The Fabulous 413

NYT Bestselling author/illustrator/animator Mo Willems shows us around his latest series of sketches, visit one of the largest livestock farms in western Mass at Great Falls Aquaculture, and Congressman Jim McGovern addresses the latest wave of student activism and the health care issues arising in Arizona.

We hear about the "this Light of Mine" event for the Childrens Advocacy Center of Hampshire County, discover a new book about the boy from Longmeadow who would become Johnny Appleseed with local author Melissa Cybulski, discuss developments with Merriam-Webster and the idiom "Begs the question" with word nerd Emily Brewster, and revisit our trip to the path of totality with all of it's adventurous moments.

It’s National Poetry Month! And what better way to celebrate than at the home of the area’s most famous, and possibly most prolific, poets! So we get a quick tour of the Emily Dickenson Museum. Located right on Main street in Amherst, the institution has just re-opened the Evergreens building to the public. We chat with Executive Director Jane Weld and Senior Programs Director Brooke Steinhauser to not just give us a taste of the poet’s life, but a brief history of the grounds becoming a museum, as well as why having the public bear witness to the restorations occurring is vital. One of the many programs that the museum offers is Phosphorescence: a program that evolved during the pandemic to showcase contemporary authors reading their work and more. We bring three poets who have participated in the museum to speak with us as well. Nicole Young Martin, Erica Charis Molling, and Abigail Chabitnoy each allow us to hear more of their work both on and off the page.

One would think that in a week were we had an unseasonably large nor’easter and an earthquake that we might be a little wary of finishing the time with a total solar eclipse. But it is also the last time this phenomena will be in New England until 2079 so there’s also little else we are thinking of, portents and precidents aside. So Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, clues us into some of the big discoveries in science that have only been possible due to research conducted in the small window of an eclipse, including Einstein’s theory of relativity, the discovery of helium, plus some of the things we might learn from the one happening today. Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam Webster, brings us words adjacent to the eclipse, including some idioms related to the heavenly body, and also makes us a bit sad with the origins of the word itself. And we get into a great resource for your kids to discover the occurrence as well. Lindsay Patterson and Marshall Escamilla found out all kinds of cool things about eclipses for their most recent episode of "Tumble: Science Podcast for Kids", including their song about it, and as a bonus hear about their upcoming episode about the confluence of Cicadas, another once in a lifetime event. And Monte and Kaliis took the day to go to the path of totality themselves. It was a bit of an unexpected adventure, but was it worth it? Totally.

We check in with the folx of the Cancer Connection at their Bed-In, drink superhero wines with the folx at Tip Top Wine Shop in Easthampton, and have a double Live Music Friday with locals Stompbox Trio, and Lady Moon & the Eclipse

We delve into the virtual worlds designed for this weekend's Power of Truths Festival with designer Khalif Neville, hear about pushing the boundaries of chamber music with the folx behind the Connections Concert at Bombyx this Sunday, And McGovern ponders what to do about Israel after the tragedy with World Central Kitchen

Caroline Rose joins us for a check-in before the second night of their residency, Diane and Robert Rollins tell us of the long road to bringing produce and poultry to the region at D & R Farms, Dave Hayes updates us on the slightly unseasonable sky-goings-on, and Word Nerd Emily Brewster sets time markers on our vocabulary with Retronyms.

We speak with State Senator Jake Olivera about some of the many issues on his agenda and his love of NPR, and we hear about the amalgam of art, history, and education that will make up the third Power of Truths Festival.

We hear about the $2M gift received by CATA, explore laughter in the 413 with the folx from Happier Valley Comedy, and Mr. Universe tells us about a western Massachusetts tie to eclipses though Emily Dickenson.

