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It's a great time to wake up and get really distracted. If that is your goal -- then this BCR episode is for you. So if you really want to loosen your brain and drop any hope for serious and focused thought -- tune in and zone out while Rebecca and Alan tell you all about ... what was I saying? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It was the day when we learned that the Biden/Harris ticket had won the Presidential election, and the sounds of elation and joy rose in the street outside our Upper West Side apartment windows. We ran down to West End Avenue with our equipment and quickly set-up to get some testimony from our neighbors about how they were feeling. Up the street 150 people had filled the street and were dancing and yelling as passing cars honked on W. 93rd Street. We could breathe and the unifying breath was say...
WARNING!!! LIBERAL TALK ZONE. It's the night of the 2020 election, and we did not want to be alone with the results. So, we invited a few knowing friends with whom we were in near total agreement. That's is how we roll: Lincoln Mitchell is a political pundit and professor at Columbia University -- Poli Sci. We talked with Lincoln about his recent book "San Francisco Year Zero" at BCR #73. The News Broads Podcast 's hosts Gina Cirrito and Lynn White joined us on BCR #95. They are savvy media news...
Rebecca and Alan are back at their favorite bar -- Matt Gebhard's Beer Culture Bar on the Upper West Side on W. 72nd Street. It was really good to be back on our old turf recording Bar Crawl Radio. The episode honed in on the behaviors and sounds and bugs that bug us. It was loud and a bit smelly from the fumes on the busy bus-strewned street -- but we had a great time sitting at a real bar and recording our silliness. Contact us at barcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy ...
We talked about the issue of NIMBY attitudes in our Manhattan Upper West Side neighborhood and the lack of mayoral leadership in solving the problem of homelessness -- with NYC District 6 Council person Helen Rosenthal , Corinne Lowe, co-founder of UWS Open Hearts, Joshua Parkin, founder of helpNYC , and Da Homeless Hero, a sheltered resident of the Lucerne Hotel. This is the first in a series of BCR conversations addressing the issue of homelessness in our neighborhood -- with politicians, spir...
Jon Ross, the founder and head of Micro Aid International joined Rebecca and Alan on the patio of Ellington in the Park on a beautiful Autumn afternoon. Jon Ross was with on BCR #36 at Vino Laventino – where we no longer record because the owner kicked Alan out several months ago – but that is another story. In our previous conversation, we got into some depth on Jon's life and work building single-family, multi-generational homes in third word disaster areas. Now he is carrying out this importa...
This BCR episode recorded in front of the regal Greek Orthodox Church on West End Avenue and W. 90th Street in Manhattan's Upper West Side. Rich Collier -- the “High Exalted Mystic Ruler of the Unusually Smooth Productions” -- joined us out on the street for his brand of fresh-air trivia. Rich is a multi-year Emmy-winning host for “Roll Play” – where guests are challenged with trivia about NYC -- now on Create TV. He was a host and producer of “Subway Q & A” – one of the highest rated series...
Once again – Bar Crawl Radio’s portable studio is set up on West End Avenue and 92nd Street -- this time for the "We Walk / Park(ing) Day" on-the-street event. And things were buzzing around as as our UWS neighbors too over the street. Local community organizations working for various socially positive changes were represented. "We Walk" was part of the worldwide "Park(ing) Day" celebration in which walkers and bikers take over "metered curbside parking space for “creative experimentation, polit...
Bar Crawl Radio has finally gone really silly. I had to come up with an idea for this week's podcast and so I was on my bike and I remembered this TV series I used to watch as a kid -- The Man and the Challenge -- and decided to challenge my Upper West Side neighbors to figure out how to survive several death-defying scenerios. They did pretty well but only one actually survived. On a fun scale -- we had a lot of it -- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
It's time we just give it up to all of those wonderful, wacky, weirdo conspiracy theories and go along with Rebecca and Alan for one ludicrous and fun-filled romp way past Alice in Wonderland and walk around in the land of the inane and creative. If you are a QAnon-er -- you might just get all down with TAnon -- and become an equal opportunity reviler of authority. Hear us out -- it makes sense and we have the proof. BCR is once again on the street talking with our Upper West Sider neighbors abo...
