Step inside the home and studios of Thomas Cole, the English-born painter whose 1825 discovery of the Catskill Mountains launched America's first homegrown art movement, the Hudson River School. This episode walks through Cedar Grove, Cole's Federal-style house in Catskill, New York, from the porch view he painted more than any other subject to his original 1839 studio and the more architecturally ambitious 1846 New Studio he designed near the end of his life. Along the way, we cover Cole's surprising history as an early environmental writer, the Library Gallery's current exhibition “Contemporary Vistas,” and the Hudson River Skywalk that connects this site to Olana, the home of Cole's student Frederic Edwin Church. We also recommend two local spots to eat -- Creekside Restaurant and Bar on Catskill Creek and Subversive Malting and Brewing's farmhouse taproom -- plus nearby stops at CREATE Council on the Arts and Dutchman's Landing Park, and lodging options from Peloke's Motel to the bed-and-breakfasts of nearby Hudson, New York.

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Sagamore Hill, the longtime home of President Theodore Roosevelt, sits on a grassy rise above Oyster Bay Harbor on Long Island's Gold Coast , , about 35 miles east of Manhattan. Roosevelt lived here from 1885 until his death in January 1919, and during his presidency from 1901 to 1909, the 23-room Queen Anne shingle-style house served as his "Summer White House," hosting foreign dignitaries, presidential campaign visits, and the opening moves of diplomacy that would end the Russo-Japanese War. The interior has been preserved , , not restored , , with nearly all original furnishings intact, and guided house tours led by National Park Service rangers take visitors through nearly the entire home, including the library where Roosevelt wrote 18 of his books, the children's rooms, and the grand North Room added in 1905 to accommodate presidential-scale entertaining.

In this episode, we walk through the history of how Sagamore Hill came to be , , from the tragedy that preceded its construction, to the ranching years in the Dakota Territory, to the decades of family life and history that unfolded on these 83 acres. We explore the Old Orchard Museum and Visitor Center, the nature trails, the beach path down to Cold Spring Harbor, and the surrounding Oyster Bay area. We also cover the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center and the president's gravesite at Youngs Memorial Cemetery nearby.

Nearby places to eat and drink mentioned in this episode: Oyster Bay Brewing Company on Audrey Avenue, Gioia on South Street in Oyster Bay, and The Audrey on Audrey Avenue. Nearby sites covered in this episode: the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center on Cove Road, and Youngs Memorial Cemetery where Roosevelt and his wife Edith are buried.

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Times Square is the most famous intersection in the world -- a canyon of light, energy, and spectacle at the heart of Midtown Manhattan where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue.

In this episode of Walking Tour of New York, we explore the full story of Times Square: from its origins as a gritty carriage district called Longacre Square to its transformation into the world's most iconic entertainment neighborhood. We trace the remarkable history of publisher Adolph Ochs and the New York Times, how a newspaper headquarters gave this neighborhood its name and its most beloved New Year's Eve tradition, and how the first ball drop in 1907 -- a 700-pound iron orb lowered from a flagpole -- grew into the global celebration watched by over a billion people each year. We walk through the Theater District, explore more than forty Broadway houses and the stories behind them, visit the TKTS discount booth at Father Duffy Square for same-day Broadway tickets, and stop at the Museum of Broadway to understand the world behind the curtain. We also cover dining highlights: Sardi's on West 44th Street, the legendary Broadway institution open since 1921 whose walls are covered with over a thousand celebrity caricatures; The View Restaurant and Lounge at the Marriott Marquis, New York's only revolving restaurant; Joe Allen on West 46th Street; and Los Tacos No. 1 right in the square. Nearby sites covered include Rockefeller Center, Central Park, the Empire State Building, Bryant Park, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and Lincoln Center.

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