Last year, 26-year-old Max Ledwidge jumped to his death at the Grand Canyon. His suicide was the climax of a mental unraveling that began as the pandemic took hold. The former software sales executive left his job in Boston and embarked on a cross-country spiritual odyssey that led him to the sleepy college town of Cobleskill, where a little-known religious order decided Ledwidge needed to undergo an exorcism. On this episode of "The Eagle," Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and investigative repo...
May 13, 2022•37 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Early this week, Politico published an alleged draft of a Supreme Court decision written by Justice Samuel Alito that overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. On this episode of "The Eagle," Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and health reporter Rachel Silberstein check in with Albany Law Professor and Constitutional Law Expert Vin Bonventre to discuss the implication of this news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 03, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Trigger warning: This episode contains descriptions of events and situations that may be distressing. Please listen with care. The gruesome slaying of a beloved physician assistant in his suburban Albany home has shocked many in the Capital Region. While the man accused of the murder has been charged, the motive for committing such a brutal act is still unclear. On this episode of “The Eagle,” Managing Editor Brendan Lyons goes through what we know about the investigation, and what happens next ...
Apr 29, 2022•42 min•Season 3Ep. 18
The history of beer and brewing is often very much intertwined with that of the human race. For thousands of years, people have been talking politics over a few pints (or similar liquid volume). That is especially true of the Capital Region, where there was nearly as much politicking in pubs as there was in the halls of city and state government in the early 20th century. On this episode of “The Eagle,” Albany Ale Project co-founder Craig Gravina and Maeve McEneny Johnson of Discover Albany disc...
Apr 22, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 17
When tennis superstar Serena Williams opened up about the harrowing experience of giving birth to her daughter in 2017, it put a spotlight on an alarming disparity: Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die of a pregnancy-related cause than white women. Last year, the White House officially recognized April 11 to 17 as Black Maternal Health Week. In the Capital Region, a coalition of midwives, doulas and healthcare advocates are working to improve outcomes for Black mothers by s...
Apr 15, 2022•25 min•Season 3Ep. 16
"The Olympics of Irish Dancing," as it's called by participants, draws hundreds of the world's best Irish dancers annually. It's been three years since the last World Irish Dancing Championship, thanks to the pandemic. The competition is back this year, though — and a handful of talented Capital Region dancers — are in Belfast to compete. On this episode, we speak to three locals who qualified for the championship about what it takes to compete and why they love Irish dance. Also, Editorial Dire...
Apr 08, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 15
For five weeks, journalists at Maye Sense, an online news site serving people of Slavyansk in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine, have been working non-stop, largely without pay, and sometimes in situations where their safety is not guaranteed. Two weeks ago, most of them made the difficult decision to decamp to the relative safety of Western Ukraine, where they continue their work from more than 1,000 kilometers away. On this special episode of “The Eagle,” Times Union Editor-in-Chief Casey ...
Apr 03, 2022•14 min•Ep. 14
In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to an optometrist from Delmar, New York. His name was Dr. Tom Little, and he had been murdered along with nine other foreign aid workers in a remote area of Afghanistan while on a medical mission months earlier. This week, a film about his life and the legacy of his three decades of work to bring eye care to impoverished Afghans will premiere at the Albany Film Festival. On this episode of “The Eagle,” filmmak...
Apr 01, 2022•37 min•Season 3Ep. 13
After the pandemic took hold in 2020, the Capital Region saw a significant uptick in violence. More than 30 people were killed in Albany alone in 2020 and 2021. As the community was reeling from these tragedies and local authorities struggled to address the mounting problem, a local DJ and music promoter had an idea to create a safe space and encourage creativity in the areas hardest hit by the violence. On this episode of "The Eagle," DJ Hollyw8d talks about putting together the "More Music Les...
Mar 25, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 12
On April 3, 1981, a farmer found a body in a field in Delmar, New York. Forensics at the time determined it was a male, but his identity remained a mystery to investigators. Four decades later, it became the Capital Region’s first ever unidentified persons case solved using familial DNA and genetic genealogy. On this episode of "The Eagle," Pete DeMola and Jessica Marshall take a deep dive into a case full of twists and turns, mysteries and technology, and the quest to find a lost soul. Learn mo...