Will NYC bars survive? Between early March and early May, over 100,000 small businesses nationwide have shut down and our neighborhood bars in NYC have been hit hard. More than 80 percent of the city’s restaurants and bars did not pay full rent in June, according to the NYC Hospitality Alliance. In this COVID19 moment, it is clear that we must social distance if we are going to beat this corona virus – but at what cost? In general -- NYCers have been doing well -- and we want to get back to enjo...
This was a fun +hour talking with two brilliant poets who mentor each other's new work. MERVYN TAYLOR born and lives in Trinidad, and now retired there, Mervyn graduated from Howard and Columbia Universities. He taught at Bronx Community College, The Young Adult Learning Academy, He has published six books of poetry and won the Paterson Poetry Prize for sustained literary achievement. His poetry focuses on the particular and the personal, but there's always somehow the consciousness of the world...
Bar Crawl Radio is now on the street at West End Avenue and 92nd Street -- bringing in guests and talking with neighbors on our open mic. For Episode #104 Rebecca and Alan talked about the collateral damage of CVD19 and then had a most unusual guest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
BCR is recording in the middle of West End Avenue -- where it is safe - for a conversation with popular scientist Nathan H. Lents, the author of Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes (2018). Lents also maintains the Human Evolution Blog and writes for Psychology Today under the tagline “Beastly Behavior: How Evolution Shaped Our Minds and Bodies.” Recently, he has been countering supporters of intelligent design who complain about scientific approaches to...
It's seems to be the just-right-moment to stock up on all the essentials, preferably canned or irradiated -- find a cozy indoor spot, conveniently chained with a steel door and no windows -- and wait for it to get dark -- so we can listen for the gurgling sounds of the always ravenous walkers of the night. Life has become much like the pandemic films we so love -- Contagion -- Outbreak -- 28 Days Later -- and even -- The Andromeda Strain [Rebecca and I had to pay for this 1971 film getting ready...
BCR100-PART 3: For BCR's 100th Episode, we invited two young women running for the NY City Council in the 2021 election. Johanna Garcia is running for a seat in District 10 - Upper Manhattan. She is the daughter of immigrants and mother of three children. As President of the School District's Presidents Council and as President of the Community Education Council, Ms. Garcia opposed extreme testing and the sale of student information to private parties, and highlighted the crisis of lead in NYC s...
BCR100-PART 2: Our second guest for out outdoor podcast on West End Avenue was former NY City Council Member, Rafael Espinal. Rafael is one of our favorite guests. , He has been with us many times and Alan covered his run for City Advocate a year ago. We have celebrated his many accomplishments as City Council Member for District 37 in Brooklyn. And now Rafael Espinal is the leader of the Freelancers Union. We talked about his many accomplishments with a Council Member, his new job as head of th...
BCR100-PART 1 : This three-part BCR episode celebrated its 100th episode on a Manhattan street. West End Avenue was closed to traffic and so BCR took to the street to celebrate the resiliency of our UWS Neighbors as we face-down a most deadly pandemic. PART ONE: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer talked about her attempts to guide the mayor and governor to make the wisest decisions for our amazing urban population. Did you know that over a period of time Gale and her husband, Cal Snyder, ha...
The ugliness of police brutality aimed at Black Americans cannot be ignored – and cannot be papered over with meagre policy changes. We have to recognize the ugly fact that Racism is at the core of this country – is the ground from which arises white rage against dark skin. Rebecca and I feel it is important that we develop conversations about the enormous issue of white privilege and the near impossibility of white citizens to see the true nature of this country as racist. For this BCR 101 epis...
This country has two social crises – the coronavirus pandemic – and – social unrest caused by white racism. Added to that – our government has no coherent, effective policy to help us move forward. These social and health upheavals have impacted our children’s education. For this Bar Crawl Radio episode, we are talking with two educational leaders whose organizations are working to establish equity and justice for poor Brown and Black children – Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters – and – Jasmi...
