The Fabulous 413

There’s a little irony in there being so much to do at the end of the year, as if the last day of 2023 itself is a deadline. And some of the celebrations coming are ones that may be unfamiliar to you. Kwanzaa might just be the least understood of the late fall/early winter, year-end holidays, but the Kwanzaa Collective is here to not just teach us of the 7 days themselves, but to encourage the community to come out and celebrate together. Umass Professor Amilcar Shabazz and Educator Ayanna Crawford join us in studio to talk about Kwanzaa’s origins, meaning, and how you can celebrate right here in Western Massachusetts. Then we head to Hadley for the many head of dairy cows and more at Barstow’s Longview Farm, Dairy Store, and Bakery. We chat with Denise Barstow Manz, communications manager, about their herd and bakery, the effects of the floods on them, and their amazing anaerobic combuster, and how important keeping food local is at this very moment. And Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, gives us his year end recommendations and one last astral event for which you make want to keep an eye on the skies.

Twas a week before X-mas and all through the show we were getting excited for what’s coming. For some of us that means parties. And when one of your previous guests heads south to get their party on at The White House, you ask them all you can about it so you can live vicariously through their experience. Western New England Professor of Law Jennifer Taub has just come back from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, and gives us all the sordid details about getting your holiday on with a pile of podcasters in the president’s house. For some of us that means engaging with the wealth of myths, legends, and figures connected with the wide swath of holidays at the end of the year. We chat with folklorist Jeff Belanger about some of the tales we encountered in his latest book, “The Fright Before Christmas: Surviving Krampus and Other Yuletide Monsters” about all the solstice oriented things that go bump in the snow. And for some of us, that’s getting ready for the parties of next year. One such party only happens every other year up in North Adams. 2024 will see the return of Solid Sound, the Wilco curated 3-day festival at Mass MoCA, and they’ve just announced the lineup earlier today. We get Jeff Tweedy, frontman for Wilco, Tweedy, and more to walk us through some of the highlights of this years participants, and why hosting this festival at an art museum has become a perfect partnership.

The end of the year brings with it all sorts of celebrations. Some are the kind we make for ourselves. The Holiday Queer BIPOC Makers Market in Holyoke this Saturday, Dec 16th is one such endeavor. At a time when we are actively encouraging folks to think more locally with their spending this giving season, this particular market is shining light on those creators that may not be as illuminated as others. We speak with organizer Ebbie Russell, about making this market accessible on both sides of the table, and how vital it is to see oneself when opening one’s wallet. Speaking of making the celebrations you want to see in the world, local singer songwriter Kimaya Diggs is hosting her 3rd Annual Kimaya Diggs and Friends Holiday show at The Drake in Amherst this Saturday as well. She joins us for Live Music Friday and elaborates on what makes a good holiday song and why making this seasonal festivity has become so important. Any celebration around this time of year needs bubbles, so we head out to West Springfield to enjoy sparkling wine with Table & Vine Wine Ambassador Michael Quinlan. No not champagne, but cremeaux as we learn in this session of the Tina Turner Wine Thunderdome. But we also discover how much flavor those without the appellation can still pack into a glass. And Congressman Jim McGovern, though a day late, is no less passionate about his positions on Capital Hill as we hear about the many confrontations he’s encountered on the house floor in these last days of the body being in session.

It’s our 200th show! What better way than to celebrate with a live show in an idyllic location preserved in honor of someone who made some of the more iconic holiday illustrations of the 20th Century? So we head southwest to Stockbridge to the Norman Rockwell Museum, where we’re able to get insights to the place’s namesake and his contribution to the evolution of American art with chief curator Stephanie Plunkett. Though the museum delves deeply into Rockwell’s work, it also shows exhibits of work adjacent to the legacy he left behind, and we’re able to discover all of the tangents they’ve brought together for the season. We also speak with some of the folx creating “Bring Back the Movies: Holiday Edition” this weekend. It’s a second incarnation of a fundraiser for Great Barrington’s Triplex CInemas presented over the summer, the event will see nationally known Berkshires actors give readings and reinterpretations of classic holiday movie scenes onstage at Simon’s Rock at Bard College. Director Michelle Joyner, and actors and real life couple Jayne Atkinson and Michel Gill help us explore what’s compelling about artistic re-imaginings like these, especially when they involve sing-a-longs, and why events of this ilk are vital in order to invigorate local art scenes. And it wouldn’t be a live show without music, and we’re lucky that once-Pittsfield-now-Lenox resident Billy Keane is able to stop by to talk about his show at the Egremont Barn on Dec. 16th. He’s got a new album he put out earlier this year, and we’re able to talk about his process of songwriting in the many musical endeavors we’ve seen him be a part of over the years.

We’re suckers for unexpected love stories. Like the one between dinosaurs and local history. An unlikely pairing to be sure, but one you can discover this weekend at the Great Greenfield Dinofest. We chat with Tim Neuman from the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association and artist Christopher Janke about this ecclectic combination of the region’s paleontological and abolitionist histories, and how the many events throughout the weekend’s free festivities can bring us all closer to Greenfield’s storied past. There’s one near the bomb as well. In this case, two activists lobbying the globe to put down their nuclear arms and start thinking critically about the encroaching environmental benchmarks that we, as a planet, are hoping to avoid. Timmon Wallis and Vicki Elson, nobel prize winners for their work on nuclear armament who fell in love with each other through the cause, give us a preview of Wallis’ latest book “Warheads to Windmills: Preventing Climate Catastrophe and Nuclear War”. They show some ways in which laying down our weapons really could save the world, which is at the core of work of their organization Nuclearban.us. And Word Nerd Emily Brewster, our resident wordster and senior editor at Merriam-Webster, continues our perusal of the would-be words of the year, including her very favorite.

