Arts & Seizures

This week on Arts & Seizures, host Mike Edison and guest co-host Bob Bert welcome Erin Norris to the show. Notably, Bob is a past member of Sonic Youth and currently plays with Lydia Lunch, while Erin is the owner of the Red Hook restaurant Grindhaus. Telling Mike of the journey to open the restaurant (it was set to open just before Hurricane Sandy hit), she also shares that prior to her restaurant opening she worked in a very different type of service industry. A former dominatrix with a SoHo dungeon, she shares that hung up her S&M gear more than a decade. She goes on to give the guys the details on what to expect from Grindhaus plus a lot more! This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza.

This week on Arts & Seizures, host Mike Edison and guest co-host Kimberly Wetherell of Spirited, a dessert speakeasy in NYC are talking New York City history by means of booze! Welcoming Bridget Firtle of Owney’s NYC Rum and Kevin Fitzpatrick of The Dorothy Parker Society. Distilled in small batches by hand from all-natural, non-GMO, high test molasses in an old factory warehouse in NYC, Bridget gives Mike and Kimberly some information about rum’s history in the country and how it was implemented in some historic recipes. Kevin is also the author of “The Lost Algonquin Round Table: Humor, Fiction, Journalism, Criticism and Poetry From America’s Most Famous Literary Circle,” that speaks on the celebrated group of New York City writers, critics, actors and wits that met for lunch each day at the Algonquin Hotel from 1919 until roughly 1929. Prompting a fun talk among the group, Kevin shares that at these luncheons they engaged in wisecracks, wordplay and witticisms that, through the newspaper columns of Rou

This week on Arts & Seizures, host Mike Edison is joined again by guest co-host Peter Zaremba talking cocktails with Rosie Schaap. Rosie has been a bartender, a fortuneteller, a librarian at a paranormal society, an English teacher, an editor, a preacher, a community organizer, and a manager of homeless shelters. A contributor to This American Life and npr.org, she writes the monthly “Drink” column for The New York Times Magazine and her memoir, “Drinking With Men,” is available where fine books are sold. Talking about great spirits and drinks, Peter takes it upon himself to create a new cocktail live on air. Musician and friend Andy Shernoff joins as well playing a few tunes while producer Jim Diamond joins the group as a special walk in guest. This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza. “I’ve been working for a while on a book on whisky. It’s a big subject that requires a lot of active research.” [16:40] —Rosie Schaap on Arts & Seizures

This week on Arts & Seizures, host Mike Edison is kicking off 2015 with co-host Peter Zaremba of The Fleshtones welcoming guests, post punk superstars Ivan Julian and Bob Bert. Opening the show with the guys catching up with one another, Mike checks in with the projects that each are working on at the moment before getting into a discussion on the state of the music business today and how it’s a hard place to crack with the influx of home recording technology. Ivan and Bert perform a few acoustic sets in studio and share where listeners can catch them playing around the city. After the break, Mike gets the inside scoop on playing CBGBs from Ivan and his past recording experiences and closes out the show with Peter promising more shenanigans in store for next week. This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza.

On this last last Arts & Seizures of 2014, Mike Edison is joined by a plethora of friends to say goodbye to dear Judy McGuire who is ending her co-hosting tenure after years of dedicated and hilarious on-air service to the Heritage Radio Network. Kicking off the show with an exchanging of gifts and some heart-felt live music, the group actively discusses the idea of a Judy cardboard cutout or a hologram to keep Mike company on air before moving through a trip down memory lane. Complete with surprise call ins and pizza, Judy receives a warm send off that is sure to live in internet radio infamy. This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza. “It’s been a good run and it’s been fun co-hosting here with you, Mike!” —Judy McGuire on Arts & Seizures

This week on Arts & Seizures, hosts Mike Edison and Judy McGuire are talking booze and bars with guests Sean Manning, author of “Come Here Often?: 53 Writers Raise a Glass to Their Favorite Bar” and Zak Davis of Shmaltz Brewing Company. Kicking off the show, the group tastes a few highlighted beers from the Shmaltz Brewing Company line while chatting with Sean about how a neighborhood bar can become as comfortable as a second home or a memory best avoided—a wild evening half remembered and better forgotten. But what makes a particular bar special, better than the one just down the street? The answers vary considerably as the group welcomes Executive Director of Heritage Radio Network, Erin Fairbanks, and phone guest author Mike McPadden to the show for their thoughts. After the break, the hosts taste some more beer while talking about their personal favorite bars throughout the city. Tune in for a frothy show! This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza.

