Jay Schadler Interviews Stephanie Mastocciolo

Stephanie Mastocciolo keeps her turning points simple: love and loss. But nothing about her journey has been simple. From a Caribbean-Haitian childhood to life as a first-generation American, from a career in finance and high fashion to the identity she always wanted most — a mother — her story is a study in deliberate reinvention. In this conversation, she talks about what it costs to become yourself, and what it costs to let go.

Show info: https://westportlibrary.org/turning-point-podcast-jay-schadler/

Jay Schadler Interviews Miggs Burroughs

By the time Miggs Burroughs became one of Westport's most beloved artists and thinkers, he had already survived a British jail cell at 19 — and a murder plot he didn't see coming. Not everyone who knew him then would have predicted he'd become a luminous creative force and a man of rare philosophical depth. This is the story of how extremity becomes clarity, and how a life shaped by danger can become a life devoted to beauty.

Show info: https://westportlibrary.org/turning-point-podcast-jay-schadler/

Jay Schadler Interviews John Rountree

John Rountree has spent his career designing homes built to harness the sun — structures made to be resilient, efficient, and full of light. But long before he became an architect, he learned something about foundations: they can fail. At 21, a life-threatening illness stripped everything down to the studs. Years later, approaching middle age, a spiritual awakening rebuilt what remained. His story moves along two converging paths — one physical, one transcendent — and arrives somewhere unexpected: at gratitude, purpose, and a life designed, finally, with the light in mind.

Show info: https://westportlibrary.org/turning-point-podcast-jay-schadler/

Jay Schadler Interviews Dan Woog

Dan Woog has been covering Westport longer than most of its residents have lived here. His column "Woog World" has run in the Westport News since 1986 — and his blog 06880 has become the town's unofficial public square. But Dan isn't just a chronicler of this community. He's helped shape it — as a journalist, author, soccer coach, and decades-long LGBT activist. In this conversation, he talks about the turning points that made him who he is, and what it means to spend a career telling the stories of the place you call home.

Show info: https://westportlibrary.org/turning-point-podcast-jay-schadler/

Jay Schadler Interviews Andrew Wilk

For an amazing ride, hitch onto this conversation with the extraordinary Andrew Wilk, a five-time Emmy Award-winning producer and director of Stars in Concert for PBS, Live from Lincoln Center, and the National Geographic Channel. Oh, and you also might just catch him at the podium conducting a major symphony or two. Welcome to one star with a galaxy of talents.

Jay Schadler Interview Jim Kudzo

The isolation caused by the Covid pandemic rippled across so many of our lives. But for Kevin Kudzo —a 17-year-old All-American boy — it deepened a depression he was already battling. In 2021, he took his life. Though devastated beyond words, Kevin’s parents turned the tragedy into a propelling legacy by creating “Afterglow,” a program dedicated to helping others struggling with mental health issues.  

Jay Schadler Interviews Gerardo Lambert

Gerardo Lambert has traveled a twisting path from fitness guru and body builder to heart attack victim and back again. His trail leads through a three-month coma and his awakening with a new heart and an old lesson in humility and purpose.  

Jay Schadler Interview Jenny and Anthony Capalbo

When 18-year-old Charlie suddenly took ill while playing in a hockey tournament with his younger brother, little did anyone know that a cruel diagnosis and the deepest act of love were about to become the cornerstones of the Capalbo’s family story.

Jay Schadler interviews Doug and Patti Brill

Imagine what your world would be like if you had no memory. Doug Brill doesn’t have to imagine it…he lives it. Nearly a quarter century ago, a rare brain virus stole his memory…forever. For Doug, the past does not exist. With his wife Patti at his side, we explore what it means to live a life where all of youryesterdays have simply vanished.