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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

76:19

Episode 42: I Wish!

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/10/29

We catch up on various pre-election tomfooleries and talk about likely outcomes next Tuesday. We psycho-analyze the cranks. Then we talk about how the Worcester Common is littered with human remains. Hundreds of skeletons just under the surface. Talk about spooky-wooky. Anyway… Please vote!! Our election guide went up last night. It starts with the very basics and walks you through it. You don’t need to know anything at all about city hall to follow the guide. It takes five minutes to vote. Low

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74:38

Episode 41: The Candidate You Deserve

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/10/19

In which we go into recording without a plan and come out having woven together the Fresolo vs Pezzella meltdown, the split tax rate fallacy, local journalism’s failings on school issues, the Roosevelt School debacle finally discussed in the context of walkability and sidewalk coverage, Dianna Biancheria’s secret stash of menthols, a pool of untouched CSX money in Candy Mero-Carlson’s district, the rotten no good LVT security trailer, the DOJ report, birding and, lastly, Kneecap. Oh and Task. All in

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78:10

Episode 40: Training Day

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/10/15

Last week the Ballpark Commission approved a massive active shooter drill to take place in and (maybe?) around Polar Park next June. This counts as a “community day” by the way remember those? The 20 minute meeting and the agenda.As far as I can tell this has gone unreported, though as we discussed at the top of the episode, officiating my sister’s wedding had me pretty checked out for a few days there. Could have missed it. One of the commission members, can’t make out who, said:This will include

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85:33

Episode 39: She went black-and-white on his ass

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/10/07

As promised at the end of my last piece, (really encouraging it resonated with a lot of people thank you to everyone who said so) I’m taking the description in a different, extended direction tonight. The passage below was written in a moment of deep frustration, staring at an empty document after a council meeting that was so stupid it was hard to describe. It serves, I think, as a statement of intent. Not just for the current episode, though it works perfect for that too, but as an attempt to lay

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72:50

Episode 38: Glocked and Goaded

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/09/30

We sit down in the courtyard of Chris’s building for a Sunday night session with the peepers. We catch up on the local chatter and hone in on our two favorite avatars of municipal corruption: Thomas Duffy and Candy Mero-Carlson.While I have you, a few announcements I’ve been meaning to share...One, the pre-orders for the second run of the Bad Brains shirts are all in the mail. Thank you for your patience! There are about 12 leftovers up on the merch store. Get ‘em while you can!Two, next Election

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74:45

Episode 37: Claude Da Bussy

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/09/15

Chris and I catch up on the news of the week. We look at Kate Toomey’s wretched comments and mind numbing cross examination of the fire chief on the sprinkler ordinance, and the fact she won. What gets to be political violence and what doesn’t? Why can’t we figure out the most basic things, like how to get the kids too and from school without creating neighborhood turf wars.Kate Toomey and the fire chief hoooo boy Do Wachusett school staff get Charlie Kirk level free speech rights, or don’t

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90:15

Episode 36: Folder: /

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/09/08

Drums, bass, biblical storms... a little McDonalds for the Candy Kids…Catching up on a wild weekend and a not-wild preliminary election. We do our best to encapsulate the enigma that is City-Councilor-To-Be Gary Rosen. We ponder how to best implement the Shock Doctrine on Holden during the next Freak Weather Event. We say buh-bye to the haters and losers.We’re on pace to hit 50 episodes in our first year of doing this thing which is great. It’s been a treat watching the listenership grow into its

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91:51

Episode 35: Let's Give Em Something To Talk About

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/08/28

An extremely free ranging conversation as Chris and I soak up the last little bit of summer and willfully incriminate ourselves in multiple acts for which misdemeanor charges could theoretically though maliciously be applied.In no particular order we discuss The Ongoing Horrors, the upcoming preliminary, Joyner Lucas, the Hot Dog Safari, the Worcester Courthouse, hobbits and scams, Mitra and Luster’s pronouns, some proposals for a new Massachusetts state flag.Relevant links...Preliminary election

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93:14

Episode 34: F*ck, That's Malicious

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/08/13

We break down the most recent entry to the ongoing fight versus good and evil controver at St. Vincent Hospital—one this podcast finds itself right smack dab in the middle of… Not before goofing around a bit about Cat Mayors, Joe Petty, and the ZBA of course, but we get there. Skip to 31:00 if you’re only interested in the St. V’s stuff.Oh I made up a little digital tip jar if you want to send Chris and I some money to split in front-of-house back-of-house style.St. V’s nurse Carla LeBlanc came on

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94:42

Episode 33: Show Less!

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/08/04

Apropos of nothing here’s a truly unfortunate jumbotron crop from at-large council candidate Satya Mitra’s campaign website we discovered mid recording… Nevertheless… they made it the thumbnail. Lmao.Just one of the many things Chris and I discuss in a wide-ranging catch up session, recorded on the porch studio yesterday afternoon. Loosely in order: Moe Bergman’s hilarious campaign radio spot. The dog park homeless encampment and the downtown BID “ambassadors,” the (very related) routine horrors of

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68:53

Episode 32: How To Blow Up A Pothole (ft. Keith...