The weekend is a great time to explore. So we’ll encourage you to experience the full gender spectrum and support those on their gender journeys with the Resource and Arts Fair presented by Translate Gender on Sunday, March 31st. It’s not just celebration of the Transgender Day of Visibility, but a way to bring communities together for some of the gender affirming needs they may not have access to on a regular basis or be comfortable pursuing in a more public setting. We chat with co-director of Translate Gender, James Shultis and our own digital producer for The Fabulous 413, Ayu Suryawan, who often volunteers with them, about the organization’s mission, and the need to have space to just be you with no strings or qualifiers can be important to youn trans person growing up as well as their caretakers. Live Music Friday brings the genre malleable, raucously engaging Bella’s Bartok to the NEPM Studios. They’re performing March 30th at The Drake in Amherst, for their first hometown show of the year. We chat with them about their origins, the shift in sound on their latest album, “Apocalypse Wow”, and their efforts helping to raise funds to aid a friend of theirs escape the conflict in Rafah. And we’ll get a spectrum in our glasses as well. We head to Provisions in Longmeadow where owners Benson Hyde and Bruce McAmis show us the range of flavors possible in Italy, as we pit a north against south for our Wine Thunderdome, not to mention a preview of what can be experience at their Italian Wine Festival later this month

Word Nerd Emily Brewster doubles down into the history of the word "ditto", the MIFA Victory Players combine the music of Amy Beach and the poetry of Emily Dickenson in a program that will air on NEPM Classical this weekend, we learn about the first woman to play professional baseball with author Martha Ackmann, and Congressman Jim McGovern bemoans our inability to truly hear each other and have discourse.

It’s a triumphant return of the arts. Not that they ever left per se, but we are packing a bunch into this show. And honestly that return wasn’t certain in some cases. The strike of the UAW at Mass MoCA as events and festivals planned at that institution loomed ever larger on our calendars had everyone wondering what the future might hold for the museum. But as we check in with NEPM Reporter Jill Kaufmann, we discover that progress is indeed being made; not just in North Adams but in Holyoke with their receivership as well. It’s in an author making a visit to the valley to celebrate a new book. Ayize Jama-Everett has a storied career to be sure. He’s currently touring a documentary he’s co-produced on the use of psychedelics in the Black community, but making a stop in Easthampton at Book Moon on March 28th to celebrate the release the final book in his “Liminal” series. We speak with the man of many hats including author/professor about self starting his literary career, his inspirations, and connecting the future with history in all of his works. And it’s in a creative rejuvenation as well. The Springfield Symphony Orchestra has just created a new position of Artistic Advisor, and the first to hold that title will be Mei-Ann Chen. We speak with the maestra as well as president and CEO of the SSO, Paul Lambert, about her previous work with the symphony, what this means for the direction and development of the organization, and her call to conducting.

There’s a lot in our pasts in which we are seeing merit. For instance the Szymonik family who stepped away from their past lives in the early stages of the pandemic to seek something a little more connected to the land. And where they landed is Granby on the grounds of Deere Creek Farm. We speak with Naomi Szymonik about the intense diversity at the farm, from livestock, to flower CSAs, to event space, and why their various roads to agrotourism make their endeavor more sound. The Biden Administration has just issued new tailpipe pollution limits that could transform the automobile market. But is this too little too late, and will it have a greater impact on the current auto industry than believed? As the driver of an electric car, Monte speaks with professors Dwayne Breger and Erin Baker of UMass, as well as the institution’s director of transporation, Connie Englert, about how they see the present of electric cars shifting into our future, in Western Mass and beyond. And Kaliis is back from galavanting in Knoxville, Tennesee. We’ll ask how her schedule at the Big Ears Festival went, highs and lows and what she actually thought of seeing Andre 3000’s flute playing live.

We’ll hear from the Massachusetts Farm to School panel with Irene Shiang Li, food justice advocate and co-founder of Mei Mei Dumplings in Boston; Shavel’le Olivier, the executive director of Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition; and Easthampton’s Ollie Perrault, a seventeen year old climate activist, farmer, director of Youth Climate Action Now, and founding member of Maura Healey's advisory Youth Climate Council. These folx are here to tell us more about bringing fresh food and food education to our local communities. Plus, we invite western Massachusetts author Karen Chase to talk about her new book “History is Embarrassing.” We hear about the writing process and the importance of retelling history, public or private, through diverse and personal perspectives, even when it’s embarrassing! And, we’ll explore the cosmos with Mr. Universe! There have been talks to build a railroad on the moon, and Hampshire professor Salman Hameed tells us who would do it and why.

We are joined by the resident Swiftie and director of science at the Springfield Museums, Jenny Powers, to talk about the new planetarium show to feature “1989 -Taylor’s Version” every Saturday afternoon from Mar. 23 to May 18. For this week's Thunderdome, we join Michael Quinlin at Table and Vine to taste the “sun, stone, sea, and wind” of the Mediterranean. We choose which bottle best captures the power of the region's warm waters and sunshine. And, it’s Live Music Friday and we welcome rapper, podcaster and graphic novelist Tem Blessed ahead of his gig at the Drake in Amherst tonight. We hear about his message of social justice and sustainability to inspire positive change and global responsibility.

The Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference brings together people who share a commitment to protecting and furthering the rights of all Americans, both regionally and nationwide. We invite conference hosts John Fisher, fair housing coordinator for Way Finders, and Shaundell Diaz, entry coordinator for Three County Continuum of Care, to tell us more about the conference and how folx can come together to effectuate change on both a local and national level. Tonight at 9, NEPM TV will air a new documentary, “Where I Became,” that explores the personal journeys of a group of Smith students who left their homes in South Africa to pursue their dreams. We are joined by those alums, Jane Dawson Shang ‘82 and and filmmaker Council Brandon, who is also a Smithie, to tell us more about the film. And, we’re McGoverning with Rep. Jim McGovern and he touches on the end of the occupation of his Northampton office, his face to face with the president on St. Patrick’s Day, and whether or not the government shuts down this weekend.

All the world’s a stage. Or at least a select part of Montague Massachusetts is a stage. At least for the next 3 weeks. The first ever Montague Shakespeare Festival descends upon The Shea Theater and working with the famous Royal Shakespeare Company, this is such stuff that dreams are made on for fans of The Bard. We’ll hear all about the method to the madness of The Montague Shakespeare Festival from Executive Director Kenny Butler and from Fiona Ross from The Royal Shakespeare Company Word Nerd Emily Brewster needs your help in coming up with a word for a category of words that she’s been investigating where the poetic meaning of these words predates the prose And we’ll hear about how to support local journalism when we talk with two Report for America journalists-The Springfield Republican’s Greta Jocem and NEPM’s Nirvani Williams

It’s more than just legacy that we discover by looking at the past. Sometimes, we see a way forwards. What started as an orchard in 188, evolved into a retail market in 1962, and has continued to expand into what we now know as Atkins Farms Country Market. Although the original orchard is no longer attached to the retail store, the location is still dedicated to providing local produce and prepared foods to meet the needs of the community. We chat with the Jen Adams, Andy Ladas, and Kelly Lannon about building a healthy work community, the importance of connecting with local farms, and the power of cider donuts. Occasionally, it reveals things we missed. Local historian and archivist for Springfield Museums Cliff McCarthy drop by the studios to tell us of more Black figures from Western Massachusetts history including Aaron Nazro and the League of Gileadites, and give some insight how you too could become part of the process to make these hidden figures in time more visible to more folx. If we’re lucky, those looks through time take us much further than we would have believed. Such is the case at Downtown Sounds in Northampton, where a chance appraisal of an old Martin Guitar lead Aaron Borucki through more channels in American luthier history than he could have imagined. We talk with him about the cascade of discoveries he encountered surrounding the 1868 instrument, and what impact learning about the guitar has on his outlook as well as the store’s.

Sometimes it feels like we’re making our own adages about things being lost and found. In the instance of Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, it’s with the ongoing question of extraterrestrials and whether they’ve visited us or not. The Department of Defense has recently released a paper on this subject with perhaps disappointing results depending on which side of this coin one finds themselves on. We look at how those findings might fit with the bigger picture of speculating on life in the cosmos. Where Holyoke is concerned, its in a housing project forgotten over the years. We speak with local historian and PhD candidate Erika Slocumb about her podcast “Drawing Liberty Park from Memory” where she speaks with folx from the local black community about the Liberty Park Housing Project, a federal initiative that became the only public housing that allowed black people to live within it. Through that lens we’re able to discover more about all of our communities and the traces that they leave over the years. And it’s being found in the changing of hands. The Kitchen Garden Farm has seen a shift in leadership, where two of the longtime workers have now taken over the operation. We head to Sunderland to talk with Max Traunstein and Lilly Israel about the triumphs and challenges of stepping into their new roles as owners, including a bit of fundraising they’re doing to help with the closing costs for the endeavor. And then of course, we have to see how the giardinera gets made, because it’s too delicious not to do so.

We get another glimps of the Back Porch Festival with Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem who'll perform twice in the event's run, check out the new tanglewood season with conductor of the Boston Pops Keith Lockhart, and make the wine thunderdome into a battle of north vs. south with white burgundies at State Street Deli, WIne & Spirits.

