From WXXI news.

This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour was made with a study in 2021.

Harvard researchers measured loneliness in America.

Their study.

Loneliness in America.

How the pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness and what we can do about it.

Found that 43% of young adults reported increases in loneliness since the outbreak of the pandemic.

It's a number quoted by City Magazine editor Leah Stacy in her editor's letter for this month's edition of the magazine, the first ever wellness issue.

Now, when you think of wellness, maybe you think of yoga or certain dietary guidelines, but this issue is more about connection.

The different ways people in this region can find ways to be with each other and boost their personal wellness in different ways physical, spiritual, financial, cultural, wellness.

This month's issue of city goes beyond the stereotypes to explore all things wellness, and it's particularly relevant now in recent months.

U.S.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has been raising awareness about loneliness, according to CNBC.

In his 2023 report Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, murthy wrote that loneliness is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and even premature death.

So what helps you feel connected to others and to the community?

Let's talk about it with our guest this hour, Leah Stacy, editor of City Magazine.

Always fun to have you back here.

Hi.

Thanks for letting me come back.

Why did you come back?

Yeah, you can have this microphone whenever you like.

And the whole team is here.

Joe Morrell is sitting next to Leah.

Joe is freelance contributor to City Magazine, director of marketing for the Swann family of restaurants.

Hey.

Welcome back, Joe.

Thank you.

Lemon.

Welcome across to Roberto Philippe Lagares, who is a multimedia reporter for Citi Magazine.

Hey, Berto.

Hey.

Just happy to be here.

Yeah.

Happy to have you here.

And welcome to Katsu, who is the owner of Happy Gut Sanctuary, our High Falls neighbor.

We are so glad to have as a high fall neighbor.

Thanks for walking about 80ft next door here.

Thanks for having me.

It's great to have you here.

So, Stacy, take us through sort of the impetus before we get into the meat of the issue here.

I know if there's any meat here, it's a wellness issue.

Oh.

There's me.

Yeah, I mean, there's probably still some meat.

Yeah, I'm a carnivore, so there's there's, Yeah, so I, I, I'm trying to remember when we had this idea, I think it was maybe six months ago or so.

We're coming up with the themes for the whole year.

And we thought with something that we want to talk about in winter, you know, last February, we did a dynamic duo was this year.

And that was cute.

and actually Cat, you were in that one.

Yeah.

That was like, right when you opened.

yeah.

This is your issue.

It turns out, so I thought, what about wellness?

Because it's the thing like, you know, right about February, it's like, okay, we've been all going to the gym for a month and it's cold and it's gray and all I want to do is stay home and wear sweatpants and, I don't know, sit there, sit with my cats, eat popcorn, watch TV, that kind of thing.

So I thought, what if we did a little issue to showcase what there is in terms of wellness, but also taking it outside just that term, I think.

And I wrote this ad, we get really stereotypical with that term, and it's been really buzzy in the last few years especially.

And, Kat will talk about this.

We, we share sort of a trendy, buzzy hobby.

but wellness goes so far beyond just physical, dietary.

And so we wanted to sort of turn it on its head and talk about other types of wellness.

And also, we wanted to bring in some news of your pieces.

What's the stereotype like the the thing that you didn't want to do with decision when when you think about the stereotype of wellness versus this, what is it?

I think a lot of rules, like when I think about wellness and like, oh, you're going to like live really well.

I think sometimes people get too caught up in the rules of it all in this, like certain lifestyle.

Like you're definitely not going to drink.

You're definitely not going to eat meat.

I don't know, I'm saying these like ultimatums that make you sort of more well.

But yeah, so for me, it's like these New Year's resolutions rules.

And I wanted I think that wellness can be a lifestyle that is more seamless than perhaps we perceive.

I think a yeah, I think that's right.

And I think sometimes wellness is a little I think of it as a commodified, yes, unproven out there.

Nice.

Yeah.

Because how there's no one size fits all.

So we wanted to sort of talk about things that we do all deal with, like, and Veronica is going to be on the second half and she's going to talk about her no spend month, which I think is so fun.

And just like financial wellness is the thing we all have to think about, loneliness, something we all think about.

We this spiritual wellness story actually kind of changed, but it's really interesting.

Brian wrote about our oldest public building in Rochester.

and at first what I had pitched him is like, what if we wrote about, like, the health of churches and like the health of religion?

And, you know, he pulled some really interesting data, even for that story where it's like, no, congregations are getting smaller and we know this, right?

But we also found this really interesting thing where it's like, actually a lot of people are just joining via zoom because it's like this pandemic holdover.

So yeah, we we dug into some really cool stuff.

And then, yeah, I tapped Joe to write about fermented foods because we know that gut health is a real thing for everybody.

And so, yeah, I just said it's always an adventure.

No issue.

It's a great range in this.

by the way, tomorrow we've got Bishop Carol Wagner Scherer from the Episcopal Diocese on the show tomorrow, 1:00 live that bishops have been getting some national attention.

If you've seen the recent service with the president and the vice president.

So, you know, there'll be a lot to talk about tomorrow.

There's always a lot to talk about here.

but I really appreciate Brian's piece, on the oldest public building in Rochester.

Yeah, it's 200 years old.

Where, I guess 201 this year.

Really remarkable.

Cool.

And then that was a tip from a reader.

So we did, which I also love.

That's great.

I love getting an email or like this reader pitched us three great stories.

And that one I was like, man, the timing is everything here.

So we went after that and Gino finally got a piece on the Hungerford building.