Mar 18, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Almost a decade ago, Nikita Nakonchnyi spent his summers working as a cook at a resort in Lake George. Three weeks ago, he was a typical 20-something living in Kyiv, Ukraine, and teaching digital marketing. This week, the 27-year-old helped blow up a bridge in a small village outside the city with molotov cocktails and drums of diesel to keep Russians from invading. On this episode, we catch up with Nakonchnyi and discuss the situation in his country. Also on this episode, we'll talk about a com...
Mar 11, 2022•38 min•Season 3Ep. 10
In the week since Russia invaded Ukraine, Times Union journalists have been reporting on the impact the conflict is having in New York, which is home to the largest Ukrainian immigrant population in the U.S. On this episode, we connect with Valeriy Garmash, editor of the Slovyansk-based news website 6262.com.ua. Just 100 miles from the Russian border, his staff is reporting from the embattled Donetsk region to get news to its citizens, many of whom are likely facing imminent food, power and inte...
Mar 04, 2022•30 min•Season 3Ep. 9
One in three people who have had COVID-19 may experience a wide range of health issues in the weeks or months following infection, according to the CDC. Common long COVID symptoms include headaches, gastrointestinal issues and “brain fog.” Because research on the causes and treatments are far from conclusive, however, many health care providers are unprepared or unwilling to treat these patients. On this episode, Times Union health reporter Bethany Bump explains the latest research and how long ...
Feb 25, 2022•37 min•Season 3Ep. 8
A child missing for three years was found safe this week in an Ulster County home. Police discovered the 7-year-old girl hidden in a secret compartment under a stairwell. She disappeared in Tioga County in 2019, following a visit with her biological mother, who no longer had custody of the child. Reporter Roger Hannigan Gilson tells the story. Also on this episode: Education reporter Rachel Silberstein talks about her reporting on opposition to a statewide mask mandate in Capital Region schools,...
Feb 18, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 7
For Omar Edwards, tapping is not a form of dance. It’s a way of communicating and expressing himself that transcends that narrow definition of the performance art. Edwards, whose cousin is tap legend Savion Glover, is currently playing the Tap Griot, an omniscient narrator who reflects the inner turmoil of four Tuskegee Airmen through tap in the stage drama “Fly.” On this episode, the Times Union’s Steve Barnes talks to Edwards about the show, his craft, and life lessons he has absorbed from tap...
Feb 11, 2022•34 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Nearly 300 years ago, Ten Broeck Mansion was the home of a decorated Revolutionary War general. Today, the house on Arbor Hill is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the property, which includes telling the stories of enslaved persons who lived and worked there. But there is a disconnect between the neighborhood of today and the historic site. Arbor Hill is a predominantly Black neighborhood, and one of Albany’s poorest. Many in the community either don’t know much about Ten Broeck, ...
Feb 04, 2022•34 min
Last summer the city of Troy, New York, was transformed into late-19th century New York City for the filming of Julian Fellowes’ new HBO period drama “The Gilded Age.” But that wasn’t the only Capital Region connection to the production. Actress Kelley Curran, who plays the ambitious ladies maid Turner in the series, grew up in Slingerlands. On this episode of “The Eagle,” Curran talks to reporter Ken Crowe about the show, her role and how she felt about seeing Troy on the small screen. Also on ...
Jan 28, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 4
The 2018 limousine crash in upstate New York that killed 20 people remains one of the deadliest U.S. transportation accidents in decades. The man responsible for putting the condemned vehicle on the road — flouting failed state inspections — will not do any prison time. Nor will any punishment befall his father, the owner of the limousine company and a well-known FBI informant. This week, New York Magazine reporter Ben Ryder Howe published a deep dive on the crash and the Times Union reporting t...
Jan 21, 2022•32 min•Season 3Ep. 3
The Empire State is home to more than 7,000 dams. And recently, Times Union reporters Emilie Munson and Rick Karlin discovered that some of them are in questionable shape...and not all of them have actually been rated for safety. On this episode of "The Eagle," we'll take a deep dive into their investigation to answer the question of whether we can rest assured New York's dams are safe, or we should all be worried they'll fail. Also on this episode, we'll talk about the effects Omicron is having...
Jan 14, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 2
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stood in front of a sparse crowd of lawmakers in the State Assembly chamber this week and insisted she was not there to make history. She was, in fact, making history, as the first woman to give the annual address. Her 35-minute speech—short relative to the standards of her scandal-plagued predecessor Andrew M. Cuomo—promised a “brighter future for New York,” including ethics reforms, term limits and the return of to-go cocktails. On this episode of “The Eagle,” we tak...
