Little Local Conversations

Meet Gary Beatty! He's the Executive Director of the Watertown Boys and Girls Club. In this conversation he shares about his experience growing up in Northern Ireland, his love of football (soccer) and how it led him to the US, and his professional path that eventually landed him at the Boys and Girls Club. Then we dig into all the programming at the club, how it operates, its impact on commu...

Meet Sara Keary! She runs Caregiver Counseling and Consultation here in Watertown along with being involved with the community in other ways. We talk about her early years growing up with a mother who was director of a homeless shelter and spending time around that environment, facing and overcoming her own health challenges at a young age, her path to social work and specializing in work with old...

Meet Rita Cleary! She's the activities coordinator at the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center here in Watertown. In this conversation we talk about Rita's career path in management sciences, traveling the world for her personal explorations on the big questions in life, what the Brahma Kumaris center does and how it came to be in Watertown, and it's mission and outreach to the communit...

This is a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories, and important numbers. Links: City Council - June 10th City Council - June 24th School Building - June 18th WCA-TV Public Ascertainment Hearing North Bran...

This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with Arto Vaun, Executive Director at Project Save Photograph Archive, musician, and poet. The topic revolved around finding optimism and creative opportunity in life's hardest moments. Find out more about Arto and Project Save at projectsave.org Find Arto the mus...

Meet Xin Peng! He's involved in many things in Watertown including chairing World in Watertown, sitting on the city's Human Rights Commission, running the Chinese American Association of Watertown, and many other things.  In this conversation we dig into Xin's youth on a rural farm in China and how personal freedom and other factors led him to come to the United States, his passion...

This is an arts and culture roundtable episode where we talk about things that have been going on in Watertown arts and culture recently, what's coming up, hidden gems, and more. The discussion was with Allie Fry (Watertown Free Public Library, Programming Librarian), Liz Helfer (City of Watertown, Public Arts and Culture Planner), Kristen Kenny (Chair of the Watertown Cultural District), and...

This is a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories, and important numbers.  Links: School Building Committee - May 21, 2025 Discover Coolidge Commission on Disabilities - May 28, 2025 Arsenal Park Ribbon Cu...

Meet Kim Charlson! She's the Executive Director of the Braille and Talking Book Library at the Perkins School for the Blind as well as the Chair of the Commission on Disability here in Watertown. In this conversation we discuss her journey into disability advocacy, from being one of the first totally blind people to get a master's degree in library science to serving as the first woman p...

This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with painter, printmaker, and collage artist Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. The topic revolved around meaning and identity in art.  Find out more about Julie and her art at juliebalzer.com Come join us for the last Creative Chats event of the season on Friday, June 20th with gu...

This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with guest Cat Bennett, whose career spans making animated spots for children’s television, illustrations for many publishing clients, and now art for exhibition as well as teaching art to adults. The topic for the conversation revolved around how she weaved her artist...

Meet Drew Rollert! He's the founder of Wada Hoppah, an all-electric, wakeless, shallow draft water shuttle and commuter service coming soon to the Charles River (and Watertown Square!). In this conversation we dig into the history of ferries on the Charles, what inspired him to design (an award-winning) modern ferry for the river, all the challenges, thinking, and planning that goes into this...

This is a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories, and important numbers. Links: Fair Housing in Watertown Meeting Second Ambulance Meeting Climate Leader Community: WCA-TV segment | Watertown News article...

Meet Jen Nicholson! She's the sales and events coordinator at the Commander's Mansion which also includes being a part of the Watertown City Events Team. In this conversation we dig into her experience growing up in Watertown, her years of teaching, stay-at-home parenting, and volunteering, then we get into all the aspects of the mansion from the (scandalous) story of its creation and it...

Meet Steve Magoon! He's the Assistant City Manager for Community Development and Planning for the City of Watertown. In this conversation we dig into his career journey in planning, the role of public input in decision making, some things that make New England unique for planning, current and future projects in Watertown, and more. City's Community Development and Planning Website Suppor...

This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with guest Kristen Kenny,  artist, arts organizer, and Chair of the Watertown Cultural District, where the topic revolved around finding/building/cultivating spaces for artists and musicians. Come  join us at the next Creative Chats event on Friday, May 16th at 830am ...

Meet Ora Grodsky and Larry Raskin! They're co-founders of Watertown Community Conversations (see full bios below). In this conversation, we talk about how they got interested in the field of facilitation, the tools and techniques important to the work, the creation of Watertown Community Conversations and what it does, and more. Watertown Community Conversations website Ora's book - Just...

Meet Melissa Hresko! She's the Director and Teacher at the Russell Cooperative Preschool here in Watertown. In this conversation we dig into how she got into the field of early education, what a play-based and cooperative school system looks like, the surprising nature in their environment right in the center of town, the challenges facing early education, and more. Learn more about Russell a...

I sit down for a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from Watertown Cable Access to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories, and important numbers.  Links to things mentioned in the episode: Committee on Budget & Fiscal Oversight - March 6th (Ambulance...

Listen to an in-depth panel discussion on the local Watertown news and information ecosystem! This was part of the one year anniversary celebration for Little Local Conversations that happened over at the Mosesian Center for the Arts on March 18th, 2025. The panel featured Dan Hogan (Director of News and Studio Operations at WCA-TV), Charlie Breitrose (Editor of Watertown News), Tyler Cote (Commun...

Meet Will Brownsberger! He's a Massachusetts State Senator for the Suffolk and Middlesex District which includes Watertown. In this conversation we talk about his career in criminal justice (and how his views evolved over the years), his political journey from municipal leadership to the state level, his takes on transparency in government, transportation, the reality of the battle with clima...

This is an arts and culture roundtable episode where we talk about things that have been going on in Watertown arts and culture recently, what's coming up, hidden gems, and more. The discussion was with Allie Fry (Watertown Free Public Library, Programming Librarian), Liz Helfer (City of Watertown, Public Arts and Culture Planner), Kristen Kenny (Chair of the Watertown Cultural District), and...

Meet Dave Levine! He's the General Manager of Whitney Towers, a family-owned apartment building here in Watertown. We talk about the history of the 41-year-old building and how his family started the business, his years in the tech startup and software world and how that translates to operating in real estate and property management, where he thinks Whitney fits in the housing ecosystem in Wa...

This is the first Fun & Games Sponsor Episode! I sit down with Doug Orifice of Arsenal Financial to test him on what he knows about his Watertown trivia related to baseball, businesses, banjo, and more.  Then he talks a bit about how his financial planning business Arsenal Financial can help people close to retirement, busy families, and small business owners. Find out more about Arsenal Finan...

This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. Listen to learn more and hear the conversation with Jamie Kallestad, singer/songwriter and Communications and Design Specialist for the Watertown Free Public Library, on the topic of making art after parenthood. Come join us at the next Creative Chats event on Friday, March 21st at 830am wi...