Norm sits down with Alex Hannaford, a London-born, dual U.S.-U.K. citizen journalist who covers America for foreign publications and whose writing has taken him from the death rows of Texas to the pubs of east London. Rhinebeck's own, Hannaford traces his path into journalism through a gap year teaching sailing and an internship at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where he found his voice as a features writer.
The conversation moves from pub culture and Indian food to the weight of capital punishment, including Hannaford's firsthand account of witnessing an execution in Oklahoma amid growing controversy over lethal injection drugs and the systemic failures, racial bias and inadequate legal representation, that plague the system. He also discusses making the animated documentary "The Last 40 Miles," which follows the transfer of a condemned man from Texas death row to Huntsville.
Closer to home, Hannaford talks about volunteering on Thames RNLI lifeboats, launching a youth sailing program in the Rhinebeck-Kingston area through Culture Connect and the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and his book "Lost in Austin," a ground-level look at how climate, explosive growth, and cost-of-living pressures have transformed one of America's fastest-changing cities.

Produced by Norm Magnusson, Jennifer Hammoud, and Matty Rosenberg @ radiofreerhinecliff.org

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On Norm's birthday episode, guest David Hoffman looks back on a life shaped by curiosity and reinvention. He recalls early radio days in high school, studying engineering at Case Western, earning a third-class FCC license in Detroit, and landing at Vassar, where he fell in love with both '60s music and the college's carrier-current station. From there, Hoffman found his way into filmmaking, including a short inspired by Kurt Vonnegut, a documentary on Vassar's history, and festival screenings, before moving to New York to work in film and animation on an Oxberry stand. Then came the 1981 IBM PC and Lotus 1-2-3, which redirected his career entirely toward consulting and writing for PC Magazine, where he met his editor and future wife, Jane. Norm and Hoffman also share a laugh over a tennis mishap that inspired Norm's birthday gift. In closing, Hoffman describes his volunteer work as treasurer and bookkeeper for the Ulster Immigrant Defense Network, which provides food pantry access, legal aid, transportation, school coordination, and emergency rent assistance to those in need.

Produced by Norm Magnusson, Jennifer Hammoud, and Matty Rosenberg @ radiofreerhinecliff.org

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This week's guest is coming up on her 25 year anniverary at the helm of one of my favorite restaurants, Gigi Trattoria, which she co-founded in 2001. She's a dietician/ entrepreneur an absolute delight: Laura Pensiero.

Produced by Norm Magnusson, Jennifer Hammoud, and Matty Rosenberg @ radiofreerhinecliff.org

Send comments to comments@radiofreerhinecliff.org