OK -- sit down -- calm your busy mind -- and get ready to listen to two amazing poets read and talk about their work. Martin Espada is a world-renowned poet; he tells the stories of the Puerto Rican diaspora experience. Lauren Schmidt's poems live on the ground -- and are raw and brave, exposing the sacred lives of the oppressed and the unspoken secrets of familial love. And -- Lauren and Martin are married; this is the first time they talk about how their work and relationship mesh. Readings in...
Apr 10, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 88
A CORONA-FREE PODCAST. Relax and get lost in a conversation between Becky and Alan on the topic of rudeness -- how to handle the rude adult and the rude child. Learn about what are the most effective comebacks when someone is rude to you. How to come out on top when someone tries to hurt your feelings. Here are the important lessons on how to squash that rude cell phone talker at a bar or that person who accuses you of being a bad mother or blurts out something about your hat. It is time to get ...
Apr 03, 2020•43 min•Season 3Ep. 87
This is for the historians: It's New York City - early spring -- 2020 -- and the Big Apple is on P.A.U.S.E . Bars are closed -- but BCR pushes on. Becky and I had a wonderful conversation with Caroline and Steve of the Angst & Daisies Podcast via Skype. Steve Saporito is a Broadway producer and Caroline Aaron is a co-star of "The Amazing Mrs. Maisel." The conversation ranged from surviving these perilous times - to the impossibility of producing a T.V. show during a pandemic - to tips on kee...
Mar 27, 2020•59 min•Season 3Ep. 86
Remember the scene in “Gypsy” when Rosalind Russell plods down the theatre aisle yelling at her daughter – “Sing out, Louise! Sing out!!” Well – wouldn’t you know it – there’s an activist group called “Sing Out, Louise” -- inspired by the election of The Don to protest through parody songs “in the key of F you.” That’s their line -- not ours. We gathered--seven of us--on the Porch of Gebhard’s Beer Culture Bar for this Bar Crawl Radio conversation with representatives of four very different prog...
Mar 20, 2020•53 min•Season 3Ep. 85
We sat at the bar at 5Napkin on W. 84th Street, and I looked around at a somewhat crowded bar and restaurant and wondered how it is we were all there together as COVID19 swirled around us. But Becky and I are dedicated to podcasting, and so we put our bodies on the line for our loyal listeners and talked about "TINY EVILS." We asked the question that have alluded great minds: Does EVIL exist, and, if so, what is it? And we came up with an answer -- sort of -- and I -- Alan Winson -- revealed my ...
Mar 13, 2020•38 min•Season 3Ep. 84
For this episode, Bar Crawl Radio hosts got acquainted with the hosts of the podcast Angst and Daisies – Steve Saporito and Caroline Aaron. We had met Steve at a huge Saugerties, NY Crafts Fair in early fall of 2019. He shared his picnic table with us. Steve is a most interesting fellow and, I guess, we sounded interesting to him -- and so -- we decided to produce a dual podcast. And a big bonus is that Caroline co-stars in the amazing series The Amazing Mrs. Maisel. So, we talked about that sho...
Mar 06, 2020•57 min•Season 3Ep. 83
There was this NPR report that authoritatively announced that living in owning and living in a house is better in so many ways than renting an apartment. It's healthier -- children are smarter -- one can live in privacy -- adults get involved with the community at higher rates -- and all of that equity is built up Becky and I have lived in a two-room apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side (which I made into three rooms -- two quite tiny -- with a platform for storage) for most of our lives. NP...
Feb 21, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 82
"Poetry! What is it good for?" is a BCR series focusing on the beautiful and reverberating poetry of our times -- produced by Chris Brandt of Fordham University, English Dept. -- and member of Witness Against Torture . For this BCR episode, Chris invited two members of the inspiring NYC activist performance group The Peace Poets , a "family born of Hip Hop, heart, and hope in New York City." In 2014 their song "I Can't Breathe" protesting the murder of Eric Garner by the NYPD went viral when act...
Feb 21, 2020•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 81
Hair Love won a 2020 Oscar in the Animated Short category. It seemed appropriate to think about the many ways that hair invades and controls how we spend our time and shapes our sense of self. And if you start to think about it -- as I did -- it is a lot. Throwing in a caveat and a correction -- and then a note. Correction : Matthew Cherry directed the heart-tugging Oscar winning animated short "Hair Love" -- not what I said. Caveat : For my relatives in Israel who might still be listening to ou...
Feb 14, 2020•35 min•Season 3Ep. 80
A really wonderful conversation at Gebhard's Beer Culture Bar with three talented NYC musicians about the NYC Jazz scene and why our City is the center of world Jazz. Steven Feifke is a pianist who plays regularly at the Gin Mill Speakeasy . Geoff Burke plays the saxophone and with Harry Connick Jr.. Both have their own bands. And David Pietro --Saxophonist--played for over two decades with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra and many other big name artists; Dave is the Director of Jazz Studies ...
