It started with one random request at a dive bar — and turned Brian Daly into New England's beloved "Seger Bar Guy."

This week, Ian and RJ sit down with Brian Daly (@wickedfast), the Watertown native who went viral asking Boston bars whether they'll throw on a little Bob Seger. Brian shares how his cousin's offhand suggestion accidentally became his whole identity, how to spot a real "Seger bar," and the wild ride since — the Boston Globe, NBC, and Bob Seger's own marketing team reaching out (though Seger still has no idea). Then come the takes: why fair-weather Pats fans don't deserve it, why Red Sox fans are the worst right now, his honest thoughts on the T and Boston's bike lanes, his New England state rankings, and even a Bob Seger song for every state. You can find Brian at @wickedfast. Follow So New England for new episodes every week — life's better in New England.

What happens when a Georgia girl moves to Boston and never looks back? You get Caroline Barry.

This week, Ian and RJ sit down with the Make Boston Home creator (nearly 200K followers) for a fresh-eyes take on New England. She ranks all six states, explains why "bless your heart" would start a fight in Boston, reveals how she built her entire real estate business on Instagram, and tells the story of hiking Katahdin's terrifying Knife's Edge — plus the time Tyler Perry filmed a movie in her childhood home. Funny, sharp, and proudly New England now.

Find Caroline at @makebostonhome. Follow So New England for new episodes every week — life's better in New England.

A floor-sweeper made a handshake deal to save a failing dealership, then lied about his age to become the youngest Volkswagen dealer in America. That was 1948 — and his family still runs the business today.

This week on the So New England Business Spotlight, Ian Brownhill sits down with Brad Scott, owner of Scott's Volkswagen in East Providence, Rhode Island, for the full 78-year, three-generation family story. Brad also gets refreshingly honest about the car business — why dealers barely profit on new cars, whether paying cash matters, the truth about end-of-month deals, and why his single-location family model lets them treat customers better than the corporate giants. He even makes the case that the VW R32 drives better than a Porsche. You can find Scott's Volkswagen at scottvw.com. Follow So New England for new episodes every week — life's better in New England.

Boston content creator Marc Lewis doesn't hold back — and this episode proves it.

This week on the So New England Podcast, Ian Brownhill and RJ sit down with Marc Lewis, one of New England's most prolific and unfiltered content creators, known for his food reviews, honest takes, and golf course reviews you can actually trust.

Marc gets candid about the road that got him here, including the three-year gambling addiction he overcame before going full-time into content. He explains why he treats every piece of content like an audition, and gets into the real state of being a creator in 2026 — the algorithm chaos, the parasocial relationships, the platforms that actually pay, and why everyone claims to hate content creators until they need one.

Then the hot takes start flying. Marc names his most overrated things in New England, with Plymouth Rock and the lobster roll both taking serious hits. He ranks all six New England states (sorry, Vermont), power-ranks the Boston sports teams with a controversial choice at number one, and explains why getting roasted is the ultimate New England sign of love. The guys also cover their most absurd "fat moments," the eternal rotary debate, and the greatest Boston movies ever made.

You can find Marc on Instagram at @marclew1s.

Follow the So New England Podcast for new episodes every week. Don't forget — life's better in New England!

What if picking up a stone could connect you to thousands of years of history? That's the idea behind the No Fame Games — and on June 13th, it's coming to New England.

This week on the So New England Business Spotlight, Ian Brownhill and RJ sit down with Josh Mackintosh, the private chef and cultural steward behind the first-ever Celtic Strength World Championship in Milford, Massachusetts.

Josh explains how stone lifting is like time travel, the story of the 370-pound famine stone freighted from Ireland to Boston, and how the games are reviving Irish collar-and-elbow wrestling — a sport once practiced by George Washington. The timing is serendipitous too: June 13th is the day Scotland returns to the World Cup at Gillette Stadium, 25 minutes away, with talk of 40,000 Scots in town. Josh walks through the whole festival, from Highland Games and a Guinness beer garden to live music, food trucks, kids' activities, and Sheena Melwani singing the national anthem. And he shares the real meaning behind the name — honoring the unsung heroes and ancestors who never got the spotlight.

It's a family-friendly festival for everyone, Celtic heritage or not. Saturday, June 13th in Milford, MA. Tickets start at $15 for adults and $8 for kids. Use promo code SONEWENGLAND for 30 percent off at nofamegames.com.

Follow the No Fame Games on Instagram @nofamegame and Facebook at No Fame Games. Follow So New England for new episodes every week — life's better in New England

Bob Dylan went electric on this property in 1965. Now it's home to one of only 275 craft "brew-stilleries" in America — and Brendan O'Donnell is the man running it.

This week on the So New England Podcast Business Spotlight Series, Ian Brownhill and RJ go on-site at Newport Craft Brewing & Distilling Co. to sit down with CEO Brendan O'Donnell. Brendan moved to Newport from New Jersey in 2014 after meeting his wife in New York City — and never left. Today he runs Newport Craft, Heritage Hospitality (which has acquired legacy Rhode Island restaurants like Brick Alley Pub), and Wally's Wieners, the three-location hot dog and martini concept his team has built from scratch.

In this episode, Brendan shares the launch of "It's Called Soccer," Newport Craft's beer designed around the upcoming World Cup. He breaks down why he and his family acquire legacy Rhode Island restaurants instead of building new ones, the "cheat code" of New England restaurant succession, and how Newport Craft has become a venue for Jay Leno comedy shows, the Rogue Island Comedy Festival, and one of the most underrated event spaces in Rhode Island. He also shares the cultural history of the property where Bob Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival, and why he believes a soccer field might be in the brewery's future.