We hear about Emily Dickenson's Irish connection with Rosemary Caine and folx connected with her work "Margaret Maher and the Celtification of Emily DIckenson", talk tree gold with the MAssachusetts Maple association president Keith Bardwell in Whately, check in with congressman Jim McGovern about Capitol Hill and the recent "visitors" to his office, and eat pie, because it's Pi Day.

We learn how to play the bagpipes (sorta!) with Tina Harkness and Rick Rabe of the Springfield Kiltie Band, sit with Hector Flores and Denise Carlos of Las Cafeteras who are headed to Northampton for the Back Porch Festival, and learn the proper places to put prepositions with our resident wordster, Emily Brewster of Merriam Webster

It’s inevitable that new paths be forged. We see it in the 71 year tradition that has become the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It’s grown from a one day celebration of the Irish community, to a two day extravaganza recognized by the Library of Congress. Committee president Hayley Dunn joins us to talk about the evolution of the parade, and her role within it, as they gear up for the culmination of all their hard work this weekend in the Paper City. We see it in a place that we know well, that is now facing a labor standstill. The members of the UAW that work at Mass MoCA have been on strike for the past week, after 4 months of stalled negotiations. But this conflict and lack of resolution has repercussions that are reverberating far past the museum’s campus. NEPM’s Jill Kaufman explains some of the nuances involved as the stalemate continues. And it’s in what the future holds. A recent series of connected articles in Scientific American and Nature have looked at population projections for American towns and cities in the year 2100, and the generalized numbers are not looking great for rural Massachusetts. In fact the list in the article published in Mass Live about the findings cites an overwhelming number of Franklin County municipalities at the top of the list for population decline. So we chat with the trio of legislators who penned a retort to that article about “Ghost Towns”, listing 11 ways we as a commonwealth could address the issues these articles brought up. State Senator Jo Comerford, and State Representatives Natalie Blais and Susannah Whipps outline some of their concerns from the list, which is starting to gain traction on Beacon Hill.

Sometimes things we don’t expect come together. Like entirely new artistic direction. Musician Caroline Rose is preparing for a 2 night residency at Bombyx in Florence, expanding her latest album “The Art of Forgetting” with performances backed by the Metropolis Ensemble. We explore the coincidence of losing their grandmother plus a literal and figurative breakup that caused them to explore the nature of grief in song, and what going to the Grammy’s is like. And Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, has a missing neutron star from Supernova 1987, Ramadan and it’s shifting end, and the recent Ocsars all converge on his horizons.

Music, wine, and a movie sounds like a good time, right? Sometimes, you gotta take that good time on the road. We heard about Juicebox from our Franklin County Wine Friend and sommelier Ken Washburn, who mentioned it’s opening as he opened his oldest bottle for us to try. We are always down for a field trip, so we make the journey to Shelburne Falls to visit this tiny gem of a wine bar and pit its amazing list of low intervention wines against each other for our Wine Thunderdome, which also gets a surprise guest! On occasion, you’re the good time itself. Dennis Crommett brings is very sweet and comfy sounds as a singer songwriter to the studio for Live Music Friday. We figure his upcoming set a the Back Porch Festival next week might lean heavily on his latest album “Get Gone'“ but we also get to be curious with the guitarist about the differences in playing for oneself, as opposed to the valley mainstays he’s also a part of: Winterpills and Spanish for Hitchhiking. And the Oscars are this weekend, and even though Kaliis has seen nearly none of the nominees, we get to ask some local figures who are a bit more involved with them about their picks and how important the awards can be. Filmmaker and actual academy member Larry Hott gives us some insight to the voting and viewing process, as well as what the actual award ceremony is like, while Amherst Cinemas programming director George Myers talks about how this period of time can be crucial to smaller community movie houses.

