WJFF - Trailer Talk

Guest: The State of Democracy

From new state laws making it harder to vote to a deadly attack on Congress, the biggest news stories of the past year were about our democracy. From the Pope, to President Biden, to people in the grocery store, everyone is talking about and concerned with the state of our democracy.

Radio Catskill's The State of Democracy Special hosted by The River Reporter's Laurie Stuart, will be joined by

Abigail Evans, Campus Leader of The Democracy Matters Institute at SUNY Albany,

Jeff Miller Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at SUNY New Paltz

and

Sandra Cuellar Oxford, Citizen Activist.

Guest: Andrea Reynosa and Sandra Donner

Sabrina speaks with artist, activist and farmer, Andrea Reynosa and architect Sandra Donner about their collaboration on the First Suppers Project in New Mexico. Andrea's Sky Dog Supper Club project began in the Sullivan County Catskills as a response to the previously proposed fracking in the region and has expanded over the last 7 years to the interdisciplinary First Supper project with Antonio Trujillo and the St. Joseph Mission School, east of Grants, New Mexico where they are working with students from Acoma Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo, San Fidel, Cubero, and other nearby villages. Andrea is continuing her collaboration with the Santa Fe Art Institute on this First Supper socially engaged art project. – Guest: Brenda Seldin

Brenda Seldin, animal communicator and Akashic Records Channeler speaks with Sabrina about her work that she shares, "offers messages of guidance and healing energies for the people she works with." Brenda began her work as a wildlife rehabilitator in NYC, leading her to the metaphysical work that has continued to develop in the Delaware River Valley region of upstate New York.

Sabrina Artel's Trailer Talk is combination live performance, community event and radio broadcast based in the New York's Catskills region.

Sabrina Artel's Trailer Talk is combination live performance, community event and radio broadcast based in the New York's Catskills region.

Sabrina Artel's Trailer Talk is combination live performance, community event and radio broadcast based in the New York's Catskills region.

Sabrina Artel's Trailer Talk is combination live performance, community event and radio broadcast based in the New York's Catskills region.

Sabrina Artel's Trailer Talk is combination live performance, community event and radio broadcast based in the New York's Catskills region.

Sabrina Artel's Trailer Talk is combination live performance, community event and radio broadcast based in the New York's Catskills region.

Guest: Martin Colavito

Sullivan Allies Leading Together, known as SALT is a Sullivan County, NY-based grassroots organization feeding the hungry, providing shelter, and many other essential needs for community members. SALT addresses the systemic problems afflicting our community for decades in Sullivan. Sullivan has one of the overall lowest rankings for health, tied in to access to resources and historic economic hardships. Sabrina is joined at the virtual kitchen table of her 1965 BeeLine travel trailer by Martin Colavito, the Community Hub program manager. He discusses the severity of food insecurity in the county and the collaborative efforts to remind people that they aren't alone and we need each other. To find out more please visit, SALT.

Guest: Laura Flanders

How has COVID impacted our community in Sullivan County, NY? Sabrina collaborated on Covid in the Country, an episode of The Laura Flanders Show for National TV at the height of the ongoing pandemic. Laura joins Sabrina as a co-host for this conversation with some of the guests from the report. Sandy Oxford, the Executive Director of the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation, and Carlos Orellana, a labor organizer both neighbors in Sullivan, talk about the impacts of the pandemic and needed changes for this Catskill community. – Guest: Judge Josephine Victoria Finn

A beloved member of the Sullivan County, Catskills, Judge Josephine Victoria Finn is known as a "beacon" of justice, youth advocate, and mentor. The Honorable Finn shares her personal and professional history with Sabrina, why she focuses on at-risk youth in Sullivan County, racial equity, and the importance of engagement with our judicial system for both defendants and the community's health. In addition to serving as Assistant County Attorney for Sullivan County and being the Vice-Chancellor of the 3rd Judicial District on the NY State Board of Regents, she has served for over 18 years as legal counsel to the Sullivan County Branch of the NAACP. A retirement brunch celebrating her distinguished career and vital contributions to Sullivan County will be held on September 19th at the Eagle's Nest in Bloomingburg, NY.