The Local Edition

Radio Catskill’s Patricio Robayo sat down with Andrew Limbong — NPR Culture Desk correspondent and host of the Book of the Day podcast — to talk about the return of Books We Love and its companion limited-run series, Books We’ve Loved.

The ten-episode franchise, wrapping up December 4, brings NPR voices together to revisit the books that shaped them, challenged them, or stayed with them long after the last page. It’s thoughtful, surprising, and full of the kind of literary enthusiasm Andrew is known for.

Why Reading Still Matters

When asked what keeps his love of reading alive, Andrew laughed and admitted it isn’t always easy.

“There are some books where I’m in the middle thinking, woof, what am I doing?” he said. But the real fuel, he explained, is finding someone else who read the same book — whether he loved it or hated it — and diving into that conversation.

“That kind of enthusiasm is contagious,” he said. “Even if you had complicated feelings about the book, hearing somebody else’s joy sparks something.”

A Debut Novel That Surprised Him

One of Andrew’s picks this year for Books We Love is Among Friends by Hal Ebbott, a debut novel about two families vacationing together — until a major, unexpected twist sends everything spiraling.

At first, Andrew wasn’t sold. “The opening felt a little too flowery,” he admitted. “But then I’d hit a sentence that bangs. And then another. Watching a debut novelist swing like that — even when not every swing connects — made me fall in love with the book.”

The Horror Novel Everyone Was Talking About

Another standout this year is The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, a novel Andrew knew other contributors were eager to recommend.

The book blends:

“It’s spooky, smart, and full of heart,” Andrew said. “And it’s perfect for readers who don’t normally pick up horror.”

Reading, Writing, and… Half Marathons

Despite hosting a daily book podcast, Andrew admitted that some days he barely reads at all. On days when he’s writing heavily about books, reading simply isn’t in the cards.

Audiobooks have helped — especially lately, as he trains for a half marathon.

“For this series, there’s been a lot of listening while sweating through a gnarly run,” he said with a laugh.

Nonfiction Picks Worth Your Time

Andrew highlighted a few nonfiction selections contributed by other NPR colleagues:

• Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly

A sharp, labor-focused look at how Spotify treats musicians — and how streaming reshapes the music industry.
Andrew compared it to analyzing automakers and auto workers: “You could write this book about Ford or GM. It’s really about how creators fit into an industry that depends on them.”

• Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs

A reflective, personal exploration of James Baldwin’s life, relationships, and legacy. Andrew praised the emotional depth and the way it reframed Baldwin for contemporary readers.

The Themes That Defined His Year

When Patricio asked whether his personal picks shared a theme, Andrew paused — then admitted something unexpected.

“I didn’t plan it this way,” he said, “but a lot of what I read this year ended up being about approaching middle age and feeling… uncomfortable about it.”

One example is The Ten-Year Affair by Erin Somers, a multiverse-styled novel about a woman with a stable life, two kids, and a simmering dissatisfaction she can’t quite name.

“It’s about imagining the roads you could have taken — and wondering why stability sometimes feels unsettling.”

Books Colleagues Made Him Revisit

NPR voices brought plenty of surprises.
Michelle Martin’s love for True Grit by Charles Portis, for instance, made Andrew rethink the power of the story — especially for young girls who saw a fierce, capable heroine take charge of her own narrative.

Another colleague convinced him to give Dune by Frank Herbert a second chance — a book Andrew abandoned as a teenager.

“Now I think I’m Dune-pilled,” he joked.

Reading With Kids: What’s Changing

As a father, Patricio asked Andrew about trends in children’s books. Andrew, who reads nightly with his two-and-a-half-year-old, said he’s become very choosy — especially with books destined to be read a thousand times.

He’s noticing a shift toward stories that go beyond simple moral lessons.

“We’re reading more ambiguous books,” he said. “Not Breaking Bad levels of ambiguity,” he laughed, “but definitely less didactic. It’s been fun to see kids’ books evolve that way.”

What’s On Andrew’s Nightstand

Right now, Andrew is juggling:

Two writers known for their experimentation, rhythm, and voice — fitting picks for someone who lives in language every day.

Listen to the Full Conversation

Books We Love and Books We’ve Loved are available now through the Book of the Day podcast through December 4.

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest cooking days of the year—and one of the most dangerous. Between crowded kitchens, deep-fried turkeys, candles, fireplaces, and heavy holiday travel, the risk of fires and accidents spikes heading into the holiday weekend.

To help keep families safe, Radio Catskill’s Patricio Robayo spoke with John Hauschild, Sullivan County’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety and Fire Coordinator. He shared practical tips to help avoid common Thanksgiving hazards, from deep-frying disasters to kitchen fires and dangerous late-night drives.

Deep-Frying a Turkey? Be Careful. Very Careful.