Collaboration can be magical, it’s true. We see it in a friendship that bloomed online and is benefiting a community facing agricultural crisis.Chef Neftali Duran talks about a fundraiser for Proyecto Rosenda. In addition to letting us know which Mezcal brands genuinely benefit the indigenous community that invented the spirit, we hear about how the non-profit he started to aid the area in reforestation, crop diversity, and climate change resilience is doing, and how Laura Reed got involved in wanting to help. There’s the amazing collaboration of promoters and musicians that are doing their best to expand the ears of the listeners of Western Mass. This weekend the Music CSA program Secret Planet hosts the festival An Almost Spring Weekender at Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, which will bring DJs, Bands and music makers from all over the world to the Berkshires. We chat with organizer Edo Mor, and have a performance by one of the band that is not only playing the festival, but at an additional show at The Drake on March 7th: Orchestra Gold. And our weekly chat with Congressman Jim McGovern delves into some of the more tedious aspects of his legislative calling, namely the State of the Union Address.

We sit with all-around food justice championer Liz O'Gilvie who is taking part in CISA's storytelling event Field Notes this Sunday, hear about the 40+ year legacy of Girls Inc of the Valley with Jess Colson, and get into a listener question about resurging pronounciations with resident wordster Emily Brewster

It’s an emotional rollercoaster, today’s show. First, the ups: The Back Porch Festival is headed back to Northampton next weekend, March 15-17. Last year the event expanded to include more music, more venues, and more genres than ever before and Signature Sounds is keeping that momentum up this year with the most content we’ve ever seen. Jim Olsen, joins us to talk about the good musical trouble the organization is getting up to with musicians from near and far this weekend. The downs are twin flames. Red Fire Farm suffered incredible losses due to a blazing inferno in the middle of February at their Granby location. Despite the destruction of their barn, farmstand, a greenhouse, and more from the blaze, their farming life continues, especially at this busy time of year for folx in agriculture. We take a visit to the site of the fire with proprietors Ryan and Sarah Voiland to talk about what happened, how they’re proceeding, and how the community and state can help them to endure. And one that straddles. Winners of NPR’s 2017 Tiny Desk Contest, Tank & The Bangas are currently on tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of their first album “Think Tank”. They’ve come a long long way from those open poetry mic nights and we talk with Tarriona “Tank” Ball about the journey that they’ve taken and what the future holds for their ever rising star.

It’s not that we’re seeing double, but we are getting things in twos. There has been a wave of municipalities calling for ceasefires regarding the conflicts between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza. The Amherst town council is poised to vote on one this very evening. But how effective are measures like these in a domestic or international context? We get two different approaches and opinions on this from the Leyla Moushabeck, Uri Straus, and Josna Rege from Amherst 4 Ceasefire as well as Amherst Town councilor and sponsor of the resolution Pat De Angelis, and from Owen Zaret, secretary of the Jewish Federation of Western Mass about each of their views on approaching what one town can do to confront the ongoing struggles in Gaza. There’s the correlation between a classic piece of American Fiction and one western Massachusetts woman’s lineage as well. Author Mickey Rathbun has just released “The Real Gatsby: George Gordon Moore-A Granddaughter's Memoir” about the very compelling correlation between the work of fiction and the real-life story of her grandfather. We chat about discovering this story and what those parallels mean to her today. And there’s sequels of course, even when they aren’t really sequels. Which is to say that Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, saw Dune this weekend and has some thoughts to share on the subject.

We drink Croatian wine with winemaker Kreso Petrekovic, take a tour of the Dr. Seuss exhibits at Springfield Museums as they gear up for celebrations honoring his birthday, welcome back the Northampton Record Fair with organizer Justin Cohen, and have a harmonious Live Music Friday with the trio Eavesdrop

It's the 320th anniversary of the Deerfield Raid, but much has been learned about the incident in the intervening years. So we speak with author and historian James Swanson who has just released a new book about this moment in early American history. “The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack, a Forced March, and the Fight for Survival in Early America”. Before he comes to Deerfield Academy this weekend to speak about the book, he chats with us about some of the details surrounding the event, how it’s been portrayed over the course of American History, and some parallels we might note to global events. And we see some of the items he mentions at Deerfield’s Memorial Hall Museum. In addition to bringing Swanson to speak about the incident on March 3rd, they’ve just updated their exhibit to be more inclusive of the many people and voices involved. It all still surrounds the one surviving door of the conflict, and we chat with curator Ray Radigan and curatorial assistant Lindsay Kruzlic about the shifts in perspective and how those get represented in their many displays. Plus our weekly chat with congressman Jim McGovern sees the representative beset with a series of delays causing much consternation.

