The John Krol Podcast / The Blend

The man, the myth, the legend. Jim Campagna is one of my (perhaps unsung) heroes who made it possible for the long-running Good Morning Pittsfield radio show on WTBR to continue through long stretches during election cycles. However, some may not know that broadcasting is Jim's professional background and he DJ'ed at various stations, including WNAW/WMNB in North Adams when I met him. Somehow we m...

The "absolute favorite thing in the world" for Charles Harrigan to do is make people stronger. And at 5 a.m. every weekday morning, he shows his commitment by holding boot campers accountable to doing just that - making them stronger. And he has many loyal athletes who have been doing it for years with him finding their fittest selves. It all started for Charles after a back injury made it impossi...

The exchange of positive energy. That's the vision Danielle Munn has for her retail space, which has already become a bit of a downtown hub. Witch Slapped is intended with the desire to create "nothing but healing." With a dedicated "healing room" and a workshop space, independent practitioners are being encouraged to reach out to Danielle to offer their services in her space. Sure, you can purcha...

The innovative splice of intuition and fitness fundamentals is how Tariq Pinkston is carving his path to raising the vibration in the world around him. Growing up as an empath, or "feeler," as he was known in his family, was not always easy. However, Earthly angels, like his Mother, helped Tariq along the way and he's found his place in a focus on the mind, body and soul - calling himself a Wholis...

Eric Durant is not going to let his golden opportunity slip away. Not a chance. Now retired after 25 years full-time at the Berkshire County Sheriff's Department (he still works traffic details from time to time), he's all-in on his acting career. It is a dream he's had since his Mother utilized Shakespeare to help young Eric master his speech through a childhood stutter. His love of acting and pe...

When Mike Daly puts his attention and focus on something, he's all in...as in 15 hours a day for 10 years straight, all in, as he did playing drums on his path to record for top bands and labels. Mike's journey to It's Pittsfield Tonight was a remarkable and winding road, from the foster system, to times living without a home in Pittsfield and in Florida, to the tumultuous world of being a heavy a...

The challenges for health care workers over the past three years have been well-documented. For public health nurses, the pandemic presented an entirely new level of responsibilities in, often, uncharted territory. Jill Sweet served as both a school nurse and the Public Health Nurse for Tri-Town Health and the Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative during these years. Our conversation incl...

Leigh Davis is the rarest of elected officials. She was sworn-in and promptly made a measurable impact on the community she represents. Most recently, the short-term rental bylaw she spearheaded was approved amid a lively public debate that included defeating the likes of Airbnb and other powerful business interests. It was a win for those standing up for the character of residential neighborhoods...

These two have been through thick and thin and it’s a friendship that has added greater variety and flavor to the Berkshire business scene and our community. Jim Bronson and Matt Mottor met nearly 15 years ago and the instant friendship notably led to the creation of a wildly popular Beerfest, which crushed it with tens of thousands of attendees before the pandemic put a damper on it. The pandemic...

Who do candidates call when they want opposition research on their opponents? While you're at it, you better do research on yourself as a candidate and face up to your own skeletons! Matt Barron has been lit up by politics ever since he canvassed for anti-Vietnam War congressional candidate Father Robert Drinan in 1970. Drinan won and made his mark on Capitol Hill and across the country, meanwhile...

Inspiration personified. Ty Allan Jackson's relentless optimism and grit was molded into his soul growing up in the Bronx, during an electric era of scary excitement. "I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything in the world," Ty says about his youth in the Bronx, when hip-hop was conceived, the Yankees were rock stars, and he followed his loving mother's footsteps (and bookshelf) as a "ferocious r...

Taking the leap from being a successful attorney in the city to a financial advisor in the Berkshires would have daunting to many. But for Matthew Chester it was all about actually building a real relationship with his clients, something missing in the narrow focus of being a specialized financial attorney in New York City. As his career path shifted, so did his personal life, as he and his wife C...

The love of beer and the magic of the pub. Sarah Real and Mike Dell'Aquila have been together since their days at Penn State, and since, through their days in New York City, traveling around the world and now finding their ways to the Berkshires - they are now fulfilling their dream to open a brewery. Hot Plate Brewing Co. is expected to open on North Street this fall. Meanwhile, the couple is bus...

