Hunkered Down

Tim Goplerud: A Pre-COVID Talk at The Dead Poets Bar

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 14:00:53 GMT

Reaching back a bit for this conversation with music composer Tim Goplerud. We got together several months before the COVID19 pandemic and talked about this man's delightful, joyful, and can't-get-it-out-of-your head music -- but in a really good way.

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Wade Ripka's Multiple Musical Personas

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 14:00:09 GMT

The week before Wade Ripka was on the New York Lawn Bowling Green in Central Park with his small band playing for the "Old Timers Day" Tournament. It was the first paying gig he and his musicians had had for over seven months. He was on the Green a week later -- this time bowling -- and after our game I sat down with this talented and multifaceted musician to catchup on how his career is progressing and his new interests. This talented guitarist and band leader and music transcriber -- always has a new interest -- right now it is the Turkish lute -- Bağlama.

Wade is a wild and loving cat and I am glad to call him a friend.

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Pedro Cortes: Flamenco Guitar Master

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 15:19:30 GMT

Pedro Cortes is a master Flamenco guitar musician with roots in Spanish Gypsy traditions. He learned his craft from his family's close friend Flamenco legion -- 'Uncle' Sabicas. Mr Cortes performed professionally since he was 17 – all over the world – St. Louis Opera -- New York Grand Opera -- Guthrie Theatre’s production of Lorca’s "Blood Wedding" – and he had a regular gig at Alegerias – at the Spanish Benevolent Society -- until the pandemic hit. The artist was interviewed before his performance at a music salon arranged by Deirdre Towers in honor of her longtime companion who had recently died -- Jared Newman. Pedro played his own composition "Mineros" on Jared's guitar.

NOTE: In the program notes photo - Pedro Cortes is playing the blanca guitar commissioned by Paul Jared Newman and made by Andrés Marvi in Ferreirola, Spain.

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Mark Kaplan - Part Two

Fri, 28 Aug 2020 14:00:31 GMT

Part 2 of a two-part HD episode. Mark Kaplan is a leading violinist of our time. He has performed solo at nearly every major American orchestra including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras and many more. Mark Kaplan has collaborated with the world's foremost conductors, among them Ormandy, Maazel, Masur, Foster, Gatti, Rattle, Slatkin and so many others.

In Part 1 of this conversation, we talked about Mark's early career and how he got started as a soloist for the world's foremost orchestras.
In Part 2 we focused on his chamber music and his most interesting predictions of where big-time professional music will be after the pandemic. Along the way we included excerpts from Mark's performances of Bach, Bartok, Lerdahl and Schoenfield. This is a wonderful listen and should not be missed.

CONTACT: upperwestsideradio@gmal.com

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Mark Kaplan - Part One

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 14:00:20 GMT

Part 1 of a two-part HD episode. Mark Kaplan is a leading violinist of our time. He has performed solo at nearly every major American orchestra including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras and many more. Mark Kaplan has collaborated with the world's foremost conductors, among them Ormandy, Maazel, Masur, Foster, Gatti, Rattle, Slatkin and so many others.

In Part 1 of this conversation, we talked about Mark's early career and how he got started as a soloist for the world's foremost orchestras. In Part 2 we focused on his chamber music and his most interesting predictions of where big-time professional music will be after the pandemic. Along the way we included exceprts from Mark's performances of Bach, Bartok, Lerdahl and Schoenfield. This is a wonderful listen and should not be missed.

CONTACT: upperwestsideradio@gmal.com

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Composers Concordance Social Bubble Salon

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 14:00:10 GMT

Joining me for this Hunkered Down episode are three musician/composers and one poet. Shortly after the COVID19 lockdown in NYC, these artist produced socially-distanced music events and broadcast them over their Facebook pages -- and called it -- The “Composers Concordance – Social Bubble Salon.”

Each of these artists is a composer and known performer in today's music world of New Music. In this HD episode, we talked about their work, the origins of the Composers Concordance, and then listened to excerpts of the music they have been presenting at their Social Bubble Salons.

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LIVE! Steven Feifke's Jazz Quartet -- January 2020

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 18:09:28 GMT

This Hunkered Down episode takes us back to that time when we could sit down with our neighbors at a great bar and listen to wonderful live jazz. This program was first presented on Upper West Side Radio's "UWS LIVE" program. Here is a look-back to a January 2020 recording of Steven Feifke's Jazz Quartet at The Gin Mill's Monday Night Speakeasy.

