Norm welcomes Sue Sie, a longtime Rhinecliff resident who arrived via an ex-husband, a Bard professor's house, and a lot of determination. She stayed; he did not. That was 1989, and she has been one of the most quietly essential figures in the local environmental landscape ever since.

Sue is an architect by training. She designed Gigi Trattoria, Terrapin, and Gabby's, among others, but has not practiced in about 20 years. These days she channels her energy into Dirty Gaia (dirtygaia.org), the environmental education nonprofit she founded to reconnect people with the natural world. The conversation covers the organization's seed library at Morton Library, this summer's Farm and Garden Ramble expanding into Red Hook, the upcoming Threshfest, and her ongoing work with Pollinate HV to promote native plants and protect at-risk pollinators.
They also get into: how to save tomato seeds (ferment, rinse, dry), the Berkeley Hot Composting method, the bokashi fermentation technique for composting meat and cheese, the appalling self-regulatory framework for pesticide testing, and why the American lawn is an ecological wasteland. Sue is also a diver, certified in murky New Jersey Atlantic waters and polished in Bonaire, and a devoted cook who dreams in dishes and makes a mean Swiss chard with chickpeas and fennel.

Produced by Norm Magnusson, Jennifer Hammoud, and Matty Rosenberg @ radiofreerhinecliff.org

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Norm sits down with Richard Marr, a Rhinebeck-based artist and Merrill Lynch financial advisor whose two careers have more in common than you might think. Richard's paintings are spare, reverent studies of water and light that grew out of his deep engagement with environmental issues, which also drives his investment work and his membership in the Citizens' Climate Lobby, where he helps lobby Congress for climate solutions each year in Washington.

They chat about the OVO Gallery he and his wife Carol ran in South Orange; how a visit to Dia Beacon set them on the path to Rhinebeck; kayaking the Hudson with a sail attached; the ESG investing movement and why Republicans helped kill the acronym; his Antioch College work-study years and the greaser friends he grew up clamming with in Bellport, Long Island; a deep dive into Tai Chi and the influence of John Cage and Alan Watts; and his current show Near and Far at Type Gallery in Millbrook.

Richard also previews a new performance piece built around interviews about the Hudson River, with proceeds going to Riverkeeper. Throughout, he returns to a single conviction: that art, like a long-term investment, is not finished until someone else receives it.

Produced by Norm Magnusson, Jennifer Hammoud, and Matty Rosenberg @ radiofreerhinecliff.org

Send comments to comments@radiofreerhinecliff.org

Norm is joined by Dr. Greg Tumolo of Rhinebeck Animal Hospital, a born-and-raised Rhinebecker who followed his father into veterinary medicine and never really left, except for 15 years in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he went to vet school, skied as much as possible, and eventually realized he wanted to come home.

The cover the practical to the philosophical: how Dr. Tumolo thinks about euthanasia as a gift rather than a burden; why he got certified in animal acupuncture; the corporate consolidation sweeping through the veterinary industry; his 25-foot sailboat Blue Mae (named for his daughters' middle names) at Norrie Point; and a famous patient: Rockefeller the owl, plucked from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and brought to Rhinebeck Animal Hospital for X-rays.

Produced by Norm Magnusson, Jennifer Hammoud, and Matty Rosenberg @ radiofreerhinecliff.org

Send comments to comments@radiofreerhinecliff.org