The Fabulous 413

The veil is thin and thus we are getting down with the weird and uncanny, which ultimately is a mirror of ourselves. Which is to say that today, we’re getting all dressed up and festive for Halloween. Even the Shea Theater is getting all dressed up and bringing folx into its transformed bowels for an interactive evening of performance. A Happening V is inviting the public into the venue to experience this year’s theme “Bestiary”, with nods to a certain influential Orwell classic. We get a tour of the many rooms, ideas, and connections making up the two days of activity from some of the 60+ artisans collaborating to make the magic happen: Kat Adler, Mo Schweiger, Sam Perry, and Corey LaitmanIn Pittsfield, Wander is celebrating the 50th anniversary of a beloved cult classic with a showing and dance party. It’s pretty traditional to watch Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight, but some folx may not know that, or have even seen it before, so we’ll talk with Jay Santangelo about the film and the occasion, and other fun events that are happening in their all welcoming space. And our Franklin County Wine Friend and 2nd level sommelier Ken Washburn takes us into the southern hemisphere for two Chilean wines that are not too fancy, but full of surprises at the Leverett Village Co-Op.

It is the spooky times, and as such it’s time to delve into the many uncanny fables new and old of the area with Folklorist, journalist, and explorer of the unexplained Jeff Belanger, who in addition to being our guide to the more interesting tales of New England, is also celebrating the release of his latest book: Wicked Strange, and two upcoming shows on our very own NEPM-TV. We’ll also head to Easthampton to learn more about the inaugural run of the F*ing Awesome Game Show. A labor of love and time and effort we’ll hear about from mastermind Hors d’Oeuvres about their call to make a game show for Western Mass, the many props and inspirations that have contributed to the experience, and how you can participate in making it even better. And congressman Jim McGovern has a lot on his mind. We pepper him with listener questions about the shutdown, now in week 4, military operations in the Gulf of Mexico, and the precarious positions of SNAP benefits and health insurance for Americans in need. Plus we'll get his take on the upcoming NYC election, which may indicate a greater sea change.

It is not just New England’s prettiest season, it is very nearly the best time of the year. To one of the hosts of this show, that means Franklin County Cider Days, which showcases all the ways the apple is integrated into the agriculture of the area, from sweet cider to hard, to classes on orchard stewarding and donuts and more. We head to one of the events many locations: New Salem Orchard where 100+ year old trees continue to grow on one of the most idyllic spots in the area just west of the Quabbin, where the inimitable Carol Hillman talks about the importance of her farm to the health of folx and community. We also hear about another community education effort and how you can help it continue. Self Evident Education highlights underrepresented histories through educational materials and documentaries, and is one of the many organizations that saw grant availability disappear with the current administration. We speak with executive director Michael Lawrence-Riddell and board member Ousmane Power-Greene about the importance of exploring uncomfortable truths about ourselves to grow into a stronger nation, and how you can aid their efforts to continue doing so. And Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster shows us how language loses a bit of its edge as we explore words that have fallen prey to Semantic bleaching.

Today we meet the challenger for the seat of mayor in North Adams.Scott Berglund is a new arrival to the city, but is already full of ideas about its progress. We sit with the candidate to learn about this first foray into politics, especially as a relatively new resident, his views on housing, senior benefits, and some criticisms of the current administration’s projects and communication with the public and more. There’s a story hiding in and around each grave of the 175yr old Pittsfield Cemetery. The Berkshire Historical Society gives tours around the more notable denizens of the resting place. We wander the grounds with director Lesley Herzberg to meet some of the important figures, learn cool quirks about the location, and discover the difficulties involved with preserving this particular part of Berkshires legacy. And tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 28th at the Iron Horse, you’ll have a chance to see Autumn Defense take the stage in support of their latest album Here and Nowhere. But first, you’ll meet Pat Sansone, John Stirrat, James Haggerty, and Greg Wieczorek here at the NEPM studios to talk about their sound and the 10 year hiatus between releases.

We turn our attention to a third city in western Mass that is having an election this year, North AdamsThe first of those candidates is the incumbent Jennifer Macksey, who is seeking a third term in the office. We’ll explore some of the issues that arose in a recent debate including housing, staffing, and transparency at City Hall, as well as hear more of how she’s currently leading the city into new projects. We’ll also check out a crop that is well suited to the Berkshires: Chicken! And cows and pigs as it turns out, and Square Roots Farm is raising all of the above. We meet with proprietor Michael Gallagher, and Jake Levin of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures to hear about his journey to farming, and some of the lengths the farm has gone to insure a more ethical meat for the people. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed puts on his film buff hat to talk about Gulliermo del Toro’s latest movie Frankenstein, and takes a closer look at the science-y core of its fiction sandwich, and the questions about humanity the work still poses.

Today we revel in entertainment delights of many varieties In Northampton, a heady melange of visual art, music, performance, and personal experience have come together for a series of performances that center a current exhibit. How to Bear the Unbearable Body is on display at the APE Gallery and each Friday of the exhibit has involved a performance related to the piece and we speak with Visual Artist Emily Orling, and composer/director Cesar Alvarez of their performance incubator Spirits go Blah about the work, collaborating, and much more. We also see how local can be haute couture. It’s FAB Passion Fashion Week here in Springfield bringing 13 local designers to the fore and crafting a unique experience of community with fashion at its center. We talk with founder Richie Richardson of Fab Fashion, and casting director Jerry Jordan Brown about the nuances of the event, and the importance of elevating local talent beyond their own expectations. Live Music Friday brings the dance forward, LCD Sound System inspired sounds of Rival Galaxies to the NEPM studios before you can catch their set at Hutghi’s at the Nook this Saturday, October 25th. And we’ll go adjacent to wine for this week’s thunderdome at Provisions in Northampton much like they’ll do in their upcoming move into Thornes Marketplace as we taste wine influenced Whiskeys to prepare for a festival at their Amherst location this weekend. Content warning: Our conversation with Emily Orling and Cesar Alvarez references suicide