The ways in which the community comes together are some of the most beautiful things that happen in Western Mass. And come together we did this year after two unseasonable frosts decimated tree fruits and the floods of July and seemingly unending rains have left our farms and farmers limping into next year. In response, a vast array of remedies came to the fore to help the agriculture of western Massachusetts. We chat with MDAR director Ashley Randle about the $20 million in relief funds that her department has just finished allocating, how the funds are helping over 300 farms across the Bay State, and how the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources plans to prepare for more of these disasters in the future. The punk scene of old collaborates with that of the new for a fundraiser at JJ’s Tavern. Several local bands will convene at the Florence venue to raise money for Translate Gender. Organizer Kevin Schmith joins us to give us a glimpse of the western Mass punk scene that was, and how DIY spirit can both aid and strengthen the community, even across age and gender divides. And such community action totally deserves a sweet treat. Lucky for all of us, Baked goods and more are on offer at Blossoming Acres Farm in Southwick. Even luckier, the farm has made it possible for you to make those baked goods a part of your CSA. We speak with proprietor Lenita Bober about their innovative farm share, how both private and public programs have helped the farm in light of the calamitous weather of this year, and some tasty activities happening at their farm stand this weekend.

As the year winds to a close, we start to review all we’ve been through over the past ~50 weeks. And in that way, our minds continuously harken back to the nigh catastrophic weather we had this year. From the frosts to the floods and the ongoing rains that have kept our end of the state sodden, it’s been a trying year for agriculture across the board. The public and private sector collaboration initiated by the Governor has just concluded it’s distribution, so we check in with Phil Korman of CISA on what lessons we can take from the Massachusetts Farm Resilliency Fund reaching the end of its current run. We’re reminiscing on astronomical events said weather makes unwatchable for us, including one that helps us to understand more of how stars work. Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, talks about an eclipse of the star Betelgeuse and its eventual supernova, plus how gamma rays help with that detection. And as the holidays approach, and frankly in light of the weather disasters of this year, we consider how we can do our part to mitigate some of the environmental impacts we impart. One of the easiest and most accessible ways we can do that is through recycling. But it turns out that many of us have been doing recycling all wrong, and with a season of gift wrap and present packaging approaching, we check in with Arlene Miller and Amy Donovan of the Springfield Materials Recycling Facilities Advisory Board to learn some of the true “do”s and “don’t”s of this particular ecological practice.

It is a massively busy weekend here in Western Mass. Or perhaps just an extremely jam-packed Saturday, December 9th. That’s in no small part due to the largess of art going on in Northampton this weekend. We bring in Anne Thalheimer, an organizer behind the Lowbrow Craft Fair, one of the longer running makers markets in Noho, and one of four happening in that town on Dec. 9th. We get into the specifics of her particular gathering, how well their new home at First Churches suits them, and some of the fun local wares we’re all eager to patronize. That day will also see the return of the State Street Deli, Wine, & Spirits Gala after a covid-induced hiatus. We amp ourselves up for the event by trying two of the wines that will be on display at the Northampton store, both “big” red wines, and we bring a guest taster along for the ride: NEPM reporter Nirvani Williams. We’re no strangers to marching, and this weekend will also see a walk from Northampton to Springfield that calls for a ceasefire in the West Bank on December 10th. The local chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace is behind this feat, and we speak with Kaia Jackson and Charlie Hollenbeck about the nuances and need for efforts like this. And local folk legend Tracy Grammer visits the studio for Live Music Friday. She’s got two, count ‘em two, shows happening over the next few days, and in addition to hearing selections from her latest album, she shares her experiences in re-recording the work of her late partner, Dave Carter, and the lessons of enduring the evolving musical landscape. Note: The March for Palestine has been postponed to December 16th due to inclement weather. More information can be found on their website.

There’s plenty to illuminate here in the 413 this week. Including the holiday that is literally all about illumination and resilience. It’s the first day of Hannukah, so we check in with Rabbi Amy Wallk of Temple Beth El in Springfield about the weeklong celebration, including its origins, the nature of modern participation in the holiday, and its significance in light of the ongoing conflict in the West Bank. There’s light being shown on our connections with each other as well. The band ReBelle will host “Love for Humanity” a combination concert and teach-in at the Northampton Center for the Arts on Dec. 10th. We sit with the driving force behind the band, Manou Africa and Kalpana Devi, as well as one of their children and former bandmates, Naia Kete, to get a preview of the way they use music and connection to transcend and build community. Speaking of that community, a study has recently been released that examines the import and impact of the arts on their greater communities. Considering that all areas of the arts have and are taking longer to recover from the pandemic than expected, its a welcome area of scrutiny. VP of research for Americans for the Arts, Randy Cohen, stops through the studio to share their hopeful findings and what this may mean for the future of the arts in our area and possibly the country. And our weekly chat with Congressman Jim McGovern covers how un-enlightening the recent republican debates were, as well as developments regarding the ongoing plight of national hunger within the USDA.

‘Tis the season for caring. Actually every season is the season for caring, but we doubly feel it in the cold. So we’re bringing our donations to where the beats are plentiful and the rhymes don’t stop. Hip Hop for the Homeless X arrives in Massachusetts for the first time ever on Dec. 7th at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke. We chat with organizer Joey Batts and a couple of MCs you can see onstage at the event, Catalyst and Force, about the importance of giving back to the community with your art, and sharing the spotlight with upcoming talent. And we’re bringing the love and support to the transgender and genderfluid communities also. Transhealth has nearly quadrupled in size as an organization over the course of the year, with as much growth if not more in the patients they seek to help. But parties can also be healing, and they are throwing a shindig at the Marigold Theater in Easthampton on Dec. 9th. The Holigay Party aims to spread joy and good grooves as much as it raises much needed funds for their burgeoning community of care, and we chat with director Dallas Ducar about the changes they’ve seen through the last few months, and about how letting go can be healthy for you too. And it turns out that we care not just about Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year (“authentic” in case you missed it), but it’s bridesmaids as well. So resident wordster, Emily Brewster, our word nerd and senior editor from Merriam-Webster, takes us through a handful of the words that will not be brides this year, but still deserve a little time in the sun.

