In a conversation with Current Editor Chip Rowe, Michael Groth, author of Slavery and Freedom in the Mid-Hudson Valley, discusses the overlooked early history of Black people in our area and the African American struggle for freedom. 

Anthropologist Evan Pritchard is a descendant of the Mi'kmaq people, who are part of the Algonquin nation, and has taught Native American studies at Pace University, Vassar College and Marist College. In this conversation with Michael Turton, he details the history of Native American people in the Hudson Valley. 

April is National Poetry Month and, in a new episode, Current editor Chip Rowe shares a conversation he had last year with James Hoch, a Garrison resident who has been a professor of creative writing at Ramapo College since 2006. Hoch’s most recent collection of poetry, Last Pawn Shop in New Jersey, was published in February.

Kreitner, of Philipstown, is the author of Break It Up: Secession, Division and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union. He discusses with Current Editor Chip Rowe the many attempts at secession in the U.S., the state he suspects will be the first to break away, and the logistics of Philipstown seceding from Putnam County.

Bonus episode: Anthony Mancinelli, who passed away in 2019, cut hair for 97 years. He held the Guinness Record for oldest working barber, having started his career at the age of 11. This interview was recorded by Highlands Current reporter Michael Turton and videographer Gregory Gunder when Mancinelli was 106.

At just 20 years old, Beacon native and former Haldane student Maya Fasulo lost both her mother Cecile Fasulo and grandmother Marie Anne Halleux to COVID-19 within a month of each other. She tells her story in this interview with Highlands Current reporter Leonard Sparks. 

By day Gwendolyn Bounds is the chief content officer of Consumer Reports and a writer of such works as a book about the gone but never forgotten Guinan's Pub. But in her off-hours, Gwendolyn is an obstacle course racer who competes in Spartan Races nationally and internationally. In this episode, she talks about the tribulations and rewards of participating in these extremely challenging events. 

To celebrate our 500th issue, The Highlands Current is excited to kick off a new podcast. Subscribe and listen in as our reporting team speaks with newsmakers, artists and other people of interest from Beacon, Cold Spring, Garrison, Nelsonville and Philipstown, New York.