Today, we dabble with our fascination of the darker elements of daily lifeA new series showing second wave noir films is starting at the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington. From Chinatown, to Night Moves, to Point Blank and beyond, each film takes the unrest in our culture and distills it and we’ll speak with creative director Ben Elliot and board member Emmy-nominated director Matthew Penn about the appeal of watching stark realities on screen.. Plus we’ll hear from the force behind the Secret Planet Music CSA Edo Mor, who’re bringing the afro-dance-psych band Dogo du Togo to the Iron Horse this Saturday. But the show will also be a resurgence of a culinary popup from Mor that he’s launched in the past, so we’ll hear from the renaissance man himself about the history and culture of the Sabich. Plus our weekly chat with US Representative Jim McGovern, who’s getting ready for the upcoming march for the food bank, but definitely has thoughts about the government being shutdown for nearly a month, plus we’ll get his reflections on the no kings day protests, and your listener questions.

Today has many meetings of culture.We speak with the third and final candidate for mayor of Easthampton: JT Tirrell, current councilor at-large, who has a unique perspective on the population and its growth as the only Easthampton native on the ballot. We’ll hear about his ties to the Williston Northampton School, the other public offices he's held, and visions for some of the public services the city offers.We’ll also see the shift of perspective of a nation as they themselves shrug out of colonial rule with a new exhibit at Smith College Museum of Art. "Michel Kameni: Portraits of an Independent Africa" explores the work of the studio photographer over his decades of practice and curator Aprile Gallant shows us some of the nuances of his work, the subtle changes to the museum itself now that it is free to the public, and learn how that public can come immerse themselves in Kameni's style at an event on Nov. 14. And Word Nerd Emily Brewster senior editor at Merriam Webster takes our oversimplified opinions to the presses as we explore the origin of the word "stereotype," and other words in English birthed from publishing.

Today, we spend time with our second of the Easthampton mayoral candidates: Lindsi Sekula. She currently serves as the executive assistant to the mayor for the city, and was the very first to announce her candidacy. We ask about her vision for the office, especially now after working with two mayors, the importance of some of the city’s initiatives, and get her take on the temperature of a race with three candidates who already work very closely with each other. We’ll also learn more about the ways the Bay State is helping kids get closer to their foodways. It’s Massachusetts Farm to School Month and despite federal cuts, the state has thrown its support into this program that gets the products of local farms into public schools. We speak with Abby Getman-Skillicorn, special projects manager, and Mistelle Hannah, Northampton schools nutrition director, about the ways this program is ahead of its class. And local author Catherine Newman is celebrating the release of a brand new novel. "Wreck" sees the family introduced in her previous work "Sandwich" wrestling with uncertainty and grief and evolving family dynamics in a way that is compelling and personal, and very much rooted in western Mass., and we’ll chat with the author before you can meet her in person at an event in South Hadley next week through Odyssey Bookshop.

Last month we got to talk with the mayoral candidates for Northampton before their primary, and this month we’ll look at the three candidates for the neighboring city of Easthampton who didn’t have a primary because they use ranked choice voting. First up is the person who moved into the mayoral seat after former mayor Nicole LaChappelle vacated: Salem Derby. The last person to declare their candidacy, Derby has served on Easthampton’s city council for almost the whole millennium, and we’ll chat with him about his change of heart regarding the position, and more. We’ll also head to Great Falls, where the seeds of the 16th March for the Food Bank are sprouting and visions of costumes are dancing in the heads of the creative team at Swanson’s Fabrics. We’ll get a glimpse of who Monte might be dressed as on his 43 mile trek from Springfield to Greenfield. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College's Salman Hameed, wants us to go outside and look at what in ancient times would have been portents of catastrophe, but now we know they are just wicked cool comets you can see this time of year (provided of course the skies clear up).

We’ll head over to the 3 County Fairgrounds, the new home of Recordville’s Northampton Record Fair. Over 60 record dealers, vintage shops, and a lot more amenities come with the change in space, and we speak with organizers DJ Studebaker Hawk and Janice Chaka, as well as vendor Gio Zuniga whose Spin That Records will be tabling there about the changes and mainstays happening this weekend at their event, and get to hear the exploits of Janice's own crate digging.

In Williamstown, four local businesses will come together to celebrate the season and how their respective avenues dovetail snugly with each other. The Cricket Creek Farm Fall Picnic happens this weekend, and we’ll speak with Kat Hand of Berkshire Cider Project, Justin Adkins of Wild Soul River, Chef Swifty of Door Prize and Anna Halpin Healy representing Cricket Creek Farm itself about the fun festivities ahead, and getting the public to see how they are all connected.

Today has writing, reading, AND arithmetic. The Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics has been ongoing since the College’s founding, established and fostered by the late professor emeritus David Kelly and encouraging innovative thinking for high school students. We speak with part of the filmmaking team that’s created a documentary about the program before you can watch a free screening of “Hunting Yellow Pigs” on Saturday, October 18th. We’ll also encourage you to write more and better. The Write Angles Conference is a well established event in the valley that now is under the purview of the Straw Dogs Writers Guild. We speak with Morgan Sheehan and Michael Favala Goldman about the many offerings at the convention, and how writing groups like these can help with your own craft.

Today we're heading to one of the most eastern points in Franklin County and a new work of theater that is seeking to bridge divides among us. Swamped is a new work exploring family and connection in an incredibly intimate and nuanced ways and we speak with playwright and director Court Dorsey as well as actors Izzy Miller, Joe Laur, and Heather Willey about the work, about theater's place in their corner of the 978, and the many improvements made to the place the play will be performed over the next two weekends: The Wendell Meetinghouse.