Part of this show has always been highlighting the cool places in our area and then wonderful things that they get up to. One of those places that we’ve repeatedly mentioned events has recently announced that they’re closing their doors to public events after Dec. 31st. Gateway City Arts in Holyoke was a game-changer for the local scene for a little over a decade, and we talk to owners and renovators Vitek Kruta and Lori Divine about the highs and lows of operating a venue of its ilk, and the plight of the arts in general. Another one of those places is a tiny comics shop in Easthampton that is constantly engaging with the greater community and local authors. One of those authors is giving a reading of his recent children’s book at this store, Comics ‘N’ More, this weekend. Jason Perkins tells us a bit of his process for writing “Rock Stars Don’t Nap”, including the inspiration he took from his family, and the fun extras the live reading might involve. And lastly, we’re big fans of people building community. The Majestic Saloon in Northampton is absolutely one of those places that does this, being an explicitly queer-driven and friendly space. Saturday, Dec. 9th sees them host the 2nd Annual Queer Winter Maker’s Market. Although it’s one of four makers markets happening in Downtown Northampton that day, it’s only the beginning of what the location has in store for the day. We speak with organizer Alex Noonan of Dead Eye Prints, and Majestic Saloon owner Kayla Manzi about the importance of holding safe joyful spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community, and the magic they use to get all of those people into their tiny-but-mighty space.

We’re hungry over in these parts. So we head out for Pizza Quest volume VII. It’s been a minute since we last evaluated a pie, and so we head to Berkshire Mountain Pizza Cafe & Bakery in Pittsfield. The location comes with some major pedigree, including a recommendation from Mary Daire of Dare Bottleshop & Provisions. The cafe does not, however, come with indoor seating, so we’re forced to do some adjusting on the fly. After that, we’re in the mood for something sweet. Enter Dick Connor of Red Barn Honey Company in Northampton, who is harvesting the product of the pollenators across the Connecticut River Valley. But wait, what are bees and their keepers up to in the Winter? In addition to exploring the cavern of difference in taste honeys can have from each other, we find out how the apiaries fair in the cold months coming and how they collaborate with local farms and orchards to bring us the sweet treat we so enjoy. And we’re hungry for knowledge as well. Self-Evident Education’s mission is to teach authentically on the histories of race and resistance in America and they have recently made two films about lesser known figures in abolition, both of which will be shown at Smith College on Dec. 5th. We sit with the composer/musical director of “If You Cross This Line, We All Die”, Khalif Neville, and SEE’s executive director Michael Lawrence-Riddell to talk about these stories and the importance of telling BIPOC stories of abolition.

The earth is in abundance on today’s show. And although that’s the case, we’re of the opinion that it is far too cold to be out in the forest to appreciate the beauty of the trees right now. Despite that, there’s a bounty of things we can harvest from them that aren’t the wood themselves. This is at the core of Forestopia’s products and practices. We sit with proprietor Gregory Mori to find out all about the fun and unusual things trees can offer us, and why agro-forestry can be an empowering endeavor. Earth is always at the core of our wine tastings, and this is especially so when we have the opportunity to pit two different locations against each other for the same grape. The Tina Turner Memorial Wine Thunderdome heads to Provisions in Longmeadow, where Benson Hyde and Bruce McAmis help us to continue our exploration of Syrah. And let us know how to taste some bubbly at their locations over the next few weekends. And rooted is a good adjective for the sounds of Kendra Morris, for as psychedelic as her music gets, it’s grounded in funk and soul as well. She and her band stop the the studios for Live Music Friday just before they head up to 10 Forward in Greenfield for their show in honor of her latest album “I Am What I’m Waiting For”. We use the opportunity to gush about her videos, and dig into some of her song’s subject matter.

Stages and performance have always been a hub of resistance. We see it in two Argentinean Maestros making their way across New England teaching their craft to the young old and everyone in-between. Cesar Lerner and Marcello Moguilevsky have been playing music together for over 40 years, during which their klezmer based sound has snowballed into so much more, bringing along with it the many influences they’ve encountered along the way. Between their many shows in the area, We hear a taste of them in the studios, while also getting a chance to chat with the duo about the recent elections in their home country, and what that means for art and artists when they return. We witness it in the manipulation of gender whose siren call was too strong to ignore. Joe Dulude II has done makeup for Broadway, film, and beyond, but came to his own drag much later in life. That drag persona takes over The Shea Theater in Turners Dec. 1 & 2nd for “A Drag for the Holidays”. Mr. Drag is much more than just a personality, however, and we discover how playing with gender can expand everyone’s horizons. And our weekly chat with Congressman Jim McGovern gives us a March for The Food Bank post-mortem and more.