Maybe you've seen Gino's video work on this on different platforms?

everywhere I looked when I would see Gino's, video reports on this.

Yeah, people would see this and go, I can't believe it's heartbreaking.

Yeah.

People are really exercised about this.

Yeah.

And I believe he is going to be doing a whole show about that with some of the artists and Patrick, which is why neither of them are here.

They're they're going to do a whole hour on The Hunger that's coming up on the 14th at noon.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah.

Next.

It's the end of next week.

It's at the end.

It's next Friday.

Sounds about right.

Yeah.

It's a perfect Valentine's Day.

Should should be on a Friday.

I don't believe in Valentine's Day.

Oh no, actually I do come every day.

Is Valentine's Day.

Well, no, I'm right, you know.

And that's it is.

Don't right here.

I don't know where I'm going with this.

So does Mike.

Yeah.

Leah Lee is taking the mike for the rest of the hour out of here.

now, before I turn to your colleagues here, I just want to say, So I was off for a few days last week.

I was in Orlando.

It was like 78, 78 and 80.

The epicenter of wellness.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, very, very much a wellness.

Now, I just visiting a friend.

his name is goofy.

No, I wasn't actually even visiting goofy.

Nice.

Just a friend.

and so it was like 78, 78 and 80, but it was like the comfortable 80, right?

And so.

Oh, yeah, it was amazing.

And I flew back in on Saturday.

My car was under a foot of snow and it was nine degrees outside.

And you know what I thought?

I thought there is nowhere I would rather.

No, I tried and I tried.

I was like, I tried.

No, I didn't think that.

But I will say this.

Then I got home and the sun was coming through the trees and there was a lot of snow and it was a winter wonderland.

It was beautiful.

It's probably the most beautiful I've ever seen.

My street.

Yeah.

And I did think, you know, there's still a lot to recommend winter.

But what I also think we need a little bit of a pick me up, a little bit of a refocus.

And I think that's what they issued.

So hope so.

Yeah.

So let's, let's, let's talk to some of the folks who are going to well I mean birdhouses.

Go get them.

Champ city goes ringside at rock boxing.

I definitely think rock boxing and wellness, right.

Yeah.

For sure.

Yeah.

How did this come about here?

How do any of your photo essays come about there?

We should do a photo essay on that.

Oh, that's not the smartest thing you could do.

Yeah, like it is.

you know, it's pretty scrappy, but, I mean, that's kind of the beauty of it.

because you're so focused on telling the story or, you know, getting the piece that it's kind of hard to, to, I don't know, fabricate it in any way in terms of like, oh, yeah, I really want to go this direction.

Like, I, I can go into it with that mindset all I want, but that's never how it's going to go out, actually.

I mean, really, for me, the way this is actually about wellness is when I go long stretches without doing anything physical.

I feel awful.

Like when I think wellness I like, the first thing I actually think about is like, am I feeling physically good?

And so people are turning to all kinds of interesting stuff.

What did you find here, Berto?

So, the big piece is how, like, unconventional this kind of physical wellness is.

I think when you think of the new year, you think of, new gym memberships, but like a boxing gym is not in that conversation.

Usually you're not like, oh, I can't wait to sign up for the new boxing gym this year, because that's part of my New Year's resolution.

so that was kind of the big focus was like, okay, so here's a way of getting fit, staying fit.

and then there's also that twist of the kettlebell which is in there as well.

And that was like kind of mind blowing to me because then when I got there, I had this expectation of who will I see here?

I'm going to see a lot of people who want to be like the next Jake Paul.

And that's not entirely the case.

Like it was a wide range, very, we, coach Dom was polite enough to show me around and introduce me to the the young, boxers.

And like, I'm talking, like, I think 5 or 6 years old all the way up to, some folks that he said we're not too far from his age, which he would not disclose, but that's it was it was amazing.

Like the, the wide range and then also their focus on like, the mobility aspect because I think that's another piece that keeps people from going to certain gyms is, you know, I can't really do any of that stuff or I'm, I'm worried that I'm going to make a fool of myself.

And their focus was like, you can, despite your limitations physically, there's a way of of integrating this style into your life.

especially with kettlebells, and with boxing and, you know, really, really diving home or driving home the, old school techniques and how fitting they are and how that, that has not a lot of people are returning to it.

And, you know, you mentioned how you never left that because it was just if it's not broke, don't fix it.

This is like the best you can make this sound to me, because the first thing I thought of was the pause.

I'm like, oh, just what we we need to have more influence for.

We gotta reclaim it.

This is reclaim from Jake and Logan Paul.

No, I really like.

Yeah.

And then they talk like you're going back, aren't you?

I am, I'm, Sorry.

I was a little under the weather.

whatever, you know?

So I was like, okay, I'm not gonna get housed.

But I told them I was like, I'm.

I'm coming back.

I'm gonna do a class.

I haven't really decided if it's going to be boxing or kettlebell.

Who knows, maybe I'll just do both.

they are usually back to back, so I'll just try to power through, I guess.

but yeah, I am going to I am going back to try the class myself with you.

Yeah.

Why not?

I'm busy that day.

I know I under the weather.

Yeah.

Yes.

yeah.

So I mean, it was great.

And then also, as noted in the piece, it's it is the first photo essay we've done that is completely black and white, and is shot entirely on, black and white film specifically, since I still because that is actually a Kodak motion picture film, which is, what was used to shoot Raging Bull, which was a film by Martin Scorsese.

Yeah, I love that story.

Yeah.

