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

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

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

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.

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

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