The Fabulous 413

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.

Folk and Americana musicians are all headed for the woods as the Arcadia Folk Festival hits year seven as a plethora of artists over two days headed to North and Easthampton from Red Baraat to Josh Ritter, and moreAnd to talk with us about the sanctuary that will soon be filled with more than the sounds of songbirds is director of Connecticut River Valley Wildlife Sanctuaries for Mass Audubon Jonah Keane, and we’ll explore not just his favorites of who is performing this weekend, but also the synergy between the festival and the conservation space and the ways the event has continued its dedication to being environmentally friendly. We’ll also hear from someone whose emotional outlet became beacon for many. Diane DiMassa author of the comic Hothead Paisan: Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist, is seeing a new anthology of her work released and chats with us about some of the origins of the comic and the ways it continues to resonate with the queer community and beyond before you can meet her in person at Mass Moca’s R & D Bookstore August 21st. And word nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster brings us along to ask language why it’s named things incorrectly as we take a look at some common English misnomers.

We’re continuing to highlight local traditions, and here at the very height of the harvest season, for Franklin County, that means the Harvest Supper which is celebrating it’s 20th year this weekend. We’ll chat with Stone Soup Cafe’s Kirsten Levitt, who helms the affair to chat about it’s origins with Juanita Nelson, the important place the event has in the community and the Cafe’s calendars, and the joys of bringing everyone together to celebrate the bounty of the county.We’ll also head to Great Barrington where a tradition is currently being grown. The Queer Cinema Club seeks to bring known and hidden screen gems of the LGBTQIA2S+ community to the Triplex Cinema for showings to foster more connection in and around the the Berkshires, and we’ll chat with Ben Eliot, Champika Fernando, and Michelle Kaplan about what you can watch this week.And in Feeding Hills young beef farmer has spent 35 years doing the very best for his herd, including adding a small breakfast and lunch spot for those on the go. Autumn Mist Farm has supplied beef to local outlets in the area, and we’ll chat with founder Derrick Turnbull about his tenure in the cattle industry, and the hardships this year has presented.

Look who’s back from vacation!(It’s us!) And look at who else is about to have their vacation end!Your Kids! But going back to fun arts programming can take some of the sting off of that, and there’s a summer send off that helps to make sure those programs happen while also bringing the local music community together. Transformance 35 happens tomorrow, with a new list of covers being performed by local musicians. We'll speak with one of the organizers of the event, Northampton Arts Council's Steve Sanderson about the event and this year’s theme: “Immigrant Song”, and hear from one of the bands performing at tomorrow’s massive festivities: Big Yellow Taxi, and learn what continues to appeal about the songs of Canadian Joni Mitchell Plus Mr. Universe: Salman Hameed talks about how Kainaat Studios is encouraging millions of folx to watch the next lunar eclipse, and a planet near-ish to us we should pay attention to in Alpha Centauri, and the astronomical themes in a Josh Ritter song you might hear this weekend at the Arcadia Folk Festival.

It feels only right considering how much music we’ve filled this week with, that we go out with More music. So we’ll revisit the celebrations of our compatriots in community radio arms for Live Music Friday. Kalliope Jones began as a group of IMA students, but has grown a lot over the past decade and they’ll visit the studios before you can catch them at the Valley Free Radio Birthday PartyAnd out in North Adams a new way to see and engage with music has just arrived. The Freshgrass Institute is a new endeavor providing workshops, residency programs, fellowships, and commissions to support artists. We’ll meet its director Sue KillamWe’ll also hear from one of the folx who’s not only playing at the Freshgrass Institute this weekend, but who’ll be one of the folx taking stage in a few weeks at Northampton’s Transformance 35: Friend of the show, and fellow Kate Bush enthusiast Ciara Fragale. And just around the corner at Mass MoCA, an innovative creator with a unique approach to comedy will perform. We’ll talk to Julio Torres about his inspirations, and more before the laughter begins at his stand up this evening.

If you’re listening to us, you probably already believe in the power of community radioAnd today on the Fabulous 413, we’ll honor another station that’s rooted in the Asparagus Valley and is celebrating a milestone this weekend. Valley Free Radio began broadcasting 20 years ago and will celebrate this weekend with a birthday party, and we’ll speak with Board Members Betsy Lancto and Ed Malachowski about the important place they maintain on the airwavesAnd the new season for Antenna Cloud Farm launches this weekend, with innovative virtuosos from all over the globe coming to perform and create among the idyllic hills of Gill. We’ll hear about the performances you can see all month with founder Michi Wiancko, and get a taste of the pair you can catch this very weekend, Duo YumenoPlus Congressman Jim McGovern gets way into a Massachusetts innovation that is now plaguing the nation: Gerrymandering and its possible effects on the legislative branch, the undying issue of Epstein, and more

