Little Local Conversations
Discover the people, places, stories, and ideas of Watertown, MA. Visit littlelocalconversations.com to see all episodes, upcoming events, and more. Join Matt Hanna as he has conversations with various businesses owners, community leaders, creatives, and other interesting folks in Watertown to learn about what they do and get to know a bit about the people behind the work.
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Episodes
83 episodes
Episode 61: Alex Patriquin (Cass School of Floral Design)
Meet Alex Patriquin! He's part of the family business at the Cass School of Floral Design here in Watertown. We talk about the beginnings of the floral shop with his Armenian immigrant refugee grandmother (and her earlier venture of putting a l...
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Episode 61
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38:07
Local Government Update, August 2025
This is a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories...
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35:41
Episode 60: Gary Beatty (Watertown Boys and Girls Club)
Meet Gary Beatty! He's the Executive Director of the Watertown Boys and Girls Club. In this conversation he shares about his experience growing up in Northern Ireland, his love of football (soccer) and how it led him to the US, and his professi...
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Episode 60
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41:52
Episode 59: Sara Keary (Caregiver Counseling and Consultation)
Meet Sara Keary! She runs Caregiver Counseling and Consultation here in Watertown along with being involved with the community in other ways. We talk about her early years growing up with a mother who was director of a homeless shelter and spen...
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Episode 59
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37:36
Episode 58: Rita Cleary (Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center)
Meet Rita Cleary! She's the activities coordinator at the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center here in Watertown. In this conversation we talk about Rita's career path in management sciences, traveling the world for her personal explorations on the...
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Episode 58
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29:25
Local Government Update, July 2025
This is a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories...
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39:13
Creative Chats With Guest Arto Vaun (Finding Optimism and Creative Opportunity in Grief and Anxiety)
This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with Arto Vaun, Executive Director at Project Save Photograph Archive, musician, and poet. The topic revolved aro...
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46:40
Episode 57: Xin Peng (Community Organizer and Human Rights Activist)
Meet Xin Peng! He's involved in many things in Watertown including chairing World in Watertown, sitting on the city's Human Rights Commission, running the Chinese American Association of Watertown, and many other things. In this con...
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Episode 57
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42:46
Watertown Arts & Culture Roundtable, June 2025
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,...
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33:26
Local Government Update, June 2025
This is a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories...
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25:23
Episode 56: Kim Charlson (Perkins School for the Blind / Watertown Commission on Disability)
Meet Kim Charlson! She's the Executive Director of the Braille and Talking Book Library at the Perkins School for the Blind as well as the Chair of the Commission on Disability here in Watertown. In this conversation we discuss her journey into...
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Episode 56
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41:30
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Creative Chats With Guest Julie Fei-Fan Balzer (Does Art Have to Have Meaning?)
This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with painter, printmaker, and collage artist Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. The topic revolved around meaning and identity...
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41:54
Creative Chats With Guest Cat Bennett (Finding Your Artistic Path and Discovering What Comes Next)
This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with guest Cat Bennett, whose career spans making animated spots for children’s television, illustrations for man...
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28:59
Episode 55: Drew Rollert (Wada Hoppah)
Meet Drew Rollert! He's the founder of Wada Hoppah, an all-electric, wakeless, shallow draft water shuttle and commuter service coming soon to the Charles River (and Watertown Square!). In this conversation we dig into the history of ferries on...
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Episode 55
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42:29
Local Government Update, May 2025
This is a conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, success stories...
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33:51
Episode 54: Jen Nicholson (Commander's Mansion)
Meet Jen Nicholson! She's the sales and events coordinator at the Commander's Mansion which also includes being a part of the Watertown City Events Team. In this conversation we dig into her experience growing up in Watertown, her years of teac...
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Episode 54
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46:01
Episode 53: Steve Magoon (Assistant City Manager for Community Development and Planning)
Meet Steve Magoon! He's the Assistant City Manager for Community Development and Planning for the City of Watertown. In this conversation we dig into his career journey in planning, the role of public input in decision making, some things that ...
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Episode 53
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34:36
Creative Chats With Guest Kristen Kenny (A Discussion on Local Space for Artists and Musicians)
This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with guest Kristen Kenny, artist, arts organizer, and Chair of the Watertown Cultural District, where the t...
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32:51
Episode 52: Ora Grodsky & Larry Raskin (Watertown Community Conversations)
Meet Ora Grodsky and Larry Raskin! They're co-founders of Watertown Community Conversations (see full bios below). In this conversation, we talk about how they got interested in the field of facilitation, the tools and techniques important to t...
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Episode 52
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40:22
Episode 51: Melissa Hresko (Russell Cooperative Preschool)
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 li...
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Episode 51
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40:04
Local Government Update, April 2025
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 m...
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28:50
Local News and Information Ecosystem Panel Discussion (From Little Local Conversations One Year Anniversary Event)
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 1...
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1:02:23
Episode 50: Will Brownsberger (Massachusetts State Senator)
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 politi...
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Episode 50
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34:27
Delightful Chaos: Watertown Arts & Culture Roundtable, April 2025
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,...
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31:53
Episode 49: Dave Levine (Whitney Towers)
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 ...
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Episode 49
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24:23
