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PODCAST

Outdoor Cats Podcast

Bill Shaner & Chris Robarge

Weekly broadcasts from a city that punishes you for caring. Join Bill and Chris for leftist perspectives from Worcester, MA, an urban knife’s edge of gentrification and vulture capital. We discuss local current events, analyzing the ways in which these stories ripple outward from the city we call home. We’ll even talk some about what you can do to fight back! www.worcestersucks.email

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All Episodes

88:32

Episode 22: Whitey should stick to the moon

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/04/28

Silicon Valley billionaires are so hermetically sealed off from community—so afraid of it, and yet so so so alone without it, so bitter to see others have it—they’re trying to “disrupt” the very concept. Via “Charter cities,” “freedom cities,” “network states,” and the “abundance agenda” libertarian dorks on both sides of the proverbial aisle have found their Next Big Thing: a remade municipality, free from the evils of government oversight, tax obligations, or and anything else they don’t

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91:23

Episode 21: Evidence Dot Com

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/04/18

This podcast is available on all the major podcast players: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket CastsTough to coat this one with any sugar folks: Today we open with the news that our one competent city executive, Superintendent Rachel Monárrez, will be “going, going, back back to Cali” like Biggie Smalls come June. Read her statement here. You will be missed, Dr. Monárrez!We then spend the rest of the episode digesting and discussing Tuesday’s meeting of the Standing Committee on

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77:32

Episode 20: Student visa revocations at WPI, Clark

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/04/11

We spend most of the show discussing the four foreign student visa revocations at WPI, (and late breaking, as we were recording, 12 revocations at Clark), and take a look at why and how it’s happening to hundreds around the country.From a statement sent Wednesday night from WPI President Grace Wang:WPI confirmed today that federal authorities have revoked the visas of four of our international students.Similar actions in recent days have affected hundreds of international students across the

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8:06

O.C. Dispatch: Hands Off Rally

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/04/06

Real quick audio recap of the rally this afternoon. The idea with these O.C. Dispatches: audio news reports in the public radio tradition, but here on this newsletter! Full weekly Worcester Sucks post tomorrow. Text below is more or less the same as the audio version. Cheers!“I have faith and I have hope. I have faith and I have hope. I have faith and I have hope.”Thousands chanted it in the rain, back at Etel Haxhiaj, who put the mantra in the cool air from the podium behind city hall. It took a

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83:35

Episode 19: Roy Rage (ft. Sue Mailman)

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/04/04

Links to subscribe to the show on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket Casts. Good and bad reviews also appreciated!We brought on school committee member Sue Mailman to discuss the new lawsuit against the Trump Administration. Worcester is a supporting character in the state-wide suit, led by Somerville and Easthampton. WPS, like districts across the state and country, stand to lose millions in funding as the Trump administration continues to dismantle the U.S. Department of

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104:05

Episode 18: Dog-Bite Ratios (ft. Tom Marino and John...

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/03/28

We brought on John Keough and Tom Marino from This Week In Worcester to rehash the council’s very deflating meeting Tuesday on the Department of Justice’s pattern and practice investigation into the Worcester Police Department. Short answer: don’t expect to hear too much more about this, and if ever a civilian review board proposal makes its way to the council floor, expect a split vote. The meeting was, however, the first time we’ve had the police chief on record answering questions about this

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68:34

Episode 17: Challenge Union. Change Our World. (ft....

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/03/22

“Challenge Convention. Change Our World.” That’s the slogan of Clark University, the hedge f—sorry, college currently refusing to even recognize its new undergraduate student-workers union. As the strike sails over the one-week mark, we sit down with two of its captains, Maile Marguleas and Hadas Brownstein.Help support the striking workers: The SYC Mutual Aid Fund For Strikers and other resources. The union’s Twitter and Instagram.We also recap our time on the strike line earlier this week, from a

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7:58

O.C. Dispatch: Clark student worker strike

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/03/20

Trying something new! What you’re looking at / listening to here is a trial run of O.C. Dispatches: audio news reports in the public radio tradition, but here on this newsletter!Chris and I went down to the strike line at Clark University yesterday (we’ll be putting up a full episode soon). I brought a portable audio interface and a mic with me—a poor man’s approximation of the rig NPR reporters use—then I got back and spent the whole day assembling this news spot. I had a lot of fun doing it. It’s

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93:41

Episode 16: Time for an overhaul (ft. Keith Linhares)

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/03/16

Éirinn go Brách, everyone! Hope Parade Day has treated you nicely.Today’s guest is Keith Linhares, who joined us to talk about his bid for the District 1 city council seat!His first run for office, he’ll be taking on former District 1 councilor Tony Economou, an avatar of the sort of entrenched townie politics that keeps the city stuck in the ‘80s. Keith wants to change that! A bunch of great moments on this episode, but I especially appreciate Keith’s take on the core difference in leadership style

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100:39

Episode 15: The Enshittification of Local Journalism...