Jan 07, 2022•35 min•Season 3Ep. 1
New York Attorney General Letitia James' office released a trove of materials this week that added dramatic new detail to its investigation of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. From catty, expletive-laden text messages between staffers to testimony that revealed Chris Cuomo was deeply involved in helping his brother, the newly released material reveals how top aides and loyalists responded to an escalating series of allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against the former governor. Casey Seiler, B...
Dec 03, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 47
In 1969, filmmaker Sir Michael Lindsay-Hogg shot more than 50 hours of footage of the Beatles as they wrote their final iconic album, "Let it Be." From the first rehearsals to the impromptu rooftop concert that turned out to be their last performance, the intimate clips captured the final days before the Fab Four split. Today, those recordings are featured in "The Beatles: Get Back," a new Disney+ docu-series about those last days by "Lord of the Rings" trilogy director Peter Jackson. On this ep...
Nov 26, 2021•40 min•Season 2Ep. 46
World Series champ Ian Anderson returned home to Clifton Park earlier this month, still taking in the enormity of winning MLB's grand championship during his rookie season with the Atlanta Braves. "American Idol" finalist Madison VanDenburg came home to Cohoes, fresh from Nashville where she recorded her new single, "The Light of Christmas." On this episode of The Eagle, Times Union reporters James Allen and Shrishti Mathew caught up with these notable locals who've come home for the holidays an...
Nov 19, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Appointments at pediatricians’ offices and pharmacies across the Capital Region were snatched up fast this week as providers began offering Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to 5- to 11-year-olds. On this episode of The Eagle, Kristi Gustafson Barlette shares how local parents feel about the process, which she learned through social media. Also, Casey Seiler and Rob Gavin deliver a dramatic reading from the newly released transcripts of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's testimony in the state attorney general'...
Nov 12, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 44
Rick Ross spent more than a decade fighting lawsuits leveled against him by Keith Raniere and NXIVM, after the cult deprogrammer publicly criticized the purported self-help organization’s practices. In 2018, Ross ended up testifying at Raniere’s trial, which ended in a conviction on sex-trafficking and other crimes, and earned him a sentence of 120 years in prison. Today, Raniere is in prison, and all other key NXIVM players who were charged with crimes have been sentenced. On this episode of Th...
Nov 05, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 43
The city of Mechanicville gets its drinking water from a small reservoir in Saratoga County. A few busy beavers who also call the area home are determined to dam up the lone tributary that leads there. The situation has pit the two in a high stakes chess match of late, with city officials frantically tearing down dams to save the water supply, and beavers building them back up practically overnight. On this episode of The Eagle, reporter Kathleen Moore tags along with a Mechanicville city offici...
Oct 29, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 42
A decade and a half ago, Steve Barnes made the case to write a blog: “There’s a real appetite for restaurant news,” the food and entertainment writer argued to an audience of skeptical editors who finally relented. Today, Table Hopping is the go-to source for dining and restaurant happenings in the Capital Region. Whether it’s a tiff between competing restaurant owners, the debut of a new ethnic cuisine, or the closing of a beloved dining institution, Barnes has written about it. On this episode...
Oct 22, 2021•31 min•Season 2Ep. 41
More than 400 refugees will settle in Albany this year, but what happens after they arrive? On this episode of The Eagle, reporter Massarah Mikati shares how the lack of quality affordable housing in the region is burdening local refugee support organizations trying to help people who have fled violence and oppression in their home countries settle down in the U.S. Also on this episode, subpoenaed records show Cuomo accuser Brittany Commisso visited the governor's mansion in on a day she said fo...
Oct 15, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 40
In April of 1865, President Abraham Lincoln's coffin traveled from Washington to Illinois on a historic funeral train. It stopped in Albany along the way, offering lawmakers and citizens a chance to pay their respects. And on the anniversary of that posthumous visit, many have reported that the ghost of the funeral train still rumbles through Albany. It's one of the city's most famous supernatural tales. The story of Lincoln's connection to the region goes even deeper. Albany historian Maeve McE...
Oct 08, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 39
New York's vaccine mandate for most healthcare workers took effect this week, forcing hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities statewide to put workers on unpaid leave with a single directive: get vaccinated, or lose your job. It has spawned several lawsuits, including one that seeks to exclude those who claim religious exemption. In the Capital Region, providers including Albany Medical Center, St. Peter's Health Partners and Ellis Medicine have suspended hundreds of workers, exacerbating ...
Oct 01, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 38