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David Schnitter w/ Art Blakey & many others

Sat, 01 Aug 2020 15:46:14 GMT

David Schnitter is a master Jazz tenor saxophonist who early in his career played in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers from 1974 to 1979 and then played with Freddie Hubbard. During a stellar career, Mr Schnitter has worked with Frank Foster, Charles Earland and Groove Holmes – and other Jazz greats. He has performed in the major Jazz venues in NYC and around the world. Last year he recorded a CD in Barcelona to be released in 2020 featuring Yaniv Taubenhouse on piano, Jorge Rossii on drums and vibes and Masa Kamaguchi on bass. We thank Joel Bernstein for inviting David Schnitter on Hunkered Down.

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Yelena Shmulenson and Allen Lewis Rickman

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 19:37:34 GMT

Here are two actors working in – and out – of New York City’s Yiddish Theatre. Ever since the great immigration of Jews from Europe New York City has been the center of Yiddish theatre which continues at such venues as the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbienne in downtown Manhattan since 1915.

Yelena Shmulenson was born in Belarus and came to the US with her family in 1993. She studied acting at Marymount College and learned Yiddish at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. And is known for her work on The Good Shepherd (2006) and Romeo and Juliet in Yiddish (2010), and inmate Boyle on “Orange is the New Black.”

Allen Lewis Rickman grew up in Far Rockaway in a Yiddish-speaking family. He attended Modern Orthodox schools and studied film at Brooklyn College. He is known for his work on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Boardwalk Empire as actor and translator, You Don't Know Jack and The Cobbler (2014) – and is quite busy as a Yiddish translator and he lectures and writes about Yiddish Theatre.

Yelena and Allen are probably best known for the brilliant opening of the Coen brother’s “A Serious Man” which we got to at the end of the conversation. And -- do not miss Yelena's Allen's rendition of a piece about a kazen-lover and baseball.

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Lauren LoGiudice - as Melania

Fri, 03 Jul 2020 14:00:34 GMT

After graduation from Wesleyan University, where she played basket ball – Lauren LoGuidice traveled to the Far Easton a fellowship award from the American India Foundation. In Bangelor, India, she helped AIDs patients – and studied Bharata Natyam – an ancient Indian dance form. While in India, Lauren decided to be an actor. And when she returned to NYC, she studied with Michael Howard. Since then she has performed in films, on soaps and commercials and co-starred on Veeps. She was named by Go Magazine in their “100 Women we Love” in 2008. Was a Moth Story SLAM champion in 2016. And most recently – Lauren has been invading the bodies of famous women – first Greta Garbo and now Melania Trump.

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Kelly Treleaven: Teacher / Blogger / Author

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 14:00:04 GMT

Kelly Treleaven is not a musician or an actor but she is a talented middle school teacher who has an audience without a stage. Kelly has lived in Houston most of her life. She began teaching in 2010, and for her first five years she taught in a Title 1 middle school. Kelly began her blog “Love, Teach” to work through her classroom problems and to keep her family informed about her progress. “Love, Teach” has become a most popular blog and she has a large Facebook and Twitter following. And Ms Treleaven just published a book of her experiences to help beginning teachers – “Love, Teach: Real stories and honest advice to keep teachers from crying under their desks”

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Tara O'Connor (flute) and Daniel Phillips (violin)

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 14:00:51 GMT

Tara O’Connor plays the flute and Daniel Phillips -- the violin. They are most accomplished, versatile and sought-after classical musicians - whose performance and teaching resumes are vast.

Daniel Phillips is a graduate of Julliard and founding member of the Orion String Quartet and is a regular performer at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has performed as a soloist with the Pittsburgh, Boston, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Yakima symphonies, and many others.

Tara O’Connor's repertoire spans every music era. She is a Season Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, also played with the Orion String Quartet, St, Lawrence Quartet, Emerson String Quartet and many others. She conducts a legendary master flute class in Banff Center in Canada every summer.

Tara and Daniel recently took over the artistic directorship of the Angel Fire Music Festival. And they are married and live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with their miniature dachshunds, Chloé and Ava.