Today we've got some music to serenade the end of the week. We’ll head to Northampton where a theater company has narrowed their focus performing only musicals. And this weekend they open with one of the more difficult offerings from Steven Sondheim. K&E Theatre Group takes on Sunday in the Park with George and we speak with members of the company explore challenges of putting on a show that is about more than just a painting, and the appeal of musicals overall.We’ll also chat with composer Rafiq Bhatia about his two solo albums from this year that paint very different sonic landscapes. The Oscar nominated member of Son Lux performs at the Hope Center for The Arts in Springfield tonight and we'll delve into how they make such picturesque modern sounds, and look at the difference between his many varied projects.And for Live Music Friday Norma Dream joins us to celebrate the release of their newest album before you can party with them at their album release party at Bombyx in Florence. And it’s actually a pizza party so it’s extra cool.

We're creating the spaces for community to come together. In the Berkshires, it's found in one of the country's oldest public gardens. The Berkshire Botanical Garden is getting ready for the autumn with its yearly celebration of the season, and will host its annual Harvest Festival this weekend. We speak with executive director Mike Beck about the festivities that people can experience on their grounds this weekend, as well as the ways they can help you with getting your own garden winter ready. At the Brewery at Four Star Farms in Northfield, you can support littles all across the area to have indoor playspaces that will encourage their active growth and development. The Bogin Playscape Project is holding a fundraiser at the location this Sunday, Oct. 12, and we speak with the man who's been building these structures for kids for 50 years, Tom Murphy, about the importance of physical play. And U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern still has a bit of a break from legislating as the federal government is still shut down at the moment, and speaks with us about the ghost town Capitol Hill has become, the unlikely allies that are appearing as the shut down drags on, the proposed cease fire and more.

We're diving full on into the arts today, and bringing them from afar.On Thursday, Oct. 9, the Fine Arts Center at UMass Amherst will be launching its 50th anniversary season with an intrepid look at the very nature of our disposable inclinations. "Poems of Consumption" explores consumer culture post-COVID through electronic music with lyrics rooted in Amazon product reviews. The performance is the beginning of a project by Lebanese-American musician Hamed Sinno, newly on a solo creation journey after the demise of their band Mahour Leila, and we talk with them about their brush with credit cards and capitalism and how they portray it on stage.We also meet two Berkshire-based artists celebrating brand new graphic novels. Melissa Mendes and Chuck Forsman may have different focuses when it comes to stories, but "The Weight" and "Ex Utero" share very intimate themes of family, loss, and repercussions in ways that are both heartbreaking and humane, and we speak with each author before you can catch them at Comics 'N More in Easthampton on Saturday.And our neighborhood orchestra is embarking on its 82nd season, as the Springfield Symphony Orchestra opens their program year with an evening that will include the score to "The Godfather." We speak with newly appointed president of the SSO Heather Caisse-Roberts about the direction the organization is headed towards, and what interesting sounds we have on the way for the 2025-2026 year or concerts.

Today we're speaking with two folx making big plans for the future. In Northampton, Smith College has just announced it's The Next 150 Pledge, wherein undergraduate students from families making less than $150,000 per year will have free tuition to the institution. We speak with current president of the college, Sarah Willie-LeBreton, about this initiative through the lens of the alumnae and current students, as well as the greater scope of higher education as federal pressure on such institutions continues to push. Then we head to Hampden where a young farmer is starting his journey amongst the younger agricultural generation. Farmer Clark's is the project of Clark Kadis, who is now tending to 40 acres over two parcels. With two farmstands and some innovative plans for the present and future, we hear about his first year with a farm of his very own.

We’re looking at the many ways we care for each other.Including the connections between that care and the land. The novel "Harvesting Legacy: A Farm’s Journey" explores the fate of one farm as its steward ages and is no longer able to care for the parcel in his age as he once was. The book looks at the choices and paths afforded to him and we’ll speak with its author Michael Hutton-Woodland about the inspirations and lessons learned in its pages. We’ll also talk with world renowned bassist and NEPM Jazz à la Mode host Avery Sharpe about his current New England tour, which is taking his work “I Am My Neighbor's Keeper” and putting it in the sanctuaries of New England including South Church in Springfield on Oct. 8. That congregation’s pastor Lindsey Peterson joins us to explore the connections this work and sound itself has to faith and community. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, helps us celebrate World Space Week, while taking note of the dramatic rise in satellites and how that is connected to a film being shown at Amherst Cinema for their Bellwether Film Series.

This weekend sees two days of community storytelling that is focused on the experiences of women told in their own time and words. The Tell Her This podcast comes to Bombyx in Florence for two days of very different live storytelling experiences. We speak with its creator Rochelle Rice about the importance of these stories to the ways we learn about ourselves, and teach those coming after us about the worldWe’ll continue to check out the report released by Way Finders and Umass’ Donahue Institute about the housing crisis as it impacts the 4 counties of western Mass with Way Finders president and CEO Keith Fairey and Senior Researcher at the Donohue Institute at UMass Kerry Spitzer as we speculate about what could happen if the suggestions from the report were implemented, and how home ownership is affected by the ongoing shortage. And Live Music Friday brings the intrepid and insightful Jeffrey Foucault to our studio before he brings the tracks of his album Universal Fire to life on the Iron Horse Stage Saturday October 4th, and explores some of the sparks that ignite his songwriting and musical journey.

