In this episode of Angles with John Richmond, John sits down with Charlie Specht, one of Buffalo’s most recognized investigative journalists. Over a 15-year career at the Buffalo News, Channel 7, and Channel 2, Charlie built a reputation for breaking stories that matter: police corruption, government misconduct, and one of the most significant local scandals in decades - the Diocese of Buffalo sex abuse cover-up. He recently made the leap to go independent, launching his own Substack and writing a book about his experience reporting on the diocese, and what it cost him personally.

Charlie walks John through how investigative journalism actually works: how tips come in, how sources are vetted and protected, what it takes to spend a month on a story before a single word goes on air, and why the business model collapse in media is leaving communities more vulnerable to corruption than most people realize. He talks candidly about the ethical line between being tough and being fair, why attacking the messenger has become a standard defense tactic for people in power, and what it really means to report against your own assumptions.

The conversation goes deep on the Diocese of Buffalo story - the bishop’s administrative assistant who became a key source, the stalker who sent Charlie’s family into hiding under FBI protection, and how a story about institutional cover-up quietly dismantled his own Catholic faith from the inside. He also opens up about what he is doing next: teaching journalism at Saint Bonaventure, finishing his book, building a Substack audience, and making the case that local accountability journalism is worth paying for.

Whether you love investigative journalism or you’ve ever wondered what actually goes into breaking a story that changes things, this is a conversation you will not want to miss.

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In this episode of Angles with John Richmond, John sits down with Dawne Hoeg, founder and executive director of Stitch Buffalo, a nonprofit on Buffalo’s West Side that brings together refugee women through the craft of textiles. What started 12 years ago as a grassroots community workshop in a borrowed basement has grown into a full organization with a team, a board, a new facility, three distinct revenue streams, and a model that has made Stitch Buffalo what Dawne calls a pillar of this city. She is also, as she mentions in the conversation, a three-time cancer survivor, and that experience is woven into everything that drives her.

Dawne walks John through her origin story: a family of women who sewed for practical reasons, a childhood defined by hard work and showing up, a meandering path through packaging design, pattern drafting, a master’s degree in textile education, and teaching at the Waldorf school and Buffalo State College before she noticed something that no one else was doing anything about. The refugee women she kept seeing on her commute to Buffalo State - dressed in traditional clothing, carrying textile traditions from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bhutan, the Congo, South America, and Ukraine - had no connection to the academic institution down the street and no place to bring those skills together. So she built one.

The conversation covers how Stitch Buffalo actually works: the consignment model that puts money directly into the hands of the women, the Second Stitch resale arm that turned a flood of donated materials into a revenue stream, the community classes that are open to everyone, and the five-year arrangement with Rich Products that gave the organization its foundation. Dawne also talks candidly about leadership, delegation, decision fatigue, the current political climate and what it means for the women she works with, and the very difficult work of succession planning when you have built something from nothing and it is your life’s work.

This is a powerful, human episode. By the end of it, you will understand exactly why Stitch Buffalo matters and how you can be a part of it.

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In this episode of Angles with John Richmond, John sits down with Lexi Varecka, founder of Flex Yoga, a Buffalo-area yoga and wellness studio with locations in Clarence and Orchard Park. Lexi’s story starts in Washington, D.C., where a yoga teacher training she signed up for just to deepen her own practice turned into the seed of something much bigger. She took that passion to the West Coast, spent years teaching and absorbing everything she could about the wellness and event culture out there, and then made a deliberate decision to bring something new back to the community she grew up in.

Lexi breaks down what makes Flex different: beat-based sculpt, hot power fusion, and a community-first approach that goes well beyond the hour on the mat. She talks about the summer solstice event that drew nearly 80 people just three months after opening, the puppy yoga partnership that brought over 100 people together outdoors, and why she built Flex Friday into the studio’s DNA from day one. The conversation goes deep on what it actually takes to run a yoga studio: the certifications, the hiring auditions, the infrared heat panels, the chaos of a 30-minute class changeover, and the hard-won lesson that delegation is not optional if you want to survive.

John and Lexi also cover the entrepreneurial arc of year one: opening in March, adding a second location within twelve months, winning the Clarence Chamber of Commerce Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award, and still figuring out how to find an off switch. She talks honestly about the work-life balance that a business built around wellness demands, what keeps her motivated when the days get hard, and why she believes the Buffalo community is hungry for exactly what she is building.

Whether you have never set foot on a yoga mat or you’ve been practicing for years, this episode will change how you think about what a fitness studio can be for a community.

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