Buffalo Toronto Public Media Blog
Explore the latest stories, innovations, and community voices shaping public media. From behind-the-scenes looks at groundbreaking productions to in-depth features on local culture and initiatives, the BTPM Blog keeps you connected to the heart of public storytelling. Dive into inspiring narratives that amplify the power of media to inform and engage.
BTPM Blog
Kathryn's Must-Sees on BTPM PBS in March
Kathryn’s Must-Sees is your guide for the most compelling and thought-provoking programs on BTPM PBS. Curated monthly by Kathryn Larsen, our Vice President of Content Distribution with over 40 years of programming experience, these standout programs entertain, inspire, and spark conversation.
NYC Theater Trip 2026: Five Shows, Endless Applause
Explore the BTPM Travel Club’s NYC Theater Adventure, featuring five unforgettable shows, behind-the-scenes access, iconic New York landmarks, and meals worth their own standing ovation in this BTPM Blog with Heather Hare.
Kathryn's Must-Sees on BTPM PBS in February
Kathryn’s Must-Sees is your guide for the most compelling and thought-provoking programs on BTPM PBS. Curated monthly by Kathryn Larsen, our Vice President of Content Distribution with over 40 years of programming experience, these standout programs entertain, inspire, and spark conversation.
Kathryn's Must-Sees on BTPM PBS in December
Kathryn’s Must-Sees is your guide for the most compelling and thought-provoking programs on BTPM PBS. Curated monthly by Kathryn Larsen, our Vice President of Content Distribution with over 40 years of programming experience, these standout programs entertain, inspire, and spark conversation.
Kathryn's Must-Sees on BTPM PBS in November
Kathryn’s Must-Sees is your guide for the most compelling and thought-provoking programs on BTPM PBS. Curated monthly by Kathryn Larsen, our Vice President of Content Distribution with over 40 years of programming experience, these standout programs entertain, inspire, and spark conversation.
The Faces Behind the Fair: How BCAT’s Community Resource Event Brings Buffalo Together
What made the BCAT Community Resource Fair stand out wasn’t just its size, more than 30 community organizations participated, but its purpose. It was about connection, access, and collaboration.
Reading Rainbow Returns and So Does the Magic of Reading
The beloved Reading Rainbow returns, inspiring a new generation to discover the joy of books, imagination, and lifelong learning through the power of story.
Kathryn's Must-Sees for October on BTPM PBS
Kathryn’s Must-Sees is your guide for the most compelling and thought-provoking programs on BTPM PBS. Curated monthly by Kathryn Larsen, our Vice President of Content Distribution with over 40 years of programming experience, these standout programs entertain, inspire, and spark conversation.
Top 5 Things To Do in Buffalo this Fall
The fall season is right on our heels in Buffalo, but it's the perfect season to enjoy what the city has to offer. For some suggestions on what to do this fall, here's our list of top 5 things you can do to embrace the new season.
Helping Kids Adjust After the First Days of School
Back-to-school in Buffalo and WNY brings excitement and anxiety. Discover expert tips and resources from Buffalo Toronto Public Media to help kids ease into routines and thrive this school year.
Kathryn's Must-Sees for September on BTPM PBS
Kathryn’s Must-Sees is your guide for the most compelling and thought-provoking programs on BTPM PBS. Curated monthly by Kathryn Larsen, our Vice President of Content Distribution with over 40 years of programming experience, these standout programs entertain, inspire, and spark conversation.
Shaping the Future: A Q&A on BTPM’s Young Adult Advisory Committee
Discover how young voices are shaping public media through BTPM’s Young Adult Advisory Committee in this Q&A with BTPM Learning & Engagement Specialist Samantha Kittinger.
The BTPM Classical Blog is presented by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
BTPM Classical Blog
March Birthday Madness!
BTPM Classical loves March too, not only for basketball, but for birthdays!
Music to Recharge Your Batteries
Music doesn’t always have to bring you to tears, or motivate you to shoot off fireworks in victory over something. It can also just be respite.
The School Piano: A Salute
Do you remember your elementary school music teacher’s name? What was it? I’ll never forget mine. BTPM Classical Host Marty Wimmer reflects on his school piano memories.
Five Classical Music New Year’s Resolutions
Have you ever made a classical music New Year’s resolution? I know. Odd. But I’ve found that classical music New Year’s resolutions are easy to keep – and a heck of a lot easier than dieting or going to the gym!
Christmas Wreaths | BTPM Classical Blog
Ed. Simone reflects on his traditional Christmas wreath in this BTPM Classical blog.
13 Musical Forms of Life | BTPM Classical Blog
Music has a lot in common with architecture. It relies on solid structures called “musical form.” Marty Wimmer tells you more in this BTPM Classical blog.
Abominable Snowmen | BTPM Classical Blog
No Christmas season was complete for me in the 1970s without watching "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But where did the song come from? Find out in this BTPM Classical Blog.
Change | Marty Wimmer BTPM Classical
November is, indeed, a month of change. But then again, so is every other month. Grandpa was right; the only constant in life is change.
Music, Emotions, & Memories
BTPM Classical Host Marty Wimmer reflects on his three favorite symphonies that connect to him emotionally in this Classical blog.
The Organ Trail
BTPM Classical held a walking tour featuring some of the city's most beautiful and historic pipe organs. Marty Wimmer, BTPM Classical Host, recounts the tour in this blog.
Why Classical?