It is absolutely the time to explore the idea of freedom. This is especially true for us here in Massachusetts; a place that has always had a connection to the pursuit of liberty but also a much murkier connection to the legacy of enslavement. We chat with local historian Cliff McCarthy, who has participated in some of the local initiatives to recover more of these histories including Freedom Stories of the Pioneer Valley, about some figures that are tied to the specific black history of Western Mass. It’s the whole conceit behind the recent exhibit at the Williams College Museum of Art. We continue our exploration of Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation with curator Destinee Filmore and see how history has been interwoven throughout the collection, and question how color and stance can both influence how we see ourselves, and how we free ourselves. And Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, takes a gander at a listener question about graciousness as it seems in the modern era, people have liberated themselves from the phrase “You’re Welcome” .

We get a sneak peek of CISA's upcoming event Field Notes with Tessa White Diemand of Diemand Farms in Wendell, look at the intersections of the humanities and environmental work with professor Malcom Sen of UMass, and take a tour of the exhibit "Emancipation" at the Williams College Museum of Art with curator Destinee Filmore.

We take a glance at the Point/Counterpoint speaker series with moderator professor Ilan Stavans, hear about a corporate lunar landing and what that could mean for the future of the moon with Mr. Universe, and head to Pittfield to get a taste of the Carribean at the newest eatery on North St.: BB's Hot Spot.

We take Live Music Friday on the road to hang out with punk rock duo Film & Gender, check out a new fabric store in Holyoke that's on a mission to conserve both broadway and hollywood fabrics and your clothes, hear about CSA week with CISA and Mark Rutkowski of Rivershed Farm, and make our own birthday-styled Wine Thunderdome.

We hear about the two events happening in Greenfield this weekend centered around the Rights to Nature movement with Dian Dix of the Nolumbeka Project and Livia Charles of Western Mass Rights to Nature, and hang out with another Amherst College alum who's headed back to campus for LitFest this weekend, Brown University professor Lisa Biggs.

We head to Umass' exhibition that combines art, science, Indigenous HIstory and more with Interim director of Umass Contemporary Art Museum Amanda Herman, start a new pursuit in the name of marginalized local history with professor Ousmane Power-Green, and get up close and particular with pronouns and Word Nerd Emily Brewster.

We hear about the community building and restorative work of Jesse Freidin and his latest series "Are You Ok?" which centers transgendered and gender non-conforming youth, and chat with Sam Lovejoy about the 50th anniversary of his tower toppling feat and the documentary about the event that will have a showing at the Shea Theater later this week.

We delve into the music catalog of Sopie Et Adam before their show at 33 Hawley, talk with confirmed MacArthur "Genius" Grant recipient author Kelly Link about her brand new novel, and discover the new wine shop on the town in Easthampton at Tip Top Wine Shop for the wine thunderdome.

It’s the year of the dragon, but some of the other years are making other appearances in our show today.

We find out about an initiative to help the communities around the Quabbin Reservoir that don't have access to the waters in their backyard with NEPM Reporter Alden Bourne, Talk memoir and memories with Amherst College alums Aparna Nancherla and Jen Acker in preperation for the College's Lit Fest, and delight in liguistic misfires with Word Nerd Emily Brewster of Merriam Webster.

Lassiez les bon temps roulez!

We’re trying to make plans for the week really. That’s a large part of our chat with Dave Hayes, the Weather Nut. We heard there’s a bit of a storm headed our way and we tap the armchair meteorological specialist to find out how intense the storm is really going to be. We also cajole him into elaborating on the difference between the snow storms we might encounter. And speaking of meteors, Mr. Universe explores the process and some of the early results of a meteoroid that fell just outside of Berlin at the end of January. We also get into aubrites and why they’re so important, as well as the briefest of recaps of yesterday’s Superb Owl and its ads. And punk elder statesman Ted Leo is gearing up for a show at The Drake in Amherst on Feb 16. So of course we jump at the chance to talk with him about the evolution of the punk scene, how different parts of the country sound, and his cameo on “Stephen Universe”.

Folk artist of many disciplines Sean Rowe joins us for Live Music Friday, discover the nuances of appellation with a couple of interesting examples at Table & Vine for the WIne Thunderdome, and celebrate the beginning of maple season with pancakes (and waffles) at the North Hadley Sugar Shack.

