THE EAGLE: A Times Union Podcast

Atypical animal news continues to feed Capital Region headlines, with an alleged mountain lion sighting and a high court ruling denying the “personhood” of an elephant. On this episode of “The Eagle,” we’ll talk about those headlines, and preview the upcoming primary election in New York. Also on this episode, we’ll talk to local BIPOC LGBTQ activist Tandra LaGrone, and we’ll bid farewell to a bel...

Activists released hundreds of cockroaches in an Albany courtroom this week, causing a scene that shuttered proceedings and went viral.  That is one of the more unique headlines we've seen in the newsroom and we'll discuss it on this episode of "The Eagle." We'll also hear from Capital Pride Center leader Nathaniel Gray as Pride celebrations commence across the region, and we'll learn about how a...

As the legislative session ends in Albany, lawmakers made a final push to pass bills on gun restrictions and abortion rights. The former was a focused effort following a mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store, and the latter stemmed from a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. On this episode of "The Eagle" podcast, we talk to Times Union Capital Bureau reporter Joshua Solo...

There are few annual traditions more beloved in Albany than the annual blossoming of hundreds of thousands of tulips in Washington Park each May. Tulip blooms are dazzlingly vibrant but short-lived, lasting mere weeks. But they are perennial plants, and there is gardening work to be done once they wilt and fade that will ensure they return next year. On this episode of "The Eagle," Albany City Gar...

Last year, 26-year-old Max Ledwidge jumped to his death at the Grand Canyon. His suicide was the climax of a mental unraveling that began as the pandemic took hold. The former software sales executive left his job in Boston and embarked on a cross-country spiritual odyssey that led him to the sleepy college town of Cobleskill, where a little-known religious order decided Ledwidge needed to undergo...

Early this week, Politico published an alleged draft of a Supreme Court decision written by Justice Samuel Alito that overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. On this episode of "The Eagle," Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and health reporter Rachel Silberstein check in with Albany Law Professor and Constitutional Law Expert Vin Bonventre to discuss the i...

Trigger warning: This episode contains descriptions of events and situations that may be distressing. Please listen with care. The gruesome slaying of a beloved physician assistant in his suburban Albany home has shocked many in the Capital Region. While the man accused of the murder has been charged, the motive for committing such a brutal act is still unclear. On this episode of “The Eagle,” Man...

The history of beer and brewing is often very much intertwined with that of the human race. For thousands of years, people have been talking politics over a few pints (or similar liquid volume).  That is especially true of the Capital Region, where there was nearly as much politicking in pubs as there was in the halls of city and state government in the early 20th century. On this episode of “The...

When tennis superstar Serena Williams opened up about the harrowing experience of giving birth to her daughter in 2017, it put a spotlight on an alarming disparity: Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die of a pregnancy-related cause than white women. Last year, the White House officially recognized April 11 to 17 as Black Maternal Health Week. In the Capital Region, a coalition...

"The Olympics of Irish Dancing," as it's called by participants, draws hundreds of the world's best Irish dancers annually. It's been three years since the last World Irish Dancing Championship, thanks to the pandemic. The competition is back this year, though — and a handful of talented Capital Region dancers — are in Belfast to compete. On this episode, we speak to three locals who qualified for...

For five weeks, journalists at Maye Sense, an online news site serving people of Slavyansk in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine, have been working non-stop, largely without pay, and sometimes in situations where their safety is not guaranteed.  Two weeks ago, most of them made the difficult decision to decamp to the relative safety of Western Ukraine, where they continue their work from more t...

In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to an optometrist from Delmar, New York. His name was Dr. Tom Little, and he had been murdered along with nine other foreign aid workers in a remote area of Afghanistan while on a medical mission months earlier. This week, a film about his life and the legacy of his three decades of work to bring eye care to imp...

After the pandemic took hold in 2020, the Capital Region saw a significant uptick in violence. More than 30 people were killed in Albany alone in 2020 and 2021.  As the community was reeling from these tragedies and local authorities struggled to address the mounting problem, a local DJ and music promoter had an idea to create a safe space and encourage creativity in the areas hardest hit by the v...

