Brew's Cafe

We all remember. For prior generations it was D-Day, or the day Kennedy was shot, or the moon landing. But for anyone alive on September 11, 2001, we remember where we were. What we were doing, how we felt. For Ray Brown, though, it's not a memory of sitting in a coffee bar uptown, or by the pool in Amagansett. Ray remembers that day very differently than the rest of us. Ray comes from a long line of firefighters, and firefighters called to duty on the biggest of days. His grandfather was a firefighter on D-Day, a fact unknown to Ray and his brothers (both firefighters) until long after his grandfather had died. Ray's father retired as chief of all NYFD rescue companies (that's a big deal, FYI). So it was truly an honor to have Ray share his memories of growing up in a household where becoming a NYC firefighter was practically preordained, and how he spent that fateful day in lower Manhattan, the years leading up to it and the years since. 

Just so we're clear: Dr. Lea Lis, aka "The Shameless Psychiatrist", has a child psychiatry practice in Southampton; she also has a ketamine assisted therapy practice there; they are NOT the same thing! As one of the very few (as in ONLY) child psychiatrists on the east end, Dr. Lis is in very high demand as she works tirelessly to help ease our local mental health crisis, particularly with children. She coordinates with local schools, law enforcement, and of course, families, to navigate the increasingly difficult process of growing up. Her book, "No Shame", lays out a great framework for her practice, as she counsels families to be up front, open and willing to communicate about the often challenging landscape of sex, relationships and healthy living. Her ketamine practice, on the other hand, uses the psychedelic drug to assist adults with a variety of psychological and emotional areas of distress such as depression, PTSD and addiction. She goes into great depth about how the process works, and how patients have successfully used the treatment to achieve better health. Last but not least, she's a "burner".  And if you don't know what that is, or you do and you want to hear about it, well... you're gonna hafta listen till the end!!

Joe Gonzalez, a seasoned bartender with a passion for sports, discusses baseball and football, focusing on the Yankees and Giants. Topics include Aaron Judge's contract, changes in baseball, and the Giants' promising start. The conversation also covers nostalgic stadium memories, player contracts, and casual sports talk with friends.

You might be excused for thinking that after a long, successful run in Hamptons Real Estate, one might want to take it easy. You know, play golf, sail the Caribbean, travel the world. Well, first off, even though Diane Saatchi has been as good as anyone in the local Real Estate game for as long as just about anyone, she's still quite active as a successful broker. And taking it easy? Well, I guess the above wouldn't be true if she were one to take it easy. No, when most of the world was taking it easy during COVID lockdowns, Diane decided to do something hard. Very hard. Like, coordinating the most successful (I keep using that word!) voter registration drive in US history. But not just any group of voters: the toughest to get to the registration office and to the polls: young men. In the first major registration drive, Diane and her team registered more new voters than Michelle Obama and Jennifer Lopez. Yeah. Michelle Obama and Jennifer Lopez working together. Listen in to the fascinating story of how she and a couple of friends, working from East Hampton, pulled it off. Of course, she throws in a couple of juicy real estate stories just to round out the episode!

Nick Kraus, organizer of popular live band events in the Hamptons, discusses his involvement in nightlife and charity work. Topics include beach shows, community engagement, privacy in bars, parenting, marathon experiences, and capturing veterans' stories through 'Warrior Stories' project.

David Rattray, Editor and Publisher of 'The Star', shares his experience of making hard choices about what goes into the paper. He discusses the impact of digitized police reports on individual privacy, controversies surrounding the East Hampton Airport, and challenges in reporting on politicians' military service. The podcast also touches on evictions, reader engagement, and debates on location names.

The week Jolie Parcher opened Mandala Yoga in Amagansett Square more than 20 years ago, Yoga was still in what she calls "Weirdoville". Two people showed up for the first few classes. The next week, Oprah declared on her show that Yoga was "a good thing'. And suddenly Jolie was looking for more space. All these years later, Jolie applies Yoga to every aspect of her life, and on this episode, she explains how and why that works for her.  Of course, she fills us in on the progression of Mandala Yoga from the small studio where it started to her latest passion, Mandala Gives, where she's bringing Yoga to those people for whom it may not otherwise be available: Local first responders, for instance; those suffering from Parkinson's Disease, for another; people seeking shelter and a new start in life at The Retreat. Naturally, we diverge from the obvious topics and drift into a deep discussion of local concerns, whether it be how to make a living, that greener grass we so often envy-- correctly or otherwise, and, as always, the difficulty of making a living and finding housing in our community. As I'd hoped, Jolie brings an interesting, compassionate and thoughtful perspective on everything we discuss. 

Bryan Downey, a multifaceted artist and local historian, delves into the untold story of The Miegs Raid during the Revolutionary War. He discusses his community efforts against beach littering, shares celebrity encounters, and explores the historical event with freed African slaves and Native Americans. Bryan's storytelling prowess and diverse talents make for an engaging podcast episode.

Ron White is one of those guys who uses up every available character in his job description: Successful Real Estate Agent, Head Coach of the Bridgehampton HS Boys Basketball team, President of the BH School Board, plus husband, father, brother and generally great guy. Whenever Ron and I get a conversation going, two things are inevitable: it's going to be interesting, and we never know where it's going to go. Fortunately, both those truths hold up in when we recently put a couple of mics in front of us and recorded the convo for the world-- or at least the world of this podcast-- to hear. Two topics we generally count on are parenting and coaching, and the challenges anyone attempting either of these face in today's rapidly changing world. But we go much deeper here, as to what makes raising kids right such a challenge today, and how coaches need to learn entirely new skill sets while instilling the values of hard work, discipline, teamwork, sacrifice and patience. Naturally, we drift into other topics such as paying college athletes, our local housing crisis, the real estate market to name just a few. 

If your legal knowledge is limited to "Better Call Saul", or even "Law and Order", and you're curious whether either of those are remotely accurate, you might want to check this one out. As a Former Prosecutor, Public (and private) Defender, as well as a practitioner of all aspects of the law (including real estate!), it's hard to think of a person better equipped to teach me about the inner workings of the criminal justice system. Curious about the hullabaloo over Bail Reform? We cover that in depth. Thinking of mounting an insanity plea? Better listen here first. Is it true only guilty parties plead guilty? We dig into this one as well. So tune into this one and you may learn a lot more than, like me, you thought you already knew based on the television shows. Only one caveat, though (see what I did there?): you might want to fact check him on Westhampton Beach surfing history!