And I mean, the shots are great.

The main shot there, that's, that's money right there.

Yeah.

That's good.

Yeah, that's my favorite.

Well done, well done.

Berto, please be careful.

If you go back.

Absolutely.

I think another piece though, they, they do emphasize and I don't think this quote really makes it in because I couldn't find a spot for it.

But they said you can box and not get punched in the face.

That's that is something that I think everyone should know.

Like you can go there and it is not, a requirement to spar with other people.

Like, I mean, you can just throw down on the heavy bag.

so I think that's another misconception that people have is like, oh, you know, I don't want to get punched in the face.

You don't have to.

You can just go take your frustrations out.

Just go take your frustrations.

Bar on the back.

Absolutely.

great stuff there.

we're talking to the crew from city about their monthly edition here.

We're talking about wellness in a lot of different ways here.

maybe not what you typically associate with the word wellness.

And that's part of the fun here.

and Joe Morrell wrote a piece called Keep It Funky, funky, funky Define Funky.

Well, I wanted to do something that I do this piece with my good friend Abby Quatro, very talented photographer, a food photographer here in Rochester, and we wanted to do something that was highlighting some local producers who were doing fermented goods.

We obviously know the impact that it can have on your gut health and how it can have, beneficial health turnouts, but also why fermenting goods is so delicious, which obviously can speak a lot about how delicious fermented goods are.

But, we wanted to say that was fun.

and one of the things that I kind of wanted to introduce to people was some things that were pretty approachable in terms of, what they were.

so we did a little roundup of some great local producers who were keeping it funky and fun and delicious.

And so we got to do a lot of yummy taste testing for this one.

Asian market grocery is Clover, Clover meadow creamery kombucha.

Trista.

Jen's artisan breads got a great list there.

Yeah.

It was it was a really fun one.

Small world food products.

They do like some fermented garlic and a bunch of fermented goods.

So we did a highlight on, their sauerkraut lineup.

They have a curry kraut, which was pretty mind blowing to eat.

And the other major standout was, the goat milk yogurt from Clover Meadow Creamery.

It was delicious.

And I'm somebody who doesn't eat a lot of dairy, and I ate the entire cup of that.

I love goat cheese.

You're going to love that goat milk yogurt.

so that was one of the that's kind of one of the reactions that I wanted to kind of get out of people is because we have so many things that we like and push a little further and introduce people to things that they might never even heard of or never tried.

And so the goat milk, yogurt, if you're somebody who likes goat cheese, I can almost assure that you're going to love this and be like, wow, I can't believe I never had this before.

because it has those notes of goat cheese.

but in a little bit more of, like, a thinner yogurt quality.

it's a it's a really fun product.

I love the idea of that in a wellness section, because speaking of wellness, every time lately I've been like, I make like a big salad at home.

And I'm like, you know what?

This needs some chef.

It's too good for you.

It's too good.

It's too much wellness.

So it's, but, you know, it's delicious.

It's delicious.

And as a yogurt, you made me want to try it.

It's.

And that's.

And I hope you do, because it is a delicious, set up of a really good, fun thing that I have never had before.

And once I tried it, I was like, this is something that I would love to give to somebody or hopefully encourage other people around here to try this is not something that I should say, considering we're on YouTube and we're broadcasting everywhere, but like, what are we drinking in here?

I should know what we're drinking.

What are we drinking?

Kombucha.

We're drinking kombucha.

Locally made.

Kombucha locally made.

Yeah.

Okay.

You want to tell us a little bit more about this cat?

sure.

So, kombucha traditionally is, fermented tea.

kombucha is black tea fermented with cane sugar?

June, which is what we were written about in this month's issue, is traditionally green tea with raw honey.

so nowadays you kind of use whatever tea you want, as long as the flavor is good.

so we've done herbal teas, we've done green teas, black teas, white teas.

we just like to play with flavor a lot, but it's going to be a little bit fizzy, a little bit sweet, a little bit sour.

Where is this made?

so our production, facility is in Charlotte now.

Okay.

So we just moved, a little over a year ago.

About a year ago.

We say Charlotte without the air for those.

Charlotte like, you're like, you're from Massachusetts.

Yeah.

That's right.

I mean, I was like, it's not it's not quite obvious.

It it's not quite.

Oh is it.

I a I feel like you set you up for that, at least in, say Charlotte.

No, no.

Yeah.

I think it long enough to know something.

Yeah, yeah.

Kat, I hear about a lot of fermented products.

Like when people try to do them at home and something blows up.

it's happened to us before.

Has it really?

My very first batch of kimchi, actually, that was an explosion that was probably smelling.

And then my dog tried to come in and get in on that, and she eats everything.

And then it and the explosion happened right at eye level.

So.

Yeah.

And then there was milk being poured in the eyeballs.

That was that could've been really bad, right?

I learned my lesson.

Yeah.

So no explosion since then.

So, you know, just kind of regulate what you're doing there a little bit.

But it was literally the very first time me figuring out.

So we went the consumption of our kombucha was actually going through a phase of testing out all these fermented foods.

And the origin of that is, you know, my partner was diagnosed with IBS, and I was just looking for other ways of easing his gut issues without having to rely on medicine, which, you know, also has side effects.

And it really wasn't sitting well with them.

So I was like, maybe we'll look at our diet and see how we can at least make it a little bit more comfortable.

How much has that helped?

A lot.

Yeah.

Oh, I mean, we turned into a business.

That was the point.

Literally.

Yeah.

That was never the plan.

