We’re talking citizen journalism and the media landscape with Brett Orzechowski. He’s launching a new project called Stateline NY. It’s a media site with a collection of interesting and in-depth stories covering a host of issues that are relevant across upstate NY.

We talk about the role that long-form and mixed media journalism plays in today’s landscape, and some of the common issues facing upstate NY.

Each story is told in a different way: documentary, data visualization, audio, and mixed media. Stories are available for $2.99 each at StatelineNY.com

It’s just over a month until Election Day and the race to represent the 22nd District is in full force.

Anthony Brindisi is in the middle of that congressional campaign, running as the Democratic nominee and I recently got the opportunity to have this conversation with him.

I’ve always been curious about why someone decides to run for public office, as well as what the day-to-day experience is like. So that’s what this conversation focuses on. This is not a deep dive into policy. Instead, I wanted to talk about the congressional race, his background and some of the lessons he’s learned throughout his life as a member of the Utica School Board, State Assemblyman, and during this run for Congress.

We also talk about:

Learn more about Anthony and his campaign at www.brindisiforcongress.com – and don’t forget to VOTE on November 6th. Thanks again to Anthony for making time in his busy schedule for this conversation.

What makes a great city? That’s what we’re going to dive into with my guest Arian Horbovetz who is the author of The Urban Phoenix. It’s a blog that focuses on conversations surrounding our urban environments. So he’s the perfect person to talk about how small cities are reinventing themselves and creating dynamic urban environments.

Arian is also a person who has gone car-less… in Rochester NY. So he has a unique take on alternative and public transportation. He started his blog as a way to document his visits to cities and towns across NY State via train and foldable bike. The Urban Phoenix has evolved into deep dives into urban planning, placemaking and much much more.

So in our conversation we talk about Trains, Rust Belt Cities, and examples of what small cities are doing to make themselves unique destinations to live and work.

This was one of those conversations that didn’t even require any editing – it was just a damn good chat. Hope you enjoy it.

On this week’s episode, I’m having a chat with Dr. Heather Malyuk of Soundcheck Audiology.

She’s an audiologist that focuses on working with musicians and touring musicians from her home base in rural Ohio and has worked with the tour of Jay-Z & Beyonce, Death Cab for Cutie, Journey, Kanye West, and many many more.

In our conversation we talk about the science of music, what makes an artist, home schooling, and some pro tips on maintaining your hearing, especially in the age of earbuds and headphones.

You can find out more about Heather at soundcheckaudiology.com or on Instagram.

Chris Hartman is a farmer, academic and founder of Headwater Food Hub in Rochester NY. In our wide-ranging conversation we try to get to the root of what makes an effective food-system. But it’s not just about food… We talk about building a team of people that believe what you believe, starting movements, and doing work that matters.

Want to learn more about Chris, the Good Food Collective, and Headwater Food Hub? Check them out online at headwaterfoodhub.com or on the Instagram at @headwater_food_hub

Sometimes the standard for service in a given industry is god-awful, or terrible. Sometimes if you’re just ‘bad’ you’ll have all the work you can handle. So let’s talk about how you can go from ‘terrible’ to ‘bad’ to ‘mediocre’ to ‘amazing’ using a technique from the founders of Air Bnb.

In this episode we talk about the 10-star experience. What is it? How do you build one, and why should you care? It’s a shorty episode designed to help you build a base of people who LOVE what you do.

Sometimes you capture a conversation that needs to be heard, and this interview with Pastor Mike Ballman is one of them.

Mike is the founder of the Oneida Square Project, which is a kind of social enterprise incubator and the pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Utica, NY.

This episode is a little different from the others because we get a little heavy and while we do talk about the rise of social enterprise, we really focus on Mike’s story, creating opportunities, being an advocate, deploying empathy and how to face down adversity in it’s many forms.

You’ll find this story inspiring, moving and hopefully it will help you to think about how you can create opportunity for others, and impact your own community in your own unique way.

In this episode I have a chat with artist and photographer Janelle Bonagurio.

We’ll talk about how she first became a professional photographer and got her first clients before she even had a proper camera.

We’ll talk about pricing, finding mentors and dealing with high-stress situations (weddings). And we’ll back away from the business and talk about how weddings have changed over the years as well as how having a family has changed the way she works with clients.

You can find her online at http://www.janelleshootsphotos.com or on Instagram.

Music is by Jordyn Edmonds – gracias.

Making a product is hard. Keeping up with demand after you’re on Shark Tank is even harder. In this episode I talk with Ashley Robinson, Co-Founder of Tranquillo Mat. We taped this episode a couple of months back in front of a live audience and talked about building a product overseas, getting on Shark Tank and

We had this hour

In our hour-long conversation we dissect:

….and more.

Learn more or pick up a Tranquillo Mat for the newborn in your family at tranquillomat.com

As always, music for this episode is provided by Jordyn Edmonds.

This episode is a mini-sode, a shorty, a toolbox episode. Two weeks ago, I attended VoiceCon – a conference in NYC all about the future of Voice – from Alexa to Google Home, Siri and beyond – what’s coming down the pipeline and what are the opportunities and concerns that businesses (and you as an individual) should have as we jump into conversations with our computers. This episode is a collection of takeaways from that that day.

– Voice and Privacy

Stay tuned for Episode 5 where we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled interviews!