Bar Crawl Radio

Becky and I went on a tempestuous drag race at Gebhard’s Beer Culture Bar as we dug down into Drag culture with two young NYC Drag Queens following their command performance for an Open Streets event. We talked with Drag artists Ann Arky and Vampy Von Thickums Galore who had recently performed at the International Drag Queen Celebration on West !03rd Street organized by Park to Park 103 and Open Streets. Before talking to our guest performers we spoke with Bella Gallo a coordinator of the event.Alan Winson

I do not like roller coasters. For me -- the anticipated terror proceeding the drop along with the stomach-churning loss of gravity is not thrilling fun; it is just TERROR!Nevertheless, the roller coaster is a summer-fun staple for many of us. Another stomach-churning staple for fewer Americans is the memory of the United States Air Force dropping two atomic bombs on Japanese cities at the end of World War II. In fact, for many Americans, this was a good thing as it brought the war to an end faster -- despite ending the lives of over 200,000 Japanese civilians. Of course, few of us remember August 6th and 8th or are aware of the present-day dangers of nuclear annihilation.Is it possible that the fun of the roller coaster is based on a firm belief that it is safe - even though this is not entirely true. See "Swedish government investigators launch probe of deadly roller coaster accident."For over 80 years, my country has spent $Billions on modernizing and strengthening a world-ending atomic arsenal. There have been accidents -- but we are still here.This year I went to several anti nuclear proliferation activities on the anniversaries of the U.S. attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum, at Times Square, and at the Japanese Consulate. This BCR program begins at the Intrepid on August 6th; the WWII aircraft carrier was celebrating its birthdayAlan Winsonbarcrawlradio@gmail.com

Rebecca McKean and I visited Alice Slater in her Upper East Side apartment. Since 1968, Ms. Slater has been an anti-war activist and since 1987 an anti-nuclear bomb protestor.  As a young mother she helped organize Eugene McCarthy’s presidential campaign working to end the war in Viet Nam and then got a law degree. Alice is the United Nations NGO Representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and is on the Board of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, the Global Council of Abolition 2000, and the Advisory Board of Nuclear Ban-US which supports the mission of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its work in realizing the successful UN negotiations for a Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.Alan WinsonContact: barcrawlradio@gmail.com

One of our regular gigs is the West Side Community Garden Summer Concerts. The final offering of 2023 featured the luscious sounds of Afro-Haitian Jazz performed by Mozayik – led by drummer Gashford Guillaume – who has performed with Haitian superstars -- Emeline Michel and Beethova Obas.  And  at festivals in Amsterdam, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, St, Lucia, Martinique and many cities around the U.S.In 2000 Gashford and others started “Mozayik” – which is committed to the Haitian jazz genre. I sat down with Gashford – about a week after the concert to talk about Haitian Jazz and its link to the Haitian culture at Gebhards Beer Culture Bar on the UWS.Alan Winson - Co-Host BCR Podcasts barcrawlradio@gmail.com

Bar Crawl Radio podcast hosts sojourned back to the West Side Community Garden for a concert with the music duo, Brooklyn​-​Cumaná – Jorge Glem on the Venezuelan Cuatro and Sam Reider on the accordion.  We start with a delightful conversation with former Manhattan Borough President and present UWS City Council member -- Gale Brewer. We also invited her husband Cal Snyder because our goal was not to talk local politics; rather, we wanted to know about the life of our ubiquitous, hard-working, perpetual resident of the UWS -- Gale Brewer. Up until this podcast Gale had hidden behind her prodigious local accomplishments. We learned about where Gale grew up, how she met Cal, her early influencers including Bela Abzug and Gloria Steinem, her and Cal's many foster children and adopted son -- Mo Sumbundu -- and her favorite NY baseball team.And we talked with the musicians Sam Reider (accordion) and Jorge Glem (Venezuelan cuatro) about their synthesis of musical forms and their new album "Brooklyn Cumanå"

A program of good sounds -- mix of classic jazz and hip hop beats -- and noise -- nonessential helicopters circling our City. We talked with leaders of Stop the Chop -- Melissa Elstein and Ken Counghlin -- working to end the incessant noise of private helicopters hovering over our heads.And we caught up with a former BCR guest -- jazz saxophonist Geoff Burke -- and learned about his unique synthesis of classic jazz and hip hop beats. and shared some of the music from the June 2023 concert at the West Side Community Garden on the Upper West Side.Let us know what you think of our eclectic little podcast at barcrawlradio@gmail.comAlan Winson and Rebecca McKean -- BCR Co-hosts