Turning Point tells the stories of individual Westporters’ life transitions and how they navigated them. Changes come in all varieties, shapes, and sizes: Some are welcoming and bright, others can be dark and frightening. But one way or the other, your path is changed dramatically and you’re now on a new course. In Turning Point, you’ll hear these remarkable stories — the ones that changed lives, delving into the unique experiences of the remarkable people who compose our remarkable town, offering valuable insights and wisdom derived from their life transitions.
Your host for these conversations is longtime journalist, photographer, and artist Jay Schadler. For more than three decades, Jay traveled the world as a correspondent and anchor for ABC News, 20/20, Nightline, Good Morning America, National Geographic TV, and others, and his work has also been featured on Bravo and Discovery. He was honored with an Emmy for Best Investigative Journalism (Network News Magazine) and Best Feature Hour (Network News Magazines), in addition to winning the National Environmental Media Award.
With Dan Woog
Dan Woog has been covering Westport longer than most of its residents have lived here. His column "Woog World" has run in the Westport News since 1986 — and his blog 06880 has become the town's unofficial public square. But Dan isn't just a chronicler of this community. He's helped shape it... listen to what it means to spend a career telling the stories of the place you call home.
With John Roundtree
John Roundtree has spent his career designing homes built to harness the sun — structures made to be resilient, efficient, and full of light. But long before he became an architect, he learned something about foundations: they can fail. At 21, a life-threatening illness stripped everything down to the studs. His story moves along two converging paths — one physical, one transcendent — and arrives somewhere unexpected: at gratitude, purpose, and a life designed, finally, with the light in mind.
With Miggs Burroughs
By the time Miggs Burroughs became one of Westport's most beloved artists and thinkers, he had already survived a British jail cell at 19 — and a murder plot he didn't see coming. Not everyone who knew him then would have predicted he'd become a luminous creative force and a man of rare philosophical depth. This is the story of how extremity becomes clarity, and how a life shaped by danger can become a life devoted to beauty.
With Stephanie Mastocciolo
Stephanie Mastocciolo keeps her turning points simple: love and loss. But nothing about her journey has been simple. From a Caribbean-Haitian childhood to life as a first-generation American, from a career in finance and high fashion to the identity she always wanted most — a mother — her story is a study in deliberate reinvention. In this conversation, she talks about what it costs to become yourself, and what it costs to let go.
With Doug & Patti Brill
Imagine what your world would be like if you had no memory. Doug Brill doesn’t have to imagine it…he lives it. Nearly a quarter century ago, a rare brain virus stole his memory…forever. For Doug, the past does not exist. With his wife Patti at his side, we explore what it means to live a life where all of your yesterdays have simply vanished.
With Jenny and Anthony Capalbo
When 18-year-old Charlie suddenly took ill while playing in a hockey tournament with his younger brother, little did anyone know that a cruel diagnosis and the deepest act of love were about to become the cornerstones of the Capalbo’s family story.
With Gerardo Lambert
Gerardo Lambert has traveled a twisting path from fitness guru and body builder to heart attack victim and back again. His trail leads through a three-month coma and his awakening with a new heart and an old lesson in humility and purpose.
With Jim Kudzo
The isolation caused by the Covid pandemic rippled across so many of our lives. But for Kevin Kudzo —a 17-year-old All-American boy — it deepened a depression he was already battling. In 2021, he took his life. Though devastated beyond words, Kevin’s parents turned the tragedy into a propelling legacy by creating “Afterglow,” a program dedicated to helping others struggling with mental health issues.
With Andrew Wilk
For an amazing ride, hitch onto this conversation with the extraordinary Andrew Wilk, a five-time Emmy Award-winning producer and director of Stars in Concert for PBS, Live from Lincoln Center, and the National Geographic Channel. Oh, and you also might just catch him at the podium conducting a major symphony or two. Welcome to one star with a galaxy of talents.
