By Ben Olson
Reader Staff
With the world changing daily, we recognize that a printed weekly alternative newspaper doesn’t exactly cut the mustard during times of quarantine and social isolation. One of our sole purposes, after all, is to inform you of local events and happenings. But what happens when all the events go away and we isolate ourselves at home?
We have developed the Sandpoint Reader Podcast Series to both provide online content for social distance guidelines as well as offer a way to help support our staff, since I’ve had to lay everyone off to keep the paper alive through this period of uncertainty.
Zach Hagadone’s first video podcast, “13 Minutes of History” is the first video of many.
The series of video podcasts will touch on a plethora of topics, including news, history, humor, feature stories, community engagement and live music.
The first video has already been uploaded, called 13 Minutes of History with Zach Hagadone. In this first installment, Hagadone, who holds a master’s degree in history, touches on our very first pandemic: the 1721 smallpox outbreak in Boston. You can access the podcast here: https://bit.ly/ReaderPodcast-1
The plan is to release new videos at least once a week, probably more. Reader staff writer Lyndsie Kiebert is still formulating her subject matter for an upcoming show and stay tuned for Ben and Zach Drink Whiskey where we’ll talk about whatever subject comes to mind – and drink whiskey (when the rest of you were panic buying toilet paper, I was laying a stock of cheap rye).
On the music side of things, the Reader will also be hosting a series of live concerts and pre-recorded videos from local musicians who have seen all of their gigs get canceled due to the coronavirus.
The plan is to have a Friday Night Live concert each week from 7-8:30 p.m. where two or three bands/musicians play a live streamed show for those of you hungry for live music again.
The first Friday Night Live is scheduled for Friday, March 27 from 7-8:30 p.m. featuring three local bands: Cedar and Boyer (Justin and Jen Landis) from 7-7:30 p.m., followed by Harold’s IGA from 7:35-8 p.m. and finally Josh Hedlund from 8:05-8:30 p.m.
If there are any musicians or bands that would like to sign up for a future Friday Night Live set, email [email protected] to let me know. You should have the ability to live stream with a phone or camera and a decent internet connection.
Long live music and art!
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Coming up this week! Don’t miss out on Online Auctions, Purse Parties, Parties, Craft Fairs, and more! See the full list of events in the 
