Little Local Conversations

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...

Meet Paula Farina! She's a co-owner (with her two brothers Anthony and Mike shown in the picture) of Farina's, a bicycle and power equipment store here in Watertown. We talk about how the shop is celebrating its 50th anniversary, so we dig into the shop's journey from being opened by her Italian immigrant parents, the many trends over the years from BMX to e-bikes, the work put in t...

This is a recording of a presentation from Watertown City Manager George Proakis for a City Update event held by the Watertown Business Coalition at the Hampton Inn at Arsenal Yards on March 11th, 2025. Listen to hear George's thoughts on the economic development in the city of Watertown at the moment. Support the show Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the epis...

I sit down for a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel, the Production, Training, and Equipment Manager at Watertown Cable Access to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories, and important numbers. We also get some insights into the city process with the new...

Meet Dan Hogan! He's the Director of News and Studio Operations at WCA-TV here in Watertown. In this conversation we talk about how he first got involved in video and news production (from throwing darts and Starsky and Hutch to covering sports all around New England), the process of building a 30 minute weekly news show, how WCA-TV is now focusing on becoming part of the community rather tha...

Meet Jenna Houjazy, Vana Stepanian, and Priscilla Samakwrong! They are students at Watertown High School and members of the Watertown Youth Coalition Peer Leaders group which is organized by Christina Lupica of Wayside Youth and Family Support Network here in Watertown. In this conversation, we talk about their likes and dislikes about Watertown as a whole and their high school experience, their a...

Meet Sam Ghilardi! He's a senior scientist at Sai Life Sciences, a member of the steering committee for Housing for All Watertown, and a board member for CoLAB, all here in Watertown. We chat about his early experiences with science and studying cell communication (basically our skin cells are like toddlers), what it's like working in the life science sector in Watertown, how he got invo...

Meet Brandon Feldhouse! He's the General Manager over at Arsenal Yards here in Watertown. For this conversation, we get into his early years in malls (including Copley Place in downtown Boston), how using history and art helped build the character of Arsenal Yards, how he views building a dynamic mixed-use community, how he helped lead an initiative to divert 100% of the property's waste...

Listen to this local government update podcast where I sit down for a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel, the Director of Government and Education Media at Watertown Cable Access. We discussed what's happened at some recent city meetings and some upcoming city initiatives for Watertown. Links to things mentioned in...

Meet Swati Biswas! She's a scientist, dancer, and arts advocate here in Watertown. We chat about her origins with the arts, what led her to seek out supporting artists in India while bringing their skills to folks here to learn (and the challenges of working with people on the other side of the world), we scratch the surface of the innovative natural methods of art creation in traditional Ind...

This is a recording from a series for the podcast that just started at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. Listen to learn more and hear the conversation with Liz on the topic of where the boundary between art as lifestyle and art as business lives.  Come join us at the next Creative Chats on Friday, February 28th at the Mosesian Center for the Arts with guest Jamie Kallestad!...

Meet Kim Hewitt! She's the Director of the Watertown Free Public Library. In this conversation we chat about her early experiences with books and libraries, her career journey from leading oral history projects to helping people search for unique news stories from the late 1800s, some behind the scenes on how the library processes materials and thinks about larger values such as access to inf...

Meet Justin Hanrahan! He's the Police Chief here in Watertown. In our conversation we get into his unconventional childhood and how the Watertown community was important in getting him through it, his early experiences in policing from protecting "boothies" to a career defining moment that instilled in him that policing is much more than just catching criminals, his rise through the...

Boston Gold Kings Game Movie Night Monday with the Chinese American Association of Watertown Check out other news and events sources in the city: Watertown News Watertown Cable Access Nicole Gardner's Newsletter Public Arts and Culture Bulletin Support the show Head on over to www.littlelocalconversations.com to check out all the episodes, events, and everything else going on.  Sign up for th...

Meet Bevin Croft! She's a policy researcher and board member of World in Watertown. We chat about her early experiences working at group homes for people with mental health disabilities, what policy research is and some new alternatives it's exploring, a recent history of human rights organizing in Watertown, and the Unity Breakfast coming up on MLK Jr Day. Learn more about the Unity Bre...

Listen to hear updates from past podcast guests about things going on with them and Watertown this week. My first in-person podcast event Creative Chats is this week! (Friday, January 17th, 830am-10am) Too many links to fit in streaming description! See the page for the episode on the website for the full list of links mentioned in the episode. Support the show Head on over to www.littlelocalconve...

Meet Alyssa Cecchetelli! She's the Associate Director of Plasmid Services at Addgene, a nonprofit life science organization here in Watertown. We chat about her origins in science including spending 6 years studying a transparent worm (and making pretty pictures with calcium), she explains what plasmids, CRISPR, and viral vectors are and why they're important for scientific research, Add...

Hi there! This is my first attempt at a Little Local Weekly episode where I give headlines, updates, and other insights from previous guests for the week ahead. Let me know what you think! Links: Gore Place Puppet Show Mosesian Center for the Arts Winter Classes Mosesian Center for the Arts Summer Programs River of Light Lantern Parade Resolutions Bingo: Website | Instagram | Facebook One Book, On...