Hauschild says deep-fried turkeys may taste amazing, but they’re one of the top causes of holiday fires.

The biggest danger? Hot oil overflowing when the turkey is lowered in.

That becomes especially dangerous when fryers are used in garages, on decks, or near houses, where flames can quickly spread.

His advice:

“And remember,” he says, “you can get burned yourself if you’re not careful.”

Heavy Holiday Travel: Slow Down and Stay Sober

Thanksgiving is consistently one of the busiest travel days of the year, and Hauschild urges drivers to take it seriously.

He also warns that drinking with family can lead to risky nighttime drives.

Add unpredictable late-November weather—rain, ice, even early snow—and the risk increases.

Hauschild’s message is simple:
 Enjoy yourself, but be responsible. A split second is all it takes for something to go wrong.

Candles and Decorations: Simple Traditions, Serious Risks

Candles are a holiday favorite, but they’re also a common cause of house fires.

Hauschild says to keep candles far away from anything that can burn:

And never leave them burning unattended.

“Make sure the candles are out before you go to bed,” he says.

Food Safety: Don’t Undercook the Turkey

While not a traditional fire call, food safety issues—like improperly cooked turkey—come up often during the holiday.

Undercooked turkey can lead to foodborne illness, and handling raw poultry improperly can contaminate surfaces. He also jokes about another Thanksgiving hazard:

If Something Goes Wrong, Call 911 First

If a fire starts or something feels out of control, Hauschild says the first step is always the same:

The fire department would much rather arrive early to something small than arrive too late to something big.

“Make sure everyone is safe before trying to put out a fire yourself,” he adds. “Grease fires, kitchen fires—they can escalate quickly.”

Holiday Heating Hazards: Chimneys and Space Heaters

Thanksgiving weekend also brings cold weather and the first big use of fireplaces and space heaters.

Hauschild says chimney fires are another common call this time of year.

“People fire up their stoves and fireplaces for the season,” he notes. “Make sure your chimney is cleaned.”

For space heaters:

A Final Message from the Fire Coordinator

As families gather, cook, travel, and celebrate, Hauschild hopes everyone enjoys the holiday safely.

As the holiday season gets underway with Thanksgiving, many families are still feeling the ripple effects of the recent federal shutdown—everything from cuts to SNAP to uncertainty around HEAP. For a lot of people, it’s been a tough stretch.

But in Monticello, the Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless is once again stepping up. They’ll be giving out turkeys tomorrow and hosting a full Thanksgiving dinner for anyone who doesn’t have the means to make one at home—or anyone who simply needs a place to belong for the holiday.

Executive Director Kathy Kreiter says their doors are open to everyone, and she’s already seen demand rise in the weeks since the shutdown. More neighbors are coming in for help, and the Federation is doing what it always does: make sure no one is left out this Thanksgiving.

The Open Enrollment period for Affordable Care Act plans is under way until January 15, 2026. However, the recent government shutdown ending without an extension of premium tax credits is leaving many Americans scrambling for affordable options. 

With the increase in monthly premiums, the Congressional Budget Office estimates as many as 40% of currently covered Americans will drop medical coverage all together. 

Radio Catskill’s Genevieve Hartnett spoke with Dr. Katherine Hempstead, Senior Policy Advisor at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation about affordable options in a time of crisis and how universal health care reform could help keep us all healthier.

The Second Annual Gospel from the Garage concert returns this Saturday at 4 PM, bringing century-old spirituals, folk blues, protest songs, and electrified originals to the Riverside United Methodist Church in Barryville. The concert helps support local food pantries and musician and writer Mike Edison is ready to play loud, play bold, and bring the community together.

Edison, who has toured with bands like Sonic Youth and the Ramones and wrote a book about Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, joined Radio Catskill’s Patricio Robayo in the studio this week with guitar in hand to preview the show.

For Edison, Gospel from the Garage is both a performance and a purpose.

He talked about tracing rock and roll back to its roots in Black church traditions, discovering spirituals on truck-stop cassette racks while touring with punk bands, and finding inspiration in musicians like Odetta, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Blind Willie Johnson, and the Staple Singers. Those influences shape the sound he brings into the church each year.

Last year’s concert happened during a blackout that lasted nearly a full week. Power returned only minutes before showtime.

During the studio visit, Edison performed a powerful rendition of the traditional “In My Time of Dying” along with a new theme song he plays with his band, the Edison Rocket Train. Both performances showed his blend of spiritual grit, blues rhythm, and rock-and-roll drive, a style he jokingly calls “go-go gospel with the shaking beat.”

He also spoke about teaching at Bethel Woods, the value of music education for both kids and adults, and his belief that even simple instruments matter.