Feb 07, 2020•53 min•Season 3Ep. 79
When I started to think -- it became eminently clear that we are constantly engaged in TURF WARS. This battling over small pieces of ground is evident everywhere -- bathrooms -- offices -- couches and beds -- buses and plane -- blankets on a crowded beach -- sidewalks -- subways [think: man-spread} -- and a favorite spot at a beloved bar. Becky and I delved into this ongoing battle over conflicted spaces at 5Napkin Bar located on Broadway and W. 84th street - smack dab in the middle of our most-...
Jan 31, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 78
While I was "witnessing" the actions of Witness Against Torture 's to end the Guantanamo Prison in Cuba in January this year, I sat down with five W.A.T. members and asked about the experiences that led them to activism. 00:00:00 - 00:17:45 -- Christopher Spicer - - Freelance writer and stay-at-home dad. 00:18:00 - 00:29:50 -- Don Cunning -- Longtime member of W.A.T. and other pro-peace organizations. 00:30:00 - 00:46:10 -- Manijeh Saba -- Recently acquitted in Federal Court for protesting on Su...
Jan 27, 2020•2 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 77
This will be the second time BCR has covered the Witness Against Torture's [WAT] annual, week-long, January protests against the opening of the Guantanamo Prison at this time of year 18 years ago. We spoke with four members of WAT--two of whom were arrested during the final Fire Drill Fridays in the nation's capital the day before the recording. For this conversation with members of WAT, we talked more generally about our nation -- who we are in our present state -- and what we might be if the "...
Jan 24, 2020•52 min•Season 3Ep. 77
Last week I -- Alan Winson -- spent a few days with a committed group of people. They regularly protest and get arrested in a nearly impossible attempt to end the horrors of Gitmo -- the U.S. prison in Cuba which, after over 18 years, incarcerates 40 Muslim men accused of 9/11 terrorism. Most of these men are innocent and have been exonerated; yet, they remain in an isolated hell in Guantanamo. The court trials they demand are beyond them -- maybe forever -- because evidence of being tortured ar...
Jan 17, 2020•36 min•Season 3Ep. 76
Hosting and producing Bar Crawl Radio podcasts over the last two and a half years has been a wonderful ride with my favorite person, best pal, lovely and loving wife and co-host -- Rebecca McKean. We have learned over the 75+ episodes of Bar Crawl Radio how to work together to develop conversations. Counting it up we have podcast -- in 8 countries in 23 different bars conversations with 117 interesting people on 1 glacier We've had the privilege to talk with politicians and bartenders, peace act...
Jan 10, 2020•55 min•Season 2Ep. 75
You have emotional connections with non-living things--inanimate objects. Of course, you do. We all do. We cannot help ourselves. For this BCR episode Becky and I share our "relationship" with some children's dolls that have been "living" with us for a long time: Meet Buddy and BJ -- and learn about the woman who married the Eiffel Tower and then cheated with the Berlin Wall -- and about the Shinto burial rituals for cherished objects. We also revealed our true feelings about Alexa and Hey Googl...
Jan 03, 2020•39 min•Season 2Ep. 74
Lincoln Mitchell is a New Yorker and San Franciscan, a political scholar and avid baseball fan. He loved the Yankees first. but, when his family moved to San Francisco, he adopted the Giants. His recently published book - - San Francisco Year Zero: Political Upheaval / Punk Rock / and a Third-Place Baseball Team -- weaves a most readable set of social, political and sporting threads about the tragedies and joys of living in 'the city by the Bay' in 1978. It was the year that Mayor George Moscone...
Dec 13, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 73
We all know it -- a lot of life is spent on a queue. Think about all the lines you are on in a day, a week, a year -- it adds up to 5 years or more over a lifetime. But some lining up is not as bad as others and some queues have lasting memories. Becky and I reminisce about our queuing experiences at 5Napkin on Broadway and W. 84th Street at our reserved corner of the bar. [BTW - "QUEUE" is a great Scrabble word -- 4 vowels.] . Our favorite queue involved an overnight in and around Central Park ...
Dec 07, 2019•36 min•Season 3Ep. 72
To complete our conversation on Urban Green Roofs BCR visited the Brooklyn Grange rooftop form in the Navy Yards on top of Building #3. Anastasia Cole Plakias -- a co-founder and Chief Operating Office of the Grange -- gave us a tour of the farm atop of the quite large warehouse building with magnificent views of the Manhattan skyline. It is an inspiring story of a possible future of our city as a concrete jungle that becomes vibrantly green. And be sure to catch the conversation on BCR #70 with...
Nov 29, 2019•31 min•Season 3Ep. 71
NYC roofs are dark and dirty, heat absorbing no-man's lands, but thanks to a new act by the City Council, tops of new buildings will become expansive urban gardens and farms – supplying fresh vegetables to our inner city and beyond. City roof-tops will be covered with great swaths of green that will purify our air – cool buildings in the summer and keep us warm in the winter. Green roofs have been the dream of Brooklyn City Council person Rafael Espinal -- and for this BCR episode we had a conve...