BTPM Classical Host Ed. Simone answers the question of "why classical?" in this blog. Hear why classical music is so gravitating to Simone!
The Music of Amy Beach
If you are reading the BTPM Classical Blog, chances are that you have an interest in classical music and may even like to share that interest with others. Today, we're talking about Amy Beach!
BTPM The Bridge Blog
The Scene Playlist for March 22
Check out this week's playlist from The Scene with Chelsea O, and learn about the artists and their music, including Yehra, TVMTN, and Tuned Out.
Upcoming Local Shows 3/20 - 3/26
Check out the local shows happening in Western New York and Southern Ontario, including Nicholas Campbell, Casper Skulls, and Rosie Lorenti of BD2.
The Scene Playlist for March 15
Check out this week's playlist from The Scene with Chelsea O, and learn about the artists and their music, including The James Clark Institute from Toronto, Desmond Stoll from Lockport, and Sara Elizabeth from Buffalo.
Upcoming Local Shows for 3/13 - 3/19
Check out the local shows happening in Western New York and Southern Ontario, including The Travesties, Silks, and Spiria.
The Scene Playlist for March 8
Check out this week's playlist from the Scene with Chelsea O, and learn about the artists and their music, including Silks, Saranaide, and Sam Casey.
Upcoming Local Shows for 3/06 - 3/12
Check out local shows happening in Western New York and Southern Ontario, including Lost Faculty, Michael DeLano, and Reneé the Entertainer.
The Scene Playlist for March 1
Check out this week's playlist from The Scene with Chelsea O, and learn about the artists and their music, including The Mookies, Chores, and The Yong Scones.
Upcoming Local Shows for 2/27 - 3/5
Check out the upcoming shows happening in Western New York and Southern Ontario, including Julian Taylor, The Weather Might Say Otherwise, and Sleepy Jean.
Borderland Festival announces 2026 lineup
This year's Borderland Arts and Music Festival will feature indie and rock artists such as Jack White, Alabama Shakes, and Lord Huron.
The Scene Playlist for Feb. 22
Check out this week's playlist from The Scene with Chelsea O, and learn and learn about the artists and their music, including The Sarandons, Whitetails, and Boy Jr.
Heritage Moments
Heritage Moments: At UB, a Flag Is Born for the Six Nations
Everywhere you go in North America these days, it seems, you see the Six Nations flag. You’d think it’s been flying forever. But in fact, it is less than 40 years old.
Heritage Moments: Chauncey Olcott, WNYs 'Wild Irish Rose'
Chauncey Olcott, a son of Buffalo and Lockport, did not set foot in the Emerald Isle until he was 40 years old.
Heritage Moments: Deerfoot, the World Champion From Cattaraugus
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the sport of running was dominated by Indigenous men. Such famous runners as Tom Longboat (Onondaga), Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox), Louis Tewanima (Hopi), Deerfoot-Bad Meat (Siksika), and Ellison Brown (Naragansett) were all winners of Olympic gold, the Boston Marathon, and other prestigious races of the era. But the first among them was a Seneca from the Cattaraugus Territory… the original Deerfoot.
Heritage Moments: A ‘Fugitive Slave’ Fights for a Family’s Freedom
William Wells Brown took part in a 1835 brawl in which black Buffalonians, he said, “assembled to protect a brother slave and his wife and child from being dragged back into slavery, which is far worse than death itself.”
Heritage Moments: ‘Time, to Think of It All’ — Robert Creeley in Buffalo
Robert Creeley (1926-2005), one of the most important American postmodern poets of his era, belongs to the world. But he also was — and continues to be — a Buffalo treasure.
Heritage Moments: Mary Elizabeth Johnson Lord Takes a Stand for the Animals
Mary Elizabeth Johnson Lord was a prominent Buffalo matron. “Kind to all animals herself, it pained her to see them abused,” as one local newspaper put it. Now, more than a century and a half later, if they could, they’d still be thanking her.
Heritage Moments: Fredonia’s Eternal Flame
It’s right there on Fredonia’s village seal: a lamp with five small flames and the words “First gas well”---a shorthand way of laying claim to the proud distinction of being the first place anywhere in the world to be lighted by natural gas.
Heritage Moments: Ely S. Parker, a ‘Real American’, at Appomattox
What Ely Samuel Parker was able to accomplish would have been remarkable for any man. But that Parker, a Tonawanda Seneca, accomplished all he did during a period of outright hatred against Native Americans is nothing short of incredible.
Heritage Moments: The night they invented chicken wings
We’re not entirely sure how the Buffalo chicken wing was invented, but there are some good tales, and they tend to revolve around what happened one night in 1964 at the Anchor Bar.
Heritage Moments: The Hero Policeman of the Blizzard of '77
The Blizzard of 1977 took 31 lives in Western New York and the Niagara Peninsula, long the most vicious, relentless and paralyzing storm in the living memory of a place often battered by brutal winter weather.
Heritage Moments: The Angel of Long Point
The 19th century is filled with tales of heroic rescues on the Great Lakes by the fearless lifesaving service, ships’ crews and brave civilians who risked their lives against impossible odds to save others. But among all of them, the extraordinary courage of one woman stands out---Abigail Becker, “the Angel of Long Point”.
Heritage Moments: Manny Fried, Buffalo’s ‘Most Dangerous Man’
When Manny Fried passed away at 97 in 2011, the Buffalo theater community lost a giant. But not just the theater community. Buffalo labor lost a giant too.