We’re taking a hard look at our communities to see where we might grow and grow better. In Springfield for the past 50 years, that’s meant MLK Family Services, who’ll bring back their Social Justice Awards on Oct. 18. But celebrating the change-makers in our area is far from all they do at the center. We're joined by President and CEO Shannon M. Rudder, and Ariana Williams, chief of public health strategy and innovation, to talk about the awards, their Be Love Campaign, upcoming HBCU Tours, and more of the ways they remain a foundation to those in Mason Square and beyond. We’ll also walk around the corner to take a look at the whole western Massachusetts region and the needs the area has in terms of housing. The Donahue Institute at UMass Amherst and Way Finders teamed up and recently released a report of their findings on this issue, which does have some surprises, and we’ll speak with Way Finders President Keith Fairey and Kerry Spitzer, senior researcher at the Donahue Institute, about what they found. And a government shutdown happened, which is pretty foremost in Rep. Jim McGovern’s mind for this week’s conversation, but we also manage to get his take on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s military rally, and let you all know where you can ask your questions of the congressman yourself in person very soon.

We’re doing the stuff of big kids, because it’s good to remember that keeping a little youth in your perspective is a very good thing. In Easthampton, we visit everyone’s houses to experience a city wide music celebration. The 3rd annual Easthampton Porchfest takes place Saturday, Oct. 4, now with three centralized neighborhoods to explore western Massachusetts sounds in. We speak with organizers Felicia Jadczak and Steve Collicelli about the talent and community this iteration brings to town. And in Amherst at the Eric Carle Museum, they’re showing more than your littles a world of exploration. Executive Director Jennifer Schantz talks about the many offerings they have for adults at the museum that are just as engaging as the picture books they celebrate, including The Carle After Dark, which sprang forth from one of their successful summer programs. And speaking of celebrating books, Merriam Webster announced the release of a new dictionary. The 12th Collegiate Edition Dictionary arrives in November, and we speak with our resident wordster Emily Brewster about the 22 year update process, and the changes made within those pages that are helpful to a modern generation.

Science and the arts combine voltron-like, which is a reference that dates us, but bear with.We’re off to Westfield to see the farm stand created when two science teachers made an enemies to lovers story real, and use their day jobs to make the growing better for the planet. Kosinski's Farm Stand may have started with a rivalry between a blueberry and a strawberry farm, but today it’s fruit, produce, fruit wines, baked goods and so much more. We speak with Sue Kosinski about the place of family and the plans that have evolved over the years and their 100 acres.We’ll also have a rare Live Music Tuesday with the gumbo-fueled sounds of Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars as they make a stop in Northampton, celebrating the recent release of a new eponymous EP, and the genre agnostic sounds of New Orleans with their show tonight at the Parlor Room.And at the Shea Theater, it’s in the performances that emerge from the real lives of women across the country. "The Turnaway Play" is based on the experiences of those who were refused abortions and the repercussions that has on their health, choices and more. We speak with folx from the production and the Massachusetts Medical Abortion Access Project about the very real impacts these decisions and this work can have.

We’re headed for the hills, which are full of community!Including a health center that’s been keeping the folx in the many-hidden hilltowns healthy. Hilltown Community Health Center got its start 75 years ago tangentially through a campaign of a former Red Cross nurse, but over the years has outgrown its Worthington origins, into much more. We speak with doctors Michael Purdy and Debbie DiStefano about how you can join in their anniversary celebrations this Saturday, Oct. 4. For almost as long, the community has been gathering the first weekend in October for the Conway’s Festival of the Hills. But even more important than the skillet toss, the 10K, and the young generations that the event’s scholarships support in their young adult endeavors, is the community that the celebration brings together. We talk with organizers Sue MacDonald and Alexis Arcaro about the entirely volunteer powered magic community makes. And if we think about our cosmic community, there’s a nearby solar system which bears a striking resemblance to our very own and may be capable of holding life. Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College's Salman Hameed, shows us more about the Trappist System, and how we might communicate with it, even if it takes 40 years each way.

Today is full of intrigue.Pulitzer Prize winning author Alex Storozynski joins us to talk about his academic exploration of free speech in the Eastern Bloc, which in turn leads him to incredible discoveries about his own family and their impact on both WWII and the modern day. all of which can be found in "Spies In My Blood: Secrets of a Polish Family’s Fight Against Nazis and Communists," his latest book about which he’ll speak at Elms College in Chicopee this weekend. For Live Music Friday, a band that is no stranger to the Asparagus Valley makes another visit to celebrate their latest release. Hudson Valley based band The Mammals have been making music for this whole millennium, and just put out a sweeping double album titled "Touch Grass." We get to hear about their history and nuances and learn where you can see them in the 413 in the next few weeks. And as the leaves change, so do our wine tastes and colors. We head to Tip Top Wine Shop in Easthampton to check out how skin contact brings beautiful autumnal hues with a Wine Thunderdome that explores Argentinian orange wines.

We’re uncovering histories, and doing some exploration.In Ashfield this weekend, you’ve got the chance to preview a new work about the long lasting effects of slavery on the American landscape. "Seeing Violet" is a new play about the repercussions of one couple discovering their own connection to the triangle trade through a series of revelations at their home, and how that influences their interactions with a young local grad student. We’ll speak with playwright Peter Snoad and production team members Jeannine Haas and Jean Koester about the evolution of this work of theater.We’ll also explore the untapped legacies of the slave trade in Caribbean, Central and South America as Ousmane Power Greene, professor at Clark University, introduces us to important Afro-Latin figures and communities in Mexico, and reading material to further your own forays in to Afro-Latin heritage in this month’s Power of History.And our weekly chat with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern goes transatlantic as we pepper him with a barrage of your questions about President Donald Trump's UN visit, his controversial vote on a motion concerning Charlie Kirk and more as the holder of the 2nd congressional seat legislates abroad in the land of thistle and heather.Which is to say Scotland, but it is way less fun to say it that way.