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Judy Dodd

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 14:00:46 GMT

Judy Dodd began acting on stage and film at an early age and then discovered her love and talent for writing one-act plays. I met Judy at The Alternative Theatre Company in Manhattan at a staging of her one-act play – Lunatic -- for the Altered Minds Play Series. For this Hunkered Down episode, we spoke about Ms Dodd theatre and film experiences and began the conversation with her family’s immediate struggles with COVID19.

I thank Joel Bernstein for helping produce this Hunkered Down podcasts. The opening music is provided by Steven Feike’s Jazz quartet playing at the Gin Mill.

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J. T. Rogers -- American Playwright

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 14:00:04 GMT

J.T. Rogers must move. It is reflected in the dynamism of his Tony Award-winning play "Oslo" and in the way he perambulated around his office during our HD conversation. Clearly, this artist thinks on his feet.

“Oslo” -- first produced on Broadway in 2017 -- is a heart-wrenching telling of the back-channel meetings started by a Norwegian couple to bring Palestinian and Israeli leaders together to talk about peace—person to person. Of course, in the end, the resulting Oslo Accords failed to bring peace to the region.

J. T. Rogers' works include: One Giant Leap, Blood and Gifts, The Overwhelming, White People, and Madagascar. “Oslo” was his first Broadway play.

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Anita Hollander

Fri, 29 May 2020 14:00:22 GMT

What is an actor? For instance -- can a disabled person play an able bodied character? How stuck are we in our imaginations? Is it possible to look beyond physical characteristics and focus just on the character being performed? Anita Hollander has performed in major theatre venues throughout Europe, Asia and America as an actress, singer, composer, lyricist, director, producer and teacher. As a two-time cancer survivor, Anita has negotiated over half her 50-year performing career on one leg, And she has worked to raise awareness about issues surrounding the disabled actor.

Ms. Hollander has premiered new works of composers and playwrights at Carnegie Hall, Playwrights Horizons, Kennedy Center, and New York Shakespeare Festival, where she sang original work of Philip Glass. She received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical.

CONTACT: Alan Winson barcrawlradio@gmail.com

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Kathryn Erbe

Fri, 22 May 2020 14:00:25 GMT

For eleven successful seasons -- Kathryn Erbe played Detective Alexandra Eames to Vincent D’Onofrio’s Det. Robert Goren on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Prior to Criminal Intent – Ms. Erbbe appeared as a death row inmate on the award-winning TV series OZ. This talented actor has worked steadily in television, film, and theatre since she graduated from NYU in 1989 and most recently appeared in Sam Levinson’s teen slasher film – “Assassination Nation.”

For this episode, Ms. Erbe talks about her early work in television with Lynn Redgrave on “Chicken Soup,” her experiences of working on “Criminal Intent,” and her work in theatre. At the end of conversation, Ms Erbe reads from Arthur Miller’s “The American Clock” -- a “radio show” being produced by the Steppenwolf Theatre.

CONTACT: Alan Winson -- upperwestsideradio@gmail.com

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Jocelyn Kuritsky -- Actor & "A Creative"

Tue, 19 May 2020 14:00:10 GMT

Jocelyn Suzanne Kuritsky is an actor, theatre producer, and "a creative" – who has appeared in over 20 NYC productions and performed in DC at the Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center and Theatre Alliance. She is a three-time Princess Grace Award nominated performer, and co-founder of the Woodshed Collective – an immersive theatre that has won mega awards. Jocelyn is also the co-creator of The Muse Project, dedicated to empowering women theater actors. And -- by her own description -- Jocelyn is a flitting flirt –

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Fred Sherry - Cellist

Fri, 15 May 2020 14:00:22 GMT

This episode opens with Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 3 Op 30 performed by the Fred Sherry String Quartet. Why that piece? For me – it reflects the anxiety of this 'coronafied' moment and a fevered hope for change.

About Fred Sherry -- Allan Kozinn – music critic for the NY Times -- wrote – “Few musicians have been as devoted to new and difficult music as he has, both as a soloist and through his involvement with ensembles like the Tashi Quartet, Speculum Musicae and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. But this man is so much more. I knew going into this conversation with Fred Sherry that there would be a problem in having a brief conversation. This man’s experiences are so deep and creatively varied and influential over many decades – that finding a focus would be difficult. And I was right. So – maybe we can see this as the start of a conversation with this most talented and creative musician.

