Category: Podcasts

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Jesse Pack, Cha-Cha Connor, and Brendan Melican.

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City Councilor Kate Toomey sent Mike birthday greetings on Facebook!

Jesse is starting a “support fund” for area transsexuals facing homelessness and other difficulties. The homelessness rate among transsexuals is very high.

Cha-Cha talks about her performance in the US premiere of “A Journey to Kreisau,” a dramatic presentation about Nazi resister Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, written by Worcester theater icon Marc P. Smith. She connects the performance to both immigration issues and Worcester’s “Canal District.”

Brendan mentions a police harassment settlement involving “disturbingly graphic photographs showing severe facial swelling and bruising.”

Dan Kelley calls in complaining about Mike’s use of the word “complicit.” (Anthony Hmura complains, at greater length, here.)

Brendan comments on this photo of Bruce:

Mike criticizes Worcester Magazine for publishing Kate Toomey’s Facebook updates; he defends them against the InCity Times‘ claim that they got this story “wrong.”

Jesse talks about a press event he held with Cha-Cha to ask the CDC to release some HIV stats.

Mike briefly dropped by the Worcester Local First kickoff event. Mike mentions a Boston Globe article about how the number of 25-34 year-old residents of Massachusetts is in decline.

The New York Times reported on a former Worcester resident living in a box on the Lower East Side.

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508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panelists are Brendan Melican and Bruce Russell.

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The train schedule has changed; there will soon be a Worcester Green-Rainbow Party City Committee; the “connections exceeded” error on the City’s website is caused by turning off cookies in your browser; Brendan responds to Clive McFarlane’s column about strip club zoning; Mike invites you to add to How To Attend A City Council Meeting; Anthony Hmura has an amazing blog post about running into Cha-Cha at an ATM; Mike contrasts hunger strikes with Gandhian fasts; Mike connects his thoughts on the Telegram & Gazette with Bruce Sterling’s thoughts on broadcast TV.

Brendan: “Little cities like Worcester that are so homogenous, and so closeted, in its activities, that we are able to do things that are essentially illegal just a hair below the surface and nobody minds–this is the stripper factory. This is where all the broken souls come from. So for all the politicians that really think they’re on some sort of moral crusade, look at your peers . . . .”

Vaguely related: Vegan strip club perpetuates objectifying mindset

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508 is a show about Worcester.

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This week, we begin with a Kate Toomey Facebook update. A Worcester Republican Blog post reflects national Republican discontent with John McCain. Brendan Melican talks about what it used to be like to vote Libertarian. An InCity Times reader complains about that paper’s neglect of Ron Paul. Mike talks about his latest research project.

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508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s co-host is Brendan Melican.

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A listener writes about the EPA, Worcester, and water treatment. Worcester Magazine has a great cover story on adult entertainment zoning. A Telegram & Gazette reader complains that they ran a letter based on a posting on their “Speakeasy” message board. (I can’t find the original letter with a Google search–let me know if you find it.) The New York Times, which owns the T&G, is having hard financial times.

Did you know that there’s another podcast that touches on local issues? Check out Facing East.

The Lincoln-Estates Elm Park Neighborhood Association website has gone blank. Worcester Magazine ran a bad editorial about surveillance. We tie the surveillance issue to reduced revenues from water and trash.

Mike talks about his adventures archiving City Council meetings.

Guest Grace Ross explains the foreclosure crisis and how it’s affecting local residents.

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508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s co-host is Brendan Melican. This week’s guests are Jeff Barnard and Anne Lewenberg.

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The City and EPA disagree about Worcester’s water treatment; we explore the social dynamics of having a city councilor as a Facebook friend. (Here’s the Cory Doctorow essay.)

We respond to some claims by Anthony Hmura, and note that his blog is totally avant garde. Brendan updates us on the median income debate. Note that he’s now Chair of the Cultural Commission!

HBML is “expanding,” and Mike won the giant plush squid.

Jeff Barnard talks about why there’s no “top story” in Worcester, and Anne Lewenberg describes the ongoing, successful Anarchist Theory and Action Skill Share Series.

