Bartholomewtown

Send us Fan Mail Naomi Chomsky is a Rhode Island-based activist and performer who recently found themselves in the regional and national media spotlight at the center of what became a “controversial” Drag Queen Story Hour event booked in Fall River, MA.   Drag Queen Story Hour is exactly what it purports itself to be: queens in full garb reading children's books to children, usually at a loca...

Send us Fan Mail In this on-location episode, Bill Bartholomew sits down with three voices on CBD in Rhode Island: occupational therapist Kim Canning, farmer Ben Morgan-Dillon and retail proprietor Jordan Carlson, plus a follow-up with Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation cannabis head Norman Birenbaum on what regulatory process may be in store when it comes to CBD in the Ocean State. Sp...

Send us Fan Mail Veteran Projo reporter and author Mike Stanton talks Cianci, media, Rhode Island politics, journalism classrooms and much more! Mike Stanton is an author, investigative reporter and associate professor of journalism at the University of Connecticut. He worked for years as a sports writer and investigative reporter for The Providence Journal, where he shared a Pulitzer Prize, and i...

Send us Fan Mail NAACP Providence President Jim Vincent joins host Bill Bartholomew for a wide-ranging discussion on racism, policy and politics in Rhode Island. Support the show Follow Bill on Instagram and YouTube

Send us Fan Mail Barnaby Evans is the creator of WaterFire, a recurring public art installation that has become an iconic element of The City of Providence.  During a wide-ranging conversation, Mr. Evans, a Brown University graduate and multidisciplinary artist, described WaterFire's origins and mission, offered takes on Rhode Island economic development and politics, and put forth the facts...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of The Bartholomewtown Podcast, Bill Bartholomew presents several conversations with artists and organizers from this year's PVDFest.  Entering its 5th season, PVDFest is described as the "Creative Capital's" "signature arts festival."  In this episode, conversations include artists Becky Bass, Mike Gore of Extraordinary Rendition Band...

Send us Fan Mail With major shifts in the southern New England media landscape, including The Boston Globe's foray into Rhode Island, and his own outlet's recent announcement of expansion into Newport and South County, RI, I circle back with an early B-TOWN guest and southern New England media mainstay, Ian Donnis of The Public's Radio (Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts&ap...

Send us Fan Mail The Boston Globe recently announced that it was expanding to include more in-depth Rhode Island coverage, including the hiring of three prominent Rhode Island journalists: Dan McGowan, Amanda Milkovits and Edward Fitzpatrick. On this episode of The Bartholomewtown Podcast, Ed Fitzpatrick returns to The Loft to break down some of the coverage The Globe's Rhode Island team expe...

Send us Fan Mail Mr. 401, Gene Valicenti Gene Valicenti is a Rhode Island legend, a longtime media personality who serves as the 6 o’clock newscast anchor on the market’s television leader, WJAR NBC10, as well as the morning drive host on the region’s leading news/talk radio station, WPRO. Support the show Follow Bill on Instagram and YouTube

Send us Fan Mail Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Dan McKee was the first political guest to appear on The Bartholomewtown Podcast, so I couldn’t think of a better guest to celebrate  episode 100 with than the honorable LG. In the past year, McKee was engaged in a highly compelling Democratic primary with progressive former Representative Aaron Regunberg, a contest the LG ultimately won, and which...

Send us Fan Mail Joe Polisina is a longstanding political figure from Johnston, Rhode Island, having served as a state Senator and since 2006, as the city’s mayor. During our wide-ranging conversation Mayor Polisena expanded on his well-known perspective on recently passed municipal contract bills, that he along with many other mayors and town administrators have insisted is detrimental their muni...

Send us Fan Mail A look at the juxtaposition of historic preservation and development in Rhode Island via The Nicholson House in Providence. Situated behind a stone wall and layers of trees on Blackstone Boulevard in Providence, Rhode Island’s east side, The Nicholson House is often referred to as one of the last of the great estates that defined the neighborhood for much of the 20th century.  Som...