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Robert Kahn - Curtis Institute of Music Fellow Conductor

Wed, 13 May 2020 05:00:06 GMT

Robert Kahn is a Dutch conductor and the 2019 Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Familiar with both operatic and symphonic works, Robert Kahn was the assistant conductor for both the Julliard Opera and Mannes Opera. He has served as cover conductor with the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Fort Worth Symphony. He is also a clarinetist and composer and he has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

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John Miller: Professional Bassist / Broadway Contractor

Fri, 08 May 2020 14:00:27 GMT

John Miller plays the bass and if you were a fan of that amazing, fantastical series about a NYC symphony orchestra – you know John Miller as Dee Dee – the drug supplying timpanist in “Mozart in the Jungle.” John’s only other acting role was in Cy Coleman’s “I Love My Wife” for which he won a Drama Desk Award.

But John Miller is mainly a Music Contractor having put together the pit bands for over 130 Broadway productions. He has worked on Broadway's biggest hits such as “The Producers,” “Jersey Boys,” and “Hairspray.” And -- as a bassist -- has played with Madonna, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Costello, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and the New York Philharmonic – to name a few. I caught up with this Upper West Sider hunkered down in his rural home with his wife, Connie Barron, on the NY–Massachusetts border.

Contact: Alan Winson -- upperwestsideradio@gmail.com

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Martin Espada & Lauren Schmidt

Tue, 05 May 2020 14:00:59 GMT

This will be our second visit with the renowned poet of the Puerto Rican diaspora – Martin Espada - and with his partner and wife, Lauren Schmidt -- poet, writer, teacher and worker in the field of the socially oppressed. Rebecca McKean and Chris Brandt and I – Alan Winson—spoke with Lauren and Martin on Bar Crawl Radio – Episode #88. For this Hunkered Down Podcast we found the couple cozied together in their home in Shutesbury, Massachusetts with their Pomeranian – Fenrir – named after the giant wolf that ate Norse gods. You can hear her panting in this recording.

We spoke about their lives in the wilds with bears and gigantic sink holes -- and they shared their concerns and worries and hopes about our Pandemic Times. Martin reads a soon-to-be published poem from his book “Floaters” -- a love poem to his wife. A poem that resonates with much broader ideas of freedom and bravery and positive opposition to entrenched power – about Chilean Victor Jara – poet, theatre director, and political activist who was tortured and killed during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet – “That We Will Sing” Lauren reads a poem of oneness -- filled with palpable imagery by Marge Piercy –“The Art of a Blessed Day.”

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Olivia Jampol: Actor & Filmmaker

Fri, 01 May 2020 14:00:56 GMT

Olivia Jampol is an actor, writer and filmmaker living in Brooklyn, New York. As a child she entertained guests at the bed and breakfast her parents ran near the coffee fields of Costa Rica. She studied filmmaking and literature at Harvard University, Ms Jampol has performed in readings, workshops and developmental performances of courageous and bizarre new work. She has been in over a dozen award-winning short films and web series.

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Rolf Schulte/Violinist & Judith Olson/Pianist

Fri, 24 Apr 2020 14:00:49 GMT

Judith Olson studied violin and piano at The Julliard School and now teaches and performs at the Bloomingdale School of Music. She is both a collaborative and solo performer and has toured throughout North, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Korea. And enjoys working with music composers on their pieces.

Born in Germany, Rolf Schulte started playing the violin at five under tutelage of his father.

At 14 - Schulte made his orchestral début with the Philharmonia Hungarica in Cologne -- playing Mendelssohn’s Concerto. He has performed with orchestras throughout Europe and premiered many new works – His many recordings include Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto. Rolf Schulte’s experiences and contributions to the contemporary music world is extensive and cannot be represented in such a brief introduction --

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Kathleen Chalfant

Tue, 21 Apr 2020 14:00:18 GMT

A huge thank you goes out to Joel Bernstein for inviting actress Kathleen Chalfant for this Hunkered Down conversation. Ms Chalfant is a celebrated and honored stage, film and television actor. She debuted on Broadway in Dance With Me followed by M. Butterfly. She has won numerous awards for her varied, powerful performances – in original Broadway productions. In Wit she played a scholar battling cancer – in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America she played several roles including Hannah Pitt and Ethel Rosenberg.

I am not going to get into her extensive film and television work. And on top of the thrill of meeting this great actress – Kathleen is a fun and generous person to talk with.

