Little Local Conversations
Discover the people, places, stories, and ideas of Watertown, MA. Visit littlelocalconversations.com to see all episodes, upcoming events, and more. Join Matt Hanna as he has conversations with various businesses owners, community leaders, creatives, and other interesting folks in Watertown to learn about what they do and get to know a bit about the people behind the work.
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Episodes
111 episodes
Get to Know Your Local: Public Arts & Culture (February 2026)
Want to know how ideas get turned into murals, festivals, and even a river race? I sat down with Watertown’s Public Arts and Culture Planner, Liz Helfer, to get a look into what's coming up for projects, but also to shed a little light on the p...
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14:38
Episode 73: Sarah Newhouse (Actors' Shakespeare Project)
Meet Sarah Newhouse! She's a Watertown resident and founding company member of Actors' Shakespeare Project, a longstanding Boston-area theater company that is now company-in-residence at the Mosesian Center for the Arts. In this conversation we...
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Episode 73
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48:35
Episode 72: Benita Chelagat (Coffee Plus 254)
Meet Benita Chelagat! She's a Watertown resident and founder of Coffee Plus 254, a Kenyan coffee brand. In this conversation we talk about growing up in Kenya, splitting time between the capital city, Nairobi, and her grandma's farm in Kericho....
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Episode 72
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45:01
Local Government Update, January 2026
Listen to the latest conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, succ...
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36:14
Event Highlight - River of Light
The River of Light is a celebration of light in winter. Presented by the Public Arts & Culture Committee and the Mosesian Center for the Arts in partnership with the Watertown Cultural Council, the lantern-making workshops and wintertime pa...
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13:56
Episode 71: Roberta Miller (Watertown Public Arts and Culture Committee Chair)
Meet Roberta Miller! She's currently the Chair of the Watertown Public Arts and Culture Committee, but she's had a hand in many things in the city over the years. In this conversation, we cover a lot of ground from growing up in North Dakota an...
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Episode 71
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52:07
Creative Chats With Marija Draskic Brancazio (The Importance of Organizing Creative Community)
This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with artist, musician, ...
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40:08
Watertown's Open: The State of Development in Watertown
This is a recording from a live podcast event in November 2025, hosted at Italian Design Interiors in Watertown Square. Watertown’s Open is a series of live podcast events that bring local businesses and local business advocates together to sha...
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1:07:16
Local Government Update, December 2025
Listen to the latest conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, succ...
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27:00
Episode 70: Jenna Bancroft (Director of Human Services, City of Watertown)
Meet Jenna Bancroft! She's the Director of Human Services for the City of Watertown, a new department in the city. In this conversation we talk about how when she was a teenager her family helped foster young kids and how that experience led he...
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Episode 70
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39:02
Watertown Arts & Culture Roundtable, December 2025
This is an arts and culture roundtable episode where we talk about things that have been going on in Watertown arts and culture recently, what's coming up, hidden gems, and more. The discussion was with Liz Helfer (City of Watertown, Public Art...
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36:25
Event Highlight - SOLSTICE: Reflections on Winter Light
This episode is a sponsored event highlight for SOLSTICE, a reflective light and sound experience happening at Mount Auburn Cemetery this December. I sit down for a conversation with Matthew St...
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26:41
Creative Chats With Guest Margo Guernsey (Capturing and Sharing Unheard Stories Through Film)
This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with Margo Guernsey, do...
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30:37
Episode 69: Aliana de la Guardia (Mosesian Center for the Arts)
Meet Aliana de la Guardia! She's the Executive Director at the Mosesian Center for the Arts and a working artist herself. In this conversation we dig into her path into opera, what it's like to be a professional singer in the avant-garde world ...
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Episode 69
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47:08
Local Government Update, November 2025
Listen to the latest conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, succ...
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39:39
Episode 68: Jon Hecht (Political Activist / Former Town Councilor and State Representative)
Meet Jon Hecht! He's a longtime contributor to the Watertown community from being a town councilor, a state representative for the area, the first president of the Watertown Community Foundation and many other involvements. In this conversation...
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Episode 68
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47:01
Episode 67: Max Ritcey (Ritcey East, Owner and Chef)
Meet Max Ritcey! He's the Owner and Chef at Ritcey East here in Watertown. In this conversation we talk about growing up in a four-generation family-run restaurant in Waltham, his journey through bartending and restaurant management jobs (and s...
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Episode 67
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46:25
Episode 66: Jon Bockian (Community Volunteer / Author)
Meet Jon Bockian! He's a longtime Watertown resident with a history of community involvement and an author. In this conversation we talk about being part of the PTA, Zoning Board, the group that started the arts center at the Arsenal property, ...
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Episode 66
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46:07
Episode 65: Jim Henderson (Attorney/Singer)
Meet Jim Henderson! He's an attorney and singer here in Watertown. In this wide-ranging conversation we talk about his early years in law (including winning a state supreme court case as a junior associate), the importance of different parts of...
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Episode 65
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53:59
Creative Chats With Guest Megan Ramette (The How and Why of Zines and Watertown Zine Fest)
This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with Megan Ramette of t...
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32:21
Local Government Update, October 2025
Listen to the latest conversation with Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist for the City of Watertown, and Victoria Weichel from WCA-TV to discuss things that have happened during the past month in Watertown through key moments, succ...
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35:42
Watertown's Open: Small Business Support Group
This is a recording from the Watertown's Open live podcast series panel discussion recorded at Get Lively Health and Fitness Studio in Watertown in September 2025. The theme was Small Business Support Group and dived into the numerous ways smal...
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1:22:23
Episode 64: Michael Bobbitt (Mass Cultural Council)
Meet Michael Bobbitt! He's a Watertown resident and the Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council along with being a distinguished theater artist in many ways himself (see long bio
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Episode 64
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50:57
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Creative Chats With Guests Tim Merton and Jennifer Morsches of the Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble (Building Local History Into Programming & Doing Outreach With Incarcerated Teens)
This is a recording from a series for the podcast at the Mosesian Center for the Arts called Creative Chats. This conversation was with Tim Merton and Jen...
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45:27
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Watertown Arts & Culture Roundtable, September 2025
This is an arts and culture roundtable episode where we talk about things that have been going on in Watertown arts and culture recently, what's coming up, hidden gems, and more. The discussion was with Liz Helfer (City of Watertown, Public Art...
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26:28