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/03/12

***First thing’s first: Justice for Mahmoud Khalil Fund and contact page for Congressman Jim McGovern. Good coverage of Khalil’s completely illegal kidnapping and detention in The Nation. Please share any news about local demonstrations in the comments or at billshaner@substack.com and we’ll update here as they come in.****We talk about Khalil’s horrible situation briefly, then get to the show we had planned: an interview with author Joanne McNeil! I think we can all agree that the internet is worse

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105:10

Episode 14: Cayden 4 Council! (ft. Cayden Davis)

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/03/06

Today we have on a very special guest: Cayden Davis, a new and exciting candidate for at-large city council. Cayden’s a Main South resident, a public health professional, trans and proud of it! You may have seen him at the mic at City Council recently, letting rip some absolute public comment heaters. Davis came to city politics via the queer coalition that organized in opposition to the transphobia in city hall, and his campaign is a way of extending that enthusiasm and solidarity on to the

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78:22

Episode 13: Recall All Scientologists

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/02/27

After months of irregular and asymmetrical city council meetings Joe & Co finally got that which they desired on Tuesday: a quote unquote normal meeting. We go over the dominant themes of this business-as-usual six hour affair, including tax debt labor camps for senior citizens and a grand collusion of the city council and the Church of Scientology, according to a live streamer who wants recall elections for Worcester police officers (hell yeah). Oh and we talk about a ton of cool events coming

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75:44

Episode 12: Political Pie Throwing and Dead Kennedys...

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/02/21

What do '78 San Fran and '25 Worcester have in common? Quite a bit, turns out. We bring on historian Michael Stewart Foley to talk about his book Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, a history of the Dead Kennedys record by the same name and the context in which that work of art / protest document was birthed: San Francisco, 1978. After the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone, newly sworn in Mayor Dianne Feinstein ushered in a wretched era of city governance built on an axis of

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85:16

Episode 11: Clips In The Chamber

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/02/14

Clip show! We pull out some choice moments from the public comment section of the city council meeting Tuesday. From the hours and hours of impassioned testimony that preceded the council’s very weak move: voting 9-2 to support a symbolic statement of solidarity with the trans community, and also voting 7-4 against an investigation into transphobic comments made by a sitting city councilor. Couldn’t have done a better job of showing the public you don’t mean it.Like every meeting, the council is

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78:23

Episode 10: Sorry Miss Jackson (ft. Carla LeBlanc)

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/02/06

Earlier this week a bit of tremendous news broke: Carolyn Jackson is gone bye bye cya later. For years Jackson has been the primary antagonist in the ongoing St. Vincent saga: nurses trying to make it less brutal for workers and dangerous for patients, the owners doing the opposite. The past year has seen a rash of complaints and grievances about unsafe conditions at the hospital. Jackson, on behalf of the Dallas-based conglomerate Tenet, has lashed out, firing whistleblowers and engaging in other

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94:24

Episode 9: Denying Humanity (ft. Josh Croke)

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/01/31

After Round Two of the pressure campaign from the queer community to make Candy Mero-Carlson pay for her bigotry, we talk with Josh Croke (@joshua.croke), an organizer of the demonstrations and founder of Love Your Labels and many other things. We talk about the council meeting Tuesday and the council’s two affirmative votes on public petitions from the queer community. What they mean and what they don’t! Then we take the conversation wider, to the nightmare times.That’s the first hour. After that,

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73:14

Episode 8: An Empathy 101 Tutorial (ft. Etel Haxhiaj)

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/01/23

We bring on District 5 City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj to recap and process the city council’s debate last night over whether to apologize to Thu Nguyen for a rash of bigotry, starting with Candy Mero-Carlson and culminating in a literal Fox News segment. Luckily, the vote was 8-2 to do so, but it doesn’t erase the great shame brought onto Worcester, nor does it show that our old guard councilors really understand the extent of it. Some links to things discussed within:Greg Opperman’s story for

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91:38

Candy's A Big-"It"

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/01/17

Posting a podcast at 2 a.m.—that’s the kind of week it’s been. The episode ends up being more or less a mutual talk therapy session on how to process the profoundly dehumanizing, deceptive and malicious attack that Candy Mero-Carlson and Joe Petty have launched against Thu Nguyen this week. We pick apart their statements, dismantle their thin arguments about attendance, and talk about what to do with who they showed themselves to be. Then a visit from Dr. Fingers. (This podcast is now available on

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87:47

Episode 6: Coward! (Ft. Allie Cislo)

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/01/10

We bring on Allie Cislo of Worcester Havurah and the multi-faith coalition behind the Gaza ceasefire resolution that the council voted against on Tuesday night. Yes you heard that right they voted 6-5 against the ceasing of firing. A decision explained in full in my post from yesterday, “A million tiny acts of cowardice.”Worcester Havurah’s Instagram and websiteThe Multi-Faith Coalition’s statement: Mayor Petty breaks a tie to grant City Council authority to refuse to vote on Ceasefire

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54:37

Episode 5: A Tale Of Two Blippis (ft. Shaun Connolly)

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/01/03

We simply had to bring on Mr. Bad Advice himself Shaun Connolly to go over the mayor and the city manager’s top 10 songs of 2024, recently released to the Worcester Cultural Coalition (?) Instagram page. Joe Petty’s in particular is something else. Since the city said they’d do it then apparently didn’t, Chris put together playlists for each of them:—Joe Petty’s picks—Eric Batista’s picksOh and here’s Joe Petty (official) singing We Are The Champions (full song)As always, we appreciate your support

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