Local Businesses Episodes

This episode is all about cheese. Who doesn't love it? To answer them all, Cidiot interviews Lauren Cunningham-Housman, owner of The Corner Counter, a new cheese and provisions shop in Red Hook, NY. Lauren worked for years with iconic cheese purveyor Murray's Cheese in New York City, and combining her business school education and her experience in (and love of) cheese, built a plan to open her own shop. I ask her how she chose the Hudson Valley, about her journey from intern to opening he...

Welcome to Season 6 of Cidiot®! I'm excited to talk about 700,000 acre-big Catskill Park, "America's First Wilderness," with Ryan Penny, owner of Camp Catskill in Tannersville, NY. In two parts, we'll cover what drew Ryan to the Catskills, about starting his store in Tannersville, spotting a cidiot, and about Catskill Park, including his four favorite spots "inside the blue line." We also get into Kaaterskill Falls and the controversy of its claim as the tallest waterfall in New York state. W...

I love color. I’m fascinated by color. I have questions. Amy Krane is an architectural color consultant as well as a real estate broker. And get this: she has her own podcast on color called Let’s Talk (Paint) Color with colleague Amy Woolf. On this episode in three fun, chatty parts, Amy and I talk about her journey upstate (she’s not a newbie) and then becoming a color consultant and then into my thousand questions about color especially for rural homes, historical homes - starting with why...

Ash trees are dying fast. Not just at our house, but across the Hudson Valley. This has made me learn a lot about taking care of trees (e.g., the PINE method for tree care: prune, inspect, nourish and extend), meet a shirtless tree caregiver, and find an expert to ask all my questions about insurance. Scot Hastie of Pardee’s Agency in Kingston, NY, thankfully came to rescue us cidiots, tackling a thorough Q&A across homeowners, auto and commercial insurance. We talk about what insurance cover...

Meet a couple who makes a leap, not just in moving upstate, but by restoring a motel. Cidiot talks to Kendra Sinclair and Jared Vengrin who have just opened the Reclaimed Motel in Red Hook in Dutchess County, New York. Jared grew up here, met Kendra in college and now they’ve together been lovingly updating this motel along the Albany Post Road with a view of the Catskills. With fantasies of being Moira from Schitt’s Creek and furnishing it with vintage items within a 20-mile radius, they’ve des...

When you think of art in the Hudson Valley, your head probably goes to the Hudson Valley School and the river, mountains and landscapes of Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church. You know, dead old white men. Anne Sanger runs the Pinkwater Gallery in uptown Kingston. She’s an artist and her gallery focuses on women artists of the Hudson Valley. We talk about her journey to the Hudson Valley, taking a wrong turn—or was it a right turn—and becoming an artist. We also chat about the types of arti...

In a special cross-over in honor of International Podcast Day, Cidiot talks to this year’s winner of the Chronogrammie for regional podcast (we got runner-up!) Brett of Kaatscast podcast. It’s no wonder he won. A pro in audio with a very handsome voice and a public radio style podcast, Brett has recording more than 65 episodes of Kaatscast as well as audiobooks and driving tours of the Catskills. Recorded outside at Ole Savannah’s in Kingston on the water, we talk about how working in audio l...

If you love books, you’ll love this episode. Cidiot gets local, pro recommendations from Oblong Books in Millerton and Rhinebeck, The Chatham Bookstore in Chatham, Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston, and several Cidiot listeners. Links here and on the episode page on Cidiot.com Books mentioned: One Hundred Miles From Manhattan, Guillermo Fesser (memoir) The Rural Life, Verlyn Klinkenborg (memoir) This Poison Heart, Kalynn Bayron (novel) Please Wait To Be Tasted: L’il Debs Oasis ...

A big part of why we love the Hudson Valley and Catskills is because of the farms and the animals. In this awesome, moving, eye-opening, and hilarious episode, you’ll meet the fabulous Kathy Stevens and hear how Catskill Animal Sanctuary in Saugerties got started and its mission. You’ll learn about Noodles, a blind horse named Buddy, and a cow named Tucker, what Kathy calls 'random acts of callousness' and about the Underfoot Family. “The tours change people,” Kathy explains. You’ll als...

Newburgh is one of the oldest towns in New York State and frequently talked about as a city coming around. Cidiot spoke to Diane Parisella, who with her business partner Lisa Morgan, own Designed Grind Cafe at the Newburgh Mall and started The Newburgh Market, held on Sundays from April through the end of October in the mall parking lot from 10am-3pm. Hear about the market, their business, what's coming to the mall, her favorite places in the Hudson Valley, and more on Newburgh itself. Sto...

I asked our new sponsors at Taconic Toastmasters Club to help me be a better presenter on air for you. They went through a few of my episodes and tell me what I'm doing right—and maybe could be better. I'm a believer in self-improvement and I'll take a few tips wherever I can get them. Including about owls. Want to develop and polish communication and leadership skills in a fun, friendly, supportive environment? Join Taconic Toastmasters Club at their next meeting at the Columbia County Chamb...

It's strawberry season! Yes, I can't eat them sadly, but you probably can happily. In this special episode breaking from our usual schedule, hear directly from Robinson Greig at Greig Farm on best practices of what to look for and how to pick them. Thanks for listening to Cidiot, the award winning podcast about moving to the Hudson Valley, Catskills, and Berkshires. Subscribe to the newsletter on the home page of this site and follow us on Instagram. Photo courtesy of Greig Farm. --- Se...