Nov 29, 2019•58 min•Season 3Ep. 70
Recently, I, Alan Winson, lost my wallet. I was devastated for a few hours, but over the next few days I felt a freedom that came from a sense of being untethered from a thing that had controlled my days. 'Oh God! Where is my wallet -- all my pocessions? This is really not good!!!' TURNED INTO -- I feel lighter -- freer When you lose a wallet or purse -- it is certainly inconvenient, but you learn quickly that a wallet can be replaced -- all of those cards and IDs can be duplicated and returned....
Nov 22, 2019•40 min•Season 3Ep. 69
The Long Island History Project Podcast and Bar Crawl Radio got together in Patchogue, Long Island for duel -- sorry dual -- recording about Prohibition on Long Island. We talked with Jonathan Olly, curator at the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages and an expert on the 18th Amendment to the Constitution which 86ed all bars in the United States. While downing some wonderful local beer, we got into how drinking continued -- how the Mafia benefited and local governments did n...
Nov 15, 2019•59 min•Season 3Ep. 68
Have you ever wondered how clean your motel room was? You kind of know -- right? Not really that spotless -- but you did not want to think about it because the bed was made and you didn't have to do it. Becky and I recorded a BCR episode on Prohibition in Long Island and NYC at Patchogue Long Island with Chris Kretz of the Long Island History Project and guest Jonathan lly a curator at the Long Island Museum of American Art -- which will post next -- BCR #68. We recorded in a bar formerly called...
Nov 08, 2019•34 min•Season 3Ep. 67
The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 [KBP7] have been found guilty by a Federal Grand Jury in Brunswick, Georgia this month for trespassing and destroying property on the Trident Submarine Naval Base in St Marys. The conversation with defendants Martha Hennessy and Carmen Trotta took place in the library of the Catholic Worker's Maryhouse in the Bowery section of Manhattan. They were joined by Anthony Donovan, a member of Witness Against Torture, who attended the four day trial. In the end, the KBP7 defen...
Nov 05, 2019•52 min•Season 3Ep. 66
This episode introduces a new series of podcasts with our co-producer Chris Brandt. Chris is a professor, peace activist, carpenter and poet, and he helped produce BCR #34 when we invited three poets to share their work related to the World Poetry Movement. We had such a great time, it was decided that we needed to talk poetry regularly on the show. So, this BCR episode is the first in a series focusing on thinking about, listening to, and having conversations with poets. Chris invited two poets...
Nov 01, 2019•56 min•Season 3Ep. 65
Becky and I had two very different and -- at the same time -- very similar experiences this week -- both involving children with "high" ideals. Young people who are actively involved with doing something about what they know is true and real. During the recording, Becky had an awesome vodka martini with a stick o'olives -- I tried out Flower Power IPA at 5 Napkin Burger on Broadway and W. 84th Street. We are there -- pretty regularly -- set-up at the front corner of the bar. Jaylean [sp?] our ba...
Oct 25, 2019•26 min•Season 3Ep. 64
This episode was recorded in mid October, 2019. Becky and I had been reading about the large protests that have been going on in Hong Kong as young people demanded a free and open system, and we had read about the Umbrella Movement that began in 2014 but clearly we needed to learn more. BCR co-producer--Alina Larson--had just visited Hong Kong and interviewed several of the young protesters who were urging their government to establish a free Hong Kong. Alina invited Ken Sui, a young Hong Konger...
Oct 18, 2019•54 min•Season 3Ep. 63
This was an unusual BCR episode. Becky and I went back to the place we first dated -- the Santa Maria Inn in Central California and spoke with th owner of the inn Judy Hearn in the Wine and Martini Bar. During the high times of Hollywood all the great movie stars stayed there on the way to Hearst Castle. The strange part is that we visited Rudy Vallee's room -- the 1930s and 40s singing star actually stayed there. There were rumors that ghosts resided in that room -- a sea captain and the mistre...
Oct 18, 2019•42 min•Season 3Ep. 62
Our intention was to focus on what we considered the "best" or "most significant" day of our lives -- and we did get to that question after we talked about: Alan's experience of fasting at an Orthodox Synagogue for Yom Kippur - 2019. Turd toys and bursting balloons. Colonoscopy -- Part II X-rated Via ride. After our silliness we turned to Thorton Wilider's masterpiece "Our Town" to consider what was really significant about living. So -- what was the "best day" of your life. Email us at barcrawl...
Oct 11, 2019•37 min•Season 3Ep. 61
At the end of 1944, as an older teen, David Hersch beat KZ Mauthausen – the most violent Nazi concentration camp in Austria. His harrowing escape from the German death machine is told by his son -- Jack Hersch -- in "Death March Escape The Remarkable Story of a Man Who Twice Escaped the Nazi Holocaust" (2018). Throughout his life, Jack listened to his father's story at the Passover Seder but discovered after his father's death that he needed to know more. We talked about his father’s experiences...
Oct 04, 2019•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 60