This is what democracy looks like.How so? Well it’s in mutual aid and there’s a local organization that’s been helping the folx of the community through too many programs to list here. And that organization is about to experience a change in leadership. Community Action Pioneer Valley has thrived under the for the past 14 years under the guidance of Clare Higgins who’ll step down this month. We’ll talk with the outgoing leader, as well as the person who’ll soon be at the helm, Lev Ben Ezra.It’s also in the ways we come together to care for the planet. And although that’s not the way you’d usually think about a festival, that’s exactly at the core of the mission for the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival, which since its inception has sought to wrap community and information in a package of fun activities and music with as small a carbon footprint as possible. We head to Orange to talk with the organizers about the ongoings of this weekend and check in with Stephen Taranto of CISA about how this event might be the perfect endcap to their Farming and Climate Change WeekAnd in language it’s the meshing of language that happens post crusades as Word Nerd Emily Brewster helps us explore words in English with Arabic origins.

Today there's books, and ideas, and great music to accompany both. In Lenox, 16 authors will gather to have live real conversations on a wide range of topics in order to encourage more healthy discourse. The Writers, Ideas, and Thinkers Festival, or WIT as we colloquially call it, starts this Thursday, and we’ll speak with The Author Guild’s director of programming Bernard Schwartz about the folx that will speak truth to possibility in the Berkshires. We’ll also hang out with one of our favorite Children’s authors and musicians. Mister G has a new book out, and is celebrating with a new song and a book release party at the Eric Carle Museum. We’ll ask the Latin Grammy winner about the inspiration for Baby Ballena, and about more parties your littles can enjoy a little later in the season. And in Downtown Northampton, an institution returns bringing music to permeate all manners of venues. The Northampton Jazz Festival is in full swing this weekend, and we’ll talk with President of the organization Ruth Griggs about the sounds that this year’s line up will bring throughout the city.

We’re covering the full breadth of the bay state and a pinch of the sky. Mass Humanities has begun to honor those with particularly interesting and important stories to tell about and to Massachusetts, and their second honoree might be best known for Shipping up to Boston. Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys will receive the honor and we talk with the man himself as well as Brian Boyles of Mass Humanities about the award and the event you can attend where he'll receive it, and the legacy of the band in music and solidarityWe also head up to Williamstown where a beloved movie theater is about to get a facelift. Images Cinema is about to shift its programming around in order to begin construction on their theater’s meiosis, where their 120 seat theater will become 70 and 19 seat theaters. We chat with director Dan Hudson about the change, and the partners they’ll utilize to continue showing movies and more to the north Berkshires during construction. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios' Salman Hameed, looks up to the sky and sees that Chris Cornell may have had the right of it, and that people should stop being so mean to the James Webb Space Telescope, because it is very hard to break space, unlike what click-bait headlines would suggest.

We are in the North County of the Berkshires as we say goodbye to summer, and hello to Fresh Grass.This Friday, Saturday and Sunday The FreshGrass Music Festival at Mass MoCA in North Adams will feature grassroots music from a swath of diverse genres. And today on the show we’ll hear music from Juno Award, Americana Music Award, and Steve Martin Banjo Prize winner Allison DeGroot, whose new FreshGrass music commission pairs her extraordinary picking with the percussive dance of Nic GareissAnd we’ll hear more music from Grammy Award-Winning Composer, Cellist and Vocalist and Silk Road Ensemble member Mike Block who'll tell us about his new commission, The Frank Lloyd Wright Cello Concerto, and give us a preview of the work with his trio, rounded out by Zachariah Hickman on Bass, Joe K. Walsh on Mandolin, and fellow silk road ensemble member Kevork Mourad on live animated visuals. Plus we’ll give you a glimpse into what else FreshGrass has in store this weekend and explore the new Fresh Grass institute’s home base, Studio 9 at Porches with the FreshGrass Foundation’s director of programming, Ollie Chanoff, Director of the FreshGrass Institute Sue Killam and Addie MacDonald General Manager of Events at Mass MoCA.

Today is jam packed, with theater, books, and government. One of those things is not like the others, but accidentally ties them together, as Congressman Jim McGovern explores the fallout of free speech in this country as censors come for Jimmy Kimmel, the UN’s recent declaration of Israeli actions as Genocide, and much more. There’s a book fair this weekend in Northampton that’ll encourage you to engage more with the first amendment. The 2nd Read & Resist Book Fair happens Sept 20th, with authors, activists, workshops and more. We'll chat with organizer Hannah Moushabeck of Interlink Publishing about what this new year brings. Then a theater collaboration that seeks to meld continents, folklores, people and place into a work of restoration. We'll speak with creator Ebony Noelle Mitchell of Jupiter Performance Studio about again, the watercarriers: Ceremonies from in the name of the m/other tree which opens at Double Edge Theater tomorrow. Plus at Adams Theater they’re hybridizing a fundraiser with what they do best, providing space for innovative approaches to performance, founder Yina Moore, Cellist Coleman Itzkoff, and Choreographer Or Schraiber talk about The Cello Player and showing love for small theaters.

Today we explore stars of screen, stage, page, and mutual aid. On the page, we’re taking one from the Shelburne Falls Welcome Committee, who are co-hosting a benefit for immigrant rights this weekend with the FCCPR Rapid Response Network. "It Can’t Happen Here: A Benefit for Immigrant Rights" is an event that will bring together activists, poets, musicians, storytellers, and even immigration lawyers to raise funds to help their efforts. We speak with committee member Lynn Benander and poet Martin Espada who’ll be a part of the lineup to learn more about it and their ongoing work to lend aid to those striving to become Americans. And just down the road in Ashfield, birthplace of Cecil B DeMille, a celebration of western mass on proverbial celluloid happens this weekend. The 15th Ashfield Film Festival happens this weekend, highlighting the filmmaking endeavors of our neighbors in short and feature length films. We speak with organizer Christopher Seward and one of the stars of this year’s feature film June Millington about the appeal of moviemaking in the hilltowns. And Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, takes us on perhaps our nerdiest venture yet, where we question the validity of prepositional positions as we get to where we’re going, and see how that’s changed as we’ve arrived over the centuries.

