Little Local Conversations
Discover the people, places, stories, and ideas of Watertown, MA. 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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The podcast is in partnership with the Watertown Business Coalition (find out more about them at https://watertownbusinesscoalition.com/).
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Episodes
26 episodes
A Quick Update From Matt
Hi there! This is just a short message saying that I'll be taking a short break from releasing new episodes, but I'll be back at it in a few weeks. Until then, take care!
August 30, 2024
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2:08
Episode 25: Sally Young (Artist-Activist / Edible Watertown)
Meet Sally Young! She's an artist and art activist here in Watertown and the mind behind Edible Watertown, an initiative of the Watertown Public Arts and Culture Committee. She's had a winding journey to get where she is now that includes being...
August 23, 2024
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Episode 25
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36:52
Episode 24: Joel Giacobozzi (Watertown High School & Middle School Principal)
Meet Joel Giacobozzi! He's the principal for the Watertown High School and (at least temporarily) for the Middle School as well. He has some surprising stories you might not expect for a principal such as stints living alone in the Yukon and st...
August 16, 2024
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Episode 24
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29:53
Episode 23: Tyler Cote (Watertown Community Engagement Specialist)
Meet Tyler Cote! He’s the Community Engagement Specialist for Watertown, a new role in the city. We get into a conversation about his days working in a nonprofit teaching kids about online safety and a particular day there that forever changed ...
August 09, 2024
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Episode 23
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37:30
Episode 22: Stephanie Venizelos (Watertown Community Wellness Program Manager)
Meet Stephanie Venizelos! She’s the Community Wellness Program Manager for the City of Watertown (which includes managing the farmers market!). We chat about her early years teaching health in schools and her transition into broader thinking ro...
August 02, 2024
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Episode 22
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30:23
Episode 21: Christian Dallas (Dallas Insurance Agency / Watertown Rotary Club)
Meet Christian Dallas! He's an insurance agent at Dallas Insurance Agency here in Watertown and is the president-elect of the Watertown Rotary Club. We chat about his experience working his way into the Watertown community and how the kindness ...
July 26, 2024
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Episode 21
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30:25
Episode 20: Gideon Schreiber (Watertown Director of Planning and Zoning)
Meet Gideon Schreiber! He's the Director of Planning and Zoning for the City of Watertown. We chat about his early experiences in the wilderness of Northern Idaho and the cold of Fairbanks, Alaska (where he once spent a month with temperatures ...
July 19, 2024
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Episode 20
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31:14
Episode 19: Steve Owens (Massachussets State Representative)
Meet Steve Owens! He's the State Representative for the 29th Middlesex District which includes most of Watertown and part of Cambridge. We chat about missing the boat on the Silicon Valley gold rush, his history in freight transportation manage...
July 12, 2024
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Episode 19
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29:13
Episode 18: Tia Tilson (Watertown Community Foundation)
Meet Tia Tilson! She's the Executive Director of the Watertown Community Foundation, a place-based philanthropic organization here in Watertown. We chat about her early grassroots organizing and fundraising experiences and the lessons learned, ...
July 05, 2024
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Episode 18
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28:14
Episode 17: Julie Fei-Fan Balzer (Painter/Printmaker/Collage Artist)
Meet Julie Fei-Fan Balzer! She's a painter, printmaker, and collage artist here in Watertown. We chat about her winding journey as a self-taught artist from her early rejections from scrapbooking magazines to snowballing hard work and luck into...
June 28, 2024
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Episode 17
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36:43
Episode 16: Darren Farrington (Mosesian Center for the Arts)
Meet Darren Farrington! He's the Executive Director at the Mosesian Center for the Arts here in Watertown. We talk about his roots in the arts including a stint as an entertainment lawyer and interning for Les Mis in New York to arts advocacy a...
June 21, 2024
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Episode 16
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26:32
Episode 15: Kristen Kenny (Artist / Arts Organizer)
Meet Kristen Kenny! She's an artist, arts organizer, and Chair of the Watertown Arts Market. We chat about how her wide-ranging artistic interests were a result of a childhood surrounded by musicians and artists, creating and running her own fa...