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/07/28

We head down to District 1 City Council candidate Keith Linhares’ house to check in with his campaign and marvel at his absolutely amazing garage. Last time we talked to Keith it was back in March, when he was just getting started. “Episode 16: Time for an overhaul (ft. Keith Linhares)”Now he’s got a sense of the terrain and we were stoked to hear he’s more optimistic now than he was then. We talk housing policy, extending a hand to winnable conservatives. We talk about the asymmetry of the typical

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83:36

Episode 31: The Mooninite Massacre

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/07/14

Chris and I have a freewheeling conversation, starting with John Fresolo’s District 3 Race Theory, zooming out to the War on Terror and the great Mooninite Massacre of 2007, back in time to the sinking of the Frigate Hussar and the possibly still at-large Midgley’s Mortar, then back down to reality: the Crompton Pool fiasco and Alex Guardiola’s weird obsession with teacher sick days.Fresolo’s comments in The RamblerMooninite Bomb ScareCandy Mero Carlson’s 2022 cable access freakout and the video

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76:03

Episode 30: Mr. Midgley’s Mortar

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/07/05

To celebrate the fourth, Chris and I go full porch mode, eschewing the news of the day to focus instead on Worcester’s messy, turbulent, amazing relationship with the Fourth of July, a Purge-like affinity built into our DNA going back to the industrial revolution. We read from an entire chapter about the city’s July 4 celebrations a century ago in Roy Rosenzweig’s Eight Hours For What We Will, the best book ever written about this city. Because it’s pretty hard to find, having been out of print for

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90:58

Episode 29: A fireside khat

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/06/30

Back from our top secret trip deep within the heart of the Axis of Resistance, Chris and I discuss the local implications of Zohran Mamandi’s victory in NYC, building off the piece I wrote the other day: “A politics of no translation.” Of particular concern is how bad the Massachusetts Democratic establishment has been on housing, and the opportunity that presents. Then we pay Cape Cod Ray a visit, reading his cranky thoughts on protestors—and a stunning admission about WPD thuggery—into the record

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83:48

Episode 27: A/C/G?

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/06/16

Aliens, cryptids, ghosts... Gurus... On the eve of this newsletter’s big birthday, and after a tumultuous couple months for the city, Chris and I decide to take it easy. A light and silly episode recorded on my front porch. Following a program of events Chris put together, we divulge our crackpot woo woo ideas about life then catch up on some news: The Telegram’s weird hit piece on Etel Haxhiaj’s campaign fund that just makes her look even more badass, the Satya Mitra story right in front of them

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71:09

Episode 27: Rare Candy

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/06/10

What’s up everyone. Bill here, back from my much needed vacation—feeling rested and ready to rumble. Needed that week-long tune-out from the safe distance of Republican Cape Cod (also goes by the Outer Banks). But what a week to miss! In this episode, I go in cold, having refrained from reading a single Worcester story from the time I was gone. Chris catches me up on the tumult in real time. It’s fun… or as fun as the subject matter allows. We recorded this episode last night (in a very echoey

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92:49

Episode 26: Digging in (ft. Ashley Spring)

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/05/31

In which we spend a pleasant afternoon over on the back patio of community organizer and would-have-been school committee candidate Ashley Spring. A lot to talk about: we discussed their volunteer work with LUCE that brought them down to the scene at Eureka Street and what happened before the body cam footage seen round the world. We pointedly do not discuss the arrest or the “Dangerous Weapon” as there is an active court proceeding but for the record: lol lmao rofl etc. Also: the Election

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91:37

Episode 25: We just need to come together

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/05/23

What to say after a State of the City address like the one we watched Wednesday night… welp. In today’s episode Chris and I digest a crazy couple weeks of news and what it all says about our ungovernable and irredeemable little city. The GoPro video of Moe Bergman’s campaign event State of the city addressThomas Duffy on WBUR and a Worcester Sucks rundown of his greatest hits (literally).MassLive: “ICE agents injured Worcester mother during raid, won’t give her meds, attorney says”Also: I (Bill) am

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113:02

Episode 24: We have something they fundamentally lack

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/05/13

To the clip of new subscribers here in the past few days welcome to Outdoor Cats, the audio companion to Worcester Sucks! It’s me (Bill) and Chris Robarge, a longtime community organizer and advocate in these parts, with experience at the ACLU, Mass Bail Fund and elsewhere. We talk s**t and try to pull the humor out of what can be very very very humorless material. Humor-averse, even. This week more than most. (If podcasts aren’t your thing you can adjust which sections—Outdoor Cats, Bad Advice,

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83:56

Episode 23: Council Clowns and Factory Towns

Outdoor Cats Podcast ·

2025/05/04

Hey everyone: Chris here posting the episode today, Bill is off to see AC/DC. One time I went to a Catholic funeral mass where “Dirty Deeds” was played in church, LOUD, so I think I’ve already had my best possible AC/DC experience.We talk about another dumb week at city council, where it seems Charles Luster is doubling down on his campaign to run on humans experiencing substance-use issues being a vector for litter. Moe Bergman for one is more than happy to follow him down that line of inquiry

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