You'll also hear Brendan's thoughts on Rhode Island as a product-testing market for major brands, how Quonset Point has transformed regional economic opportunity, his honest take on whether New Jersey or Rhode Island has worse drivers, and his perfect New England day.

You can find Brendan on LinkedIn as Brendan O'Donnell, and follow Newport Craft at newportcraft.com. Heritage Hospitality information is at heritagehospitality.com.

Follow the So New England Podcast for new episodes every week. Don't forget — life's better in New England!

"You're not gonna win the race. You've already won. You showed up." Those were the words Sandy Delli Carpini's father said to her at the starting line of her first 5K — and they've shaped everything she's done since.

This week on the So New England Podcast Business Spotlight Series, Ian Brownhill sits down with Sandra "Sandy" Delli Carpini, the woman behind Seasons Corner Market — a Rhode Island-based gas station and convenience store chain with 80 locations across New England. Sandy shares the deeply personal story of her father, who came to America from Italy at age 12 (after being left in Italy as a toddler), became a mechanic in the Army, and opened his first gas station on Angel Street near Brown University. From those origins, Sandy and her family built one of New England's most recognizable convenience store brands.

In this episode, we cover:

• The family origin story and the Italian-Rhode Island connection
• Why she launched the Corner Market Cafe (and how her father's daily 9 AM coffee ritual inspired it)
• The mom insight that made drive-thrus essential to the brand
• The story behind Sunny the mascot (a squeezy toy, an uncle's nickname, and a grandfather's nickname)
• The Angels Giving Back Foundation honoring her late parents
• How her cashiers stayed in their stores for 48 hours during the historic 54-inch snowstorm
• Why she considers convenience store workers frontline workers
• Why Southern gas station executives "back off" when they meet her
• Her Italian-American Yankees fan confession (sorry, Patriots — wait, she's still a Pats fan too)
• Her favorite season in New England (fall, obviously)
• What her perfect New England day looks like

You can find Sandy on LinkedIn as Sandra Delli Carpini, and follow Seasons Corner Market at seasonscorner.com or on Instagram @SeasonsCornerMarket.

Join Sandy at the Angels Giving Back 5K on June 6th at Citizens Bank in Johnston, Rhode Island. Sign up at angelsgivingback.com. The foundation supports the Alzheimer's Society, the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation, and the Tomorrow Fund.

Follow the So New England Podcast for new episodes every week. Don't forget — life's better in New England!

"It's basically a way to make work suck less." That's how Paul Critchley explains his job at backyard barbecues — and after this episode, you'll understand exactly what he means.

This week on the So New England Podcast Business Spotlight Series, Ian Brownhill and RJ sit down with Paul Critchley, owner of New England Lean Consulting — a regional firm helping manufacturers, machine shops, and small businesses across New England operate smarter, faster, and with less stress. Born and raised in Maine, Paul spent 20+ years in mechanical engineering and operations across automotive parts, medical devices, and military jet engines before going out on his own in 2015. Today, his firm works with everyone from two-brother machine shops to Brown University.

In this episode, we cover:

• What lean consulting actually is (it's not Bar Rescue, but close)
• The seven wastes that quietly cost New England businesses millions
• Why workers sometimes ask "are we going out of business?" when business is actually booming
• The factory worker whose life genuinely changed because of operational improvements
• Three questions every business owner should ask themselves right now
• Why communication is almost always the real bottleneck
• Paul's date night spent mentally auditing a bar's kitchen layout (yes, his wife was there)
• Why he can't shop at Stop & Shop or Home Depot anymore
• The box of wire from 1986 that an engineer refused to throw away
• The welder who threatened to zap him with a torch (and became his biggest advocate)
• His honest ranking of the six New England states
• Why he refuses to drive in Boston anymore
• The stranger who saved his life in the Financial District with one Boston-flavored sentence

You can find Paul at NewEnglandLean.com, on LinkedIn as Paul Critchley, and on Instagram at @NewEnglandLeanGuy.

Follow the So New England Podcast for new episodes every week. Don't forget — life's better in New England.

"New England is better than Old England" — a British couple just said it on the podcast, and we're never letting them take it back.

This week on the So New England Podcast, host Ian Brownhill and co-host RJ welcome Juliette and Ollie — aka The Brits in Boston — for a deep, funny, and surprisingly emotional conversation about what it's like to move from East London to the United States and fall in love with New England in the process. Two and a half years into their American life, the couple shares their honest perspective on what makes Boston, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts unlike anywhere else on earth.

In this episode, we cover:

• How a childhood Celtics jersey foreshadowed Ollie's move to Boston
• Why Juliette cried walking through Beacon Hill for the first time
• A defense of British food (and the truth about Indian cuisine in the UK)
• Why American Chinese food got them 5 million views on TikTok
• The differences between London, Boston, and New York City
• The stranger who gave them his lake house in Rangeley, Maine
• Cape Cod vs. coastal Maine — and the verdict from a British couple
• Premier League vs. Boston sports culture (and the term "geezer bird")
• Lobster roll: hot butter or cold mayo? A real married-couple debate
• Their honest ranking of all six New England states
• The most overrated and most underrated things about New England
• Saying "Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd" in a British accent

You can find Juliette and Ollie at @juliet.amy_ on Instagram and TikTok, and on YouTube as Brits in Boston.

Follow the So New England Podcast for new episodes every week. Don't forget — life's better in New England.

Gianna, aka New England Guidebook, joins the pod to talk all things New England travel, food, hidden gems, and local adventures.

From Acadia and Southwest Harbor to Bristol, Vermont, Newport, Providence, Newburyport, Cambridge, and the White Mountains, Gianna shares her favorite places to visit across the region. The crew also gets into New England state rankings, why Maine might have it all, why Connecticut pizza deserves respect, why Mass takes some heat, and how creators balance hyping up local businesses while protecting nature.