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Zoe Anastassiou

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 14:00:28 GMT

Zoe Anastassiou is Greek – Australian – British – USian -- born in London and educated in England. She was a competitive Alpine Skier for Greece until she realized that acting was to be her life. At 18, Zoe came to the U.S. for her undergraduate and graduate studies in Acting, and now is a working actor living in NYC. Zoe works in theatre, film and television, and she is a "365 Blogger" for the past 8 years - even when she was pregnant. A great story. Zoe writes In her website, “The icing on top of the cake is...I'm a mum...in denial - MiD.“

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Joel Bernstein

Tue, 14 Apr 2020 14:00:26 GMT

I met actor Joel Bernstein at a BCR recording -- #52 – at the time he had been in Russia with The Medicine Show Theatre’s production of "14 Little Red Huts." Joel is a complete actor – stage – film -- television -- and was most recently seen in a recurring role in “Mozart in the Jungle” playing Warren Boyd the orchestra’s first violinist. He has been on episodes of “Law and Order” and "The Chappelle Show" and most recently the 2017 film “The Meyerwitz Stories.”

Contact: Alan Winson - upperwestsideradio@gmail.com

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Milicia Paranosic & Gene Pritsker

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:00:31 GMT

I met Gene Pritsker at Milicia Paranosic's birthday party, last year. She heads up an Paracademia Center for Music and #Collaborative arts. And Gene Pritsker is the leader of the band Sound Liberation and the co-director of Composers Concordance. These two are versatile, talented musicians. They are innovative and have performed all over the world. Gene is a composer – guitarist – rapper / DJ – band leader – music producer – and other stuff that I am still learning about. He has composed over 700 pieces of music of all sorts. Bar Crawl Radio featured this amazing musician on episode #38.

Milicia Paranosic is a Serbian-born, NYC composer – performer – producer – educator – film-maker who runs the annual Make Music Harlem and Add a Movie Film Festival and Ladies First event and is finishing up an opera based on the Odyssey called “Penelope and the Geese” to play in Mexico and Saugerties as soon as the Pandemic peters out.

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The Shrill Collective: Keep Moving

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 14:00:17 GMT

The Shrill Collective is a musical and theatre group of women who write, produce and perform in socially and economically relevant plays to raise money and awareness. Their goals is to give women and non-binary artists a platform to share their artistic perspectives. Chelsea Feltman had been on Bar Crawl Radio #85 podcast to talk about her groups activism. Kristina Cole is an actor-director-writer who has appeared on "Billions," "Parenthood," and "The Black List." Lynda DeFuria hails from New Jersey and grew up in Las Vegas. She has produced two albums of her piano-driven pop songs-- and was almost on a cruise tour of "Kinky Boots" when the pandemic hit.

Contact Alan Winson at upperwestsideradio@gmail.com

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Jazz Under the Covers

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 14:00:58 GMT

Geof Burke-Saxophonist, band leader and recently toured with Harry Connick Jr. / Steven Feifke-Pianist, band leader, arranger and composer / Dave Pietro--Saxophonist and Director of Jazz Studies at NYU -- joined me to talk about how their music is continuing in the city despite the fact that all of the great NYC Jazz venues are now closed. Social distancing can become an opportunity of all sorts as revealed in this most interesting conversation.

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Nicholas Martin-Smith: Producing Artistic Director-Hudson Warehouse

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 14:00:19 GMT

Nicholas Martin-Smith runs the best ensemble theatre on the Upper West Side. Hudson Warehouse is the "other Shakespeare in the Park" -- that is Riverside Park -- and they have been producing top-notch productions below the Soldier's and Sailor's Monument for over 15 years.

His grandfather's cousin, playwright Edward Martyn, along with W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory of Poole, founded Dublin's Abbey Theatre.

Mr. Martin-Smith has directed among other plays Cyrano, Romeo and Juliet, the world premiere of a new adaptation of The Three Musketeers by Susane Lee, as well as Julius Caesar, the Warehouse's second indoor production in March 2014.

When I spoke with Nicholas, he was hunkered down upstate NYC with his partner Susane Lee.

This first HD podcast ends with a conversation with Presidential scholar Brian Arbour about his new experiences of online teaching - the inadequacies of Trump as president - and we hear from first-grader, Josh Arbour, hunkered down at home.

Contact: upperwestsideradio@gmail.com

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