On April 3, 1981, a farmer found a body in a field in Delmar, New York. Forensics at the time determined it was a male, but his identity remained a mystery to investigators.  Four decades later, it became the Capital Region’s first ever unidentified persons case solved using familial DNA and genetic genealogy. On this episode of "The Eagle," Pete DeMola and Jessica Marshall take a deep dive into a...

Almost a decade ago, Nikita Nakonchnyi spent his summers working as a cook at a resort in Lake George. Three weeks ago, he was a typical 20-something living in Kyiv, Ukraine, and teaching digital marketing. This week, the 27-year-old helped blow up a bridge in a small village outside the city with molotov cocktails and drums of diesel to keep Russians from invading. On this episode, we catch up wi...

In the week since Russia invaded Ukraine, Times Union journalists have been reporting on the impact the conflict is having in New York, which is home to the largest Ukrainian immigrant population in the U.S. On this episode, we connect with Valeriy Garmash, editor of the Slovyansk-based news website 6262.com.ua. Just 100 miles from the Russian border, his staff is reporting from the embattled Done...

One in three people who have had COVID-19 may experience a wide range of health issues in the weeks or months following infection, according to the CDC. Common long COVID symptoms include headaches, gastrointestinal issues and “brain fog.” Because research on the causes and treatments are far from conclusive, however, many health care providers are unprepared or unwilling to treat these patients....

A child missing for three years was found safe this week in an Ulster County home. Police discovered the 7-year-old girl hidden in a secret compartment under a stairwell. She disappeared in Tioga County in 2019, following a visit with her biological mother, who no longer had custody of the child. Reporter Roger Hannigan Gilson tells the story. Also on this episode: Education reporter Rachel Silber...

For Omar Edwards, tapping is not a form of dance. It’s a way of communicating and expressing himself that transcends that narrow definition of the performance art. Edwards, whose cousin is tap legend Savion Glover, is currently playing the Tap Griot, an omniscient narrator who reflects the inner turmoil of four Tuskegee Airmen through tap in the stage drama “Fly.” On this episode, the Times Union’...

Nearly 300 years ago, Ten Broeck Mansion was the home of a decorated Revolutionary War general. Today, the house on Arbor Hill is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the property, which includes telling the stories of enslaved persons who lived and worked there. But there is a disconnect between the neighborhood of today and the historic site. Arbor Hill is a predominantly Black neighb...

Last summer the city of Troy, New York, was transformed into late-19th century New York City for the filming of Julian Fellowes’ new HBO period drama “The Gilded Age.” But that wasn’t the only Capital Region connection to the production. Actress Kelley Curran, who plays the ambitious ladies maid Turner in the series, grew up in Slingerlands.  On this episode of “The Eagle,” Curran talks to reporte...

The 2018 limousine crash in upstate New York that killed 20 people remains one of the deadliest U.S. transportation accidents in decades. The man responsible for putting the condemned vehicle on the road — flouting failed state inspections — will not do any prison time. Nor will any punishment befall his father, the owner of the limousine company and a well-known FBI informant. This week, New York...

The Empire State is home to more than 7,000 dams. And recently, Times Union reporters Emilie Munson and Rick Karlin discovered that some of them are in questionable shape...and not all of them have actually been rated for safety.  On this episode of "The Eagle," we'll take a deep dive into their investigation to answer the question of whether we can rest assured New York's dams are safe, or we sho...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stood in front of a sparse crowd of lawmakers in the State Assembly chamber this week and insisted she was not there to make history. She was, in fact, making history, as the first woman to give the annual address. Her 35-minute speech—short relative to the standards of her scandal-plagued predecessor Andrew M. Cuomo—promised a “brighter future for New York,” including e...

New York Attorney General Letitia James' office released a trove of materials this week that added dramatic new detail to its investigation of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. From catty, expletive-laden text messages between staffers to testimony that revealed Chris Cuomo was deeply involved in helping his brother, the newly released material reveals how top aides and loyalists responded to an escala...