The youngest guest to date flew back to his hometown for the holidays, and I had a chance to catch up with 13-year-old Rory Greth, who currently has three YouTube channels under his name with more than 36,000 views.

https://www.youtube.com/@MRSmokehouse

https://www.youtube.com/@RorysGarage

https://www.youtube.com/@NYPlates

Rory and I go way back.... in fact... to his birth.

There is a lot of family history shared as I kick off 2026 with this impressive young man.

We talked about when I worked for his grandfather, joked about his father, my first godson, and offered a lot of shoutouts to the rest of the family.

It's a holiday podcast with a lot of laughs, a lot of family talk, and how hot Arkansas really is for Rory, a Ballston Spa native.

He hasn't disappointed any of us for the past 13 years, and I guarantee that he didn't on his first visit on the Stan and Friends Show podcast.

Daily Gazette Pint-Sized writer John Norris talks about the final match-up for the inaugural Brew Brawl showdown in the Capital Region.

From a tasty bracket of 16 breweries, we are down to the final two - and every vote counts!

It is a battle of East vs. West - Stump City Brewery, representing Fulton County vs. perennial powerhouse Wolf Hollow Brewing, representing Schenectady County.

John has visited both locations, sampled their beers and talks about his favorites.

The two also brainstormed about a NEW feature to bring to the Pint-Sized segment of the show.

Sydney Worthley is a Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Award winner, a talented singer/songwriter/musician, and I am fortunate enough to call her a friend of the podcast.

She is making a triumphant return to Schenectady this Saturday after performing at Freedom Park in the summer heat in 2024, taking the stage to open up this year's Summer Night on State Street, and she will own the stage, highlighting the 56th annual Schenectady County Holiday Parade block party at 3 p.m.

I caught up with Sydney on the eve of the holiday parade to talk about her travels, her set list for the block party, what she is working on, along with a few laughs about the holiday and the Schenectady County Holiday Parade

Just before you see the star of the 56th annual Schenectady County Holiday Parade, you will see the other half of the Christmas Spirit duo, Mrs. Claus.

I had a chance to talk to the fantastic Mrs. Claus after she put the finishing touches on the Daily Gazette Santa parade float earlier in the week with help from the Daily Gazette Newspaper mascot, 'Newsie'.

She talked about the upcoming parade, the importance of being Mrs. Claus and what the parade means to her as it kicks off the holiday season.

Mrs. Claus is not a solo act as the elves' ensemble has expanded for this year's parade.

Mrs. Claus also has a special place in her heart and spoke about the importance of the sensory room at Proctors GE Theater.

Even Mrs. Claus has a list for Christmas - a request from block party musical guest Sydney Worthley - for her and her elves.

The 56th annual Schenectady County Holiday Parade is right around the corner, and I had the opportunity to talk to two of the movers and shakers who helped create this great event before the big guy, Santa himself, rides down State Street Saturday night.

MVP senior relationship manager Jackie Marciniak stopped by the podcast studio to talk about her company's role in the annual event, along with her own history of watching the largest nighttime parade in the Northeast.

She was followed by Schenectady County Legislature Vice Chair Kathy Gatta, who is no stranger to the podcast studio and shared some of the work that goes on behind the scenes, along with more than a few laughs.

It's a bit of old and new this week as Kayla Ek, the curator of the Nightmare Market, returns to The Daily Gazette podcast studio to talk about this fall's installment on Oct. 18.

She was joined by former co-worker, Shenandoah Briere, who has a new role as promotions director with Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp.

John Norris returns with a conversation about his weekly Pint-Sized column, this time visiting Brown's Brewing as we talk about beer and the legacy of the Browns, including former photographer, Sid Brown.

Thomas Dimopolous makes his first appearance in the podcast studio talking about the close of summer's rock concerts at Saratoga Performing Arts Center with co-headliners Judas Priest and Alice Cooper.

You can listen to the full interview with Kayla Ek at The Stan and Shen Show podcast on all your listening platforms.

This week, Stan invites in his newest colleague, John McIntyre, publisher of The Spotlight and its publications, who joined the Daily Gazette Family of Newspapers last week.

They discuss his journey into journalism, as well as his vision for the future of The Spotlight editions.

John Norris stops in for his weekly pint-sized chat, and this time his samples didn't have a traditional hearty head on them as he spent time at Helderberg Meadworks in Troy.

The podcast closes out with The Daily Gazette's version of the Jedi Knight, Ken Schott, who is approaching his 500th episode of The Parting Schotts Podcast.

They talk about his start in radio and journalism, some of his top guests, and who would be the 'catch' for the 500th episode.

It was the Daily Gazette version of The Office this week, as Ted Remsnyder, John Norris, and Chad Arnold stopped by the podcast studio to talk about work and have some fun.

Ted Remsnyder kicked things off with a look back at the Niskayuna Supervisor debate hosted by The Daily Gazette between candidate John Rickert and Supervisor Erin Cassady-Doran. It was Ted's first time as a panelist, and Stan was filling in as a moderator for the first time.

John Norris not only sells advertising for Gazette Media Group, but he also writes a weekly craft beer column titled 'Pint-Sized' and talks about his latest visit and tasting.

We veered off the reporter beat with Chad Arnold to talk about local comic book day being a not-so-big day, but Batman Day the week before was huge! Chad discussed his growing comic book art collection and praised the latest Superman movie.