Walter Mullin and Emily Sachar cover three stories. The Daily Catch hosts its first candidates forum Sunday, May 17, at Rhinebeck High School, with Debbie Hecht and Amanda Miller facing questions ahead of the June 23 Democratic primary for town supervisor. The historic Rhinecliff Hotel signs a 10-year lease with Michaela Carpenter and Barry Dobesh, who plan to open this summer and reopen the renovated rooms in spring 2027. At Bard College, the board lays out a two-year transition plan to replace retiring president Leon Botstein, longtime chairman James Cox Chambers steps down from the board of trustees, and CNN's Fareed Zakaria is named commencement speaker for May 23.

Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio

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

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