I was just like, let me make stuff and see what sticks.

Anything that helps.

So I've, I did kombucha, I did, kefir.

I think it's how it's pronounced, with milk and with water.

I've done sour dough, I've done kimchi and rhubarb.

My partner being half Korean, like I was able to taste his mom's kimchi and kind of, you know, tweak it to my liking.

but yeah, it's been a journey.

So if you look at Joe's piece here again, great photography.

City always has great photographer, great visuals.

But Joe and Leo, when you're trying to figure out the range where you want to go and keep it funky, how do you get the full roster?

I mean, I mean, Leah knows everything about food in this town.

I get that, but I wouldn't, I don't I don't think so.

That's what I rely on people like Joe and Abby to help with, though.

And then Elise, who wrote about those, you know, I, I rely on people who have different tastes because, like, I wouldn't never buy goat milk yogurt.

I don't like goat cheese.

I'm guessing there's a lot of protein in that.

It's still not going to do it for me.

But yeah.

So I, I think the, the strength of the team lies in like us having different interests and going different places and trying different things.

but I honestly, I trusted Joe and Abby to curate that.

We trusted Elise to curate her drinks piece, which is on then, which is in the next spread after.

And, I was really happy with it.

What?

Everybody turned in Elise's list, by the way, listeners or viewers on YouTube, if you want to make a list here, you're going to pick up city and do that.

That's fun.

A little city crawl would be like a cool thing to do.

Yeah, but Elise will take you to Alt Bar, Strange Bird Brewery, happy Gut Sanctuary Pearson's Market staple, Vintage Hydra Coffeehouse has a is it turmeric or turmeric?

Can we sell this?

How do we say it?

How do you say I think it's turmeric.

Turmeric.

I say two more, but now that I know how it's spelled, I've been trying to do the Rochester thing, isn't it?

No, I think it's just it's like homework is.

And see, I've always said two.

Or have you say you say turmeric?

Oh, no.

Can I second guess that every time I'm gonna say no turmeric smell, I'm like, cat.

As soon as I figured out how, it's about like, oh, how we even pronouncing this?

Yeah, we know, I don't know.

Silent right.

That's my question.

All right.

This is the most important research question we're going to ask the production team.

They're going to tell me, how do you pronounce turmeric.

Turmeric?

I think it's turmeric.

That's it, that's it.

That's the show today.

We figured it out.

That's, It's.

What is it?

What the.

Producer Megan Mac says it's with the R. Oh, Rob.

So Rob says it's subtle.

It's turmeric.

Turmeric?

That's funny.

You're supposed to mumble it.

Mumbling yeah.

It's like it's like Rochester and say Rochester in like a syllable and a half.

I'll say like Rochester, say like Rochester or Lilac.

Oh.

still like.

Yeah, yeah.

Anyway, all of which takes me to the fact that there's a turmeric latte from Hydrox coffee House.

That looks really fun.

That's really cool.

So Elise takes us through all that, and then the dragon's nectar is the fermented tea.

They could have chosen a number of products, but, what's what is dragon's nectar?

So we like to name all of our flavors after, an origin story or mythology, depending on where the tea is from.

Dragon's nectars, named after the, Chinese, Jasmine tea that we use, in this ferment.

And it's made with local raw honey from grain family farm.

and this one actually won an award in 2022 at the international KBI competition.

in the June category.

So honey ferments.

but it's really basically, if you've ever had a mead, it's like that, but with like a very subtle tea flavor to it.

so it's going to be a little bit sweeter compared to kombucha.

but it's so nice to drink.

It's also called, the champagne of kombucha.

It's like lighter bubbly.

Yeah.

It's delicious.

I've had it so sweeter than kombucha.

But this, this here.

And the table in the studio is.

So.

Yeah, the the three on the table are kombucha.

That's kombucha.

But the the thing we do a little bit differently too is all of our flavors have a different range of sweetness and sour.

So I don't like to ferment any of our stuff to vinegar.

I don't think it's palatable, especially if you're trying to drink it alone.

Like, I don't think drinking vinegar is actually that great for your gut.

It's like a shock to your system so much I like never mind the balance of just like a little bit of sweetness.

You get the sour, you know, we test the pH of all of our ferments so we know, you know, it is, acidic, sometimes not palatable because.

So balanced.

but, yeah, I want people to like it and keep drinking it, you know, versus having a sip like this is not for me.

I'm really enjoying what what you brought here, so I brought I love the crowd favorite flavors.

I mean, they're we do some funky stuff.

We've fermented coffee before, too.

We do a lot of things through tongue that's super smoky, almost savory.

What happens when you ferment coffee?

It.

It's hard to describe.

I always tell people, if you're not a coffee drinker, don't think of this as a coffee drink.

Like just taste it and taste the flavors and just consider that as a completely separate beverage.

So it's a little sweet.

It has a bit of a brightness to it.

we do have we haven't made it since we moved.

but we have people asking for it all the time.

It's it's really fun.

And we put it on nitro, so it's like the texture is nice and smooth.

It's not effervescent like kombucha.

It's a fun drink in the summertime before we break here, because we've been talking about beverages where they're coming from and putting to Joe's phrase, funky twist on them.

I just want to ask all of you briefly, is it time for a tea intervention with me?

Because so I feel like so lately I've been not what I expected.

Let me explain.

Let me explain.

So lately, I've been rewatching the first season of Ted Lasso because my son is old enough ish to watch.

I mean, like, there certain things we've just zip through, but he's really enjoying it.

And I had forgotten how much Ted hates tea.