Bring on the lorax, cause we’re headed for the trees! First a dairy farm of yore that now grows Christmas trees and agrotourism in Hancock. Ioka Valley Farm has been focused on all the trees can give us, from holiday delights to maple treats, and more. We speak with Missy Leab about keeping visitors at the farm year round, and how the concerns of agriculture are different when your crop is arboreal. Then we put the real trees aside to check out the bespoke offerings at the Festival of Trees. The event raises money for the Springfield Boys & Girls Club each year, with businesses, families, and individuals all contributing themed decorated trees to the event, which are then raffled off to the public when the display is over. We speak with event chairperson Stacy Magiera about her favorites, the longevity of the event, and why she’s stayed involved with the festival for two decades. Plus Mr. Universe, Hampshire College Astronomer/professor Salman Hameed, puts on his film buff hat to chat about the latest film of one of his institution’s most famous alums: Ken Burns.

It’s Giving Tuesday, and we’re giving attention to a couple of Hoop City natives coming back to make good. One of them returns to make good on a dream deferred: performing standup comedy at the high school talent show. Author/actor/comedian/writer Bill Posley is bringing his comedy to the stage that never was and bringing some local flavor along for the ride with the show “Bill Does the Talent Show” at MGM December 1st & 2nd. We chat with him about growing up in Springfield, and the importance of sharing the spotlight. Another is the collection of artists and artisans of Gasoline Alley. Within that small enclave, nestled between a bevvy of garages and several recycling centers, the Urban Food Brood will hold their 3rd Annual Kringle Market on December 3rd. We talk with Tim Monson of Monsoon Roastery and Chris Marion of Chris Marion Photography about the power of collaboration, building a creative oasis in Springfield, and how much impact small markets like theirs can have. And since it is Giving Tuesday, we mention a few organizations that have also earned your support (besides us here at NEPM of course!)

As the end of the year approaches, we prepare ourselves for the bombardment of declarations. But one of the most fun of those is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year. Wordster supreme, our local dictionary’s editor-at-large, Peter Sokolowski joins us to explain the process by which that word is chosen, and some of the nuances of this year’s winner. And it wasn’t so much a declaration as a determination that designed the hot chocolate run 20 years ago. An idea to raise funds for the organization Safe Passage that was designed by a small group of friends. We speak with some of those originators: Jenn Derringer and John Frey. We also hear from cartoonist Hilary Price, of Rhymes with Orange, who not only helped build the event, but has designed a mug for each run. We’re also joined by a few of the folx who are currently working in the organization with this event and more: director of development Natalie Ulrich, and director of community programs Cathrine Hodes who enlighten us to the things Safe Passage has been building over the years, and how the organization has evolved to maintain its mission of confronting domestic violence, and helping those who’ve experienced or are experiencing it towards liberation and recovery.

The March is over, but there’s quite a bit of ground we covered getting through those 43 miles. So we take a look back a a few more of our conversations that the road brought to our conversations about hunger and hear from State Senator Jo Comerford, Congressman Jim McGovern, and in a first ever appearance at the march from someone in their office: Governor Maura Healey. All that talk about hunger and the feasting day that tomorrow is has us thinking about some of the farms we’ve visited this year that are run by chefs (both by women as well). So we reminisce of our time with the folx from Grown Up Farm in Belchertown and at The Apple Place in East Longmeadow.

The March for the Food Bank 14 nears its end, and over the course of two days, Monte and many other marchers are raising money for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, and awareness about hunger in our region in general. There’s so many walks of life that join in this endeavor so once again today we’ll hear from many of the people walking alongside Monte Belmonte as he’s dressed in the counterpart to yesterday’s costume of Mojo Dojo Casa House Ken: Weird Barbie. Over the course of 26 miles, we speak with State Senator Jake Oliveira, State Representatives Dan Carey, Natalie Blais, and Lindsay Sabadosa, Northampton mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, students from Hopkins Academy, special envoy to Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy III, Phil Korman of CISA and more. And you can find more of our stories and information about the march at nepm.org/hunger.

Monte Belmonte is walking 43 miles to raise awareness both about The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and hunger in our area in general. We here at NEPM have been highlighting stories on hunger over the past week as a lead up to The March for the Food Bank 14, talking with those fighting through direct services, in the way of food pantries and kitchens, and those changing policy that affects folx in need. The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts actually does both of those things, and are a great resource for the region. There are over 100 marchers joining Monte over the course of the next two days making the journey from Springfield to Greenfield to help the organization. The march starts not far from the NEPM studios in Springfield, at Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services in Mason Square, which is *still* considered a food desert. It ends in Northampton, at the Northampton Radio Group, home of our former station, 93.9 WRSI. Inbetween we speak to congressmen Richard Neal and Jim McGovern, the latter of which has walked the full 43 miles for a number of years, State Senator Jake Olivera, State representative Shirley Arriaga , Food Bank Director Andrew Morehouse, Chicopee mayor John Vieau, the staff of Lorraine’s Kitchen, Director of Martin Luther King Jr. Services Shannon Rudder, and the man leading them all north, Monte Belmonte.

A double dose of live music Friday, 7 tubas from Tubachristmas plus Holyoke's The Basement Cats. We also celebrate a local hero of love and justice who has been serving the Northampton area since 1989, The Reverend Peter Ives. And Monte gets fitted for his Weird Barbie costume for the March For The Food Bank at Swanson's Fabrics.

The March for the Food Bank 14 begins this coming Monday, Nov 20th. One person who has been on nearly all of those marches is our weekly conduit to Capitol Hill: Rep. Jim McGovern. So this week, we’re talking frankly about hunger, how we combat it, and how that drives him to walk all 43 miles from Springfield to Greenfield to raise not just local, but national awareness to the issue of hunger. Because the facts are that many are going hungry right beneath our noses. One of those populations is students at public colleges and universities. We speak with Grace Cippolone, a current junior at Umass working with Students for Anti-Hunger, and Laura Sylvester, Public Policy Manager for the Food Bank of Western Mass who has been helping the students in their multiple endeavors including the re-opening of the UMass campus food pantry, which was closed at the beginning of the pandemic. They explain the insideous nature of hunger on campus, some solutions they are pursuing including with their swipe program, and some initiatives they’d like to see the school take in order to address the growing problem. And because we all need a little more music and lightness, we chat from afar with Corn Mo, who’ll take the stage at The Divine Theater on Friday, November 17th. A multi-instrumentalist who covers a plethora of genres from Hair metal, to classical, we talk to him about his musical journey, from accordion, to Tragedy, and the musicals he’s made along the way.

