WJFF - Close to Home with Leif Johansen

by Leif Johansen

A twenty-something armchair policy wonk born and raised in the Catskills is heading out into the world, and he's got a lot of questions. In this podcast from WJFF Radio Catskill, we'll take a deep dive into the institutions in upstate New York that are at the foundation of our community and explore how they work (and how they sometimes don't). We'll sit down with educators, farmers, public servants, artists, business owners, an ...   ...  Read more
Government
News Commentary
Documentary

Podcast episodes

  • Season 4

  • Policy Chats: Sullivan County Legislators Matt McPhillips and Cat Scott

    Policy Chats: Sullivan County Legislators Matt McPhillips and Cat Scott

    S04 E05
    34:23

    After a shake up in the composition of the Sullivan County Legislature after last November's elections, the nine-person governing body is looking younger than ever. In this episode, we catch up with two of the new, younger members of the legislature to get an inside look at what it's like to navigate the challenges and opportunities of local governance.

  • Extended Cut: Aviation, Corruption, and Local History Books with John Conway

    Extended Cut: Aviation, Corruption, and Local History Books with John Conway

    S04 E04
    55:17

    This is the full interview with John Conway for our episode in May 2024 on local aviation and the Sullivan County Airport. In it, John talks about how he goes about conducting local history research, what the best books on Catskills and Sullivan County history are, aviation, Borscht Belt hotels, and a splash of government corruption.

  • Airport Redevelopment and Sullivan County's Aviation History

    Airport Redevelopment and Sullivan County's Aviation History

    S04 E03
    41:25

    In this episode, we hear from the new Sullivan County Airport Superintendent, Julian Motola, on the ongoing development of a brand new terminal at the Sullivan County International Airport, supported by an $18.5 million grant from New York State. We also learn about the storied history of aviation in the Catskills, and how the Sullivan County International Airport came into existence in the first place as an unusually large publicly owned and operated facility for a rural community. (And we'll finally get an answer to why it's an "international" airport!)

  • Rail Trails Update

    Rail Trails Update

    S04 E02
    41:01

    There's a 50-mile biking/walking path being built that will span the entire length of Sullivan County, north to south. It's a feat of design and community cooperation, and it's (slowly) moving closer to becoming a reality. But that's just part of a larger, regional project that may transform the way we think about accessibility and recreation in our rural area. This episode is an update to our piece in early 2021 on the O&W Rail Trail project, and it features Heather Brown, Sullivan County's Commissioner of Planning, Community Development & Environmental Management; Heather Jacksy, Sullivan County's Chief Planner; Annie Bergelin, Design and Capital Projects Manager at the Open Space Institute; and Tatum Justice, Northeast Land Project Manager at the Open Space Institute.

  • For the Birds

    For the Birds

    S04 E01
    41:55

    Have you noticed geese flying back recently? Or robins plucking worms and berries from your snow-less yard in the middle of the winter? Locally and globally, bird populations and migration patterns are changing. Today, we're asking why. (Spoiler: your house cat knows.) In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Andrew Farnsworth, Senior Research Associate in the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Mark Dedea, President of the John Burrows Natural History Society, and Wendy Tocci, Regional Coordinator for the Third New York State Breeding Bird Atlas.