Hudson Valley Unleashed

Lorraine Toussaint is the kind of guest who makes time slow down and the truth get loud. You know her as Aunt Vi on The Equalizer , Vee on Orange Is the New Black , and the unforgettable Cressida in Into the Badlands , but in this episode Lorraine goes way beyond the roles. She talks about growing up in Trinidad, moving to Brooklyn, the High School of Performing Arts, and Juilliard, plus the wild...

Chef Ric Orlando joins Hudson Valley Unleashed for a loud, hilarious, and surprisingly heartfelt hang—because of course it is when you put a chef, a DJ, and a longtime Hudson Valley icon at the same kitchen table. Josh and Dave go way back with Ric: from the early, chaotic glory days of New World Home Cooking (including those legendary Halloween parties) to the reality of building restaurants that...

Jen C (Jennifer Ciota) storms into the studio and absolutely detonates the place. From cow-farm life and Rhinebeck gossip to OnlyFans brainstorms, Colombian identity, white-people problems, and who in town she’d definitely sleep with—nothing is off limits. Josh almost gets recruited into porn, Dave gets propositioned, and the Hudson Valley gets roasted. This is the episode that proves why we call...

Today we welcome family: broadcaster, musician, and champion of women and gender-expansive artists, Carmel Holt . Carmel traces her path from Bard College and the early Hudson Valley days—writing copy at WDST, landing “Acoustic Breakfast,” and becoming Music Director—to the leap to WFUV and the mentorship of the legendary Rita Houston . She opens up about why she left the security of radio to buil...

Kevin Zraly wrote the wine book that taught the world to drink with joy— Windows on the World Complete Wine Course , now over 3 million copies sold. His story is rooted in the Hudson Valley, with Sunday magic at the Canal House and John Novi , the farm-to-table pioneer who lit the spark. In this episode, Kevin traces an incredible arc—from High Falls to the 107th floor—why fearless hospitality mat...

Simi Stone is a singer, songwriter, violinist, and visual artist rooted in Woodstock, NY—and a beacon of the Hudson Valley’s creative spirit. In this episode, Simi sits down with us to talk about building a life in art: how voice and violin found each other, what it means to perform with heart (not ego), the discipline behind joy, and why community is the real amplifier.

Hudson Valley Unleashed sits down with MK Scully — WKZE afternoon host, wedding DJ, bandleader, skier, and certified Renaissance woman. She’s the diplomat of vibes, equally at home keeping uncles and hipsters on the same dance floor, bombing black diamonds at Belleayre, or fronting her tongue-in-cheek band Trailer Swift. We dig into why human-curated radio still matters in the age of algorithms, t...

This week on Hudson Valley Unleashed , Chef Josh Kroner and DJ Dave Leonard sit down with Hudson Valley’s own Renaissance man, Norm Magnusson. Norm is a visual artist, political activist, actor, scratch golfer, and the founder of Funism —an art movement built on humor, accessibility, and social commentary. From his allegorical animal paintings to the viral “historical markers” that stop people in...

This week on Hudson Valley Unleashed we sit down with Paul Schiavo — a guy who went from working with iconic recording artists such as Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Natalie Merchant, Aretha Franklin (and about a dozen other legends) to guiding fly fishing trips in the Catskills. Paul’s lived about three rock and roll lifetimes: snowed-in sessions with Rush, near-misses with John Mayer's fortune,...

Today we’re unleashing two of the Hudson Valley’s most brilliantly creative minds. Kent Sublette, head writer for Saturday Night Live , has spent the past two decades shaping American satire, sketch by sketch, all while keeping his cool in the madness of live television. Clint Bond, his equally magnetic husband, is a Broadway marketing mastermind who’s sold the magic of Wicked , SpongeBob , and Co...

In this episode of Hudson Valley Unleashed , we sit down with Emmy-nominated powerhouse Producer Carly Hugo — a film and television producer with a sixth sense for finding stories that matter. From producing the Nora Ephron documentary Everything Is Copy to crafting behind-the-scenes magic with Beyoncé, Carly shares how she balances creative passion with producing prowess. We talk about her early...

For over two decades, Chronogram editor and co-founder Brian Mahoney has curated the cultural soul of the Hudson Valley—celebrating the artists, agitators, mushroom foragers, and upstate eccentrics who make this place tick. In this episode, we unpack how a scrappy alt-mag grew into a regional institution, why the horoscopes still slap, and what it takes to say “yes” in an increasingly complicated...

This week on Hudson Valley Unleashed , we’re joined by elite strength coach John Morgan —kettlebell master, broadsword wielder, and founder of Intelligent Action Training in Red Hook. We talk real world fitness, injury-proofing your body, training for life—not aesthetics—and what to do when zombies come knocking.

This week, we sit down with Amy Hutchings — casting director, Sesame Street alum, photo producer, and proud Hudson Valley local — for a conversation that spans decades of creativity and reinvention. From working with Jim Henson in the early Sesame Street days, to producing tens of thousands of photo shoots, to casting indie horror flicks and cult comedies, Amy’s career has been anything but ordina...

You might know his work as Producer on movies like, I Dream Too Much , a beautifully tender coming-of-age film  Or maybe from Peace, Love & Misunderstanding , where he worked alongside legend Jane Fonda  Jonathan’s contributions don’t stop there. He’s also the co-founder of the Nantucket Film Festival, a cornerstone for celebrating the art of screenwriting and storytelling.  Today, we’re excit...

He recorded the double-platinum album Afterglow for Sarah McLachlan—and the Billboard #1 reggae album Livin Free by Roots of Creation. He’s mixed records with Simone Felice, produced bands like Tyburn Saints and Bari Koral, and played drums for more artists than we have time to name. He owns the famous Utopia Studios in Bearsville, NY and shares with us some awesome stories from a life in the musi...

Okay, folks, today’s guest is a man who has spent more time backstage than most rock stars... and probably remembers more of it. He’s the wizard behind the curtain at Radio Woodstock, a guy who took a tiny Hudson Valley station and somehow made it cooler than your favorite Spotify playlist. He’s the founder of Mountain Jam —yes, that Mountain Jam—the festival where you go to lose your inhibitions...