If You Go

Second Annual Gospel from the Garage
Saturday, November 22
4 PM
Riverside United Methodist Church in Barryville
Route 97 by the river
Proceeds support local food pantries

Edison says he will bring protest songs, traditional spirituals, and his electric guitar back into the church for another year of high-energy, community-centered music.

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HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers have passed a $50.1 billion budget that makes additional investments in public schools, creates a tax credit for lower-income people, and ends the state’s participation in a climate program.

The bills that made up the final package won bipartisan approval in the state House and Senate on Wednesday. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the legislation that afternoon.

The deal ends a four-month budget impasse that stopped the flow of billions of state dollars to schools, counties, and nonprofits that provide critical public services. It includes a mix of compromises designed to win enough support in the divided General Assembly.

“I could have stood here on June 30 and brought you a budget that looked really different, that didn't have education funding, that didn't focus on our workforce development, didn't have a tax credit for working families,” Shapiro told reporters at a news conference after he signed the budget. “I think the key when you're in these positions — I know the leaders feel the same way — is staying at the table.”

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Among what Democrats touted as wins: a $178 million reduction in public school districts’ reimbursements to cyber charter schools and more than $500 million in new funding for the poorest schools to help close an “adequacy gap.”

Republicans, meanwhile, celebrated the end of Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a key climate program that caps carbon pollution.

The impasse was primarily driven by deep, partisan disagreements about state spending. While Pennsylvania is flush with cash built up during the pandemic, its annual bills for services like Medicaid and education regularly outstrip the state’s annual revenues.

The final deal leaves the state’s $7.4 billion rainy day fund untouched, but does use almost $4 billion from other reserves.

Democrats had also sought new, recurring revenue to stabilize the state’s public transit agencies, including SEPTA in Philadelphia. Ultimately, SEPTA was allowed to tap a special state fund, and Democrats dropped the demand.

Both sides spent the months since the June 30 deadline trading private proposals and increasingly harsh rhetorical broadsides as closed-door talks ebbed and flowed with no results.

All the while, the consequences of the impasse continued mounting.

Public schools across the commonwealth cut programs, spent down their reserves, or took out loans as the state failed to make billions in critical payments. The strain also extended to safety net programs like rape crisis centers, nonprofits like those that run early childhood intervention programs, and county-administered services such as foster care and homeless assistance.

Ultimately, the final budget deal was more than a billion dollars less than what Shapiro initially wanted and more than $2 billion over what the GOP had advanced.

"If we were just going to spend $50 billion,” state Sen. Dawn Keefer (R., York) told reporters Tuesday, “why didn't we do it four months ago?"

Education spending

The budget provides $565 million to aid schools that were found to be inadequately funded under a 2023 court ruling.

“For two straight years, a bipartisan commitment to adequacy signals that lawmakers have made this a non-negotiable priority until full constitutional compliance is achieved,” PA Schools Work, a coalition including the plaintiffs in that suit, said. “That represents progress and integrity.”

Those dollars will mostly flow to schools in low-income communities with students who need extra help or that face high property taxes.

The budget also includes $125 million for school facilities and $100 million for school mental health and safety, but otherwise only boosts the state’s general school district subsidy by $105 million, or 1.3%

Instead, districts will collectively save $178 million through a change to how the state’s cyber charter schools are reimbursed, a longtime bipartisan priority.

Pennsylvania school districts must pay tuition to charter schools for any students within their borders who opt to attend one. Districts pay online-only cyber charter schools the same rate that it does for brick-and-mortar schools, despite the former’s lower overhead costs.

The budget received immediate pushback from cyber charter school officials, who argued that the toll to their finances may be even higher than estimated.

“Fair funding cannot be a right reserved only for students in brick-and-mortar school districts,” Karla Johnson, CEO at Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, said in a statement. “It must also belong to the more than 65,000 children who attend Pennsylvania’s public cyber charter schools, and depend on them for their education and their future.”

The deal also included another bipartisan cyber charter school reform: mandating weekly wellness checks on students, wherein a teacher or administrator must be able to visibly see the student to ensure their well-being. The original legislation was spurred, in part, by the death of a 12-year-old cyber charter student.

The budget does not create taxpayer-funded school vouchers — a Republican priority — but it does expand a popular tax credit program that underwrites scholarships for Pennsylvania students to attend private schools. The Educational Improvement Tax Credit, or EITC, will grow by $50 million to a total of $590 million.

No new revenue sources

Every day, people get texts that make their heart race. "You have an unpaid toll balance. Please pay to avoid penalties or further action." "Driver Chat: A message from the driver delivering your Amazon packages. Click here to reply." "Hello, this is TikTok Recruitment Center. We are now hiring 3,000 TikTok backup talents." These messages may seem very different but they have one thing in common: they're fake. The language is designed to get people to click on links that often steal information or money. Internet scams are nothing new but while the government was shutdown, they increased by at least ten percent, according to Nomorobo, a fraud prevention service.