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Update:Jeff created this fun short video using his own footage and the 508 audio:

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Brendan Melican.

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Inspired by the words of City Councilor Bill Eddy, we provide an infusion of enthusiasm.

Economic Development Initiatives Status Report: “A start-up company that has developed a way to grow plants for cosmetics and health will be the first business to redevelop land in the South Worcester Industrial Park.” Things are happening with the Mason-Winfield Lot. Mike agrees with Jeff, and disagrees with Gary Rosen, that the current wayfinding sign is not that great; Brendan informs us that much, much more is to come.

Brendan points out that the City is confusing the matter of median family income. Mike talks to Pat Moriarty about Worcester’s community radio station, WCUW 91.3FM. The Lincoln Estate-Elm Park Neighborhood Association continues its public feud with Bob Bourassa. Jeff Barnard: “Now I wonder, have I ever actually laughed at a David Hitch cartoon?”

Anthony Hmura responds to our podcast with a third post about Grace Ross. Colin Novick provides an infusion of enthusiasm by encouraging the city to not pollute the river; Clive McFarlane makes an inaccurate Abbie Hoffman reference. A Holy Cross alum is writing speeches for Obama.

Mike will be running HBML on Jan 23, and recording interviews for the podcast with whoever stops by.

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508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Bruce Russell, Cha-Cha Connor, and Brendan Melican.

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Cha-Cha mourns the closing of the Java Hut; Worcester gets traffic cameras; Mike speculates that the Main South Alliance for Public Safety is a diabolical Freemasonic conspiracy; the benches in Federal Square are gone. Mike: “David Hitch is the worst editorial cartoonist in the country.” (Typical witless example.) Also: Worcester City Councilors promise a citizen revolution.

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If you’d like to leave a recorded message to be played on the show, call 508.471.3897.

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Not on the podcast: My hero Edmund Hillary has died. I love that there’s no photo of him being the first man atop Everest, just Tenzing Norgay, either because he forgot to ask TN to take one, or because he didn’t think it was important enough to show TN how to use the camera. I also love that his first words upon returning to base camp were: “Well, George, we finally knocked the bastard off.” A true adventurer.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week I talk with Brendan Melican and Bruce Russell.

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Brendan: “I would like to thank in general the people of Iowa, and in particular Mike Huckabee, for proving to me once again that the United States is nothing more than a running comedy sketch for the Dutch.”

Pulse Magazine loves Cha-Cha Connor. (Who could not?)

A guy tried to kill his wife “by sticking her head in a pot of spaghetti sauce.”

Scott Zoback’s notes on this week’s inauguration hint that the City may be taking steps toward widespread video surveillance; we’ll watch the inauguration video and see what exactly was said.

We parse Brendan’s tongue-in-cheek predictions for 2008.

A guy was stabbed near Bruce’s house, and his friend Jimmy was attacked in a separate incident.

There’s now a feed for low-fi versions of this podcast, suitable for iTunes; and there’s a “collection” page at the Internet Archive for 508. All the download stats are totally wrong, BTW.

People everywhere are recognizing the Snow Ghost. Mike is curating an art show at HBML.

The Bob Bourassa/Claude Dorman feud seems to have ended, as has Bourassa’s connection with the neighborhood association. (Classic Bourassa, WoMag article, sample of anti-Bourassa sentiment on new neighborhood association site.)

Despite mentioning so many negative things, Mike is really happy about life in Worcester.

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Cha-Cha Connor is at far right

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Brendan Melican and Bruce Russell.

HBML is raffeling off a plush squid; the Longest Night event remembered those who’ve died homeless in Worcester, including Joe Sweet; Anthony Hmura’s disturbing blog mentions 508, and also fluoridation.

You can download the mp3 or see more formats. (I’m on the run this morning, so I’ve posted this before the file is done uploading; if you can’t download it, please wait an hour and try again. By Friday afternoon it should be all set.)

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Continue reading “508 #15: The Longest Night”