We’re helping our neighbors today in their passion, and in their hungers, and their survival.For survival we head to Mohawk Regional School where tomorrow the Mary Lyon Association is hosting a Resource Fair to connect community members with local resources and services, including SNAP/HIP, fuel assistance, literacy programs, senior services, and much more. And we’ll chat with CEO Kristen Baker about the 30+ nonprofits and other festivities that will be at the event. We’ll also learn about a place in the Berkshires where an intrepid group of young theater makers have made a space for others to make more new theater. The Barn at Lee was created under the mantra “We need artists and artists need space” envisioning an environment in which artists would be nurtured in a residency setting and given the time and space to explore new ideas or develop those already in motion. And we’ll hear about that space from founders Julianna Mitchell and Misha Brooks, and the creator of their current work Even Cowboys Get the Blues, Ankita Sharma.Plus we get a visit from Riley Gilroy of Go Fresh Mobile Market on one of his rare days off, and hear about the constantly shifting landscape of mobile markets at a time where they are really needed, and his market’s place between the farmers, the people, HIP and SNAP and more.

Schools are a hot topic for this year's election cycle.And in Franklin County, there’s a big shift that may be on the horizon. Faced with a declining school-aged population, 6 towns are seeking to create a sustainable educational future by merging into one regional district. We’ll speak with Six Town Regionalization Planning Board members Greg Snedeker, Deb Potee, and Deb Loomer as well as Gill Moderator and parent Isaac Bingham about the 5 year study that encouraged this change and where you can learn more about this possibility before voting on the issue this coming November. And the Big E is now in full swing just across the river from the NEPM Studios, and there’s a great small scale introduction to the festival by littles for littles. Ashley, Jesse, and Dylan Kelleher are the authors of The Big E Picture Book which details some of the fun things you can get up to and we’ll talk with the trio about their own connections to the Eastern States Exposition. Plus last week, NASA made an announcement about findings on Mars. Are they proof of extraterrestrial life, or getting our hopes up just to be dashed once again? We sit with Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios' Salman Hameed, to explore the details and possibilities.

We conclude our week of chatting with the 4 potential Mayors for Northampton who’ll be on the preliminary ballot this coming Tuesday. Jillian Duclos is pivoting from her role at the Downtown Northampton Association to seek the seat of leadership for the city of Northampton. The only renter of the 4 candidates shares with us her perspective on the place of small businesses in the future of the city,how the housing fits into that picture, and about providing space for community voices and needs. We’ll also check in with our friends on the other side of the state Jim Braude and Margery Eagan from BPR who’ll bring their 617 show in extended form to our 413 studios next week just in time for the Big E, and they’ll let you know how you can help them have an even better time west of Worcester. . And the wine thunderdome takes a small reset in the basement of its origins, and while we pit two pinot noirs against each other at State Street Fruit Store, Deli, Wine & Spirits, our tie-breaker and mayoral journey companion Nirvani Williams helps us to explore the whys of wine tasting and building a palette.

Today we sit in the backyard of our third candidate seeking the position of mayor in Northampton as we spend this week conversing with all 4 of the folx on the preliminary ballot this coming Sept 16th. Dan Breindel has worn many hats in his career, but it’s the unanswered questions of himself and his neighbors that put him on his current path. We’ll hear about the choice to seek the mayoral seat instead of one on the council, and the disconnect he sees between the needs of the people, and the progress of the city. We’ll also meet new homes, friends, and family in a new novel from beloved local author Jeanne Birdsall. The Library of Unruly Treasures is a bit of a departure from her well known Penderwick series, and we chat with the author, and a certain someone who also hosts this show about how this story came about and how you can celebrate its release with both of them this Sunday, Sept 14th at Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity. And Congressman Jim McGovern’s week has been quite busy dealing with the sudden fallout around Charlie Kirk, new rhetoric calling democrats “terrorists”, the situation regarding drones over Poland, Israel assassinating Hamas leaders in Qatar, and more

Our chats with the candidates for Northampton mayor continue with David Dombrowski, a Northampton native and former police officer looking to fill the seat and address the issues he sees within the city including concerns over Picture Main Street, revitalizing the local economy, examining the housing and financial woes of the city and more. We’ll also head to Amherst to find out more about a new work that explores the boundaries and ties between humanity, memory, and technology. "The Onion" is a new opera in which family secrets collide with a memory-enhancing AI, and we’ll speak with the creative team that created the show as well as the stellar cast that will perform it this weekend.Plus triplex cinemas this weekend they’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of a cult classic. "Psycho Beach Party" is a campy romp through 50s tropes and 80’s slasher sensibilities that has just been added to the Criterion Collection, and we’ll meet two of the film’s stars who’ll be in conversation after the showing on Saturday: 413 resident and actor Lauren Ambrose, and screenwriter/actor Charles Busch.**Addendum: we mistakenly refer to Charles Busch as Chris Busch in the intro of this episode.

Today, we’re starting a deep dive into the politics light portion of our ethos, because Northampton has a heavily contested mayoral preliminary going on right now. So for the rest of the week we’ll be chatting with each of the four contestants in that particular race. And today we’ll start those conversations with the woman who currently has that seat: Gina Louise Sciarra. We’ll explore how her time as mayor has gone, as well as some of the more controversial issues in the race including the ongoing housing and property tax issues, the question of Picture Main St, the funding of schools, and more alongside NEPM News Room’s Adam Frenier. Then we’ll sidle over to the next Hampton on the list for a one man stage show that examines the less titillating positions in the adult entertainment industry. "Near Sex for Work" presents writer, comedian, and actor Daniel Shar’s very clothed, very sex-free contributions to the risque and we’ll talk to him about what that entails exactly, and how he came to be sought after in that industry for doing what seems to be the opposite of what it asks for, and other secrets he'll divulge on the City Space Stage in Easthampton on Sept 10th.