Two Black History Month celebrations stop by the studio, the first a month long speaker series in Springfield, the second the culmination of months of research in Northampton, plus congressman Jim McGovern gets accolades from a jedi (or the joker) on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

It is another day where we’re looking for ties that might bring us closer. In the case of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, they’ve got another program on the docket that looks to bring in bring in a much wider selection of the local community. Havana Nights will be an evening of latin diaspora spanning music from the traditionally “classical” to modern samba, merengue, salsa, and more, featuring The Mambo Kings. We speak with SSO president Paul Lambert, SSO director of development Heather Gawron, and soloist Camille Zamora about the many ways music can bridge cultures, the importance of pop music in symphonic settings, and the joys of live music. While across town, another sort of bridge emerges. On Feb 13th, NEPM will host a showing of the documentary “The Cost of Inheritance” at Springfield College. The film takes focuses on the issue of reparations for decendants of enslaved peoples in the United States by looking at efforts on both macro and micro scales. The showing will be followed by a moderated panel featuring local experts. We speak with two of those panelists, Amherst College’s Dr. Stefan Bradley, and AHRA’s Michele Miller, about why economic struggles are often subsumed under social ones, and what some of the local efforts towards reparations might look like. We’re connecting our words too. And that requires punctuation. But a listener question from Anne in Montague has us wondering about the nature and need for commas. Our resident wordster, Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, helps us unparse the use of the serial/Oxford/Harvard comma. (We also discover a bit of its history with the help from Shady Characters.)

Happy New Year! It’s lunar new year, and we’re entering the Year of the Dragon. More than a billion people will be celebrating this weekend, including some in Florence. Bombyx is having a Lunar New Year celebration on Feb 10th, hosted by local author illustrator Grace Lin, who herself has written a book on the subject. We speak with her about some of the symbols and traditions that they’ll be teaching about during the festivities. New years often mean a look at the things you’d like to accomplish, and to that end we’re looking at economic equity. Team R3set was built to specifically look at the economic disparity of disenfranchised communities and built platforms and pathways to make them more resilient. We speak with co-founder John Lewis about why economic equity can be just as important as social equity, and why re-framing what that evening out looks like is vitally important. The new year also brings with it times to reflect on the things that have been done in the past. Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed reveals the legacy of Henrietta Leavitt, without whose work we may not have been able to explore as much of the universe as we are able to today, and at the apologies that are only now being offered for the disparagement of her research and ideas.

Today’s show is all about giving back. It’s in regular members of our community who come together to help our growing youth one on one. CHD’s Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County hosts the second annual “Big Love, Little Performances”, a fundraiser where the who’s who of the area come together to sing karaoke for the cause. Executive Director Susan Nicastro joins us to talk up how important mentors are, how great their need is, and mention how much “rick-rolling” will probably happen at this event. It’s in the preservation of the memory and legacy of an activist couple from Deerfield. Wally and Juanita Nelson were the impetus of many stalwarts in Greenfield, including the Farmer’s Market, and the Harvest supper. They lived a philosophy that has inspired many in the years before and after their passing. We talk with Bob Bady and Betsy Williams of the Nelson Legacy Project, itself a branch of the Nelson Homestead, about the influence of the couple’s practice of passivism, the classes they teach under this ideology, and more. And it’s in a community being delayed in it’s efforts to right itself. The Holyoke Public Schools have been in receivership since 2015. This past fall, mayor Joshua Garcia, acting in his capacity as chairman of the school committee, petitioned the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for a release from that receivership. This past weekend, they were sent notification that the decision for that release would be deferred to a later date. But what does that delay mean in the interim for the schools and students of Holyoke? How is the state measuring the growth of a city’s educational focus against their expectations? We delve into the many repercussions with the Mayor, along with newly appointed vice-chair of the school committee Erin Brunelle, and Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page.

We sip wine from the turn of the century at State Street Wine & Provisions, Gush all about Dave Rothstein's latest surreal adventure of winning a snow sculpture contest, and celebrate The Colony's Motel's final show at Luthier's this bandcamp and Live Music Friday

We hang out with the host of our new show sibling, Carrie Saldo of NEPM's "The Rundown", explore more fallout from the shifting of the liquor licenses in Northampton with Parlor Room Collective executive director Chris Freeman, discover fun winter board games for the dark days with Justin Dowd of Start Playing Games, and Congressman Jim McGovern discusses the bipartisan Child Tax Credit, the connection between food and medicine and more