A Small American City

A Small American City podcast is a project by author Duncan Crary. It aims to re-acquaint listeners with small city life in North America through the voices, stories, history and urban fabric of his home city of Troy, New York. The program features spoken-word essays and intimate conversations with a cast of characters who bring this unusual Hudson River settlement to life. This is not a news program. It is not a talk show. It is a passport into the lives of the people who inhabit a place. You are a welcome eavesdropper. And so at first, you may be unfamiliar with and disoriented by some of the names you hear along the way. We won’t always clarify things for you. But like any newcomer to our town, you will get to know all the players over time, if you keep showing up. So belly up to the bar with us. Put your cell phone in your pocket. Let a different sort of exchange nestle in.

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Episodes

SAC #08: Lawyers' Row

TROY, N.Y. -- They say history doesn't actually repeat. But it does rhyme. Duncan Crary and Troy Attorney E. Stewart Jones Jr. share a legacy that binds them to one of America's most notorious Prohibition Era Gangsters, Jack "Legs" Diamond. Crary's great-grandfather, John, was the New York Sun correspondent assigned to cover Governor FDR’s statewide roundup of the Diamond gang. Jones' grandfather, Abbott, was the attorney representing Legs in an infamous trial in Troy on the last night of the ga...

Jul 03, 2013•30 min

SAC #07: Reclamation

TROY, N.Y. -- It's been almost 10 years since Vic Christopher, 37, and Heather La Vine, 35, landed in Troy. They came here to recharge a minor league baseball team. But they fell in love with the city and with each other. Their "office" romance was not allowed. So they got hitched and left professional sports. Today, they're working to revitalize the city, instead. Last year, the husband-and-wife team opened The Charles F. Lucas Confectionery & Wine Bar at 12 Second St., a building they own ...

Apr 01, 2013•56 min

SAC #06: James Connolly

TROY, N.Y. -- In 1916, James Connolly led the Easter Rising in Dublin, which eventually resulted in the creation of the Irish Republic we know today. He was a freedom fighter, a husband and a socialist labor organizer. Connolly lived in Troy, N.Y. from 1903 to 1905, where he worked to promote socialist ideals in this city that once bustled with industry and inequality. In 1986, Belfast native James Devine worked to create a monument to Connolly in Troy, to honor the Irish hero's years spent livi...

Mar 17, 2013•59 min

SAC #03: enjoy troy.

TROY, N.Y. -- When you first arrive in Troy, you can't avoid seeing it. A playful sticker placed here and there. A black and white oval, with happy little lowercase lettering that says "enjoy troy." This "meme" has spread all over town. But for a long time few people knew where the cheery mandate orientated. When it started appearing on clocks and signs at local businesses, even the original creator of the slogan didn't know who was spreading those joyful gifts. In this episode, Duncan Crary spe...

Jan 20, 2013•45 min

SAC #02: Peter The Carpenter

TROY, N.Y - As a carpenter, Peter Albrecht has built many of the "third places" in Troy, where the people come to life when they are out on the town. But as a barroom Socrates, he holds his own with Ph.D's, crack heads and all strata in between. He is as quick to cite the ancient texts as he is with a bawdy tale. He's also the last stop for Trojans down on their luck, often sharing his meals and even his home for those with nowhere else to go. In this far-reaching conversation, Peter provides a ...

Dec 27, 2012•1 hr 7 min

SAC #01: The Night Jack Quit Drinkin'

TROY, N.Y. - It's been a long time since novelist Jack Casey had his last drink. But they say Troy stands for "Tell Right On You," and some locals in this place still spin yarns about those wild days before this reformed bohemian novelist took the pledge. In this episode, we get the scoop straight from the source. Like many Trojan stories, this one was forged at the bar before it spilled onto the street to tangle with history, class warfare, politics, justice, celebrity and iron. Back in the 197...

Dec 27, 2012•49 min

SAC #00: Pilot (feat. James Howard Kunstler)

TROY, N.Y. - For many Americans, "The City" only refers to New York City, or one of the other major metroplexes in the country with populations in the millions. But North America is filled with smaller cities that were once just as lively, if only at a smaller scale. And they may come back to life again as events already underway continue to unfold. Urban polemicist James Howard Kunstler believes that people will be living a lot differently in the U.S.A. during the coming years. Financial distre...

Dec 27, 2012•44 min

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