Chef Ric Orlando joins Hudson Valley Unleashed for a loud, hilarious, and surprisingly heartfelt hang—because of course it is when you put a chef, a DJ, and a longtime Hudson Valley icon at the same kitchen table.

Josh and Dave go way back with Ric: from the early, chaotic glory days of New World Home Cooking (including those legendary Halloween parties) to the reality of building restaurants that feel like community—not just a place to eat. Ric talks about learning the craft in Boston at the legendary Harvest, cooking for Julia Child, and why the simplest food often hits the hardest.

Then we get into what he’s doing now: consulting gigs where he walks into kitchens and politely (or not) drags standards back to Earth, high-energy cooking classes that are basically performance art, pop-up dinners, sauces and spice rubs, and most notably his chef-driven Sicily and Italy tours that trade “see a church, eat pasta, goodbye” for real people, real stories, and the kind of meals you remember forever.

Also yes: he beat Bobby Flay. We had to say it.

New episode drops Tuesdays. Stay unleashed.

Jen C (Jennifer Ciota) storms into the studio and absolutely detonates the place. From cow-farm life and Rhinebeck gossip to OnlyFans brainstorms, Colombian identity, white-people problems, and who in town she’d definitely sleep with—nothing is off limits. Josh almost gets recruited into porn, Dave gets propositioned, and the Hudson Valley gets roasted.
This is the episode that proves why we call the show Unleashed.

Today we welcome family: broadcaster, musician, and champion of women and gender-expansive artists, Carmel Holt. Carmel traces her path from Bard College and the early Hudson Valley days—writing copy at WDST, landing “Acoustic Breakfast,” and becoming Music Director—to the leap to WFUV and the mentorship of the legendary Rita Houston. She opens up about why she left the security of radio to build Sheroes, the acclaimed show and podcast where artists actually tell the whole story, and how a pandemic pivot led to syndication on public radio and a Webby-nominated Sonos series (Mixtape Memoir). We also get the inside track on her ambitious multimedia project, The Road to Joni, celebrating Joni Mitchell through the voices of multiple generations. Plus: Kingston memories (yes, gigs at La Parmigiana before it became Terrapin), Poets’ Walk love, O+ Festival shout-out, and a candid look at sustaining independent media—now supported via fiscal sponsorship with AIR. If you care about music, mentorship, and making real space for artists, this one’s for you.