We’re seeing new life enter a lot of spaces currently. One of those is locally beloved venue The Iron Horse. Recently acquired by The Parlor Room Collective over the summer, they have just announced both their renovation ideas for the space and a capital campaign to cover the costs, since one of the major points is to tear down a wall on the first floor. We speak with executive director Chris Freeman and board president Randy Kowalski about the legacy of the building, and collaborating with the community to make a better space for music to thrive. And speaking of music, we bring Latin Grammy Award winning children’s book author and musician Mister G. into our fold. He’s got a new album, a new book, and a free show this Saturday, Nov. 18th at John M. Greene Hall in Northampton. We talk to him about making new music, meeting new people to make music with, and getting stories on paper for young folx. And a funny thing happened on the way to our local dictionary’s headquarters here in Springfield, but we’re not going to bring that up. Instead, our resident wordster Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster talks to us about food words, as food is foremost on our minds as we gear up for the March for the Food Bank 14.

For Hunger Awareness Week, and to gear up for the March for The Food Bank, we sit down with some folx addressing hunger right here in Springfield: Shannon Ruddle of Martin Luther King Jr. Services and Liz O'Gilvie of Gardening the Community and Springfield Food Policy Council, plus we find out how to pivot from dairy to skin care with the goats of Joe and Stan McCoy at Sage Meadow Farm in Easthampton

It’s Hunger Awareness Week here on NEPM. All week, we and the newsroom will be centering stories about how hunger affects our region. Although we’ve talked with many folx along the way who are more boots on the ground in terms of fighting hunger and its affects in our area, we haven’t had a chance to speak with many folx who are working on the policy end of this work. So we sit down with Franchezka Bermudez, 413cares program coordinator, Andrea Freeman, Policy Director of Public Health Institute of Western MA and Marissa Chiapperino, Clinical Nutritionist Navigator at Holyoke Medical Center to examine a few of the sea changes we’re trying to enact across the Bay State and beyond. We then head across the mountains to a cultural center nestled in the southern Berkshires. Opened in 1905, The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center has been through several incarnations before becoming a non-profit in 2003. We talk with executive director Janis Martinson and general manager Michael Beuth about keeping the venue beautiful and relevant, while also encouraging more diversity and equity. And Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, got to see Bob Dylan in Springfield this past weekend. We hear his thoughts on the septegenarian nobel laureate, as well as a continuation of our conversation about the moon, in which we see how Mars is kind of a cautionary tale.

Next week is Hunger awareness week here at NEPM, but honestly we’re very much into feeding people everywhere, and especially across the four counties of western Massachusetts everyday. So we get a bit of a jump on the process by talking with Executive Chef/executive director of Stone Soup Cafe in Greenfield, Kirsten Levitt. She talks to us about their general mission of nourishing more than just the body, their recent foray into culinary instruction, and how the community comes together to make their daily operations happen. There’s a lot of that community that believes strongly in what Stone Soup Cafe offers all of us, including our Live Music Friday Guests, Forest Avenue String Band, who will play a benefit show for the cafe on Nov. 12th. We head to Hatfield to talk with the latest generation helming a 100+ year old farm that’s become synonymous with potatoes in these parts. Diane Szawlowski-Mullins comes to the studio to let us know how Swaz’s Potato Farms keep the area full of spuds all year round, even with the floods. We hear about the many faces of hunger seen by the Amherst Survival Center with director Lev Ben Ezra. They help us to understand that it’s much more than just providing food to those in need, and that the folx in need can often be in the places you least expect. And this week’s Wine Thunderdome at State Street Deli, Wine & Spirits offers an opportunity to not just discover the spectrum of Shiraz, but a way you can get your own wine on while simultaneously helping out the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

We love the opportunity to showcase what the region is really capable of. We talk compassion in our weekly chat with congressman Jim McGovern, who’s not just concerned about the deadly action happening in Gaza and its surrounding lands, but of the fight on Bay State soil against hunger as well. The latter may be because he’s gearing up for a 43 mile challenge in about a fortnight, and we’ve got hunger at the forefront of our minds too. NEPM’s Karen Brown takes us into the risk and growing concerns surrounding gambling in Massachusetts, as we look back on these past 5 years of legality for the activity, and the efforts state has simultaneously attempted to employ to address gambling addiction. We discover the inaugural Indigenous Film Festival at Images Cinema in Williamstown. A collaborative effort between Williams College, the Stockbridge-Munsee community, and the movie theater, the event seeks to show a wide range of tribes, tones, and histories across a weekend of both feature films and shorts. Executive director of Images Cinema, Dan Hudson, about bringing those people and themes together to expand all of our knowledges. And in what is perhaps the most requested story we’ve ever had here on The Fabulous 413, we talk about how one manages to procure and proceed to row a pumpkin down a river. Dave Rothstein has recently accomplished this task, floating inside the gourd over 39 miles. We hear how he’s made all of our fairytale dreams come true, while also bringing attention to the delicate resource we have in the Connecticut River.