Wow there’s a lot of music going on in western Mass, and we can’t get enough so we’ll tell you about another festival happening this weekend in FlorenceEtchings is the project of the area’s own ECCE Ensemble, who were also eager to get their ears on new work by composers of all walks. And we’ll talk with Cassandra Holden of Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity, and festival and ensemble founder John Aylward about the things you’ll hear over the next 3 days, and the winding road the festival took to land in Western Mass. We’ll also dig into one of nature’s most portable snacks, smack dab in the middle of the four counties. Blue Heaven Blueberries has been growing their bounty over 3 generations and a little over 60 years, and we’ll meet Donna and Joe Pease who’ve currently tend the acres of bushes in MiddlefieldPlus word nerd Emily Brewster, Senior Editor at Merriam-Webster takes a pause from her drudge to explore the fun of collective nouns and the ways we have cataloged them through the centuries.

85 years ago Serge Koussevitzky started a tradition at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s home away from home on the Lenox-Stockbridge line, that has become a herald of the Summer for music lovers everywhere. Tanglewood on Parade happens today, and though it began as the “Allied Relief Fund Benefit,” it’s now a fundraiser for all of the learning that is done at the BSO’s summer home, bringing activities for folx of all ages, and performances by every ensemble on the campus all day longSo today, we head to the Berkshires to get a snapshot of the festivities that always end with canon fire from the 1812 Overture and fireworks. We’ll speak with Maestros Thomas Wilkins and Na’Zir McFadden about their respective tenures with the institution and the work they’ll be leading in tonight's concert, hear performances from concertmaster Nathan Cole, and principal flutist Lorna McGhee, plus hear what happens beyond the music for the community with senior director for patron experience Amy Aldrich, and hear from each one about the incredible location and comradery that Tanglewood builds.

We're focusing on the amazing 01002 today.(That is the zip code for the People’s Republic of Amherst)Amherst has a lot going on.We’ll take a walk in Wildwood Cemetery where former Amherst resident, artist Matt Mitchell, has a brand new sculpture about to be unveiled. Along with cemetery director Rebebba Fricke and groundskeeper Silas Ball we talk with all three about bringing sculptures to surround the sepulchers, and how this place of contemplation was meant to be of conservation as well. Not far from that resting place at Amherst Cinema, their silver screen is filled with the sounds of music, and important pieces of music history on celluloid. We’ll talk with George Myers, the curator of the movie series Sound and Vision, which brings musical stories of all types into the spotlight, about the cinema’s Kurosawa film series and how his other film venture, Vision Video, is doing bringing film in physical media form back to the Valley. And from a kitchen table in Amherst we head to the stars with Mr. Universe. Amherst astronomer Salman Hameed, of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, gives us the scoop on what’s happening with Betelgeuse. Here's a hint, it's gonna be explosive.

We’re learning history through our bodies, and arts and culture everywhere. The twelfth annual Pocumtuck Homelands Festival happens this weekend in Great Falls, honoring the many peoples who have stewarded and called these lands home for millennia with dance, song, vendors who are masters of their craft and more. We’ll chat with Kitty Hendrick Miller of the Mashpee-Wampanoag peoples, about the place events like this have in educating the public, and her ties to Public MediaAnd at Jacob’s Pillow Festival, an innovative blend of afro- and afro-latin social dance has just premiered. Urban Love Suite is a look at movement through the styles of the diaspora from the earliest stolen peoples to the partnered dances of today, and we’ll speak with the artistic force behind the work Sekou McMiller, as well as dramaturg (and associate curator AND scholar in residence to the festival itself) Melanie George, about the core of the work and the process of bringing it to the Ted Shawn Stage.And the Tina Turner Wine Thunderdome checks unique wines and mission of one label. Stolpman Vineyards with Mary and Ben Daire at Dare Bottleshop and Provisions in Lenox. Plus we'll learn about an event they're curating at Tanglewood as well: Tasting Notes on August 16th.

We’ve got a bunch of current issues we’re tackling, some on stage, some in the houses of law. Two professors at Bard Microcollege in Holyoke are producing a theatrical work that dovetails with their teachings tidily. BELLY is a work that condenses a decade of research on Black motherhood, and reproductive autonomy into an experience of music, dance, and spoken word, while stretching those findings through the the Transatlantic Slave Trade to the friendships and families of today. We speak with writer/producer Haile Eshe Cole and assistant producer Nicole Young Martin about the choreopoem itself and the ties to their academic lives in Holyoke, including a dissertation pivot. We also explore the lack of space for newer theater works, and the importance of recognizing cultural importance amidst universal experience. And our weekly conversation with Congressman Jim McGovern interrupts his congressional break to talk about the famine and ongoing issues in Gaza, questions about the Epstein files, the ever looming storm of impact the budget cuts will have to Energy initiatives and snap and more. Oh, and what he’s planning to do with the rest of that downtime. Seeing as he’s on vacation and all, sorta.

