The Fabulous 413

NEPM’s Hunger Awareness week continues, and today our weekly conversation with Congressman Jim McGovern dials in on food insecurity. McGovern is one of the strongest anti-hunger advocates in Congress and today we’ll hear how fighting hunger used to be a bipartisan issue. And why and when that changed. We’ll separate fact from fiction when it comes to some of the narratives surrounding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. And hear about his involvement in the 16th annual March for The Food Bank.While times may be tough and getting tougher for those who are hungry in this country, the US is a great place to be ultra-wealthy. Chuck Collins, the former heir to the Oscar Meyer fortune, has a new book called Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet. We’ll talk to the author about how billionaires may be impacting your everyday life more than you know. Chuck will be at the Odyssey in South Hadley tonight. And speaking of bookshops, dozens of them will descend on Northampton this weekend at the Northampton Antiquarian Book, Ephemera, and Book Arts Fair. We’ll talk rare editions, book bindings, and how this book fair is helping a local library with the book fair founder Mark Brumberg.

As NEPM’s Hunger Awareness Week continues, we head to another newer pantry just up the road from us here in Springfield. Born Free Food Pantry was birthed from a need in Six Corners to give access to the community to food and services that generally aren’t as easily available. We speak with founders Charlie Holmes and Terrence Lee, and other volunteers about feeding the people’s needs through faith and more. We also have an extra rare Live Music Wednesday with Jude Roberts, who we last saw as part of The Mammals. He’s got songs all his own, and a beautiful take on catchy folk in his latest album "The Olive and the Vine”, and we’ll give you a preview before you can see them for yourself at the Dream Away Lodge in Becket. Plus word Nerd Emily Brewster senior editor at Merriam Webster helps to explain the letters we don’t say and why as we explore the origins of silent letters in english words, and the historical occasions on which we sometimes say them.

Hunger awareness week continues here at NEPM, so, we’ll take you into one of the newest of the 199 organizations that the Food Bank of Western Mass works with in Western Mass at The Brick House in Turners Falls. Executive director Tom Taffe brings us into his small-but-mighty food pantry and tells us about the innovative new collaborative anti-hunger effort that several organizations in Montague have formed to fight hunger togetherWe’ll head to Chesterfield to a small but incredibly diverse farm that is no stranger to the workings of both Snap and HIP as they affect both the people who need their services and the farmers supplying the produce for those programs. Rachel and Tevis Roberston-Goldberg, who show us the incredible array of things they produce at Crabapple Farm from livestock, to houseplants, to produce and more, and the effect that federal and state programs have on us all. A new play at CitySpace in Easthampton about the fateful accident that paralyzed soul legend Teddy Pendegrass and scandalized his career opens Nov 21 & 22. The Night We Rode takes a new approach to looking at the event and we’ll speak with playwright Mercedes Loving-Manley and the man playing Teddy, Springfield’s own Terrell James Jones about humanizing the people involved, and the things left behind in getting a new play on it's feet.

It’s Hunger Awareness Week here at NEPM and that means all week we’ll be talking with folx involved with the fight against hunger, the proverbial boots on the ground here in Western Mass. We start at the top, with the head of the organization for which Monte will march next week, executive director for the Food Bank of Western Mass Andrew Morehouse. We’ll hear about the ways that inflation and reduced government outlets have affected their abilities to service the area’s 199 food pantries, and the increase in demand that’s occurred this year. Plus we’ll get into the newest leg for the march for the food bank, the Berkshire’s Mini March. Right next to the issue of hunger is that of housing insecurity. Bittersweet Lane is a new book that is a magical mix of memoir and hard looks at policy regarding public housing and the effect and issues surrounding the lack of housing in the Nation. We speak with the author Jamie Madden about his ongoing work on this subject, his thoughts on recent efforts regarding affordable housing and more before he reads at a launch event at Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley on Tuesday, November 18th.