We reach wide today. And that’s active voice. You’ve almost certainly heard of it and its counterpoint: passive voice. But did you know there’s a voice that exists between those two? Our resident wordster, Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster in Springfield explains how to get your sentences within that liminal space. Speaking of Springfield, there will be dancing there this weekend. This Saturday, Nov. 11th, Pathlight hosts “Let’s Dance”, which brings folx together to raise money for their organization that supports children, teens, and adults with developmental disabilities and their families. We chat with Syndy Meininger and Billy McBride who make up the team The Ballers and will be dancing onstage that evening, their instructor Loryn Englebrecht, and Pathlight Communications Director Leslie Tane all about the many programs the organization provides, as well as the fun of getting everyone to dance. Not everyone thinks that toys can be for everybody, but The Toy Box in Amherst is out to change that opinion. They will hold an event on Nov. 9th, “So you think you’re too old for a toy store” which encourages adults to find joy in more things they may have thought they’ve aged out of. We speak with proprietor Liz Rosenberg about the joy that can be found in games, novelties, and play. And as we get closer to The March for The Food Bank 14, we take a look at the some of the organizations that The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts helps along its mission. One of those is the largest food pantry in Berkshire County. The South Community Food Pantry services over 1100 families each week, and we speak with director Mary Wheat and Treasurer Pam Kueppler about the ins and outs of their operations, an incredibly successful drive they’ve just finished, and the many needs they still have to meet the demands of an increasingly hungry population.

We’re discovering things right under our noses. Or in our basement, in the case of the Berkshire Museum. They’ve just opened an exhibit called “One of a Kind Wonders” that gathers some of the oddities that have joined their collection over the years. Chief curator Jesse Kowalski shows us around cursed paintings, creepy dolls, and the delicate art of drawing together seemingly disparate articles. In Holyoke, youths are discovering themselves and the power they have within. Pa’lante Transformative Justice started within the Holyoke Schools but has evolved to be an outside organization working towards the same mission: engendering the inherent power within young generations in order to create strong, healthy, intergenerational communities free from oppression and injustice. We speak with Katelynn Cruz, who not only is currently on staff at Pa’lante, but is an alumni of the program as well. And it’s election day! Time to go exercise our civic duties in the small elections that often go unnoticed, and unvoted. We have a rundown of the seven contested mayoral races in western Massachusetts with NEPM reporter Adam Frenier.

It’s the night before elections and all through the area everyone is stirring. In our continuing efforts to talk with each of the candidates in contested mayoral contests, we reach one last stop. City Councilor Delmarina Lopez seeks the seat for Chicopee and joins us in studio to explain her vision for the city, her insights from being the first woman on city council in 10 years (and the first BIPOC person in nearly as long), and the direction the community has been asking her for. We hear from Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed about how cosmic bodies crashing together caused the Earth to birth our moon, what changes that made to Earth itself, and some of the previous theories about the process. And we’re walking in music in the Berkshires. The Berkshire Jazz Sprawl starts today and goes through Nov. 12th at various locations in the south of the westmost county in the Baystate. We speak with Ed Bride, director of Berkshires Jazz about creating a culture for jazz to thrive in the mountains and sharing a love for the genre with everyone.

There’s all sorts of festivities to get excited about today! We head to Lenox, where our Dare Bottleshop & Provisions is about to celebrate it’s 2nd anniversary. In addition to the many delights they have in store for folx this weekend, Mary and Ben Daire take us on a tour through the styles of a grape that is often highlighted around this time of year: Beaujolais. We’ll meet the latest addition to the NEPM jazz host line up: legendary bassist Avery Sharpe, in an interview we brought to the recent NEPM open house with NEPM newsroom legend, senior reporter Kari Njiri. Starting on November 3rd, Avery Sharpe will be hosting Fridays for Jazz a la Mode, and their conversation explores his origins in jazz as well as what he’d like to bring to our airwaves. Our showcase of the work the Media Lab has done this summer concludes with Serenitee Graham’s interview of Hannah Moushabeck’s “Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine”, which now has much different impact, from the summer when this initially take place, so we also have an addendum of sorts from the author herself. And after all of that, we need to dance. Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness or BCUC got started just a stone’s throw from Desmond Tutu’s home in Soweto South Africa, but they’ve brought their afro-psychedelic future punk to the area for two shows, including one on Nov. 4th at Gateway City Arts. We somehow manage to cram their high octane movement inducing rhythms into our studios for Live Music Friday to inject a little energy into our weekends as well.

In our very humble opinions, one of the best things about this time of year is the apples.Even a year of devastating frosts and floods couldn’t keep all of this years crop down. And that is to be celebrated for sure. And celebrate is exactly what Franklin County has done for this crop for nearly 30 years. Franklin County Cider Days happens each year on the first weekend of November, sharing all things apple with not just other western Mass folx, but people from all over the world. As the location that really revitalized cider in the US, keeping this weekend going is more than a labor of love, and we speak with some of the new faces taking over leadership for this event, Field Maloney of West County Cider, Brady Shearer of Pine Hill Orchards, and Ben Clark of Clarkdale Fruit Farms, about the changes, workings, and constants of this festival Kaliis has dubbed “The Best Time of the Year”. Some of that cider will be transformed into a home remedy that has kept immune systems bolstered for ages. We chat with Kara Peters of Ahlbin’s Fire Cider about making a passion project into a business while keeping production and ingredients local. On the other end of that spectrum one the worst things about this time of year is having to change your clocks from Daylight Savings Time (that happens this weekend on Nov. 4th, everyone!). However there is a growing contingency of folx interested in keeping the clocks in one system, and it’s backed by science. We invite Dr. Karin Johnson to the studios to talk about the many benefits of keeping our clocks in Standard Time and the bill introduced by Rep. Puppalo to keep it that way in the Baystate.