And like, one of the funny twists about the Ted Lasso character is he's actually more cultured than you realize.

He's quoting philosophers and and all kinds of literature with beard and all kinds of cool stuff.

But he hates tea in England, and he doesn't hesitate to let anybody know.

He's like, this is just terrible water.

It's just bad.

And I've basically felt that way my whole life about tea.

Now, recently I went to a really cool tea place in Rochester in the South wedge.

Happier.

Uhhuh.

I just went there for the first time.

And what did you think, Berta?

I loved it.

It was great for me.

it was great.

And really, Mason and.

Yeah, I I'm.

I will be going back.

I, I will too.

I'm trying to turn myself but is people think like, oh, this guy wrote a book about wine.

He's cultured.

Then I'm like, well, I hate tea.

So I'm not that cultured.

So is there hope for me?

Yes.

Always true.

Especially if you go to happy tea.

Happy earth.

Really?

Yeah.

Yeah.

If you go to happier Earth like 4 or 5 times and you, you let them take you through and you can't walk out of there liking it, then it is just not going to be for you, which is probably fine.

But I mean, I think you should approach it the way it maybe like a lot of people approach drinking coffee.

So I started drinking coffee.

I drink basically just black coffee now.

I love a good black coffee.

But I started drinking Dunkin Donuts and then frappes at Starbucks when I was, you know, high school.

And then I got introduced to really good coffee when I was in Montreal.

And then it was just kind of like slowly scaling back the milk and the sugar and the flavors, and then finding roasters that roast really good coffee, and then you kind of don't over roast it, preserve a little different flavor.

Yeah.

You know, you don't want that bitterness in your coffee.

No.

And then T2, you can over steep tea and then it's just bitter and gritty and it's not enjoyable okay.

But I know happier doesn't do that.

That's good advice.

Berta.

You enjoyed the trip to the same place I went to, so.

Yes.

Yes, tea, I mean, and I was kind of in that boat, too.

Like, I didn't really love tea.

I'm like, if I'm going to drink it, it might.

I might as well just go get a coffee.

I'm a coffee guy still.

But there's something to be said about a nice cup of tea.

I don't know.

Doesn't I think there's that placebo effect of, like, when you're having coffee, you're like, oh, I'm getting wired up, like ready to work.

We're like, tea is like, even if it is caffeinated for me, I'm just like, it's chill, chill, chill.

Yeah.

I'm in.

I'm in a good mood.

Yeah.

I think Patrick only drinks tea.

Yes.

Right.

Avid tea drinker.

Yeah.

He's not a coffee, but he does that to try to like have to.

That's an affect.

That's not a real thing.

No I, I think he really likes it.

I don't know, you might have to talk about tea with him.

Okay.

I've got real problems with Patrick.

But let's see here.

what about tea?

Yeah, I'm I'm I'm like a coffee drinker who's starting to learn to really like tea.

I think it's something that I never drink because I was just more like, oh, have a cup of coffee.

I'll have a black coffee and go with my day.

But like you, I discovered really good tea, which I'm a firm believer that really good products exist.

So adventure through food and drink and.

But once you find it, it can really put you onto something.

What's the name of the place I went to in the South where Jane was happier, happier, happier?

There a lot of happiness.

Happy gut, happy earth.

Somebody's going to tell the happy Earth folks.

We talked about them all day and connections here.

Actually, a lot of our teas are sourced with Happy Earth.

That's cool.

Yeah, Neeraj is great.

Yeah, I met her.

I was very impressed.

He's a Swedish.

Really cool.

Hey, let me grab a phone call before we, swap out the the half hour, because there's a lot.

Yep.

Joe's going to correct the pronunciation.

Hey, Joe, go ahead.

It's definitely turmeric.

Nice.

I love that that was little.

Thank you there.

And and I want to I want to add a little bit here.

the other one that's kind of a pet peeve that you hear a lot in Rochester is sriracha.

And that's so far I've got people pronounce it on the air.

And, that means Rochester Sriracha or Sriracha three.

It was Sri Sri Sriracha Sri.

Yeah.

And so that's how you pronounce that word.

But nobody gets hurt and you don't hear that properly in any restaurant and like maybe an Indian restaurant, but it's definitely sriracha and sriracha, which might include some turmeric.

Might.

You never know.

Hopefully not.

It's good for the body.

I love it.

Joe, I learned also make a suggestion.

I'm on the line.

Yeah.

What was the issue?

Which is great.

Which was the best of.

Yep.

They were at the back of the issue.

There were some nice funny comments that people had submitted and somebody had said the gallery across from Seabreeze and response from city, which was awesome, was hey Red Lake Ontario.

But there actually is a gallery up there and it's called The Artist Cave.

And it might be good for the city now, but you realize that there actually is a gallery up there.

It's really rather unique gallery to do a, a story on it.

So just a little pitch of sorts.

Cool.

Yeah.

And then the last, the last thing I want to mention while I'm on the phone with you guys is, there's no Mount Hope Boulevard in Rochester that I'm aware of.

so in Juno story, there's a reference to a mount Hope Boulevard, and there is no such thing.

So hopefully nobody's going to go looking for that location.

And also like Juno Story, there's one business to have two different names in the story.

So I'm trying to figure out what you are the most detailed city reader.

Yeah.

If you need to know if you need a proofreading job, that's not, I'll do I'll do it.

If I can do it remotely.

Okay.

Thank you.

Joe, that you've got very detailed and rabid fans.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You're like, I know this.