Send us Fan Mail Weenie Wizard is a Providence, RI-based artisanal hot dog stand, that offers a constantly shifting array of meat, veggie and carrot dogs with highly original and creative toppings.  Created by Michele Fryer and Luke Tabor, aka the Fantastical Food Group, ‘The Meat MAGICIANS”, as they are known, have expanded from speakeasy-esq DIY origins in 2014 to a fully licensed food provider...

Send us Fan Mail Steve Klamkin is a news personality on Providence-based legacy news/talk radio station WPRO.   A newsman’s newsman on the journalistic side of the job, and a highly entertaining and singular personality as a broadcaster, Klamkin can be heard on-air most days as a reporter, anchor, and on Saturday mornings, a host. In an era of shifting media consumption habits and changes to the l...

Send us Fan Mail College campuses across the United States are filled with a vast array of clubs and organizations that can serve a range of purposes from filling students downtime with amusement to encouraging scenarios that sculpt leaders of the future.   College political party clubs provide an outlet for young politicos to engage with each other, the student body, the general public, media and...

Send us Fan Mail Joe Wilson, Jr. is a theatrical actor and activist, who is Coordinator Of Activism Through Performance and Resident Acting Company Member with Providence’s Trinity Repertory Company, described as "one of the most respected regional theatres in the country" Our conversation included Mr. Wilson’s journey as an artist and political activist, including his origins in the dee...

Send us Fan Mail There’s no question that economies of the future will be strengthened by, and eventually depend on a broad, multilingual workforce and pool of innovators. Simultaneously, today, many people are unable to access educational and other developmental opportunities because of their lack of command of English, and are left out of the field of potential contributors to an improved econom...

Send us Fan Mail Stephen Smith is a West Virginia gubernatorial candidate, who has built a people-powered political and social movement in West Virginia which seeks to overtake the state’s gouvernement from the hands of what they describe as the ‘Good Ol’ Boys” club that has long-controlled the state’s political might. What sets Mr. Smith apart from conventional political candidates, though, is hi...

Send us Fan Mail Scott MacKay is a political analyst for The Public’s Radio, the NPR affiliate that covers Rhode Island and southeastern, Massachusetts through a variety of terrestrial and digital platforms. Our conversation touched on Scott’s storied, multi-decade career in journalism, including covering then-Burlington, Vermont mayor Bernie Sanders, time spent at The Providence Journal and trans...

Send us Fan Mail Kathleen Pletcher is the Executive Artistic Director of FirstWorks, a Providence-based arts performance and educational non-profit, which she founded in 2004 on the heels of her work overseeing the highly successful First Night Providence..   FirstWorks has produced dozens of events in Rhode Island across a wide spectrum of multimedia art, and are partner in the ever-expanding PVD...

Send us Fan Mail Peter Neronha is only a few months into his first term as Rhode Island Attorney General, but has already introduced several key policy and procedural changes, spanning from drug-related penalties to opening lines of communication between the public and the AG’s Office.  Our conversation examined The General’s proposed new drug policies, which would reclassify many simple possessio...

Send us Fan Mail John Marion is the Executive Director of Common Cause Rhode Island, a nonpartisan public interest organization that was founded in 1970, and whose mission is to quote promote representative democracy by ensuring open, ethical, accountable, effective government processes at local, state and national levels by educating and mobilizing the citizens of Rhode Island. During our wide-ra...

Send us Fan Mail Mike Raia is well-known to Rhode Islanders as the former Director of Communications for Governor Gina Raimondo.  He has built an impressive resume as a government, political, media and brand communications strategist. He recently announced that he was joining NAIL, a boutique communications firm, and heading up a new PR wing of the outlet, based in Providence, RI. Our conversation...

Send us Fan Mail Alan Rosenberg is a veteran journalist and editor in the southern New England market who is currently posted as the Executive Editor of the region’s legacy newspaper, The Providence Journal.   In a era dominated by evolving consumer news, broad media and spending habits, I was curious about Mr. Rosenberg’s approach to moving The Journal forward with new financial and content strat...

Send us Fan Mail The Rhode Island Democratic Party has solidly been in control of Rhode Island politics for decades, with members currently occupying all statewide and federal elected positions, as well as a dominant segment of the state’s bicameral General Assembly.   However, in recent years, more and more attention has been paid to some of the widespread ideological makeup and differences withi...