Off Air with Slater

In this episode I sit down with Ricardo Morales, the Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Pittsfield. Morales, a civil engineer, was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Massachusetts in 2011. Morales, who was hired as the city's engineer in 2018 and then named head of Public Works in 2020, is responsible for the city's infrastructure, water, and other related services. Enjoy our spirited deba...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Matt Bishop, Principal of Taconic High School in Pittsfield, MA. Bishop has worked in the Pittsfield school system for nearly 30 years. With 805 students this school year, this is the first year Taconic has become a full vocational high school (CTE). Times have changed, and attending a vocational high school is now something students seek out rather than look d...

Mike Fenton is a Springfield city councilor and attorney running for Massachusetts Governor’s Council District 8. That’s the elected body that confirms judges, parole board members, and other appointments from the governor. District 8 is all of Western Mass. (Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin, and Hampshire counties) Berkshire County currently has no Superior Court judge who lives here. District court...

Corey Bishop is one-half of Bishop West Real Estate, a full-service real estate company based in Berkshire County. In this episode, we focus on vacant retail and commercial spaces in Pittsfield and the Berkshires. Why do investors and developers like Allegrone, David Carver, and Mill Town, the ones actually filling much-needed space, catch flack on social media? We hear about a housing crisis cons...

Ben Garver joined the Berkshire Eagle as a photojournalist in 1995. Thirty years and more than a million photographs later, he retired in 2025. In this episode, Garver walks us through what it actually takes to shoot spot news, the emergencies, accidents, and breaking stories that don't wait for a photographer to be ready, and what that work has done to him over three decades behind the camera. He...

Detective Kim Bertelli-Hunt is a legend in Pittsfield. Known as the "face of the department," she just retired from the Pittsfield Police Department after more than 43 years of service, making her the longest-serving female officer in the Commonwealth. Join me as we walk through her incredible career, starting with her first assignment: going undercover at Taconic High School in 1983. From there w...

In this episode, I sit down with Warren Dews III from Hinsdale, MA. Making content as "Dewser" across multiple social media platforms, this dude always keeps it positive and has found success with skits, streaming, and just being himself. He even has his own dance. Dews holds a degree in criminal justice with a minor in psychology. We talk about two of his viral skits, where he posed as a worker a...

News of Teddy Swims and Raiche Wright's break up have hit mainstream publications like TMZ, People, and Us Weekly recently. Swims just released a new track called "Break Up In Reverse" which is said to be about their troubled relationship. They have a 1 year-old son together, Rambo. So, what's life like for Raiche now? Raiche grew up in the Pittsfield, MA area and I have known her for 10 years. Sh...

Anthony Giovani grew up hard in the Dower Square area of Pittsfield and eventually became addicted to drugs and alcohol. He got sober about 5 years ago - but he's still addicted to the chaos. Giovani says he wants to be a journalist and a newsman for Pittsfield and the surrounding Berkshires - so he took it upon himself to go live and report on things happening in the area. Unfortunately, Giovani...

In this episode, I sit down with Pittsfield Police Chief Marc Maddalena. He is 5 months into his new position as Chief and get right into the current state of Pittsfield. We begin with the recent homicide on Tyler St. and where they are on the investigation and whether the city has a gang problem. The conversation segues to Pittsfield's nightcrawler and social media based "news" reporter Anthony G...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Mark Kryskow, a trauma critical care and general surgeon with a focused interest in chest wall injury at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, MA. Dr. Kryskow is the man who is going to save your life, or at least try like hell to, if you get shot or stabbed, if I can speak in layman's terms for a moment. In this episode, we get into the nitty gritty of the j...

The Pope just released a major encyclical on AI - and invited an atheist AI billionaire to stand beside him at the Vatican. In this episode, my friend Craig and I react to Pope Leo XIV’s powerful warning about Artificial Intelligence. He called for AI to be "disarmed" from logics of domination and exploitation. We also break down Chris Olah’s (co-founder of Anthropic and creator of Claude AI) spee...

In this episode we feature Harmony Edwards-Persip who was a contestant on America's Next Top Model during cycle 20 in 2013. She made it to the top 50 and was subsequently cut due to a pending case after a CORI check. She was devastated. What she learned from that experience, however, shaped what she has become today - a successful realtor, as well as, someone who speaks to women who struggle with...

