Kaatscast: the Catskills Podcast

Kaatscast: the Catskills Podcast

Kaatscast is a biweekly series featuring Catskills culture, history, sustainability, local interviews, literature, and the arts. Shows are hosted by Brett Barry and produced by Silver Hollow Audio, in the heart of the Catskills. Voted “Best Regional Podcast” 3 years in a row. Enjoy!

Driven to Build: The Story Behind the Catskill Mountain Foundation
Kaatscast: the Catskills Podcast
Driven to Build: The Story Behind the Catskill Mountain Foundation

Recent Episodes

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Driven to Build: The Story Behind the Catskill Mountain Foundation
177
Aug. 25, 2026

Driven to Build: The Story Behind the Catskill Mountain Foundation

"Close your eyes when you roll through town and open them when you get to the driveway," is essentially how Peter and Sarah Finn jokingly welcomed friends to their Hunter home in the mid-1990s — when dilapidated buildings and FOR SALE signs dominated Main Street. The Finns turned frustration into action, buying a rotting dairy barn and a struggling movie theater, and building what would become the Catskill Mountain Foundation in 1998. Nearly 30 years later, CMF runs a three-screen cinema, a p
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A Fly Fisher’s Revelations: Nick Lyons and Judy Van Put on Ed’s Final Book
176
Aug. 11, 2026

A Fly Fisher’s Revelations: Nick Lyons and Judy Van Put on Ed’s Final Book

Ed Van Put spent more than fifty years studying, fishing, and protecting Catskill waters — and in the process became one of the region’s most respected fly fishers and fisheries biologists. In this episode, Nick Lyons returns to Kaatscast to share the story of how Ed’s final book, A Fly Fisher’s Revelations, brought him out of retirement at age 93. Joining Nick is Ed’s wife, Judy “Obie” Van Put, who offers a deeply personal portrait of Ed’s life, his gentle nature, and his lifelong devotion to t
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Gunpowder, Greywacke, and Gin at Skillers Mountaintop Distillery
175
July 28, 2026

Gunpowder, Greywacke, and Gin at Skillers Mountaintop Distillery

At a Fleischmanns street fair, a bottle with a bright red label and bold white type — Station Navy Strength Gin — stops Brett at the Skillers booth. Owner James Rooney pours a taste and explains why British sailors once needed their gin strong enough that gunpowder would still ignite if it got splashed with the stuff. That bottle leads to a drive up to Lexington, NY, to see where it's made. Skillers Mountaintop Distillery occupies a small pre-fab barn in what started as Rooney's ski house pro
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Shandaken Theatrical Society: Fifty Years at the Phoenicia Playhouse
174
July 14, 2026

Shandaken Theatrical Society: Fifty Years at the Phoenicia Playhouse

The Shandaken Theatrical Society turns 50 this year, and its home stage — the Phoenicia Playhouse — has a history that stretches back even further. Built in 1887 as a lodge for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the building later served as an auction house and a movie theater before falling into disrepair by the 1980s. Community intervention saved it from demolition, and STS has run it ever since. This episode brings together voices spanning the organization's history: board member and lo
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Revolution's Last Stand: Calico Rebellion and the Catskills Anti-Rent War
173
June 30, 2026

Revolution's Last Stand: Calico Rebellion and the Catskills Anti-Rent War

In 1845, a feudal land system that had survived the American Revolution finally met its match in the hills above Andes, New York — and the clash left a county undersheriff dead and hundreds of farmers under arrest. The Anti-Rent War was a massive, organized uprising that had been building since the late 1830s and swept across upstate New York — yet it remains largely unknown outside this region. Victoria Kupchinetsky and Misha Gutkin are Russian-born journalists who stumbled upon the story at
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The Piano Performance Museum: Hearing History in Hunter
172
June 16, 2026

The Piano Performance Museum: Hearing History in Hunter

What did Beethoven's piano actually sound like? At the Catskill Mountain Foundation's Piano Performance Museum in Hunter, New York, you don't have to wonder — you can sit down and play one. Brett Barry visits the museum at the Doctorow Center for the Arts with performing arts director Pam Weisberg and docent Stacey Bowers, who guide him through dozens of historic instruments spanning three centuries — from a mid-18th century French harpsichord to a nine-foot Baldwin concert grand that once tr
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About the Host

Brett Barry Profile Photo
Brett Barry

Brett hosts and produces Kaatscast from Silver Hollow Audio, in the heart of the Catskills. He teaches podcasting and audio production in the Digital Media & Journalism dept. at SUNY New Paltz. He is a recipient of the Catskill Center's prestigious Alf Evers Award.

Brett graduated from Syracuse University’s television, radio & film program and worked as an associate documentary producer for several years before launching a career in voice-overs in 2002. He returned to Syracuse 10 years later for a graduate degree in television-radio-film.

Brett is represented in NYC by Access Talent for television and radio commercials, audiobooks, promos, and narration. He’s the host of public radio’s "Sound Beat," was the longtime voice of India’s English-language network, Zee Café, and the last announcer for the iconic soap opera Guiding Light. He has narrated more than 125 audiobooks.

Sponsors

The Mountain Eagle
Ulster Savings Bank