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Northeast Notebook Live
WAMC’s Northeast Notebook Live brings listeners inside the conversations of the region. Each day, the hour-long show airing online and on-air will feature a deep dive into an issue that matters most, as well as analysis of the headlines and additional interviews with newsmakers and journalists to provide a broad overlook of what matters most. The show will feature reporting by WAMC journalists, and highlight the vital work local journalists do to inform their communities. Northeast Notebook Live will regularly feature reporting by the Albany Times Union, the Berkshire Eagle, and the Adirondack Explorer thanks to a formal partnership with WAMC that’s meant to explore the region’s news with breadth, depth and context.

Northeast Notebook 10/19/26: Levon Helm Studios, 287g lawsuit, and the Battle of Kingston

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Sam Dingman
Published October 19, 2026 at 5:20 PM EDT
Several protesters are standing in a row in a parking lot. Most of them are holding posters, some of which say "It is NOT ok to with ICE" and "Immigrants make Rensselaer STRONGER." One woman is holding drum sticks and has a plastic bucket hanging from a strap around her neck.
Courtesy of Bryan Paz-Hernandez
A few dozen people attend a protest outside the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office in Troy.

Amy Helm has filed a complaint against Levon Helm Studios - the music venue named for her father - in an attempt to regain control after she was forced out earlier this year. She claims the new CEO is attempting to extort her.

Also this hour...

  • As injuries mount and rosters dwindle, the future of high school football is murky.
  • Co-host Maryam Ahmad on New York Governor Kathy Hochul's "Local Cops, Local Crimes" law, which has promoted intense reactions from both law enforcement and immigrant communities.
  • We meet a man struggling with breast cancer, who says silence and shame make the disease particularly deadly for men.
  • Can Albany find the money to close its budget gap by taxing commuters who work in the city, but don't live there? Our Capital Region Bureau Chief Grant Ashley investigates.

All that and more on this Oct. 16 edition of "Northeast Notebook."
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Sam Dingman
Sam Dingman is WAMC’s Hudson/Catskill Bureau Chief. Previously, he was co-host and reporter at “The Show” on KJZZ, Phoenix’s NPR station. Prior to KJZZ, Dingman was the creator and host of the acclaimed podcast “Family Ghosts,” which has been hailed as a critic’s choice by NPR, the LA Times and the New York Times. Dingman also co-hosted the BlueWire original series “The Rumor,” which was featured in the Washington Post and New York Magazine, and was a Webby honoree for Best Podcast Writing. He was story editor for Lemonada Media’s Signal Award-winning series “Pack One Bag,” writer and showrunner for John Stamos’s Webby-winning podcast “The Grand Scheme: Snatching Sinatra,” editor of Karina Longworth’s “You Must Remember This,” and a producer for WNYC’s Peabody-winning “On the Media.” He is a four-time winner of the Moth Grand and Story Slams, and has created, written, hosted, produced and edited podcasts for The Atlantic, Audible Originals, Gilded Audio, Gimlet Media, Lincoln Center, Panoply Media, Paramount Pictures, Pushkin Industries, Spotify, Slate, Stitcher, and Wondery.
See stories by Sam Dingman