I do know that.

Yeah.

Because you hear from them all the time.

Welcome to my email sometime.

Yeah.

Artist cave.

Thank you Joel.

Cool reference.

Sriracha not don't say Roger I pronounce it franks.

Red hot mean franks.

Yeah.

That's how I do it.

What are you going to say something I, I don't know where that word originates from.

Like I would look into that and I think that would dictate how you pronounce it.

Yeah, I actually don't not my expertise.

I'm also sitting there thinking like of Lynn Phillips blog.

Yeah.

Sam.

Yeah.

And how we all just sort of like I immediately like says connect that to her even though she doesn't live here anymore.

So now I'm like, I need to go about this.

Okay.

Yeah.

All right.

But turmeric, we're pretty sure.

Turmeric.

Short break.

We're coming right back with the team from city.

The wellness issue.

We're having fun taking a look at the current edition of city, which you'll find wherever city is sold for free.

Right back with them next.

I'm Evan Dawson Tuesday and the next connections.

In our first hour, the Susan B Anthony Museum in House is celebrating a birthday, and we catch up with the executive director.

And then in our second hour, a conversation with the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester.

You might have seen national headlines about a bishop making headlines with the president recently, and we'll talk about that and more Tuesday.

Support for your public radio station comes from our members and from Bob Johnson, auto Group, proud supporter of connections with Evan Dawson, believing an informed public makes for a stronger community.

Bob Johnson Auto group.com and great Ty consulting providing management consulting services to help support not for profit organizations.

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This studio is packed, and if you're watching on the Sky news YouTube page.

Hello there.

yeah we are.

We were really having fun with the team from City and Veronica Volk has popped in to steal Joe's space.

We decided we had enough.

Joe Morrell and we never get enough of Joe.

We need to get some some Veronica Volk here.

Hi, Veronica.

Hi, Evan Dawson.

This is my first, time on the show since you've been on YouTube.

No way.

Excited?

Is that right?

Yeah.

It's big deal for you.

I'm pretty excited, having worked in radio for a very long time.

You know what people are going to say to you?

What's that?

You don't look like you're taller than I thought.

We're all sitting at a desk.

So great, I love it.

People like that.

Like you look taller.

I see you on YouTube.

I'm like, no.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I'm in a desk here.

this is a, Veronica is has always been the resident young on the staff.

Oh, my God, not for a long time.

Not for a long time.

I mean, you're connected to the trends and what's happening on the socials, and a no money month is the piece that Veronica wrote that was based on the no spin challenge, which is.

What can you tell us about this?

Yeah, let's bring it down from all the fun that we've been having and talk about economic insecurity because we've had enough.

Yeah.

It's over.

no, I'm thinking about your first hour and and some of the issues that you were talking about in the, your first hour, but I think that a lot of people are feeling nervous about their finances.

and this might just speak to like, where I'm at in my life, but also kind of where we are so broadly in our country.

so, like for New Years, where are we?

I don't know, I don't know.

but anyway, so can't can't solve that tonight.

No.

So I was feeling like I was experiencing a lot of folks talking about their financial insecurity that they're having their own lives.

And it was actually a couple days after New Year's when I met up, with actually my sister in law at Strong Museum, and she was like, I'm doing this no spend challenge where I'm just trying to not spend any money for 30 days.

And I was like, oh, that sounds great.

That's like, that sounds like something I can do.

you can you can kind of try to see what you care about in terms from like a budgetary perspective and try to make a new budget and try to save money.

but sometimes it's just easier to, like, go cold turkey with stuff.

So this is what this challenge does, is you, like, take every single day, and you try to get to zero spending now.

Yeah.

You got to pay your bills.

Obviously.

You got to pay your rent, got to pay your electric bill.

You got to pay off your credit cards.

but everything else, you try not to spend money.

I mean, like, it's really simple.

It sounds really simple anyway, but it can be a little bit of a challenge.

But one of the interesting things that I found is that, Well, first of all, it can be hard because a lot of the ways that you get connected to your community are by going out and spending money either to like, support, local artists, local restaurants, or even just like spend time with people you often do.

We'll do it in a common space, like a restaurant, a coffee shop or something, where spending money is required.

So that can be a little bit of a challenge, but it was also interesting to see the way that, like no spend feels like trendy and new, but, it's how like a lot of our, my parents or my generation's parents kind of just live their lives.

They weren't out spending money on things like they always talk about the millennials proverbial, like avocado toast.

they weren't spending money on things like that.

So one of the, it was just like a very interesting thing to come upon where I was.

I would be like, talking to my parents about, I'm trying not to spend any money this month.

And they're like, oh, you mean all of 1985 or whatever?

Is this like, so that that was really cool.

I learned, some interesting budgeting techniques that I, you know, that I use in my own life.

But, for the most part, it was cool to see the ways that people were trying to make this work.

I thought it was interesting that you interviewed a woman named Cassie Cassie, who said she is the wife of actually wealth.

Cleveland.

but I just wanted to give her a shout out.

Thanks so much, Cassie, for talking to me, if you're listening.

But, yeah, she is, one of the people who I connected with who was doing this.

And I thought her comments were really insightful because, this has totally changed our behavior.

And so a lot of what we end up doing is it's whatever is on whatever apps you use the most.

Will determine whether you're spending money or not and or spending a lot of money or not.

And Cassie told you she just deleted certain apps, and it was like because she was spending money, you know, shopping apps, different apps.

Well, what I mean, it can be a kind of, a way to kill time to scroll through shopping apps like Amazon or like target and add stuff to your cart.

