This little light of mine….

For the Season 7 finale of Cidiot, and just in time for Winter Solstice, Mat explores the idea and need for light in the darkness. There are three themes of light: the light that guides you; the light that cheers you; and the light that helps you believe.

Thank you to everyone who participated this season. Special shout-outs to editor Isaac Rostan and my husband Brian Fuhr. Join the Cidiot newsletter at Cidiot.com to be ready for next season.

Quote:

“Lighthouses don’t go looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” Anne Lamott

Links:

• Hudson Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society
• LGBTQ+ Allied A Capella Singers of the Hudson Valley
• Cidiot Episode 50: Hudson River Lighthouses
• Banque Chocolate, Hudson
• Valley Girls Podcast
• Barnfox - Cidiot day pass over still available
• Gulden Farm

Cidiot® is the award-winning podcast about moving to the Hudson Valley, produced and hosted by Mat Zucker. Please rate & review the show at Cidiot.com, join the mailing list, and get in touch about what you like—and what you’d like to hear about. And come visit.

Cidiot® 2024. All Rights Reserved.

“Stories tell you what’s important to people.” - AJ Schenkman

Thanks to Jennifer Santiago and Jenny Leifer of The Valley Girls podcast, I was introduced to a writer and public school teacher A.J. Schenkman. He writes a lot about area history and has published multiple books including “Patriots and Spies,” Wicked Ulster County,” “Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh” and most recently the beautiful illustrated children’s book “Franklin’s Trees.”

As you’ll hear on this episode of Cidiot®, A.J.’s brand of writing and teaching is “History Made Seamless,” which means making history accessible. We talk about how he got into writing about history, Eleanor wanting a place of her own away from mother-in-law, witness trees, stories from the FDR National Historic Site, elk, and A.J.’s new illustrated book: “Franklin’s Trees.”

“A good book will transform you through time,” he promises so excited to share this conversation and a slew of stories about FDR, Eleanor, trees, and more.

Links to highlights from this episode:

• Franklin’s Trees, by A.J. Schenkman (Muddy Boots publishing)
• A.J. Schenkman's blog “History Made Seamless”
• Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site
• Val-Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
• Historic Huguenot Street (New Paltz)
• A.J. on Literary Hudson Valley (YouTube)
• Cidiot Episode 29: Eleanor Was Right

Thanks to the Valley Girls Podcast and their new show, Literary Hudson Valley.

Cidiot® is the award-winning podcast about moving to the Hudson Valley, produced and hosted by Mat Zucker. This episode was brilliantly edited by Isaac Rostan. Please rate & review the show at Cidiot.com, join the mailing list, and get in touch about what you like—and what you’d like to hear about. And come visit.

Cidiot® 2024. All Rights Reserved.

Hudson, New York is still a new place for me, so this episode Cidiot tries to take a short cut to getting to know why the way things are.

I find the best way to do this is through people who’ve been here for years and who reflect the way things are and maybe even shape them.

Meet Mark Allen, a film-maker, a writer, a radio host, and yes, a former go-go boy. Mark and I both grew up in the 70s and 80s, though I was not a go-go boy nor featured in Paper Magazine. He is prolific and provocative and is generous and hilarious sharing what he sees. We talk about Hudson’s culture, about video, dinner parties, the waves of gays, advice for cidiots—and of course the back alleys of Hudson.

Links highlighted in episode:

• About Mark Allen

• Mark Allen’s YouTube channel

• “Are Hudson’s Sidewalks Safe for NYC Tourists” (Youtube):
• Time & Space Limited, Hudson:
• Wax museum, Lake George

Cidiot® is the award-winning podcast about moving to the Hudson Valley. Please rate & review the show at Cidiot.com, join the mailing list, and get in touch about what you like—and what you’d like to hear about. And come visit.

Cidiot® 2024. All Rights Reserved.