A crazed gunman started shooting in Cambridge, MA in broad daylight after he told his parole officer he was out for reckoning on Monday. He fired 50-60 rounds from a rifle and struck two people in cars. A "good guy with a gun", a retired marine, assisted Massachusetts State Police in stopping the threat. A lenient judge in 2020 sentenced the man to 5 years in prison after shooting at officers. Plu...

The Herberg Middle School teacher in Massachusetts that was placed on paid leave after allegedly dropping the N-word and homophobic slurs in class. We react to Dr. Debra Soh’s appearance on Bill Maher's podcast "Club Random" where she promotes her Sextinction book, the brutal 666 dating rule, and the disturbing rise of looksmaxxing & hardmaxxing. Who is Clavicular? The 20-year-old streamer was...

This episode features Pittsfield native Mike McInerney. The now 45 year-old McInerney reflects on his years of being a young troublemaker and partier, to excelling at motorcross sports, and eventually landing in Texas as a successful timeshare specialist. Over the last few years Mike, (while living together), was trying to help his son, Cameron, another gifted motorcross sportsman, battle mental h...

This episode features Jake McCandless, a tenured teacher, principal and superintendent within the Berkshire County school system. McCandless has been with Lee, Pittsfield, Mt. Greylock, and now W.E.B. DuBois. Join us as we weave through things like how important a male role model (father, uncle, grandfather) is in a student's life, why students study the subjects they do, and the need for financia...

This episode features Alex Carusotto, co-owner of Rip City Baseball Academy in Pittsfield, MA. Join us as we talk about Tiger Woods' latest woes regarding his DUI arrest, plus discover Carusotto's story. From Taconic High School baseball to UMASS Boston, to the Pittsfield Suns to running the training facility.

This episode features Bill Wright, an employee of Blue Q in Massachusetts, a photographer, and health enthusiast. Bill was a skater dude turned Air Force and ultimately lost over 100 pounds after realizing he wasn't healthy in his 40's. Wright is avid cycler and runner. Join us as we talk about RFK, tribalism, looking cool, his mom being a Merry Prankster, his time in the Air Force, and more.

This episode features Tuan Nguyen, a tenured fitness instructor in The Berkshires who currently works at Bousquet Sport. Nguyen, whose parents were immigrants from Vietnam, hails from Oakland, CA who ended up going to college at UMASS Amherst - fell in love with the Northeast region, Western Massachusetts and the four seasons. Join us as we talk about his recent trip to Puerto Vallarta just before...

This episode features Pittsfield, MA ward 2 councilor and General Dynamics employee Cam Cunningham. Join us as we weave through topics like the power of nuclear deterrence when it comes to war, geopolitics, the Lenco Bearcat and why market rate housing can trickle down to affordable and low income housing in Pittsfield.

This episode features Tyler Alderman, owner of Quick Fix on North Street in Pittsfield. Alderman was a recent victim of a smash and grab robbery - he suspects he knows the perpetrator based on an altercation with an alleged drunken man days earlier. The man assaulted him which ultimately led to Alderman needing to defend himself. You can hear the story here as well as conversation on gaming cultur...

This episode features Pittsfield City Council President, Earl Persip. Persip, a lifelong Pittsfield resident, gets candid about his father's jail time, the reason he choices his daughter to Lenox schools, the positives and negatives of the city, voter ID laws, being a gun owner and much more. 

This episode features Lee, MA legend Josh Cohen who opened up Moe's Tavern in 2007. The idea was a craft beer bar with a focus on micro brews - certainly not domestics like Coors Light. In fact, it became so well known that Moe's did not serve the Golden, CO staple, that Moe's website was nocoorslight.com Well, hell has frozen over because in 2026, they now offer it. Join us as we talk about the c...

Season 2 launches with Evan Valenti of Steven Valenti's Clothing for Men as the podcast shifts its focus entirely to Pittsfield and the Berkshires. Valenti addresses the current challenges facing North Street businesses, particularly concerns related to the homeless population downtown. The conversation covers emerging trends in men's fashion and fragrances, the store's decision to expand into wom...