Today on the fabulous 413, we’ll visit the subterranean home of a legacy Western Mass business that is about the change hands. Turn It Up CDs and more took over a basement in Northampton 30 years ago and the owners, Patrick Pezzati and Chandra Hancock are now turning over the keys to one of their longtime employees, Carson Arnold, who starting shopping at Turn It Up when he was 10 years old. We’ll hear about how a store selling physical media has managed to weather 3 decades of digital incursion.And if you were looking for a fun way to support The March for The Food Bank coming up in just over a week and don't want to walk any part of 43 miles, maybe pop into State St. Fruit Store or Coopers in Northampton where you can make a donation that will land you with a goody bag filled with wine and more. And in the Thunderdome, we’ll taste some indigenous Eastern Block grapes with our wine snob friends at State StreetAnd it’s Live Music Friday, we welcome back Gina Coleman and Diego Mongue from the Berkshire-based Misty Blues Band who bring their well rooted blues at De La Luz Soundstage in Holyoke tonight

We’re going from coast to coast in a new book from Alex Werth. On Loop is an examination of the collision of sound, politics, racism, and culture in Oakland, CA and explores the trajectory of influence they have had on the evolution of the city. We speak with the author before you have a chance to hear more about his writing and experiences at a book launch party this Tuesday, Nov 18 at 33 Hawley in Northampton. And in Amherst, we’re taking our own bodies to extreme to help support others. The CWC Chilly Challenge will bring people together to support the daily work of the Center for Women and Community this Saturday, Nov. 15th. We speak with Director of Programming and Development, Kathie Cravelli about the daunting prospect of dunking yourself in very cold water, as well as the services they provide beyond the campus of UMass. And the Government has just gotten back in session after the longest shut down in the nation’s history, but congressman Jim McGovern has many thoughts about that process and what it’s done to his party, plus the possible penalization of the bay state for its actions paying for the SNAP deficit, the albatross of the Epstein files and more.

Just because we’re old doesn’t mean we don’t wanna have fun.The Toy Box in Amherst wants to encourage you in that train of thought. This Thursday, November 13th, sees the store hosting it’s third “So You Think You’re Too Old For a Toy Store” event for those 21+ who may have gotten out of touch with their more playful sides. We head to the amusement stomping grounds to play with toys ourselves and hear what’s changed for year three of getting older folx to come be playful in their space with owner Liz Rosenberg. Plus at the Hope Center for the Arts, a pillar of Latin Jazz and more comes to play in Springfield this Friday. Arturo Sandoval has thrilled audiences around the world with a sound that is both technically dazzling and deeply expressive, earning multiple Grammy Awards, an Emmy, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He joins us to talk about his beginnings in Cuba, learning under Dizzy Gillespie, and key lessons for us all about creating and enjoying music, including at his show on November 14th. And word Nerd Emily Brewster helps us understand the difference between the lines we use grammatically as we pit hyphens, N-dashes, and M-dashes against each other in a SYNTAX THUNDERDOME, as we also examine how AI is confusing and conflating the three.

It’s veteran’s day, a holiday started after the end of world war I, the current evolution of Armistice Day has grown to encompass and honor those who’ve served in all of the conflicts since. But the change in the way those wars get waged in the following century has left more of a mark on both the way we approach military theaters, and those that enter them to fight. We chat with the director Catie Foertsch and executive producer Cptn. Tommy Furlong of “What I Want You to Know” a documentary that interviews combat veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts that have plagued this millenia about their expectations, experiences, and outcomes, before you have two opportunities to see this film in Great Barrington and Northampton this coming Saturday. We’ll also head to a tiny corner of Western Mass that sorta isn’t Springfield to see how a neighborhood CDC is helping more produce to be produced. Wellspring Cooperative took a quarter acre of ungrowable land, and built a greenhouse on top of it that’s bringing herbs and lettuces to the four counties and we’ll speak with Fred Rose and Farm manager Clive about what happens at Wellspring Harvest.

Today we examine the connective tissue of faith and culture. In Florence at the Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity this Thursday, a panel of musicians will come together to explore the ways sound and spirituality converge. Yearnings is a concert bringing together singers of several spiritual walks to look at the ways those beliefs sound and how the music of faith brings us all together. We’ll talk with the show’s creator Joey Baron, as well as its music director Kevin Sharpe about the collaborations that fuel the event. It’s Jewish Book month, and to celebrate, we’ll look at two new children’s books: one about a trailblazer for the Supreme Court, and one about the history of the celebration itself. What Louis Brandeis knows tells the history of the first Jewish justice, from his beginnings in Kentucky to the court cases that paved the way to his seat in the highest court and Fanny’s Big Idea shows Jewish Book week’s origins in the Boston library system. We’ll speak to the author of both books, Richard Michelson about writing history for young folx and what other tomes you can celebrate the month with. Plus Mr. Universe Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed and plugs pop culture into the skies as we explore a great many connections including to the comet 3I/ATLAS.