And, I'm at a point in my life right now where I got two little kids at home, so I am constantly shopping for them.

You know, they need new clothes, they need new sippy cups, they need new that, and you need that.

And it really, it makes like, consumerism feel like a game that you're playing.

You're adding things, you're taking things off.

You're ordering.

there was a recent documentary that came out, I think by now is what it's called, but it's all about how they have gamified, buying things online, the colors they use, the fonts they use, it's all geared to get you to get on the app, stay on the app and spend as much money as possible.

And so to have an opportunity to really objectively look at the way that you live your life and see these, these habits, and try to like, cut them out was it was interesting for me and I think for the people in the piece as well.

I want to see buy now.

Yeah.

Because I mean, I'm not surprised to hear that they've gamified it.

It's surprisingly like psychological.

well, maybe not surprising, but it is very psychological, the way that they go about it.

Well, when when my son was like six seven, he was into Pokemon Go.

And what you realize is like, this is like one of the it was one of the biggest is probably still a thing, right?

Pokemon Go still thing.

Yeah, I think so.

It is.

I'm not a user.

Not that I care if you are, but, I have a few friends who.

Yeah, I really got into it.

Yeah, it's still still large.

Still very, very big.

Yep.

And, but what you quickly realize, whether you're playing for yourself, playing with your kid, is that you get credit for streaks, you get credit, like, and then they'll, they'll actually give you a different credit that you can use in the game.

And then you can use some of the credit to get different stuff, but then you have to purchase.

So they gamify that in a way that makes you want to go back every day and you end up spending money on how did I spend money, unlike a Pokemon Go game.

But so one of the things, one of the things that no spend does that is interesting is it takes that and flips it on its head.

So I saw a lot of people on social media who were, sort of showing off their own streaks, how many days they had gone spending $0.

and, it's interesting to see that content elevated because a lot of the stuff that you see on like TikTok or Instagram is like people selling stuff, sponsored content.

Here's my haul from target or like whatever.

and this was like completely counter to that.

And I really thought it was super interesting and sort of emblematic of like the time that we're in social media influencers aren't like, well, they are buying a lot of stuff, but a whole other universe of this is people are not spending money, they're making things from scratch.

They're sewing their own clothes.

And it it's fascinating to see, like how influencers are trying to get people, or at least showing off the ways in which they're not spending money and being thrifty and being more sustainable.

So that was pretty cool.

You mentioned millennials and avocado toast.

Yes.

What is the Gen Z version of avocado toast?

The people just hammer them for mercilessly for like unfairly.

Because like millennials, we're told for years, like, well, if you didn't have avocado toast, you'd have a house by now.

Like it was always like, yeah, what is it?

I don't really know, to be honest with you.

Is it still up?

It might still be avocado.

I think they can't afford avocado toast any anymore at all.

So it's like, it's usually like, I mean, like, I have a lot of younger sisters, and they're just like, things are just.

Yeah, things are just expensive.

That's a big one, right?

Yeah.

So I don't I don't really understand that trend very well, but like I'm aware that it exists.

So Sephora is a thing and probably Starbucks and things like that, which if you're going to Starbucks, you should probably just go to like happy gut.

Right.

Like or something.

I mean cats here, I wouldn't yes.

But you know, you can find better options for that.

But the bottom line is we hammered millennials for years over avocado toast.

I was just well I mean and yeah.

And like frivolous spending.

Right.

Like you could make stuff at home and save more money.

And it's I think if I had had, if I'd thought about going into this a little bit deeper, I would have.

But that wasn't really the point of this piece.

But it's interesting to think about how all of this messaging is packaged towards people, depending on, like, what your age group is, whether you know what your gender is.

And, you know, millennials get hammered for frivolous spending, but there's like an argument to be made where it's just like, okay, well, like if $20 is going to break me, then like, what are we doing?

Like as a society, why do I have to spend no money in order to either save money or pay down my dad's, or feel like I'm in a better financial position for my children?

Like there's a bigger, broader economic conversation to be had that we're not going to get into because this is, just about like personal financial, wellness.

But it's something to keep in mind as, like, you're being sold, whether that, you know, you got a $7 coffee now, you can't afford a house like, you know, wait a second.

Like, I don't think one that's not what other society is supposed to be for.

I didn't think, but and by the way, we also hammer people for, like, things that cost more at, third place locations.

But third places are really important.

I mean, like, we are a less connected society.

It's part of what Leah was writing about in your editor's note.

Like, we are experiencing all this loneliness.

And so, like, if you're going to spend a little more, if you're going to pay a premium for a coffee or for food or kombucha or whatever you want, do it in a place where you can be together, I think.

I think it's the frivolous spending that because you're on a phone and all of a sudden you feel you're tricked into something or you just, well, I'm here, I'll just click.

That's different.

So and not to dominate this conversation because I would like to broaden it out to our, are there folks here?

But we talk about the no spend challenge.

We talk about how, you know, how you go about it logistically.

But there's another part of this piece that talks about how people end up connecting in ways once they enter this like no spend world.

And that's through things like buying nothing, Facebook groups, or other like groups that are, you know, no spend, tiny humans giveaway groups and there's, there's, third places that are free, like, there's a lot of, like, free library events.

There's other ways you can connect to your community, and there's other ways that people there's other reasons people enter the no spend universe not just to, like, save money, but some of it is about sustainability.

You have people who are like passing things back and forth that they don't need anymore.

Yeah.