This week on Arts & Seizures, hosts Mike Edison and Judy McGuire are having a punk rock day! Welcoming Tony Rettman, author of “New York Hardcore 1980-1990,” to the show, the trio throws back to this genre’s glory days in the big apple. Known for its glamorous 1970s punk rock scene, New York City matched the grim urban reality of the 1980s with a rawer musical uprising: New York hardcore. Bands of misfits from across the region gravitated to the forgotten frontier of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. With a a backdrop of despair, bands like Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Murphy’s Law, and Youth of Today confronted their reality with relentlessly energetic gigs at CBGB, A7, and the numerous squats in the area. Tony’s oral history captures ten years of struggling, including the scene’s regional rivalries with D.C. and Boston, the birth of moshing, the clash and coming to terms of hardcore and heavy metal, the straightedge movement, and the unlikely influence of Krishna consciousness. Tune in to get your mosh on! This

This week on Arts & Seizures, solo host Mike Edison is welcoming a few friends to the studio for a wine tasting, compliments of guest Sommelier Jean-Luc Le Du of Le Du’s Wines. Peter Zaremba and Keith Streng of The Fleshtones also join in the fun as they all kick off the show tasting some delicious cider, proving that cider is not only seasonal but can be enjoyed at any time of the year before moving on to more traditional wines. After the break, the group shares their Thanksgiving happenings, with Mike divulging his plan to cook a heritage turkey supplied by Heritage Foods USA. This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza. “It’s been tough, Bougelet Nouveau has had a terrible reputation… but you can enjoy this all day long.” [8:00] “The thing about Zinfandel is that people lost interest in it about a century ago.” [12:00] —Jean-Luc Le Du on Arts & Seizures

This week on Arts & Seizures, hosts Mike Edison and Judy McGuire are joined by John Strausbaugh and in the second half of the show, Jeremiah Moss. John is the author of “The Village: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues, a History of Greenwich Village” and host of the New York Times video podcast series “Weekend Explorer.” Talking to Mike and Judy about his research on one of NYC’s most infamous neighborhoods, he and Mike reminisce about the yesteryear of the big apple and discuss what Taylor Swift has brought to the city as well. Jeremiah Moss joins in the second half of the show and is a blogger in the process of trying to save New York City’s notables and heads up Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, a bitterly nostalgic look at a city in the process of going extinct. He goes on to point out how it’s not just nostalgia, rather a way of maintaining what New York is really about, to stand up against new developments and chain stores moving into the neighborhoods of the city. Tune in to hear a

This week on Arts & Seizures, solo host Mike Edison welcomes Steven Heller and Douglas Riccardi to the show to speak on the stratosphere of design. Steven is an art director and author of scads of books while Douglas is a graphic artist that particularly works on menu design for top restaurants. Looking at menu design as a way of giving customers the personality of the restaurant, for instance, the group engages in a conversation about some of their projects and their respective workflows, as well as their opinions on the infamous Comic Sans type. Another big discussion revolves around design occurring on a computer rather than being drawn up by hand. Tune in for some expert opinions on menu design, the evolution of type throughout the years, and, of course, some crazy stories! This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza. “The hand is something that an artist can’t live without.” [8:25] —Steven Heller on Arts & Seizures

