Renoites- The Podcast about Reno Nevada

Reno's primary youth shelter for people aged 18-24 experiencing homelessness or otherwise at risk is Eddy House, a facility designed to bring together a variety of services under one roof. There are low barrier drop-in beds available, therapists and case workers, a residential program, and more.
The founder of Eddy House, Lynette Eddy, joins hosts Conor McQuivey and Ember Braun this week to discuss the origins of the organization, the life experiences that led to her involvement in helping at-risk youth, the value of a housing first model, providing services along with housing, and much more.
We also discussed Lynette's recently released book, "The Fight Inside: Winning the Battle Between Your Ego and True Spirit." After her husband's death by suicide in 2010, Lynette has studied and shared her understanding of the ego voice inside us that criticizes and attacks, and the positive and affirming voice of our true spirit. Her book is part biography and part self help, modeled on her "open heart mindfulness" approach. 
Learn more about Eddy House at their website https://eddyhouse.org/ and learn more about Lynette's other work and her book at her website https://www.lynetteeddy.com/
If you have suggestions for future guest or topics, please email conor@renoites.com 
You can also visit the Renoites booth at the Riverside Farmer's Market most Sundays! The market is every Sunday from 8-1 at Idlewild Park in Reno. Conor will be there most Sundays for the coming months to be available for conversations with members of the community, record mini episodes with local vendors, and stickers and t-shirts are also available!
Support Renoites on Patreon at http://patreon.com/renoites
 

Bourbon Whiskey is one of the most popular spirits in the United States and consistently growing in popularity. It's an exclusively American spirit- to be called bourbon it has to be made here in the United States. Most distilleries use grains of mixed quality from farms across the county or even the world, but in Fallon, Frey Ranch has a rare business model: They grow all the grains used in their Bourbon, Rye, and several other unique varieties of whiskey right there in Fallon on their own farm.
This "Estate Distillery" model is rare, but lets them control the entire process from tilling the soil and growing the grains, to the malting process, to the distilling, bottling, and into your glass.
On this week's episode of Renoites, Conor traveled to Fallon to meet with Ashley and Colby Frey, the owners of Frey Ranch Farm and Distillery. The family has been farming in Northern Nevada since before Nevada was even a state, and as they built their whiskey business in recent years, were instrumental in creating the laws allowing such a distillery to exist here.
Topics in this episode include the technical processes of how whiskey is made and why the farming is an important part of it, the beneficial soil and climate conditions that allow quality control of the grains used, the differences in types of stills and production methods used at Frey Ranch, the challenges of creating a business before regulations and taxes existed for the category, the "between years" of creating various spirits while waiting for the bourbon to age, the importance of having a story and message behind a brand, the increasing presence of women in the distilling and spirits world, sustainability as a common-sense practice on a farm, and much more!
The Frey Ranch tasting room is open every Saturday from 12-4 with tours throughout the afternoon, and the first Saturday of the month there is also a food truck on site. You can find Frey Ranch products at most local stores and bars in Northern Nevada, and they are rapidly expanding across the country.
You can learn more about Frey Ranch at their website, http://www.freyranch.com 
Renoites is a community-oriented and listener-funded project. If you find value in the podcast, please consider becoming a financial supporter on Patreon. For as little as $3/month you can help Renoites become financially sustainable while remaining independent. Learn more at http://patreon.com/renoites
If you have guest suggestions, topic ideas, or feedback in general please feel free to email conor@renoites.com and be sure to follow us on Instagram at http://instagram.com/renoites

Classical music can sometimes be seen as a bit stuffy or unapproachable to some audiences, but people have been listening to symphonies for hundreds of years and despite the obvious and valuable connection the past, orchestras are also looking to the future and exploring how to reach more people.
This week on Renoites, Conor sat down with the new President and CEO of the Reno Philharmonic, Ignacio Barrón Viela. Viela most recently worked for the Billings Symphony in Montana, and took over the role here in Reno in 2022.
On this episode, we talked about how to reach new and younger audiences, appealing to younger musicians and music fans, how a business background and love of music led to an orchestra management career, the power of learning an instrument for improving attention span and listening ability, early music education in schools, integrating popular culture with the Reno Phil through events like live-music Ghostbusters and the consistently popular Pops on the River, and much more!
You can learn more about the Reno Philharmonic, including all their events, at their website http://www.renophil.com 
Make sure to subscribe to Renoites wherever you get podcasts and follow us on Instagram at http://instagram.com/renoites and if you'd like to support the show financially (it really is the only way for the show to continue existing) you can do so at http://patreon.com/renoites
If you have suggestions for future guests or episode topics, or feedback in general, email conor@renoites.com 

This episode was recorded live at Black Rabbit Mead in Reno, Nevada on May 11, 2023.
On this episode of Renoites, recorded live at Black Rabbit Mead, we welcomed Brad Bynum, lead singer of the local band Elephant Rifle and former Editor of the Reno News & Review. Elephant Rifle has a new album out now and an album release show at The Holland Project on Saturday May 20.
We talked about the history of the band and Brad's connection to music, why Reno as a mid-size city allows for collaboration between artists of different genres, representing the biggest little city while on the road touring, ways to fund arts and culture, the importance of alt weekly newspapers for local journalism and events, Brad's wild days of pants-off dance-offs during the early days of trivia at Sierra Tap House, and many of us used the Q&A portion to shout out our moms for all they do.
Happy mothers day, moms!
You can find Elephant Rifle downloads, merch, and tour information on their website at http://elephantrifle.bandcamp.com and be sure to check out their album release show if you're able, on Saturday 5/11 at The Holland Project!
You can support Renoites financially on Patreon at http://patreon.com/renoites and be sure you're following us on Instagram at http://instagram.com/renoites
 