As the temperatures dwindle down along with the sunlight, our minds turn to keeping warm. It’s the tail-end of harvest time, and we are thinking of those who for many reasons do not get to share the bounty of food we have here in western Massachusetts. One organization that is trying to tackle the problem of hunger across all four counties is The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. The Food bank provides much more than support and sustenance to over 170 food pantries, survival centers, and other organizations that also seek to combat hunger on a local level. They’ve also just moved into a larger facility in Chicopee, just across the way from NEPM HQ. So we head over to get a tour of the new digs with Director Andrew Morehouse, who also gives us a peek into some of the more nuanced ways that the Food Bank is hoping to alleviate hunger, and a run down on their biggest fundraiser of the year which swiftly approaches: The March for the Food Bank 14, helmed by a one Monte Belmonte. And to lighten the mood a bit, we get enlightened by our resident wordster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, Emily Brewster, about the fancy ways to describe some actions we do on the daily.

Happy last day of October everyone! This is a time both for things unseen, and for those unseen things to be respected. In the realm of discovery for this the last of the spooky days, we turn to folklorist and author Jeff Belanger. He’s the host of New England Legends, which is both an award winning tv show and a podcast, and the author of over a dozen books. Looking into the stories of New England every week means that he’s definitely got some about western Massachusetts, and we pick his brain for terrifying tales of the four counties. And tomorrow, Nov 1st, is Dia de los Muertos. Ofrendas in commemoration of the day are being erected throughout the region, and we speak with Iohann Rashi Vega and Jason Montgomery about expanding the number of ofrendas they are building from just one at the Wistariahurst Museum, to three monuments across Holyoke and Easthampton. The meaning of this day means many things to many people, and we venture into some of those connections, and how more community can be built by honoring those we’ve lost.

Change is in the air. We’re helping people make room for loss. Out in the Berkshires, Latinas 413 have teamed up with both Hot Plate Brewing Company and the Berkshire Historical Society to bring Dia de los Muertos celebrations to Pittsfield. We speak with Liliana Atanacio, America Lopez, Tanya Romero, and Laura Cabrera of the newly minted non-profit, as well as head brewer at Hot Plate, Sarah Real, about transferring the traditions they’ve known to the place they’ve made home. We’re also adjusting people’s perspectives of community spaces. We head to Holyoke, where The Wistariahurst Museum is about to end its spooky season programming and prepare its own Dia de los Muertos ofrenda. Director Megan Seiler takes us through the history of the building, and manages to show us some of what it will present in the future. And we attempt a little ghost hunting, as ‘tis the season. And we’re discovering the places that allow us a little rest. The news has been overwhelming as of late, and Mr. Universe, Hampshire College professor Salman Hameed finds some solace in the grandness of space and science, some of which is portrayed in a short film. Perhaps the cosmos could be key in making humanity more humane? We can certainly hope so.

So much to do today! We find ourselves in discovering the bounties being stored and picked at a women owned, women run farm as they transition their fall crops into their winter stores. Riverland Farm in Sunderland is exploring what the land can give us and we get to talk with owner Emily Landeck about the impact of the summer rains, shifting away from CSAs to wholesale, and some of the freedoms that actually allows them. And speaking of harvests, Leverett Village Co-op will host it’s first Fall Harvest Festival this weekend. The event will have food, hay rides, demonstrations, and plenty of other activities from 11-4 on Sunday, Oct. 29th. We head up to the only store in Leverett to find out about what fun things we can get up to with the general manager at the co-op, Ken Washburn. And maybe we sneak in a very pretty Spanish red in for good measure. We continue our showcase of this summer’s Media Lab Fellows and their series “Books for Young People”, This time Jeremiah Merced interviews Fabulous 413 host Kaliis Smith about the book she co-authored, “Sir Morien: A Tale of a Knight of the Round Table”. And Louis Phipps joins us for Live Music Friday. A participant in one of the early years of the Youth Performance Festival we learned about earlier this week, Louie started his musical journey at 6 on ukelele, but in as much time has adopted guitar as his main instrument, and has 2 albums to show for his efforts. He celebrates the release of the second album, “Under The Sky We Play” on Oct 27 at The Parlor Room in Northampton.

Today, more than most, we’re looking at tiny things on a much larger scale. There is a geological structure that is unique to Franklin County and which currently is seeking state recognition. Jurassic armored mud balls are an incredibly rare sedimentary structure, only known of for about fifty years, and we sit with their discoverer, retired professor Richard Little, to talk about the House bill that could make their status state official, as well as some of the other neat things that happen on our patch of the earth. Then there is a re-examining of a notorious New England historical figure. Over the next few weekends, Ghost Light Theater will be presenting the musical “Lizzie!!!” at the Divine Theater in Holyoke. The work is a rock examination of Lizzie Borden and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of her parents, and we chat about how theater reframes both its main character’s frame of mind and her historical circumstances with director Kevin Tracy, and actor Shealyn Berube, who plays Lizzie herself. And it definitely does not feel like a small thing to have a new speaker of the house, or to still be seeking to help your constituents flee a burgeoning warzone. This week our mcgoverning with congressman Jim McGovern seeks to keep all of these fast-moving, fraught events firmly in perspective. Correction: During the course of our conversation with Rep. McGovern, we mistakenly referred to newly-elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as being from Kentucky. Mr. Johnson is in fact from Louisiana.