We’re digging into a bit of delicious history and listening to decades of dedication We sit with Mother-Son authors Jyoti and Auyon Mukharji, who’ve combined their talents to release the cookbook Heartland Masala. The book is an amazing and tasty snapshot not just of cultures meeting within one family, but of history, and interpersonal connections, with Jyoti’s incredible career trajectory from medicine to measuring cups, and Auyon’s growing involvement from musician in the band Darlingside, to recipe consultant, to budding food historian. Also, we’ll tell you how you can ask all your own questions about their recipes and more at their book launch happening this Tuesday at Daily Operation in Easthampton. And we’ll have an extra rare Live Music Monday with Veteran singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith before he plays at the Iron Horse Sept. 9th. And get to hear first hand the thrice Juno award winner’s brand new eighteenth album Hangover Terrace released 40 years after his first self published work and 30+ years after his first official label release. .Plus we’ll peruse the many fruits of Mountain Orchard in Granville with co-owner Chris Teter and learn how the trees on their many acres have shifted and grown over the past 100+ years now that apple season is upon us.

Today we get to play explorers: in our glasses, in our ears, and on our stages. Tomorrow evening a work highlighting the experiences of women in an ongoing conflict overlooked by many will be presented at Holyoke Media. An Epic of Violence brings the stories of Sudanese women in their mother tongue to the stage through a company of six actors for a theatrical production and we’ll talk with the writer behind the work, former Holyoke resident Tamador Gibreel. We’ll also get the sounds of cumbia’s future straight from LA. Secret Planet brings Tropa Magica to Easthampton this evening at the Marigold Theater for an intoxicating amalgam of cumbia, psych rock, surf and punk. And the group joins us in studio for live music Friday. And in Lenox, Mary and Ben Daire have another blind tasting for us of the two wines that were the crowd favorites at the past two Lenox Wine Festivals. So we pit the fan favorites against each other while learning how you can taste over 100 beverages next weekend in the berkshires.

Today, we go onscreen in Deerfield where a new exhibit looks at the way the Asparagus Valley has been captured on film and tv.Pioneer Valley Picture Show is a wide sweeping exploration of the people, places, and screenplays that are connected to the towns and cities of the 413, from actors to costume designers, writers and directors, the Memorial Hall Museum is looking at the many ways Western Mass. appears on the big screen. We get a tour of the new exhibit from curator Ray Radigan, and along with someone who actually appears in the exhibit, director Bob Krzykowski of "The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot", get a glimpse of the over 100 years of the area’s film history, and hear how you can participate yourself by completing their scavenger hunt. And Congressman Jim McGovern is back in Chocolate City where the National Guard are still patrolling, sort of, to talk about the collective movement of Epstein survivors, the legal victories of Harvard University, our ongoing military operations which recently hit Venezuela and has its eyes domestically on NOLA and Chicago, not to mention the perpetual question of the possibility of building a bipartisan future for our quite divided nation.

We’re learning more about the arts and culture of a diaspora at Springfield Museums for instance, where this Friday sees the third Latino Arts Festival. Featuring an exhibit on loan from the Museo de Ponce that itself delves into the sense of place and surrealism in Latin America, music, dance and more and we’ll chat with Museum director of Education Larissa Murray about the occasionWe’ll also find ourselves on a hilltop sequestered in a corner of Amherst College’s Campus. Book and Plow Farm was founded in the 2010s as an effort of the Student body and has provided those students with connection to the land ever since, and we’ll speak with assistant manager Kaylee Brow about the farm’s history and current direction at an institution with no direct coursework in her field. And Word Nerd Emily Brewster senior editor at Merriam-Webster is kicking Grey’s Anatomy to the curb and giving us better, less utilized words to describe the parts of our bodies and they’re all safe we promise!

It’s birthday time because one of the farms in the area is celebrating its time in agro-tourism with four acres of festivities.Mike’s Maze in Sunderland is celebrating its 25th year with its 26th maize labyrinth, so we head there to take in this year’s attraction and hear about it’s history. We’ll learn about the maze’s origins with the eponymous Mike Wissemann and artist Will Sillin who designed and cut the first 11 mazes, and the work that went into the Maze’s early years and themes, and hear about the transition to the current team building the attraction: Dave and Jess Marsh Wissemann, as well as the changes and lessons learned along the way that keep people coming back to Sunderland to get the full experience. Then we’ll head to Easthampton where 13 bands over 2 days will take over the stage at City Space for a punk festival like no other. Queercore Fest is hitting its stride in its second year, and we’ll learn from organizers Issley and Ben about this year’s line up, last year’s lessons, and the importance of gathering queer community in queer space for a mutual aid cause.

20 years ago today the nation watched as Hurricane Katrina broke the levees and lay feet of water and devastation on the wards of New Orleans, destroying infrastructure, communities, and lives. And today on the Fab 413, we’ll speak with one person displaced by the hurricane happened to land in Ashfield and make themselves a little ubiquitous. Nan Parati has been making signs for businesses, events, and festivals for 4 decades, but when Katrina left her stranded in the Northeast, she built herself into Ashfield’s cultural and culinary landscape by opening Elmer’sNow it’s the Elmer’s building, and that restaurant is in new hands, so we’ll sit with Nan on this anniversary to get the Full story of amazing coincidences, and to meet the new folx helming a new cafe in the now legendary Elmer’s Space. We’ll also hear the melange of sounds that permeate the music of Clarinetist, bandleader, and composer Kinan Azmeh for Live Music Friday, and learn about woodwinds in his native Syria, and the importance of music to a changing world before you can see him perform with his ensemble City band tomorrow night at Antenna Cloud Farm. Plus ACF Founder Michi Wiancko speaks about what it’s like to play with Kinan in the Silk Road Ensemble, where they are both members.

