Episodes

Mat finally takes up gardening but in the safety and security of an adopted small garden plot at Four Corners Community Farm. It's a learning experience for sure, so join him via his audio journal as he tries to grow vegetables vs. flowers. Links: Four Corners Community Farm Old Dutch Village Gardening Club Garden Pals National Garden Association Thanks for listening to Cidiot®, the Hudson Valley's most awarded podcast. Would love to hear from you about what you would love to hear ab...

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...

Sometimes the show takes you to new places, and sometimes the way to get there is the destination. U.S. Route 9 is historic—for much of the portion in New York State, it's The Albany Post Road. Join Cidiot® for a very personal driving tour from Poughkeepsie to Kinderhook with sites, stops and history along the way. Be sure to see the surviving markers, a system developed by Ben Franklin, including the iconic 100-mile marker in Rhinebeck. Below are some of the places mentioned w/links for more...

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...

Cidiot closes out Season 5—the show's biggest yet—with reflections on what worked and what's ahead. Thank you for making Cidiot one of the Hudson Valley's biggest and most loved shows. Stay warm catching up on past episodes and watching the Cidiot anthem video, available here, via Cidiot.com, and on YouTube. Thank you for our sponsors and partners this season, including El Sueco and the Don, Greig Farm, Hudson Valley Kitchen Design Center, Hudson Community Incubator, Taconic Toastmasters C...

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...

It seemed like a giant beehive was in our willow. Or was it? What should a cidiot do anyway? This episode is about the little critters that fill our lives—and our properties—in the Hudson Valley. Bees, wasps, bats, snakes, spiders, chipmunks, frogs, beavers—and more. Tune in for an education and a giggle. Links: Beaverland, Leila Philip (new book!) Beekeeping in the Hudson Valley and Catskills Episode 78 Brett Barry shares his snake (and bear) stories Pestmasters Blog Spotted Laternfly (S...

Let's talk more broadly about this movement to the country and the experience for each of us. I speak to artist and photographer Alissa Hessler, founder of Urban Exodus, a project and podcast. She is also author of Ditch The City and Go Country: How to Master the Art of Rural Life From a Former City Dweller, which is how I first found out about her. You can already tell she's a role model for me. From her studio in Maine, Alissa talks about her move to the country, what she's learned, the imp...

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...

Super-short episode today while Cidiot prepares for a big, big, big fall sprint of shows starting September 1. Get on the free Cidiot newsletter to not miss a thing! Cidiot Anthem (Audio only): Apple Music, Spotify, Soundcloud Cidiot Anthem (Video): YouTube

Four years since the show debuted! What a good time for a State of the Cidiot. In this special episode, Mat reflects on what Cidiot has accomplished so far along with birthday messages from several listeners, including Mark, Katie, Allison, Irwin, Adam—and of course superfan Leslie, Mat's mom. Thanks for supporting and enjoying Cidiot, the award-winning podcast about life in upstate New York including the Hudson Valley, Catskills, and Massachusetts' Berkshires. A few things you can do t...

Is there an equivalent for cidiots in Maine? Yes there is! In fact, Mainers have their own dictionary of phrases I was excited to learn on our two-week vacation. It got me thinking about doing nothing and doing everything. I'll share my update on our to-do list and Robinson Greig sends in an update from Greig Farm. Other links: Discover Upstate Art Weekend July 22-24, 2022. Info here. Thanks to our sponsor Hudson Valley Kitchen and Design Center. Mention Cidiot for $500 off your projec...

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...

Let's go further north. Health. History. Horses. And culture. Cidiot has a one-on-one conversation with Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). You’ll hear about Elizabeth’s journey to leading SPAC, her discovery and full on love of Saratoga, what’s on this season, from jazz to the ballet — plus a delicious innovation “Choreographer’s Feast “ — dancers do eat! And in part three, Elizabeth shares her recommended itinerary of where to go for a weekend in Sarat...

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...

Pride starts early in June across the Hudson Valley, Catskills and Berkshires. This episode I talk to Osun Zotique, executive director of OutHudson and the co-grand marshal of Hudson Pride. If you’re following the news, you may have also seen that Osun just announced a historic run for congress to represent the new 19th district. To their knowledge, Osun is the first trans non-binary candidate to run for national office. Learn more at OsunforNY.com. Osun and I talk about pride in the Hudson V...

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. ...