This week on Arts & Seizures, hosts Mike Edison and Judy McGuire are talking Queens! Welcoming connoisseurs of the borough of Queens: Emily Nonko, Andrea Lynn, and Jeff Orlick, the group starts off on a culinary journey through the up and coming area. Emily is the Editor of Brownstoner Queens, Andrea is the author of the book “Queens: A Culinary Passport,” while Jeff runs a blog dedicated to eating around Queens. A thorough discussion from the food situation, cost of living, hipness, and the general vibe of the borough successfully introduces any newbie to the area. Tune in to learn all about the undiscovered gems in Queens! This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza. “In Queens the food scene is local and you might be the only person in the restaurant that speaks English.” [9:35] —Andrea Lynn on Arts & Seizures “I’m okay with Queens not being the next Brooklyn.” [12:53] —Jeff Orlick on Arts & Seizures

This week on Arts & Seizures, hosts Mike Edison and Judy McGuire kick off the show catching up with Judy’s latest travels in the south. Quickly introducing guest Thomas R. Pryor, author of the book “I Hate the Dallas Cowboys: Tales of a Scrappy New York Boyhood,” he is a native New Yorker and jumps into conversation with Mike and Judy about growing up in the city and how things used to be. Thomas’ 1960s working class neighborhood on the Upper East Side sets the stage for many great stories of his upbringing where he played street games like Ringalario and delt with nuns disciplining him for humming baseball beer jingles in class. Combining funny and bittersweet stories of his childhood, he shares some wonderful highlights of the book with Mike and Judy. This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza. “I did not ride in an elevator, except at Macy’s, until I was 9 years old and they built a building around the corner from where I lived. All of a sudden, I had friends who were in elevator buildings. ”

Today on Arts & Seizures, host Mike Edison flies solo and interviews Kera Bolonik, DAME magazine’s executive editor. She is a culture writer whose work has appeared in New York magazine, the L.A. Times, Glamour, the Village Voice, Bookforum, The Nation, Salon, Slate, and the Poetry Foundation, among other places, and she has written two books about TV. Mike and Kera catch up and discuss TV shows like “Blackish”, ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Portlandia’ and their favorite, “American Horror Story”. The re-live memorable moments (Spoiler Alert) and express their opinion on today’s popular TV shows and movies. This show was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza “The person who has the most compelling narrative in this book, in my opinion is Diane Soyer.” [5:40] “You could not suspend disbelief because something similar was happening in the news.” [18:30]

This week on Arts & Seizures, hosts Mike Edison and Judy McGuire are celebrating Yom Kippur with guests Rabbi Daniel Bronstein and Heritage Radio Network’s own Sari Kamin! We hear all about Judy’s recent trip to Ireland before delving into the ins and outs of the Jewish faith, holidays, and family life growing up. Sari grew up as the daughter of a Rabbi and shares some of those funny stories with Mike and Judy, while Daniel leads a discussion on the importance of forgiveness and how it should be taken more seriously everyday of the year – not just over Yom Kippur. After the break, Sari talks Chinese food and the group comments on their favorite Jewish foods. This program was brought to you by the International Culinary Center. “Forgiveness means forgiveness. It’s setting a new slate.” [10:15] —Rabbi Daniel Bronstein on Arts & Seizures “The Chinese came and started opening up restaurants and Jews started eating there because it was one of the only kinds of restaurants they could afford to eat in. It

This week on Arts & Seizures, a solo host, Mike Edison, welcomes Kimberly Wetherell and David Gutowski of DISH, a multi-course feast of readings and stories. Recently, Kimberly has opened a new concept speakeasy, or rather, a dessert speakeasy called Spirited. She goes on to explain that it’s a dessert restaurant and craft cocktail bar all in one. Spirited features alcohol-infused desserts that are tipsy, buzzed, and downright drunk. Talking about the resurgence of high quality spirits, Kimberly talks inspiration and how they plan the seasonality of the menu at Spirited. After the break, David tells Mike all about the happenings with his music and literature blog, Largehearted Boy. Sparking a great conversation about music writing, Mike adds his thoughts on Pandora as well as his personal playlist of what to listen to while drinking a beer in the shower! Tune in for a great show! This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza. “I can deconstruct a cocktail better than anyone I know.” [13:00] —K