June 14, 2024
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Episode 15
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27:59
Episode 14: Ariel Nathanson (Finances for Feminists)
Meet Ariel Nathanson! She's the founder of Finances for Feminists, a financial coaching business here in Watertown. We chat about her early interest in money (including keeping spreadsheets of her Beanie Baby collection), the three lenses she v...
June 07, 2024
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Episode 14
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28:25
Episode 13: Amelia Young (Hatch Makerspace)
Meet Amelia Young! She's the Coordinator at Hatch Makerspace here in Watertown. We chat about her early discoveries with materials, her path being involved with various collaborative spaces over the years at MassArt, Harvard, a middle school li...
May 31, 2024
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Episode 13
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33:16
Episode 12: Liz Padula (Artemis Yoga)
Meet Liz Padula! She's the owner of Artemis Yoga here in Watertown. We chat about her childhood experiences with yoga and body awareness, her time in Silicon Valley (and how she left to seek something more impactful to people's day-to-day life)...
May 23, 2024
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Episode 12
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23:29
Episode 11: Andrea Santopietro (WCA-TV)
Meet Andrea Santopietro! She's the Executive Director at Watertown Cable Access Corporation (better known as WCA-TV). We chat about how she first got into film and into her current role, the variety of resources WCA-TV offers the community (inc...
May 17, 2024
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Episode 11
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25:04
Episode 10: Bob Airasian (Real Estate Broker / Watertown Business Coalition)
Meet Bob Airasian! He's a real estate broker, co-president of the Watertown Business Coalition, and is involved with many other things in Watertown. We talk about his biggest volunteer moments, how he carved his path through a couple career cha...
May 08, 2024
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Episode 10
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34:23
Episode 9: Archy LaSalle (Activist / Photographer)
Meet Archy LaSalle! He's the Vice Chair of the Watertown Public Arts and Culture Committee, a passionate activist, and working photographer. Archy has a lot of stories and we touch on some of them by chatting about his experiences in educationa...
May 03, 2024
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Episode 9
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36:06
Episode 8: Charlie Breitrose (Watertown News)
Meet Charlie Breitrose! He's the editor of Watertown News. We talk about how he runs his one person operation, how Watertown News gets more unique monthly visitors than the population of Watertown, and his own personal journey into journalism a...
April 26, 2024
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Episode 8
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22:02
Episode 7: Liz Helfer (Watertown Public Arts and Culture Planner / Sculptor)
Meet Liz Helfer! She works for the City of Watertown as the Public Arts and Culture Planner and she's also a working sculptor in the region. We talk about her winding journey from building clay cities with her twin sister, to building a sculptu...
April 18, 2024
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Episode 7
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27:59
Episode 6: Nicole Kootz (Bright Strings Studio)
Meet Nicole Kootz! She runs Bright Strings Studio here in Watertown where she teaches violin and viola lessons using the Suzuki Method and Alexander Technique. In our conversation we talk about her musical journey including the common issue of ...
April 10, 2024
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Episode 6
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43:49
Episode 5: Allie Fry (Watertown Free Public Library)
Meet Allie Fry! She's the Programming Librarian at the Watertown Free Public Library. We talk about what attracted her to the library here in Watertown (she's from the Midwest), the lesser known programming for adults that the library offers, a...
April 05, 2024
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Episode 5
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29:26
Episode 4: Merle Kummer (CoLAB)
Meet Merle Kummer! She's the co-founder and president of CoLAB: High School STEM Collaboration. We talk about her movement from Kendall Square to Watertown to seek a more connected community, how CoLAB came to be and the unique ways it engages ...
April 01, 2024
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Episode 4
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32:47
Episode 3: Gavin Kleespies (Gore Place)
Meet Gavin Kleespies! He's the new Executive Director at Gore Place. Listen to learn more about Gore Place and some of its little known history (including steam-powered build-it-yourself cars) and a bit of insight into what it's like to be an e...
March 26, 2024
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Episode 3
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21:04
Episode 2: Jan Taylor (Get Lively)
Meet Jan Taylor! She’s the owner of Get Lively Health and Fitness and she’s here to make people smile while they exercise. Listen to learn more about her business journey from basement to full blown fitness and lifestyle studio and more of her ...
March 18, 2024
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Episode 2
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30:55