How do you measure the impact one person has made. You may not ever be able to truly measure that now, or even in years to come. Dan "The Man" Joslyn has dedicated his career to being a mentor, a teacher, a safe haven to so many young people in their most impressionable years - instilling values, accountability and equipping with the invaluable tools needed to live one's best life. As an adopted s...

Steve Chessare's career is a story of true passion for an industry that began when he was just seven years old listening day and night on his transistor radio, and his love has only grown stronger since. Even at times when it seemed as though his professional life could have gone in more traditional, stable directions, radio always proved to be his true path. Whether it was the neighbor down the s...

Early on, Caroline Fairweather knew that she was going to be on stage and would be doing it for years to come. From her earliest days in a production at the former Berkshire Theatre Festival as a child, shining in the golden era of Taconic High School's Theatre program under the legendary Jess Passetto, as a theatre major at Williams College to now headlining with roles in the Theatre Barn, Barrin...

Jacquelyn Sykes experienced the unthinkable five years ago when her boyfriend, Daniel Gillis, was shot and killed by a police officer after she called the authorities to help him. Following Gillis' death she fought for changes in the way Pittsfield Police respond to those in crisis, such as those in a mental health crisis. The community is now again engaged in this dialogue following the police sh...

At 24, 17 years of Cheyenne VanBramer's life has included the Youth Alive Step Team. From her first day deciding to join as a student at Conte Community School when she described herself as "very shy" to today as a powerful instructor in the program, Cheyanne has seen so many other steppers grow in their skills and self-esteem as she from this remarkable program. In our interview we cover what ste...

Since Miguel Estrella was shot and killed by Pittsfield Police on March 25th, the community has been engaged in the conversation on how this incident happened, and what needs to change to avoid this type of incident from happening again. My conversation with Chief Michael Wynn is intended to be productive in this ongoing dialogue and in finding and supporting changes that would lead to a more effe...

Justin Allen's motto for his work is very simple, it's to "make cool stuff." Sounds simple, and yet, his passion for life and his art has taken him on an extraordinary path from the Wilson Projects to Amherst College, New Zealand where he met his wife, back to the Berkshires where he carved his path as a filmmaker. And, oh yeah, he's also an exceptional musician...and bartender. He's a husband, a...

A groundbreaking study on redlining in the city of Pittsfield shows that this community was not immune to the discriminatory practices in housing and banking for people of color, particularly for African Americans, although, not limited to African Americans. The study was presented by the NAACP, Berkshire County Branch in April 2022. You can hear the audio version of the presentation here, along w...

What a pleasure to sit down again with author, columnist and brilliant storyteller, Kevin O'Hara. His new book, The Ins and Outs of a Locked Ward, paints a beautiful and authentic picture of the Jones Unit at Berkshire Medical Center where he worked for several decades. In our conversation, we explore his journey becoming a nurse and what it was like to be the "male nurse" in the 1970s, how his de...

Starting out as a self-described goth adjacent teen, Joe Durwin found himself fascinated far more by cemeteries than the library and other traditional research, as he developed his passion for the less glamorous (but equally as fascinating) side of history in the Berkshires. This episode takes a slightly epic journey from the Shakers' occult side, the paranormal, our cherry-picked tourist friendly...

Taylor has made it her mission to inspire families to go outdoors and soak in the natural beauty, as well as documenting the inevitable challenges that come along with family hikes. And she and her family walk the walk - most literally! Berkshire Family Hikes began in 2019 and Taylor and her husband, Dan, decided they were going to do this thing! And countless hikes later, she has documented it al...

We cover a lot of territory in this episode, including trivia, restaurants and nightlife, dive bars, life through the pandemic, Flicker, Best Buy, Nikon, Canon, shooting weddings and sporting events, iPhones and Androids, social media and the lame algorithms on Facebook and Instagram, blockchain, NFTs, web3, VR, AR, Metaverse, Pokemon Go, Roblox, crypto, Elon Musk, the union movement, Amazon worke...