Stories & Events for Social Connection

By Seamus Gallivan

Relaunching Reconnecter at Asbury Hall on December 3rd!
Next I-Post event: The Plague of Online Disinformation on October 22nd
Early voting opens next Saturday!
Musings on Music: Grosh is my go-to
Featured Events: 27 this issue, always encouraging submissions!
Links to the Deep End: I-Post, BTPM, BN, Truthout

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Truth patrol at Burchfield Penney this Thursday

The next event from Investigative Post will bring us back to Burchfield Penney Art Center, as we bring in two media experts from NYC-based NewsGuard for a conversation on the plague of online disinformation – how it’s hurting us, and how everyday people can overcome it.

Our headline guest is NewsGuard co-CEO Steven Brill, described in the event preview by I-Post founder Jim Heaney as “an authority on the good, bad and ugly of the internet”. Brill’s 2024 book The Death of Truth was praised by legendary reporter Bob Woodward as, “A seminal, ground-breaking, documented and honest examination of two of the central dilemmas of our time—what is truth and where to find it.”

Also joining is NewsGuard senior editor Sofia Rubinson, to outline their work identifying reliable information online including their new NewsGuard AI tool, which appeared to me an first explanation to be like Google for truth – “the world’s first news aggregation chatbot purpose-built to deliver reliable responses to prompts on current events and breaking news.”

Join us this coming Thursday, October 22nd, at 7pm, as Heaney will discuss all this and more with Brill, Rubinson, and you as well if you have something to add – get your $10 ticket here to ensure a seat!

Early voting opens next Saturday!

Early voting begins October 24th before Election Day on November 3rd – view your specific ballot here, as well as early voting locations here and below.

Buffalo voters, note that our ballots will be two-sided with 11 ballot referendums to consider, all of which have been detailed by Investigative Post in a two-part feature by Dale Shoemaker – Eleven charter changes advance to Buffalo voters, and

Buffalo’s charter revision effort comes up short.

Personally, I’ll be voting “yes” on all 11 measures as well as straight along the Working Families Party (WFP) line – I’ve seen from the inside what the WFP values and how they roll, and we can all see that the status quo in Buffalo and beyond ain’t working.

If you agree, please vote accordingly – calling all caring souls to the polls!

The Buffalodown: Home for the Holidays at Asbury Hall on December 3rd!

We’re relaunching Reconnecter with a special event on Thursday, December 3rd, at Asbury Hall in downtown Buffalo, and you’re invited!

Please join us for the Buffalodown: Home for the Holidays, featuring performances by Grosh, DJ Sike and the return of Robot Holiday along with many guests! While the event will be open to all – kids included! – Reconnecter members will receive complimentary food and a drink! Head to www.reconnecter.org to become a member, please stay tuned to this Buffalodown newsletter for more info, and join us on December 3rd at Asbury Hall for the Buffalodown: Home for the Holidays!

Wondering what The Buffalodown live show is like? Below is a look back at The Buffalodown: Living the Dream, dedicated to Martin Luther King on April 4th, 2024, in Kleinhans Music Hall, where he spoke soon before he was assassinated.

The Buffalodown live is a themed variety show in two parts – the first act is the Buffalodown talk show with conversations, performances and a house band, all tuned to the pulse of the city; the second act is Gallivanting, a musical journey through songs and stories.

In Living the Dream, we reflected on MLK’s visions of the beloved community, and revisited the Civil Rights Movement on a road trip through the deep south.

For Home for the Holidays on December 3rd, we’ll reflect on wintertime in Buffalo, and revive the seasonal music collective Robot Holiday for their first live performance in nine years, please join us!

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Musings on Music

Grosh is my go-to

As in our previous Buffalodown live event, our house band for Home for the Holidays on December 3rd at Asbury Hall will be the mighty Grosh, who’ve become my go-to band from the Buffalodown to Larkin Square, where they’ve provided the closing-night exclamation point for three years running.

Grosh is my go-to for more than their mighty sound, which began as a power duo of guitarist/vocalist Grace Lougen and drummer Josh English and expanded to include vocalist Megan Brown and bassist Dylan Hund after the inspiration of playing a Led Zeppelin tribute show. Beneath their big riffs, heavy grooves and deep lyrics are kind souls and creative minds who care about community and are open to new ideas like the Buffalodown live show – all of this leads them to be part of the foundation of this event, and one of my favorite bands to see, hear, and support.

See below for videos of Grosh at the Reconnecter launch event at Asbury Hall in 2023 as well as The Buffalodown: Only Human at The Cave in 2024, and see them live next at the Bye Week Ball, a big bill of Buffalo bands playing the Town Ballroom next Sunday. And catch Grace Lougen performing live nearly any given night, incredibly prolific and always awesome.

And remember, The Buffalodown: Home for the Holidays will also feature the first full performance in nine years by seasonal music collective Robot Holiday, which has published around 150 original songs over the 20+ years since its founding by friends who’d become bored by same bunch of popular holiday songs on ubiquitous repeat throughout the season.

While we’ll have plenty more to announce and promote, we’re inviting everyone to secure their ticket to the Buffalodown: Home for the Holidays at Asbury Hall on Thursday, December 3rd, by becoming a paying member of Reconnecter, for which you’ll receive admission along with complimentary food and a drink, please join us!

Grosh giving their origin story and performing “Mr. Rogers” as part of the Reconnecter launch event at Asbury Hall in 2023