Bar Crawl Radio

Back in 2019 when the city knew not of COVID19 BCR co-hosts talked with Erwin Figueroa of Transportation Alternative about the bike culture of New York City. A lot has changed since then. Today – biking in the city is certainly scarier – maybe that’s a sign that some of us are getting old – but the variety of speedy e-bikes – e-scooters – Inmotion-style unicycles – BTW -- Onewheel describes their vehicles as “weapons”– mixed in with the ubiquitous metal shelled vehicles who own the streets – biking in NYC feels different to me. So today let’s talk about cycling in Metropolis. For this BCR conversation we talked with Juan Restrepo a senior organizer of Transportation Alternatives about the new Brooklyn Bridge bike lane and the continued dangers of cycling in the city.

Shortly after the American North won the Civil War, construction on the East River bridge was started. Tammany Hall and graft controlled NY City and State, Ulysses S. Grant had just been elected President, and the German-immigrant and bridge designer/builder, who conceived the plan for the bridge, had died. Work on the Bridge took 13 years and up to 40 men died -- mostly immigrants. The cathedral-sized, wooden caissons which allowed workers to dig out the bottom of the East River used pressurized air, resulting in debilitating Caisson Disease-- otherwise known as the "bends." The Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 and quickly became an American icon--a towering structure reflecting a sense of national pride and progress -- a reality, in part, built on greed and death. We spoke with Sarah Rosenblatt, an Architectural Conservationist who is working on restoring the original look of the Brooklyn Bridge -- and with Prof. Richard Haw who has written several books on the Bridge. His most recent book -- Engineering America: The Life and Times of John A. Roebling.Recording at Gebhard's Beer Culture Bar in Manhattan.

Early in the summer of 2022, my Bar Crawl Radio host – Rebecca McKean -- and I travelled with our  grandson -- Jackson Castro -- to the family farm of Martha Hennessy – granddaughter of the founder of the Catholic Worker – Dorothy Day. While there, Martha told me of the work of a Catholic priest – Father Philip Gbao -- and suggested we produce a BCR program on his work with African students. Listen to that conversation with Father Philip in BCR #175.  For this BCR program, we spoke with two of Father Philip's students about their professional goals and dreams to raise awareness of the power of Ugandan women in a culture which undervalues their worth.   We spoke with Nambogwe Claire who is studying to be a community organizer and Birungi Martha who is working to be an automobile engineer.  Both see themselves as examples of a new and different choice for Ugandan women outside of marriage, domestic work, and child rearing.Alan Winson -- barcrawlradio@gmail.com

It was a cold and windy Monday morning – Nov 14, 2022 – across the street from the United Nations. A group of U.S. veterans – many with combat experience – were building a watch tower – with 20 foot high painter’s scaffolding – on top of the city patio overlooking the Isaiah Wall and Peace monument – to call out to the UN that a large part of the world’s climate crisis was and is caused by the U.S. Military,We spoke with Veterans for Peace members -- Garett Reppenhagen / Tarak Kauf / Jim Rine / Ellen Barfield / Elliot Adams.

"How rich we are, we who profess voluntary poverty as a foundation for our work as agitators, to be able to take a ferry ride and be, within an hour, in [Staten Island] a rural area which is still part of New York City ... my conversion took place here." Dorothy Day's journal - Summer 1977.November 4, 2022 the newest Staten Island Ferry was commissioned "Dorothy Day." I traveled out to the event and spoke to those there to honor the event.Alan Winson -- BCR Co-host

James Baldwin argued that unlike Europeans, Americans do not know who they are.  In "Stranger in Paris," Baldwin argued that the French know who they are—ethnically, historically. But Americans are confused. He writes -- we know one when we see one, but cannot name what we have in common. The idea of “America” is formed in our precollege American History classes. But as Joseph Moreau argues – “Writing history is always political -- always reflects the relationships of power in the society.” For this BCR episode, hosts Rebecca McKean and Alan Winson, talked with American Historian, Joseph Moreau, author of “School Book Nation”. – an investigation of how American history has been taught to our children.Joseph Moreau is a history instructor at the Abraham Joshua Heschel High School in Manhattan. He holds a Ph.D. in “American Culture” from the University of Michigan. And historian Robert Snyder -- Professor Emeritus of American Studies and Journalism at Rutgers University in Newark. A prolific American Studies scholar – featured on radio and television, Robert Snyder conducted the research for Ric Burns documentary ‘New York.” Author of Crossing Broadway; Washington Heights and the Promise of New York,” and co-author of “All the Nations Under Heaven: Immigrants, Migrants, and the Making of New York.” And Rob is Manhattan’s Official Historian.This conversation was recorded at Gebhard's Beer Culture Bar in Manhattan.CONTACT Alan and Rebecca at barcrawlradio@gmail.com