I hosted the two most recent episodes of the Nextbook podcast. The visit with composer Leonard Lehrman dwells on how he’s completed Marc Blitzstein’s unfinished works, but before Lehrman gets there his description of his own first opera is my favorite bit of tape of the year. Then there’s a tour of the S&S Cheesecake factory in the Bronx. Wish I had pictures of eating a quarter of a cheesecake with my hands. As always, producer Julie Subrin made the stories and me sound good; will miss working with her when I go.

For Nextbook’s Passover podcast, producer Julie Subrin and I stopped by Economy Candy on the Lower East Side and spoke with owner Jerry Cohen. His fruit slices taste better than most. Listen.