Cidiot

It's holiday time and this episode is coming to you live from Hudson Winter Walk and a live performance.

Mat closes out this amazing season of Cidiot® by sharing what he got from Spotify Unwrapped about the show as well as his own lessons and moments of which he’s proud. So lucky to have you all season. Episode 100 is coming up so be sure to send in ideas or a voicemail message wishing the show something good!

Links:

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“Pick one exercise in every plane of motion” — Jakob Roze

Jakob is this episode’s special guest. Originally from the Catskills, schooled in Saratoga, started a business in New York, and now back upstate, we talk about moving his work here, the relationships between newcomers and locals, and play a round of the Cidiot geography game. And with winter coming on, in part three, Jakob also gives me a recommended plan, there’s mention of...

Where should we grow old? Is the Hudson Valley a good place for aging? More and more people think so. And when you find your place, how should we plan for it? How can we stay in our home? How can we get around? What kind of resources are available?  Choosing to move from the city to upstate and now past 50, yeah, Cidiot® wants to know all this and more.

So Mat talks to Brian Jones of the Dutchess County Office for the Aging who de...

In a special spontaneous episode, Cidiot takes you live to the New York Sheep & Wool Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds (October 21-22, 2023). Mat has no idea what he's looking at but luckily Rachel Zive and her partner Sam Barnett are there to guide us all through the fabric and the animals. We learn so much including advice for beginners, celebrity knitwear designers, and terms from the fiber folk community.

What makes the Hudson Valley special for creative people? This episode, Cidiot talks to Jordan Koschei about building ConnectHV, a creative “network of networks” for creative people in the Hudson Valley and Jordan’s idea of “digital terroir.” It’s about having a sense of place even for a digital network. And just as we’re building on the soil of Hudson Valley’s past, maybe the future will build on this. I think it’s the most though...

Mat gives an update on the gardening project, including flowers vs. vegetables competition. Though his voice notes, you probably get too close to the amateur he is and the struggles he faces — not to mention the neglect he embodies.

Links to what’s mentioned in the episode:

• Sam’s video on how to properly weed (YouTube)
• Stark Blooms (Instagram)
• Photos of before and after weeding (Instagram)

Thank you for lis...

Upstate, living in a small town, I pop into all my favorite spots all the time. I try to always buy something but I’m also a bit of a gossip and always want to know what’s new. People ask about the show, and several people have been on it as you know.  This episode of Cidiot®, you’ll meet a favorite store-owner-new friend Marie of Red Hook Stationery Co. in the Village of Red Hook, NY. Her store is my new favorite place to get gift...

Do you love where you live? Mat sure does. Already a champion, advocate, even a shill for people moving to the Hudson Valley, Mat takes it to the next level by becoming a Certified Tourist Ambassador in Dutchess County. In this Cidiot® episode, you'll hear about the experience as well as advice for visiting from two other 'graduates.' Plus, there's a un/related story about a spider!

Beacon (from Nicole)

• C...

After missing it last year, Mat explores the big annual event that is Upstate Art Weekend. More than 130 artists participate across the Hudson Valley, including Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties. Mat shares the differences between culture in the city versus the country and talks to a New York-based artist, Lauren Cohen at “Brian’s Yard Sale.” It’s hilarious. A...

Mat finally takes up gardening but in the safety and security of an adopted small garden plot at Four Corners Community Farm. It's a learning experience for sure, so join him via his audio journal as he tries to grow vegetables vs. flowers.

Links:

Four Corners Community Farm

Old Dutch Village Gardening Club

Garden Pals

National Garden Association

Thanks for listening to Cidiot®, the Hudson Valley's most awarded p...

This episode is all about cheese. Who doesn't love it?

To answer them all, Cidiot interviews Lauren Cunningham-Housman, owner of The Corner Counter, a new cheese and provisions shop in Red Hook, NY.

Lauren worked for years with iconic cheese purveyor Murray's Cheese in New York City, and combining her business school education and her experience in (and love of) cheese, built a plan to open her own shop. I ask her how she...

Sometimes the show takes you to new places, and sometimes the way to get there is the destination. U.S. Route 9 is historic—for much of the portion in New York State, it's The Albany Post Road. Join Cidiot® for a very personal driving tour from Poughkeepsie to Kinderhook with sites, stops and history along the way. Be sure to see the surviving markers, a system developed by Ben Franklin, including the iconic 100-mile marker in ...

Welcome to Season 6 of Cidiot®!

I'm excited to talk about 700,000 acre-big Catskill Park, "America's First Wilderness," with Ryan Penny, owner of Camp Catskill in Tannersville, NY. 

In two parts, we'll cover what drew Ryan to the Catskills, about starting his store in Tannersville, spotting a cidiot, and about Catskill Park, including his four favorite spots "inside the blue line." We also get into Kaaterskill Falls and the co...

Cidiot closes out Season 5—the show's biggest yet—with reflections on what worked and what's ahead.

Thank you for making Cidiot one of the Hudson Valley's biggest and most loved shows. Stay warm catching up on past episodes and watching the Cidiot anthem video, available here, via Cidiot.com, and on YouTube.

Thank you for our sponsors and partners this season, including El Sueco and the Don, Greig Farm, Hudson Valley Kitchen Design...

I love color. I’m fascinated by color. I have questions. Amy Krane is an architectural color consultant as well as a real estate broker. And get this: she has her own podcast on color called Let’s Talk (Paint) Color with colleague Amy Woolf.

On this episode in three fun, chatty parts, Amy and I talk about her journey upstate (she’s not a newbie) and then becoming a color consultant and then into my thousand questions about color es...

Ash trees are dying fast. Not just at our house, but across the Hudson Valley. This has made me learn a lot about taking care of trees (e.g., the PINE method for tree care: prune, inspect, nourish and extend), meet a shirtless tree caregiver, and find an expert to ask all my questions about insurance.

Scot Hastie of Pardee’s Agency in Kingston, NY, thankfully came to rescue us cidiots, tackling a thorough Q&A across homeowners,...

Meet a couple who makes a leap, not just in moving upstate, but by restoring a motel. Cidiot talks to Kendra Sinclair and Jared Vengrin who have just opened the Reclaimed Motel in Red Hook in Dutchess County, New York.  Jared grew up here, met Kendra in college and now they’ve together been lovingly updating this motel along the Albany Post Road with a view of the Catskills. With fantasies of being Moira from Schitt’s Creek an...