The Catch Up

Radio Free Rhinecliff

The Catch Up is a podcast produced by The Daily Catch in conjunction with Radio Free Rhinecliff. The Daily Catch is the local newspaper for the towns of Rhinebeck and Red Hook in New York's Hudson Valley region. In the podcast we discuss recent stories that have appeared in The Daily Catch. We take listeners "inside the news" to help them understand how we report stories for our paper.

  1. HACE 3 H

    Botstein Steps Down

    Leon Botstein is leaving Bard. After almost 51 years as president, he announced his retirement one day after the board got WilmerHale's review of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Walter Mullin and Daily Catch editor Emily Sachar talk through what the report says, what Botstein had told the public before, and why those two stories no longer match. The report includes a line Botstein gave investigators that the board chose to highlight: "I would take money from Satan if it permitted me to do God's work." It also says he visited Epstein's townhouse 25 times, made a two-day trip to Little St. James, and was around women later identified as Epstein's victims. The Daily Catch had already reported on the 2013 helicopter visit to Bard, when Epstein arrived with several young women and Botstein walked them around campus. Emily walks through what the board did and did not know, including the 2014 Leon Black donation that came at Epstein's direction. She talks about the senior faculty member who warned Botstein off, the level three sex offender designation that anyone could have looked up in 2012, and the consulting fees Botstein took from an Epstein entity in 2016. She and Walter weigh the Bard that Botstein built against the choices he made, and look at what comes next: an interim leader, a national search, and whatever role Leon Botstein still holds at the college he ran for half a century. Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio

    32 min

  2. 1 MAY

    Voters Approved It. The Town Didn't Collect It. Inside Starr Library's $82K Shortfall

    This week, editor Emily Sachar takes you inside Monday night's Rhinebeck Town Board meeting, where a discussion about Starr Library's budget turned into a shouting match between Town Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia, library leaders, and a packed room of more than 40 residents. Beat reporter Eloise Goldsmith joins Emily to explain how voters approved an $82,000 tax increase for the library on Election Day, only to have the higher amount left out of the Town's budget documents, leaving Starr $82K short. Eloise walks through the timing rules under state education law, the conflicting accounts of who dropped the ball, and the divided vote that ended with the Town loaning, not gifting, $72,000 to the library over three years, interest-free. To close the show, publisher Walter Mullin joins Emily with some good news: The Daily Catch took home five first-place awards from the New York Press Association, including first place for this podcast and for investigative reporting on the Red Hook wastewater treatment plant by Claire Greenburger and Jack Whitman. The paper finished third in the state overall, going up against the largest newsrooms in New York. Walter and Emily talk about the work behind the wins, and the pressure of doing it again next year. Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio

    30 min

  3. 24 ABR

    Back in the Pews: A Hudson Valley Catholic Revival

    The Catch-Up host Walter Mullin sits down with Daily Catch reporter Athan Yanos to unpack his in-depth feature on a quiet but striking reversal: Catholic churches in Red Hook and Rhinebeck are filling up. Yanos spent weeks embedded in the parish community at St. Christopher's and Good Shepherd, interviewing seven congregants whose returns to faith trace back not to headlines or trends, but to grief, dislocation, and a search for something solid. The conversation ranges from local parking-lot overflow to global forces, from Pope Leo to the legacy of the clergy abuse crisis, and from CYO basketball to the role TikTok may be playing in a new Catholic revival. Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio

    35 min

  4. 17 ABR

    Hammertown Is Closing and Joan Osofsky Has a Lot to Say About It

    For more than 40 years, Joan Osofsky built something rare: a store that felt like a home. Hammertown, which began in a Pine Plains barn in 1985, grew into one of the Hudson Valley's most beloved design institutions, defining a regional aesthetic that became known as "modern country." Now, after six years of searching for a buyer, Joan has made the bittersweet decision to close. In this conversation with Emily Sachar, Joan reflects on what it took to build Hammertown from scratch, the instincts and luck that guided her, what she's heard from the community as the doors close, and what comes next. Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio

    31 min

  5. 9 ABR

    New Film Captures the Hudson's Beauty and the Battle to Protect It

    Daily Catch Publisher Walter Mullen sits down with producer Carolyn Marks Blackwood and director Jon Bowermaster to talk about The Keeper, a documentary that follows John Lipscomb, the longtime patrol captain for Riverkeeper, and his deep, complicated bond with the Hudson River. Walter asks about the Riverkeeper's mission, what drew Blackwood to Lipscomb's story, and the challenge of convincing a very private man to open up on camera. Bowermaster talks about his need for a human anchor to make the river's story accessible, and describes four to five years of filming from New York Harbor to Albany, finding both the Hudson's beauty and the lasting damage left by decades of pollution. Clips from the film feature Lipscomb on the gap between the river's health for humans versus fish, and a call to action urging viewers to get involved locally, defend environmental protections, and support organizations like Riverkeeper. The Keeper screens at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck on Sunday, April 12 at 7:00 PM. Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin. Executive Producer Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio. Additional editing by Esther Martel.

    17 min

  6. 4 ABR

    Red Hook School Vote: Bus Garage Expansion, New Welding Program & Fleet Planning

    Walter Mullen and reporter Claire Greenberg break down what Red Hook Central School District voters will decide on May 21, including the operating budget, two open school board seats, and multiple propositions. Voters will consider $1.1 million to upgrade the high school welding facility to launch an in-house career and technical education pathway, a $14.7 million renovation and expansion of the aging bus garage, and $530,000 to purchase six vehicles (three hybrid SUVs, two gas buses, and a maintenance plow truck), plus two separate library budget propositions. The discussion covers why the bus garage and welding projects were unbundled after community feedback, concerns about the bus garage cost and neighborhood impacts, how state aid influences renovation vs. rebuilding, and how gas bus purchases relate to New York’s mandate for fully electric fleets by 2035/2037 amid limited funding for electric buses. Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio

    18 min

  7. 28 MAR

    Red Hook's New Trustees Inherit a Broken Sewer and a Skeptical Public

    Red Hook beat reporter Athan Yanos joins Emily Sachar to break down a closely watched village board election that brought two political newcomers to power. Perry Allen and Craig Rothstein unseated incumbent Anthony Maccarini, with Rothstein winning by just 17 votes after a recount. Yanos walks through what drove the results, from a meticulously run grassroots campaign to the outsized role of trustee Frances Uku's endorsement, and explains why the troubled wastewater treatment plant became the defining issue of the race. The conversation also covers the potential shift in board dynamics under Mayor Karen Smythe, the stakes of a planned fourfold expansion of the village sewer system, a new zoning study for the village's northeast quadrant, and the steep learning curve awaiting two trustees with just one-year terms and a full agenda. Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio

    36 min

  8. 20 MAR

    Clinton Vineyards Owner Wants to Turn Old Barn Into a Restaurant. Neighbors Aren't Sure.

    Walter Mullen and reporter Claire Greenberger take up a proposal from Clinton Vineyards owner Barry Milea to convert a former tasting-room barn on Schultzville Road into an 80-seat fine-dining restaurant with a limited events component. The plan has landed before the Clinton Planning Board, where traffic concerns have taken center stage: a new study projects peak hourly vehicle counts could jump from roughly 25 to around 60, more than doubling, on a narrow, winding road with constrained sight lines. Nearby residents are also worried about what a busy restaurant would do to the road's quiet, rural feel. Milea frames the project differently, arguing it would keep the land in agriculture and head off residential development, and he points to a 2023 town law permitting farm restaurants under certain sourcing rules. The Planning Board has paused the hearing pending revised plans; a review is expected in April, with the hearing set to resume after that. Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio

    20 min
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The Catch Up is a podcast produced by The Daily Catch in conjunction with Radio Free Rhinecliff. The Daily Catch is the local newspaper for the towns of Rhinebeck and Red Hook in New York's Hudson Valley region. In the podcast we discuss recent stories that have appeared in The Daily Catch. We take listeners "inside the news" to help them understand how we report stories for our paper.

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