We’re reminding you that Africa is not a single country, so stop treating it like that. In fact there’s an opportunity coming up for you to learn more about and interact with the culture of several of the nations that make up the continent in Springfield. The African Community Festival happens August 9 celebrating people of the African diaspora and their many cultures. We’ll speak with organizers Naefia Padi, Emmanuel Owusu, and Doreen Dawes about the music, food, festivities, and community action that will happen at the event. We’ll also head to Westfield where their local farmers market has become a volunteer fueled labor of community. Market Manager Lisa Zlody, and volunteers Sarah Adams, and Priest Sandy Albim show us the many flavors of the current market in it’s current location, the impact of HIP and SNAP, and the coalition of folx coming together to make sure their neighbors are getting healthy produce. And with word nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam Webster, we swallow an orchard's worth of other fruits that English didn’t have terms for to specifically look at how apples came to be associated with laryngeal protuberances. Which is to say we look at the term Adams apple.

This weekend, visual art isn’t the only type of art that you can see in the halls and galleries at Mass MoCA, as a 40 year musical collective known for expanding the definition of ensemble, vocal, and solo music commandeers the museum to push those boundaries in sound further. Today on the Fabulous 413, we head to North Adams, to get a sneak peek at Bang on a Can’s Loud Weekend, where the fellows who’ve been participating in their summer workshop, and fellow collaborators from around the globe gather to delve into the notes of “New Music” and perform them throughout the space, permeating the museum with performances. We’ll hear from Bang on a Can co-founders David Lang, Julia Wolfe, and Michael Gordon about this year’s lineup, the nuances of composing music together, and sit in on a rehearsal of a work that's an example of that collaboration that will close out the festival: ShelterAnd we’ll meet Jason Treuting who joins the line-up with his ensemble So Percussion, and hear about how the beat can be a breakthrough to new innovations in instrumental music. Plus we'll hear a live solo performance from him in an excerpt of his work Amid The Noise

Over the course of this show, we’ve made many mentions of how important local agriculture is, and how crucial local involvement with that agriculture is. One of the best ways we as consumers can make that happen is through the implementation of CSAs: Community Supported Agriculture and the Farm Share model. So today we visit a farm in Great Barrington that was one of the first to start what you generally see as the CSA model today. Indian Line Farm was agricultural land through most of the 20th century, but in the 80’s it switched from Dairy to Produce and started towards what can be found on its grounds today. We head to its current grounds to speak farmer Elizabeth Keen, as well as Dan Carr of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures about the farm’s history, present, and future. Our local astronomer, Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College shows us space’s influence on more terrestrial organisms including a moth that uses the milky way to navigate its migration in Australia. Also, we reflect on the legacy and impact of the late Tom Lehrer.

Electronic Music has come a long long way since the first synthesizers and theremins of the early 20th Century, and today we’ll get into the wide array of sounds this style of music includes at a festival being thrown this weekend at The Shea Theater. Extension Cords II happens this Saturday bringing an eclectic mix of 6 musicians, each with their own flavor of sound to the stage. We’ll speak with headliner Daedalus, aka Alfred Darlington, who in addition to working with the likes of Saul Williams and MF Doom, is currently a professor Berklee College of Music teaching the next generation of Beatmakers, and discover how he developed his aesthetic, and how visuals and analog elements can be key parts to his compositions. We’ll also hear another artist from the lineup for Live Music Friday as we’re joined by Barbie. AI. Plus we’ll learn about the origins of the event with organizer and visual designer for the Whole shebang: Chris HinkleAnd the Wine Thunderdome takes on a tint and heads north to the Leverett Village Co-Op to sip roses with our Franklin County Wine Friend Ken Washburn, while listening to a ton of cool bird calls that would have made really great samples.

Today on the Fab 413, there’s a festival coming up in the Berkshires that will encourage the next generation of filmmakers to pick up a camera and shoot the movies they've imagined. In Great Barrington, Trifest is currently open for submissions of work from filmmakers 25 and under of all lengths and all topics and all film styles. We chat with Salem Rabley of Triplex Cinema about the films that have been submitted so far as well as how far the films have come from, and how you or that young person in your life can have work submitted to be seen by the greater public. Plus we’ll hear about her own work that will be on screen for the festivities, that she got to film in a faraway place in a faraway language. . And our weekly chat with congressman Jim McGovern rolls on despite congress being on break and tackles the ongoing thorn in the side of this administration that the Epstein Files continue to be, a controversial Israel vote and his take on it, and much more.