And the ultimate like, obviously you're not it's not transactional in the way where you're like spending money, but it is you're still sharing in like a, in a different kind of way.

So it's consume less.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean I wouldn't want to give up my coffees with Cat, I really don't.

I'm like, I'm not just saying this because you're here.

every time I get a coffee and a cookie over there puts a little hop in my step, I'm almost like it makes my day better.

And everyone there is so kind.

And it's it's one of the best ways just to splurge a little bit.

But you're also supporting a small business.

Yeah.

Of course I want Cat to talk about this because it's one of the reasons I brought her on the show today.

But we both spend a significant investment in, fitness, like a boutique fitness gym that offers plots and, I'm sure we've all seen the SNL skit.

It's sort of true.

Yeah, but also, like, I think we can both vouch for the fact that that sort of investment in a, in a third place to some extent.

Yeah.

Where we like, choose to like we're investing back in ourselves too.

So there's a little bit of that along the way.

I'm gonna let you talk about this because your journey has been amazing with that, Pilates.

yeah.

So I'm I'm nuts for it.

I'm gonna try really hard not to sound culty about it.

but I actually, I came across Pilates when I first, when I graduated from college, and I was kind of, like, floating.

I couldn't find a job, didn't know what to do.

So YouTube, I just looked up Pilates tutorials or videos, and I just did a few, and I fell in love with it.

And then over the years, fell off of it, started a business and really fell off of my fitness and wellness.

So, actually a friend of mine, brought me into the reformer and I knew it was going to be hard the first two weeks.

You hate it because you're like, why am I so weak?

Like, why can't I do?

And so it's really frustrating.

It really it really puts you like, okay, I need to get my act together.

but then like, once you start considering doing it, you feel yourself getting stronger every time.

And like, I love Pilates because you have to listen to the cues, so you have to clear your mind.

You can't be thinking about work while you're trying.

So like, follow this instructor counting down to the next move and she's telling you you're going to move from the front of this to the back of that, you're going to face this way and do this.

So it's really nice for my mental health to to take 15 minutes out of my day to just do this, I am exercising.

I have like, muscles now, but like also mental health.

I get to check out for 15 minutes and just like not think about things that are stressing me out 100% daily.

But you need you need to have patience when you start.

Yeah.

Not kind of person needs like immediate gratification.

It's going to be so hard.

She's very good at that.

We're very patient.

But I swear like give it some time.

Do it like once a week for the first month if you if you're like what I do not if you're not active, how often are you doing it now give it, 5 to 7 days a week.

There's only seven days in a week.

I know you do it in.

Yes, but I really enjoy it.

I'm not the level.

It's, you know, it's gentle enough that you're not limping the next day.

Do you?

You are you addicted?

I maybe.

Yeah.

I really enjoy the feeling, though.

It makes me feel really good.

no.

That's great.

You found something that's, like, perfect.

And it, like you feel more in control of your body, too.

Like, with the snow outside in the ice, you're bound to lose your footing.

And that it a lot of inner thigh, exercises.

And it really helps just day to day being a human and, like, being in control of your own body a little.

But I've also found that, like, my breathing is different.

Yes.

And I think breathing is so important for stress.

Yeah.

Like I'm looking at all the people who work in a newsroom here.

I have found myself, especially over the last couple of weeks, like I'm using those breathing techniques and I'm like, oh, this is good.

This is like teaching me how to be nicer to my body, which is really important for all of us right now.

Yeah.

Well, I've really enjoyed the conversation here.

And thank you for popping in here.

and there's really practical tips too.

I mean, ultimately you're not going to read a no money month and think, well, I have to spend money, so there's no point.

The idea is to really analyze what you are spending on, eliminate what feels truly unnecessary and be changed by the.

Yeah, hopefully learn a little bit more about yourself and maybe about, like where you spend your money.

I think that point is so important too.

I think a lot of people will enter a challenge like this and realize they're giving money to places that they don't necessarily want to, and maybe want to refocus that energy towards, like women in minority owned businesses, local businesses, or like, you know, that sort of more, sharing economy that we talked about.

So that was that was interesting to learn.

It's great stuff.

well, thank you, City team, for being here.

Leah, you want to bring it home?

What's the what's the clothes for listeners here?

You're going to pick this up and feel it maybe a little bit of a different way about wellness, maybe a different connotation to that.

I think there's a lot of takeaways from this issue.

I think there are like kind of whatever you're into or whatever you're focused on right now.

And I think we're, you know, we're all at different places with that.

But there's something that we hope you try or, even if it's goat milk, yogurt.

but, you know, there's other pieces in here about DIY communities and, I believe that's what he was referring to.

One of the businesses on Mount Hope Boulevard, otherwise known as Mount Hope Avenue.

And so, yeah, you know that part again.

We're going back to my editor's letter where I wrote about the loneliness pandemic.

Get out there and do something.

Don't isolate yourself even when it's cold.

Yeah.

No, it is very important.

thank you very much.

Great stuff everybody.

Kat, great to see you here.

Of course.

Thanks for having me.

I see you at Happy God Sanctuary right here in High Falls.

So happy.

There, there.

And Berto.

Great.

Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

Appreciate having you v e. Have you been Leah Stacy, editor of city.

Great having you, Leah.

Thank you, thank you.

Thanks to the whole team at city.

They do such great work.

They do.

The issue is out now and you can check it out from all of us at connections.

Thank you for listening or for watching or for both listening and watching.

If you're doing that on YouTube and we're back with you tomorrow on member supported public media.

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