Matt Mizenko, a General Manager at Nomorobo, says his company was anticipating conmen taking advantage of the shutdown. He told WJFF, "We saw, generally speaking, an increase in just overall call volume of about 80%. The number of calls within that increase that we've had to block depends on the region, but it's been anywhere from 50% to up to 150% of normal." Mizenko says people were particularly vulnerable due to uncertainty about food stamps, immigration status, and healthcare premiums. "Because no one in the government is answering phones, it's very easy for a scammer to call and say they are from the IRS, Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration, and there's no way for the person that's being victimized to call and verify whether that's true or not, because those agencies just simply aren't there." 

Artificial intelligence is also making it easier than ever to contact people en masse. Algorithms can identify people in financial trouble, collect contact information for them, and even write the messages. Mizenko referenced the unpaid toll text quoted above and explained, " That's why it propagated so quickly, because it's basically no effort to spin those things up and you get a lot of money. If you can get 10 people to pay a $500 fine, you've now made $5,000."

Now that the shutdown has ended, Mizenko anticipates scams shifting back to ones that are usually prominent this time of year. Right now, that means taking advantage of open enrollment season for healthcare. Then, he predicts, "after the first of the year, we'll see the IRS scams pop up and then in the middle will be the package scams because people are worried about if they're going to get their packages for their holiday gifts."

As the technology gets more sophisticated and situations like a shutdown leave people particularly vulnerable, it's easier than ever to fall prey to a scam. " One of the most important takeaways that we got from (our) research survey was that anybody can be a victim and you should certainly not victim blame... scamming cuts across every demographic." 

Residents and visitors will get a rare chance to step back into the Catskills’ past this weekend when the Roscoe O&W Railway Museum hosts a special presentation on the history of Cooks Falls. The event, The Rich History of Cooks Falls, takes place Saturday at 3 p.m. at the museum on Railroad Avenue in Roscoe.

The talk will be led by Rich Hascha, a longtime history enthusiast who has been piecing together the story of Cooks Falls through original postcards, old photographs, and years of research. What began as a personal curiosity has grown into an unexpected treasure trove of local history.

Hascha, who has fished and visited the area since the early 1980s, moved to Cooks Falls permanently in 2010. He said the project started almost by accident when a neighbor mentioned that a postcard of his house—dating back more than a century—was being sold online.

“I looked it up, and sure enough, there was my house on Maple Avenue in a postcard from the early 1900s,” Hascha said. “That opened the door. I started collecting more, reading up, and realizing just how vibrant this hamlet once was.”

Postcards were booming in the early 20th century. With cheap mailing costs and limited access to personal cameras, visitors relied on them to share their travels. Cooks Falls, despite its small size, produced hundreds of these cards—many of them real photographic postcards, some taken by German photographers known for high-quality equipment.

Through these images, Hascha discovered a Cooks Falls that looked nothing like the quiet hamlet people know today. In the mid-1800s and early 1900s, the area was home to thriving industries: acid factories, lumbering operations, bluestone quarries, and even a dye works facility that supplied dyes used for U.S. military uniforms during World War I.

“It was a very industrious area at one time,” Hascha said. “A lot of people don’t realize what was produced here, or how many locals were employed by these factories and mills.”

Tourism also played a major role in the region’s growth. The Ontario & Western Railway brought visitors from New York City to hotels throughout the Catskills. Cooks Falls became a popular stopover, home to multiple hotels—including the once-grand Francisco House and Mountain Lake Hotel.

Hascha’s presentation also highlights smaller, colorful pieces of local history: a nickel ferry that once carried passengers across the river, the dynamiting of a waterfall in the 1850s to move lumber downstream, and the massive log rafts—some 100 feet long—that floated all the way to Philadelphia.

Beyond industry and postcards, Hascha hopes audiences appreciate how much of this history survives because people held onto physical artifacts—items that don’t always persist in the digital age.

“Fifty or sixty years from now, there might not be a record of our lives the way there is for previous generations,” he said. “These postcards and photographs are pieces of someone’s story, and they still connect us.”

Saturday’s presentation doubles as a fundraiser for the Roscoe Shepherd’s Food Pantry. Attendees are encouraged to bring a canned good or make a small donation. There is no admission fee.

For Hascha—who jokes that he’s “not a big public speaker”—the goal is simple: share what he’s learned and keep this local history alive.

“The more people that come, the better,” he said. “If it fills the room, that just means more people care about keeping this history alive.”

The Rich History of Cooks Falls
Saturday, 3 p.m.
Roscoe O&W Railway Museum
7 Railroad Avenue, Roscoe, NY
Donations of canned food are encouraged.