One of the greatest challenges for cannabis businesses in this region is navigating the gray area between operating as a legal business in a state like Nevada and dealing with restrictions on basic business services because their products are not legal federally.
On this week's episode of Renoites, we welcome two guests: Sarah Rosenfeld is the owner of MMG Agriculture, a cannabis producer, and Michael Thomas is the Senior VP of Communications at Greater Nevada Credit Union, a local credit union that provides banking services to cannabis companies as part of a new pilot program.
We talked about the unique challenges of operating a cannabis business right now, and how things have changed since the earliest days of legalization, when stores dealt in large quantities of cash (think duffel bags). Other topics included how working in cannabis can affect personal bank accounts and the ability to get loans, how cannabis companies get taxed heavily but can't take write-offs, new categories of cannabis business including consumption lounges, competition from neighboring states with looser regulations, and much more!
If you have suggestions for future guests or topics, please email conor@renoites.com and be sure to follow us on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/renoites

This episode of Renoites was recorded in front of a live audience at Black Rabbit Mead Company in Reno, Nevada on April 26, 2023
Being able to improvise is a fundamental skill for working in comedy or entertainment, but is also incredibly valuable just for going about our day to day lives. Being able to think on our feet and be creative serves us in our jobs and social lives whether we call it "improv" or not.
On this week's episode of Renoites, we welcome Tim Mahoney and Annie Saunders, both from Reno Improv. Reno Improv is a non-profit improv theater located in the Wells Avenue neighborhood, featuring shows, workshops, classes, and drop-in opportunities for Northern Nevadans to explore and enjoy the art of improvisation.
In front of a live audience at Black Rabbit Mead in the brewery district of Reno, we talked about the different forms of improv, what makes a good audience suggestion for improv games (and what doesn't), how improv abilities can help us in our day to day lives, the difference between "fear of public speaking" and "fear of public pretending," and much more!
Plus, we took audience questions and finished the episode with some improv games on stage! The live audience got to enjoy several more improv games after the taping, so make sure you attend the next Renoites LIVE event to get the full experience! The next live episode is with Brad Bynum of the band Elephant Rifle, on Thursday May 11!
You can learn more about Reno Improv including upcoming shows and classes at their website, renoimprov.org
If you have guest suggestions or feedback, please email conor@renoites.com and be sure to follow us on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/renoites
 

Welcome to the new season of Renoites! 
This is the first episode of a brand new season, with a bunch of great guests in store. If you enjoy the show, please be sure to follow @renoites on Instagram, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so it will always be easy to find!
A common theme in the conversations I have about Reno are that it seems to be constantly changing. Growth can be exciting, I’m definitely happy to know that Reno is a place people want to come, but it’s often framed that there is a conflict between growth and historic preservation. A lot of conversations also tend to be about Reno’s shared story, a common understanding of what this place is about.
I am very excited to welcome as the first guest this season, historian and author Alicia Barber. You may know her from her very popular substack newsletter, The Barber Brief. Alicia writes regularly about historic preservation and development issues in the area, city council happenings, and other topics of local importance. 
On this episode, Alicia and I discuss the earliest history of Reno as a railroad town, how Reno changed and redefined itself over the generations to adapt to different economic conditions, what makes for a vibrant and active neighborhood and what inhibits that, how to tell a shared story of our history where it has actually taken place, the history of the Lear theater and hopes for it’s future, and much more!
I’ve long been looking forward to this episode and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. If you have comments or suggestions for future guests, my email is conor@renoites.com 
You might also consider supporting Renoites financially on patreon at http://patreon.com/renoites. Listener support makes this project possible.

This episode of Renoites was recorded in front of a live audience at Black Rabbit Mead Company in Reno, Nevada on March 30, 2023.
Every year, hundreds of bicyclists race around Reno and the surrounding area, in a 24-hour scavenger hunt and party called Scalley Cat. Challenges range from the intensely physical (ride from Reno to Virginia City to Tahoe and back) to the wild and ridiculous (mayonnaise wrestling is mentioned in this episode), with hundreds of challenges for various points. Bribes and rule-breaking are encouraged.
This episode is was recorded with a live audience at Black Rabbit Mead Company, and features members of the very large winning team from last year's Scalley Cat (I think about 15 on stage). They're now in charge of organizing the 2023 event, which will take place on May 5, from noon until noon.
We talked about the history of the event, Reno as a great city for bikes and bike culture, wild stories from years past, other bike events like Reno Bike Night, plans for this year (the theme is Scalleycamp), and much more! Thanks to all who attended in the audience and thank you for listening!
Renoites will be returning in a few weeks with more new episodes and really great guests! And please come to the next Renoites LIVE episode tapings at Black Rabbit Mead:
Wednesday, April 26 - with Reno Improv
Thursday, May 11 - with Brad Bynum of the band Elephant Rifle and former editor of the Reno News and Review
If you have guest suggestions or just want to get in touch, be sure to follow (and feel free to message) me on Instagram @Renoites or send an email to conor@renoites.com
If you'd like to support Renoites financially, please consider signing up as a patron of the show! For even a few dollars a month, you're helping support a valuable community-oriented project. There are perks at various levels like stickers and t-shirts, and I try to post occasional Patron exclusive updates about the show, future guests, and so on! Check it out at http://www.patreon.com/renoites
This episode was produced by Conor McQuivey and Ember Braun