We’re finding new ways to learn, and helping those new ways to thrive. We head up to Greenfield to the Center School, whose innovative approach to making well-rounded and adjusted small humans has become a literal institution in the area. And as we get a tour of their new building with some of the staff and teachers there, we’ll hear about the change that inter-generational, integrated classrooms can have, and how a new fundraising campaign hopes to help them continue their educative work long into the future. We’ll also chat with multi-disciplinary artist and podcaster East Forest, who’ll perform at the Hope Center for the Arts this Saturday. We’ll hear how he links music to film and perhaps also to psychedelics, and the connections of various types he seeks to create in sound, and what spectacles will arrive in Springfield on November 8th. And at Tip Top Wine Shop in Easthampton, Lauren Clark and Miranda Brown take us to France for a Thunderdome that becomes a lesson about cork bleed and cork taint that is important for anyone who likes to imbibe.

We express ourselves and local history, and at the center of that venn diagram in Amherst, is hatsSo we head to the town to see how its millinery legacy is being honored and explored in 9 locations in an exhibit titled Hats. Anika Lopes of Ancestral Bridges shows us, through a number of the displays in businesses, museums and more, how the millinery industry of Amherst is tied to the black community, the educational legacy, and the cultural heritage of the people who’ve lived there. And even the film industry, as we chat with costumer Mona May, who in conjunction with the exhibit is coming to speak at Amherst Cinema this Monday to discuss the hats and her work in costuming along with a 30th anniversary showing of Clueless. And after a momentous election Tuesday this week, congressman Jim McGovern shares his thoughts on the results, the effects of the ongoing shutdown now in week 6 and whether there’s an end in sight, and his preparations for the upcoming March for the Food Bank.

There’s been a lot of reporting on SNAP as of late, and its fate, and that of those who rely on it, as the shut down rolls into its 6th week. And although it’s been partially filled, there’s still repercussions for that and organizations that aid with food insecurity nationwideSo we head to one of those organizations that is seeing the impact of the turmoil concerning the Supplementary Nutritional Assistance Program: The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Ex. Dir. Andrew Morehouse speaks with us about what the program actually does, who uses it, and how its removal will impact it and the 199 food pantries of the 4 counties who depend on their services. We’ll also head to another point of community that’s been bringing together folx from all walks of life for 80 plus years. Hutghi’s at the Nook is a Westfield staple that consistently punches above its weight in it's weekly offerings, and we’ll speak with one of the current owners Kevin Gibeaux about the folx who gather in that space and what you can experience there. And word nerd Emily Brewster senior editor at Merriam Webster introduces us to a term that is not in the dictionary, but that keeps encyclopedias and other reference materials honest and original in their work: the mountweazel.

We’re extending our reach, and for the first time in our nearly 3 years of this show, we venture outside of the 4 counties of western Massachusetts to a facility that is closely tied to the work that many farmers in the 413 do: the raising of meat animals. We head to the other side of the Quabbin to Hardwick, just over the Hampshire border into Worcester County where Jennifer Core of CISA joins us to chat with Kate Stillman of Stillman Quality Meats about their brand new processing facility, one of the few of its kind in the area. We learn about the farm’s origins, and the shortfalls it found along the way, the process of constructing a new building to USDA Specs, and how you can help them finish it. Then Palestinian comic, actor, and more Alaa Shehada brings his story of hope, resilience, and the course of everyday life in his one man show The Horse of Jenin. Before the work comes to the Bowker Auditorium at UMass Fine Arts Center on Thursday Nov. 6 for the show's only US appearance this year, we ask about the refugee camp origins of his theater troupe and comedy work, and how humor helps convey the truth in one's story.

We are generally arts and culture heavy and politics light, but seeing as tomorrow is election day, and many positions are up for grabs locally, we figured we’d put a pause in that and go all in on one of the last contested races in W. MassSo today we focus our attention just across the river from our studios at NEPM to the mayoral race in West Springfield. We hear from the incumbent William C. Reichelt, the youngest mayor in the city's history, who’s seeking a 4th term, to hear about the programs he’s looking forward to implementing, his stance on the issues of schools and consolidation, the budget, moving public safety facilities, and more. And from the challenger, current councilor at large Daniel O’Brien, who’s served that seat for an equal amount of years, but has raised questions about Mittineague school, taxes for the town and those with fixed incomes, and even a reduction of the mayoral term back to 2 years. Plus, as a brief respite from the municipal debate, Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed joins us to witness the beer-adjacent birth of a brand new baby solar system.

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