Episode 12: Dashcams, Motorola Solutions, Northampton, Oh My
Earlier this month, we recorded the 12th episode of our podcast Trippin’ on The Shoestring. In this episode we talk with defense attorneys Rachel Weber and Dana Goldblatt, Ben Brucato, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Framingham University, and Chris K., a local anti-surveillance activist about Northampton City Council’s recent decision to enter a five year contract with Motorola Solutions.
To listen, search “Trippin’ on the Shoestring” wherever you listen to casts’. Below is a list of all the episodes we have released thus far.
Ep 1: Lt. Alan Borowski We discuss the career of NPD Lt. Alan Borowski who was recently featured in our Northampton Police Misconduct Trading Card series.
Ep 2: Northampton City Council The Shoestring has reported on over 50 Northampton City Council meetings in its regularly occurring column “I Go to City Council Meetings.” Columnists Blair Gimma and Brian Zayatz along with the editorial team, reflect on what they have learned from their time spent in the chambers.
Ep 3: Disappearing Ink We invited former Daily Hampshire Gazette reporter and frequent Shoestring and Montague Reporter contributor Sarah Robertson to discuss the state of local news in the valley in this recurring series of discussions we are calling “Disappearing Ink.”
Ep 4: Organizing Small Business in the Valley In this episode we talk with our labor beat correspondent R. Nicholas about workers and the process and challenges of organizing small businesses in the valley.
Ep 5: Officer Andrew Kohl We talk with Molly Keller about her research on Northampton Police Department Officer Andrew Kohl who was recently featured in our Northampton Police Misconduct Trading Card series.
Ep 6: Who Does ServiceNet Serve? We talk with Shoestring staff writer and labor correspondent Roman Nicholas about his recent expose on ServiceNet. In the piece, Nicholas spoke to shelter workers about the union bargaining process for better wages, high turnover, and staff burnout, raising questions not just about the non-profit’s labor practices but how they serve the unhoused community.
Ep 7 : The Future of Local Media w/Victor Pickard The Shoestring talks with media scholar Victor Pickard about the failure of advertising revenue to fund local journalism, the need for publicly funded local media, and the case for media cooperatives.
Ep 8: Covid Data and its Discontents w/Joe Pater The Shoestring’s Covid data columnist Joe Pater joins us to discuss how public information about the virus has been disseminated and how it hasn’t. He compares the local response to that in his home town in Ontario, exposing the scattershot standards between different municipal responses and much more. Pater is a linguistics professor at UMASS Amherst.
Ep 9: Investigative Reporter Dusty Christensen We sit down with investigative reporter Dusty Christensen of the Daily Hampshire Gazette to discuss his recent work on the internal affairs of the Northampton Police Department.
Ep 10: Ten Forward with Sarah Lanzilotta In this episode we share an interview we conducted in January with Sarah Lanzilotta, the owner of Ten Forward in Greenfield, about the challenges faced by the independent music venue during the pandemic. But first, a quick update about what we’re up to here at The Shoestring and the goings on at Northampton City Council.
Ep 11: Covid-19 and the media w/ Dr. Steven Thrasher In this episode we talk with Dr. Steven Thrasher, a professor of journalism at Northwestern University, and author of the upcoming book, The Viral Underclass. We discussed the responsibility of media during the COVID 19 pandemic and more. But first, a quick update about what we’re up to here at The Shoestring and the goings on at Northampton City Council.
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