonging we love to hit over and over on this program. *Small edit from Chris:

In keeping with the heavy-then-light format of the show, this segment appears toward the end, at the 59 minute mark.

Before that, we talk about the only thing in Worcester politics really worth talking about at the moment: the manager’s decision to abandon his pursuit of a civilian review board. Catch up on that news here and here and on the Worcester Sucks Instagram you’ll find three compilation reels of public comment I worked pretty hard on.

I have a substantial “print” post in the works about where we stand on that front. It’s almost done. Stay tuned!

Watch an orca ram a sunfish so hard that the fish explodes

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Intro music by Bill Shaner 7.29.26

Outro music: “Nashville Cats” by the Del McCoury Band

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Everyone losing it over a couple roundabouts, we’re just happy to be here.

Catching up on the dog days of summer, breaking down yet another round of know-nothing reactionary townie opposition to a mundane road project aimed at our uniquely horrible track record when it comes to drivers hitting pedestrians with cars. In particular we focus on Moe Bergman’s insane Facebook comment, in which he tells on himself in both the ‘basic literacy’ and ‘raw contempt for his constituency’ departments.

It’s the same conversation I pulled out toward the bottom of my written post from yesterday.

From there we zoom out, talk about press freedom, bad faith lawsuits and the situation Channel 5 and Andrew Callaghan are dealing with—one that has no local analogs whatsoever of course.

Channel Five is being sued to the edge of existence.

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Outro music: REM - Star 69

Intro music by Bill Shaner 7.13.26

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Stay cool everyone.

A hot afternoon recording session in the community garden, catching up on the rent control question, the limits of ballot questions as a tool, and on the eve of this great nation’s 250th birthday, a taking of pause, putting our patriotic and totally respected right to criticize the government on the shelf for a moment—to consider how blessed we are to live here, in the free world that America maintains with its highly effective air force and navy at no social expense to the imperial core, and not somewhere repressive and/or authoritarian. Plus, Worcester’s coolest invention by a mile.

Also I edited the audio in the passenger seat of Katie’s car so… our usually pristine—some are saying This American Life-level, if not better—production fidelity is probably a bit lacking. I can’t tell myself because highways it turns out are pretty loud.

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Some links from the discussion

My piece on the rent control ballot question from yesterday

Meet the Sir Vival, the safest car that never was

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Ok I’m actually on vacation now, unlike when I said that yesterday.

A literal garden variety show this week. Dispensing hard won wisdom and totally accurate and good advice for competitively growing potatoes for the Tuber tourney from a park bench in the new Green Hill Park Community Garden, where Chris has a lovely plot and so do The Noes. And wouldn’t you Noe it (sorry) they make a surprise appearance early in the show! (Don’t worry, Matt and Gabby, we cut out all the stuff about a certain ongoing local drama).

The first 10 minutes or so were pure field audio, off the built-in mics of my trusty little Sony Dictaphone, walking around the lovely little garden patches, up there on the top of the hill next to the municipal golf course we have for some reason, that at one point was probably sold as something that would pay for itself and/or usher in a Renaissance, and now does neither. A grand Worcester tradition.

Subscriptions are down and it’s freaking me out! Please subscribe! Running a half off for a year deal until July 1 to celebrate the six-year anniversary!

And don’t forget about the little party we’re throwing Saturday at Steel and Wire! Would love to see a lot of your smiling faces.

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Here’s the twice-edited Bergman sick own discussed at the top…

Burnin Down The House tickets are live! We interviewed John Keogh about this on Episode 59Is there a childcare center opening up at the old Riviera strip club?

Outro: Rodney Crowell - “East Houston Blues”

The summer doldrums kicking in, Chris and I do what we do best: chip away at the boring old rocks of local government in our fair city, hunting for rich veins of silver and gold. We find it in Toomey’s narcissism and lack of institutional memory, in a cross reading of city hall bologna and Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland” (1990), and how the Galleria never closed so much as spread out around the foundations of downtown, an invasive root network that is by now intractable as it continues its slow work, pulling the thing down into some ruin it can one day swallow.

ADU or ADA clip

Bergman doing the Bergmanian Switcheroo

Weather Star 4000

Worcester or Providence Reddit post

Mark your calendars folks: Saturday, June 20 at Steel & Wire, celebrating the first SIX years of Worcester Sucks! Free and fun good time!! See you there.

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Outro: Warren Zevon “Down In The Mall”

Intro: Bill Shaner 6.2.26