BCR has gone to the streets -- West End Avenue and 92nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- to be precise. We set up an open mic in the middle of the asphalt and have been taking testimony from UWSers about how they are doing. AND -- one of the BCR hosts makes a life-changing announcement -- proving one more time that it is never too late to change your life. It is part of the 'Don't Be a 'Becky' Movement" #amnotbecky For her husband of many decades this is going to be difficult, but h...
Recently, a dear friend sent us her son’s new book about his work in the field of social justice in poor and Black communities in the Chicago area – and elsewhere. At the end of Seeds of Justice Alex Tindal Weisendanger writes: “We can transform our churches and our churches can transform the world” This BCR episode features Alex and two other Christian leaders working for social justice. This BCR episode was co-produced by Alina Larson. Contact us: barcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See a...
Becky and I are hunkered down at the Windermere Chateau Bar overlooking beautiful West End Avenue to talk about how social isolation has a positive side. We spent some time earlier in the week at the Street level Bar talking to our neighbors taking a late afternoons stroll -- and asked "How you doin'?" We will continue to collect their testimony for future BCR episodes. Contact us at barcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Bar Crawl Radio hosts interview the interviewers -- members of The News Broads Podcast . A breezy conversation with three media savvy ladies about their experiences of talking with the biggest movers in journalism and entertainment on their podcast produced by David Levin. Judy Licht -- Co-founder of firstcomesfashions.com ; Commentator on WNBC's "Power Panel" ; Cohosted "Living in Style" for Martha Stewart; Creator of "Full Frontal Fashion" television series -- and more. Lynne White -- Three-ti...
Once again -- Becky and I are hunkered down in the Windermere Hotel Chateau Bar overlooking lovely West End Avenue. Another large crowd gathered near to the BCR mics as we talked about escaping the tribulations of life. Along the way Becky revealed the truth about our marriage -- and I decided her truth was not fake. This episode features one of my favorite entertainers --Jimmy Durante -- who continues to make me laugh -- a dinka doo. Contact Becky and Alan at barcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on A...
"Poetry! What is it good for?" is a BCR series in which Becky and I have conversations with important poets. This episode opens with a rendition of "America the Beautiful" performed by the students of the Curtis Institute of Music [see Hunkered Down ??? for a conversation with the conductor Robert Kahn]. This conversation with the "3 Poets 4 Peace" is a follow up of BCR #92 in which we talked about poems addressing war. For this episode we investigated the gendered voice of poetry -- trying to d...
In 2002 this country began a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan -- 18 years later – that war continues. Three New York poets , Veronica Golos, Angelo Verga, and Chris Brandt decided that we could not stand by and bemoan U.S. policies. They organized events in which poets expressed their opposition to war’s destruction of life, and efforts to create understanding of life -- in language. Takes this opportunity to visit with three poets sharing their artful, deeply felt, and gut-wrenching langu...
Becky and I had a lot of fun with this one -- maybe Becky, the Dominatrix, had a bit more fun. We all deal with pain -- but all pain is not bad. This is a totally unofficial -- absolutely unscientific and subjective investigation of pain -- good and bad. For those of you who are a bit queasy, you may want to avoid the end of this episode as Becky puts me through a variety of pain tests. WARNING: DO NOT TRY THESE EXPERIMENTS AT HOME. We are professional podcasters and know what we are doing. NO A...
WARNING : Corona virus is mentioned -- in passing -- in this podcast. Announcing -- the official opening of the Windermere Chateau Bar and Grill --the new gathering place on West End Avenue. Masks are optional. Stupidity is celebrated. Meet Bob and Delores -- the arguing couple. Betsy -- the pansexual service person. And -- along with Becky and Alan -- consider your inner rage. CONTACT: barcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Bar Crawl Radio hosts, Rebecca McKean and Alan Winson spoke with two young men, recently released from Otisville Medium Security Prison—Sam Johnson and Christopher Lee -- and with Professor Richard Hoehler from John Jay College who teaches in the Prison to College Pipeline – an educational program founded by English Professor Baz Dreisinger and administered by the college's Prisoner Re-entry Institute [PRI]. Contact: barcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...