Healthcare is a fraught issue in the US let alone the region. And there’s a local organization that’s been providing care for a wide variety of avenues to some of the most vulnerable populations across the 4 counties. Tapestry Health has been a force in the 413 for 50 years and has just undergone a few leadership changes. We speak their new Chair of the Board Brad Riley about their current services, and some of the challenges that Tapestry faces in light of the current administration. We’ll also hear how you can help them be around for another 50 years with their upcoming fundraiser The Walk For Every body. NEPM reporter and engineer extraordinaire Phil Bishop explores one of the peskier species that you might be hearing and seeing more of: The Spotted Lantern Fly. MDAR’s Jennifer Foreman Orth explains the true impact of the insect, and what you can do to mitigate its invasionAnd Congressman Jim McGovern speaks on the lessons he’s learned from his farm tour, yesterday’s tragic school shooting in Minnesota, listener questions on Gaza, the national guard in DC, the Epstein Files and more.

Every year, the congressman for the 2nd congressional district comes to to area for a whirlwind meeting with farmers, agricultural advocates, and other legislators, and members of his staff at various farms across his district. We tag along with U.S. Representative Jim McGovern at the second stop of his 15 location, 2 day Farm Tour up in Ashfield at Foxtrot Farm and get to see firsthand how they’re transforming a former hayfield into verdant and resilient farmland. Farm manager Abby Ferla tells us more about some of the farm’s practices and procedures including pick your own and their CSA, and how the uncertainty of our current grant structure is affecting the decisions they have to make right now. Then Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster escalates down the hill to talk about contradictory phrases and uses of words that are far more than meets the eye and that all seem to have something to do with falling or rising... And as it’s Wednesday and traditionally that was the day we nerd out about things, we’ll bring back a quick Nerdwatch to explore the sudden uptick in the Isekai genre, and games that'll maintain that summer feeling way into the colder months.

We’re trying our best to get around, and a recent survey of folx in the area show that they’re having problems with that too. The People and Transportation Project report looks at the ways that folx in the 4 counties are and aren’t getting around, and the hardships they face getting from point A to Point which can have bigger repercussions in many other facets of daily life. We head next door to Wayfinders to chat with President Keith Fairey and MassINC Polling Group Research Director Rich Parr, who worked together to take this snapshot of what moving around in Hampden and Hampshire counties really looks like, and how it impacts jobs, schools, health and more. And we’ll see one couple’s agricultural dreams made reality in Bernardston, where two one-time academic researchers left their Boston labs to get their hands in the soil at Coyote Hill Farm. Ervin and Gloria Meluleni give us a grand tour of the land they cleared themselves and work organically, full of innovations and lessons from the land they’ve learned over the past few decades, including stumbling accidentally into a CSA.

We have a cure for your Mondays.It’s music! Music is the cure!And a new venue that we just saw last month is getting ready to launch right into a new concert series. The Hope Center for the Arts in Springfield is reviving its days as the City Center and is announcing its inaugural 25/26 Season of performances, and we’ll chat with Isaac Eddy, Lorenzo Gaines, and Kyle Homestead about the line-up.In Northampton, they’re encouraging you to make your own music. The Northampton Community Music Center is hosting an Instrument Petting Zoo tomorrow, inviting all walks and ages of folx to their building to test out new ways of making sound. Vocalist, bassist, current Digital co-ordinator and former student of the center Indë Francis lets us test out some of the instruments that’ll be available to the public for the event. Plus, resident Astronomer Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed, gives us even more information about how the platform he leads, Kainaat Studios, is leaning even further into getting all those folx to engage with the lunar eclipse.

With Arts funding being cut everywhere, the places that are finding it in their hearts and wallets to support the creative communities around them are even more important. And today we’ll talk with Zoë Fieldman of CitySpace about their efforts to do just that. The Pay It Forward Grant recipients have just been announced, and we’ll speak with them about the 10 folx bringing their work to the Easthampton stage over the next few months, as we explore how the landscape for arts patronage is changing. We’ll also talk with the first of those recipients coming to the Blue Room’s stage: Chestina Thrower, and learn from the UMass student about their quartet that will accompany them, and what this residency means to the growth of their work and catalog.Also, it’s time for another Power of History segment with professor Ousmane Power-Greene, where we’ll hear about Elizabeth Mumbet Freeman Day and where you can celebrate it, along with how her case became the proverbial straw on slavery’s back in the Bay State.

Metal, wood, fire, a fire lizard, and whales!Sort of. The salamander, which is often translated to fire lizard is the squirmy looking influence behind many congressional districts across the country and gerrymandering looks like it is about to become all the rage for both Republicans and Democrats. And it just so happens that one of the nation’s experts in the history of gerrymandering lives right here in the 413. We welcome back to the show Haydenville’s David Daley to help us navigate through the circuitous political meanderings of rigging elections through redistricting. For wood and fire, we’ll head to Wales, Massachusetts where Nipmuc Community organizations have gathered to create a Mishoon in unique collaboration with Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary.. Since the 15th, they've opened this ceremony and tradition to the public so that folx might come and see the ways the first peoples of this land live and thrive. We’ll hear about the importance of this practice in the past and to the present with the people who have inhabited these lands for millenniaThe metal is in Millers Falls, where The Heavy Music Campout RPM Fest returns to Montage next weekend and we’ll bang our heads with festival founder Brian Westbrook and hear what new sounds this year has in store for us all, earplugs at the ready.