The whole country is in the middle of a housing crisis. The commonwealth is feeling the brunt of this as well, but Gov. Maura Healey has just proposed the Affordable Housing Act, which seeks to address this issue across the 351 cities and towns of Massachusetts. But this bill is huge and is attempting to combat the housing problem on a wide variety of fronts. To help us understand how the bill could influence our area specifically, as well as better understand some of the more minute problems our area faces, we speak with Keith Fairey, president and CEO of Wayfinders, and Denise Jordan, executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority. And our housing is not the only thing we’re hoping to change, or seeing change. Emily Brewster, our resident wordster and senior editor at Merriam-Webster, walks us through functional shifts, and a handful of words that have experienced it. And perhaps we extol the virtues and prowess of Merriam Webster’s social media as well.

We’re still striving to speak with each of the mayoral candidates in contested races in western Mass. Our next stop is Springfield, where former city councilor Justin Hurst and his campaign are taking on 4 term incumbent, Dominic Sarno. At our studios we get to chat with him about ARPA funds, the housing crisis, policing, his plans for the city, and where the good pies in the city of firsts are. And we’re always excited when young folx find their passion. Two organizations, alike in stature, have come together to make sure more of those passions get fostered. The Youth Performance Festival has been happening for years, but this year marks the first time that they’ve teamed up with Make-It Springfield to spread their resources to Hampden County. We speak with program director Kelly Silliman, and actor/mentor for the festival Deveir Cockett about what happens when these dreams do not have to be deferred, as they prepare for a program presentation in Springfield this weekend.

What we need is something fluffy. So we head over to Dakin Humane Society’s Animal Shelter in Springfield. Over the past few years, the facility has broadened its offerings to include veterinary services, a thrift store, and more. We speak with director Meg Talbert and media relations and development specialist Lee Chambers about the many services the center provides as they continue to find themselves being over-burdened and over-extended by the sheer volume of animals that the shelter handles. And that fluff is in the cosmos also. Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, tells us of ronin bodies that have been discovered in Orion’s nebula and what that could mean for space travel and how we encounter new planets and moons in the heavens. He also encourages you to see the latest Scorsese movie.

Eggtooth Production's Linda McInerney and the band Cloudbelly talk about A Happening III, happening in Turners Falls. After two successful years, Cloudgaze and Eggtooth Productions return for a two-day multi-arts festival immersing participants in an intimate theatrical world of myth, magic and mystery inspired by Ovid's epic poem. A true interdisciplinary feat, this festival brings over 30 local performance artists, actors, musicians, and dancers together to stage original work. Featured Valley performers include: Lori Holmes Clark, Jack Golden, Lindel Hart, Marina Goldman, Sam V. Perry, Joshua Ruder, K Adler, Rebecca Schrader, Ashley Kramer, and Tim Kukharchuk. Set within large-scale installations constructed throughout the Shea Theater Arts Center, monsters, heroes, nymphs, dryads, satyrs, mortals, deities, and other fantastical beings wander through the dark maze of the building, passing through stone gardens, enchanted forests, sensual, twisted underworlds, banquets, piles of bones, seas of fabric, light, sound, and more. And from NEPM Media Lab-Maggie Kocsmiersky. She's a recent graduate from Central High School in Springfield, and is now attending the Fashion Institute of Technology. Maggie is speaking with Mychal [michael] Connolly Senior, a Springfield resident and the author of "Moo, Loo & Kayla Do Lemonade”-the story of some entrepreneurial kids who learn a lot about business while selling lemonade. Connolly himself is a business owner. He owns a mobile billboard company -- trucks covered in advertisements that you might’ve seen driving in and around the Valley. Plus a Wine Thunderdome tasting the spooky season flavors of orange wines at Provisions with Benson Hyde and Zack.

We have our weekly chat with Congressman Jim McGovern, and speak with candidate for mayor of Greenfield Ginny Desorgher.

Word Nerd Emily Brewster celebrates Dictionary Day with us by exploring the spelling pursuits of our local dictionary's namesake, Noah Webster, we explore a possible future for Pittsfield with mayoral candidate Peter Marchetti, and Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed, talks with us about going to New Mexico to see the first Pakistani astronaut.

We find out all about mushroom growing with Julie Coffey of Mycoterra Farm, celebrate Kari Kastango's feat of swimming the entirety of the Connecticut River, and chat with New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, who just so happened to write a book with Fabulous 413 host, Kaliis Smith.

We speak to the director of community-based learning at Mt. Holyoke College, Maria Salgado-Catagena who has been chronicling the Puerto Rican history of Holyoke, hang out with Dean Cycon, formerly of Dean's Beans and who currently has just put out a new historical novel, and check in with Pittsfield Mayoral candidate John Krol

We have Live Music Friday with Ciarra Fragale, playing Hawks & Reed this and next weekend, explore our local and global eating options with Andy Cox and German Alvarado of Smith College Dining Services, hear the final product of what the NEPM Media Lab Fellows got up to this summer, and head into the wine thunderdome at Table & Vine in West Springfield with one extra Mike and a whole lot of tradition

We discuss the future of the MCAS tests with Mary Tamer of Democrats for Education Reform, have our weekly check- in with Congressman Jim McGovern who has a lot on his proverbial plate this week, and explore the recent announcement about the Green River Festival with Jim Olsen of Signature Sounds and John Sanders of DSP Shows.

We find out about the Springfield Dragon Boat Festival, discover how the team behind Latinas 413 is building community in the Berkshires, and continue our conversation with Greenfield mayor Roxann Wedegartner

We hang out with the new generation of folx preserving their own futures in Youth Archivists for Social Change, speak with the current mayor seeking re-election in Greenfield Roxann Wedegartner, and get into the history and future of Nueva Esperanza in Holyoke with it's current Director Kayla Rodriguez

Double Live Music Friday with La Perla Bogota and Priya Darshini both playing in the area over the weekend, and we head to the thunderdome for a switch up where we make the folx at State Street Deli Wine & Spirits pair a wine on the fly with food that we've brought.