This week on Arts & Seizures, hosts Mike Edison and Judy McGuire celebrate the upcoming Brooklyn Book Festival and chat with Liz Koch, the Co-Producer, and Denise Oswald, the Co-Chair of the Nonfiction Committee, both of the Brooklyn Book Festival. Talking about what the hosts refer to as the ‘Woodstock of Books,’ the Brooklyn Book Festival is the largest free literary event in New York City. It presents an array of national and international literary stars and emerging authors. Noted as one of America’s premiere book festivals, this hip, smart, and diverse gathering attracts thousands of book lovers of all ages to enjoy authors and the festival’s lively literary marketplace. After the break, Mike and Judy ask Liz and Denise about who is buying books these days and what big name books have brought new readers to the scene. Emphasizing about the importance of literary works and how a book can really influence someone, the Brooklyn Book Festival aims to please current readers as well as inspire new readers.

This week on Arts & Seizures, hosts Mike Edison and Judy McGuire kick off the new radio season by welcoming ‘America’s Garage Rock Band’ The Fleshtones to the show! Keith Streng and Peter Zaremba are no doubt mainstays in the New York music scene. Though initially formed in 1976 and having played epic venues like CBGBs, plus being co-horts of The Ramones, they still are rocking to this day. Tune in as Mike and Judy are privy to a few live performances as well as a some great stories in their half hour spent with the band. This program was brought to you by The International Culinary Center. “Not only did [The Cramps] rehearse, but they found us very noisy and unkempt. They asked us to leave, actually.” [5:27] “…the other part of the secret is to actually like what you’re doing. That’s the secret to everything.” [9:19] —The Fleshtones on Arts & Seizures

This week on a special BIRTHDAY episode of Arts & Seizures, Mike and Judy welcome a plethora of guests to wish Mike a very happy birthday. Complete with live music, festive hats, and presents, the crew celebrates in style! Tune in to hear candid stories about Mike told by those who know him best and to hear rousing renditions of the “Birthday Blues” by Mr. Edison himself. This program has been brought to you by Roberta’s. “The real zen answer is you’ve gotta be a willow that bends in the wind. You’ve gotta be flexible. You’ve gotta go with the flow.” [10:33] “Birthday house!” — Mike Edison on Arts & Seizures

This week on Arts & Seizures, hosts Mike and Judy welcome Michael Lee Nirenberg, Director of the Documentary Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine Story to the program. Talking about his close relationship with the magazine, his father was one of the original art directors in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Michael goes on to explain the background of the magazine with Larry Flint as well as its importance in the country’s culture. More than just a pornographic publication, the magazine ended up being a beacon for the First Amendment. In the last few minutes of the show, Michael also shares plans for his new project regarding the subcultural history of computer hacking. Tune in for a charged show! This program was sponsored by Heritage Foods USA. “I realized that it (Hustler Magazine) was much more of a social force than I thought it was, and the way people look at it is that it’s just pictures of naked women, but the social commentary was really severe and over the top.” [8:29] — Michael Lee Nirenberg on Arts &

This week on Arts & Seizures, Mike and Judy welcome Aaron Lefkove and Ethan Campbell of the Brooklyn-based, punk-rock band, LIVEFASTDIE. Notably, Aaron is also the owner of the Littleneck in Gowanus as well as its off-shoot, Littleneck Outpost, in Greenpoint. Promoting their recent release, Hit Stains, out on Almost Ready Records, the guys discuss their longstanding partnership, crazy tour stories and song inspirations, not to mention a few live tunes thrown in the mix. Mike and Judy also talk to Aaron about his newest endeavor, Littleneck Outpost, located in Greenpoint. The New England style clam shack is an off-shoot of Gowanus’ Littleneck, featuring a grocery, sandwiches, and other delicious fare. The crew also weighs in on the great Yelp debate and how they deal with the infamous reviews. Tune in for a truly entertaining show and see if Mike persuades Aaron to create a new sandwich in his honor. This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza. “Fortunately, I just opened this new restaurant –