Is it a chore or a passion? This episode of Cidiot we go through seasonal to-do lists, from Mat, from listeners—and from a special guest Robinson Greig of Greig Farm. No one has a longer—or more daunting list—than a farmer. If updating your kitchen, bathrooms and pantry is on your to-do list (it's on ours!), then you're in luck since a new sponsor of Cidiot is Hudson Valley Kitchen Design Center. For Cidiot listeners, just mention the podcast to save $500 off a project of $5,000 or more. See ...

Some of the most important news is local. Mat interviews Emily Sachar, publisher and editor of The Daily Catch. She shares her journey from a newspaper reporter (including an internship under Bob Woodward at The Washington Post), to an art historian and then starting The Daily Catch in Red Hook, NY. We hear about the stories of which she's proudest, behind the scenes of the Daily Catch's Ukraine coverage, what it takes to produce a daily paper, about just doing "the next right thing," and more. ...

The Chronogrammies weren't always reader's choice, but luckily they are now. This episode, Mat reviews Chronogram magazine's 3rd Annual Chronogrammies finalists category by category with his picks for your vote—and why. From Arts & Entertainment and Retail to Nature & Outdoors, Shelter, Health & Wellness, and even People. You'll hear his top picks including Adams Fairacre Farms, Ashokan Resevoir, Bangallworks, Clermont, Citiot, Giobatta, Graham & Co., Greig Farm, Oblong Books, Olana Historic ...

Whether you consider cottage core a movement or a stylish trend, it’s a connection to the past. I talk about what it means to me, including its form in Jello-molds. I also talk to Jeremy Franson and Sandra Franson, who run Comfort & Joy - Family Heritage for Today. We talk about their connection to the Hudson Valley, visiting Grammy Joy in Rhinebeck (they called it “Regular Town”), living on a farm, chamber pots, and about tradition—and why it’s important to keep it. We also get a primer in Wome...

This episode of Cidiot is about managing stress and the proven science of the great outdoors being good for you. I talk to Allison Chawla, host of Talk to Allison on Radio Free Rhinecliff as well as a psychotherapist, healer, and coach. We talk about change, giving up what is comfortable, about the artistic hamlet of Rhinecliff, parenting, moving up here from the city, newfound diversity, foraging—and keeping a knife under her bed in fear of the silence. Thanks for tuning in and be sure to su...

Andrew & Clark of Hamilton & Adams. Photo: James J. Reddington Maybe you’ve seen the t-shirt. Maybe you own one. I sure do. “Upstate & Chill” is a trademark saying from Hamilton & Adams, a cool and beloved retailer for men and women in Kingston, NY. For me, it perfectly captures the spirit of moving to the Hudson Valley and upstate New York so much so, it’s a lyric in our Cidiot anthem. This second episode of Season 5, I interview Andrew Adotta of Hamilton & Adams about his path up here, o...

I don't think we've talked this season enough about cows. So to close out the year and season four, meet Matt Baumgartner. Matt owns June Farms in upstate New York near Albany as well the Troy Beer Garden, the Berlin Lounge, the Olde English Pub, and Wolf’s Biergarten in Syracuse. We talk about his story, being an entrepreneur, how he started June Farms, about the animals—how pigs are smarter than cows—and you’ll even learn the funny story behind the farm's name. Also see a past article in th...

Sometimes life comes full circle. This episode, Mat interviews Lori Greenberg and Sarah Goldberg from The Container House in Tivoli, NY, coincidentally (or is it?) owned by a recruiter and business owner from Mat's past. The Container House is an awesome structure designed by Arnaud Cornillon as a model for sustainable living and where Greenberg is building a community for creative people. Pictured above: Lori Greenberg of The Container House. Thanks for listening to Cidiot, the award-win...

Meet Kimberlie Dykeman, a Rhinebeck native, who runs Wingman, a personal concierge and estate management business in the Hudson Valley. She and I cover what’s changed, why she started her business, advice for new homeowners, how to treat vendors that come in and out of your house, her favorite spots, and some unique requests she's gotten over the years. Thanks for helping making Cidiot winner of the 2021 Chronogrammies for best regional podcast. Follow the show on Instagram, Twitter and Faceb...

That's not a typo. That's the other spelling of Cidiot. Join me for this three-year birthday episode as I share Cidiot's early brand foundation, the story behind the logo, and an interview with Pim Zeegers, who just opened the fabulous Citiot store in Catskill, NY. Hear his take on our shared word, his story as a double outsider, about his business, and how you can get a taste of stropwafel. Plus I've started a new idea from my brother-in-law Adam: asking guests their favorite (secret) places in...

As more and more people consider working remote, let's talk to Steve and Tom, who have created a business in Stanfordville that gives people comfortably-designed spaces and also builds unique community. Nestled in a historic hamlet, Bangallworks Coworking and Community Building offers memberships for open plan workspaces, private workstations and special events and meetings both inside and outside. Bangallworks offers daily, part time, and full time memberships and provides high speed internet, ...

Cidiot turns the microphone on the editors and owners of IMBY.com (In My Back Yard), a network of local newspapers to hear their story and about the importance of a local press and citizen journalism in our communities. Thanks to new sponsor Ledgewood Kennels in Millerton, NY and for all of you listening and subscribing to Cidiot. Be sure to subscribe to Cidiot so you don't miss an episode at vote for Cidiot as best Regional Podcast April 1-May 15 at Chronogram.com for the Chronogrammies reader ...