The Fabulous 413

Witnessing someone’s first experience with something is always fascinating. Lucky for the schools in our area, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has reinstated its program, “The Orchestra Moves,” to introduce local fourth graders to live classical music. Designed with global focus, the program aims to encourage students to interact with professional musicians and one another. To get a better grasp on the deep impacts of music, we hear from SSO President Paul Lambert, conductor Cailin Marcel Manson, narrator Brian Lapis, SSO education director Caitlin Meyer, school teachers and child attendees.And, Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, drops more knowledge on us with words that have two contradictory meanings. She opens the doorway to antagonyms, clipped from more places than you’d expect.

We are proverbially circling our wagons, which is to say we’re making everyone feel more welcome. Bloom Local has teamed up with Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity to create “Rooted Resilience: Intersectional Narratives of 2SLGBTQIA+ Creatives in Western Massachusetts,” a multimedia project dedicated to preserving and amplifying the marginalized voices of contemporary creatives in our region. It launches the evening of March 19 and will feature artists of all mediums to build and protect community in a time when some seek to do the opposite.We speak with organizers and performers, Luc Abbott, M. Rudder, Inde Francis and Hazel Basil, about the work they’re putting in on and offstage.And just across the bridge on Route 9, a garden center has stood for almost 6 decades, but around the time of the beginning of the pandemic, it saw a shift. We head to Hadley to make a visit to the worker-owned land of lush greenery, the Gardener’s Supply Center, formerly known as the Hadley Garden Center. Eric Tiedeman-Mau speaks with us about the evolution of the business and what folx are eager to get in the ground as spring arrives.

We’re digging into the past by bringing history up to the present, transcending language barriers and questioning colonization. “Lamentations of Nezahualcoyotl” is a new book of poems translated and retold by Amherst College professor, Restless Books founder and friend of the show Ilan Stavans. We find out where this work resides in the Mesoamerican timeline, the living languages that have kept it alive, the role colonialism has played in its journey and the ways language, written and oral, keeps time of its own.Since we could always use another star or two in the neighborhood, our resident astronomer, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, introduces us to our cosmic next door neighbor, Barnard’s star. Will we find those new stars with funding cuts at every juncture? There may be conjectures about that as well...

Capitol Hill has been awfully aggressive with a constant barrage of cuts to many federally funded programs and departments. Today, we show you how some of those cuts are directly impacting kids in western Massachusetts and beyond. School lunch programs are just one of the many slashes in the USDA, and we hear from Melanie Wilk, Brianna Jackson and Abby Getman Skillicorn about the Massachusetts Farm to School Program, its specific impact in Chicopee and what lays ahead without federal support.Which might incline one to imbibe. We find ourselves comfortably in Women’s History Month and, lucky for us, there are two awesome women behind Tip Top Wine Shop who bring us two Oregon wines from women-led vineyards for the latest Thunderdome.And, Live Music Friday brings world champion Cory Pesaturo to the studio before you can catch him at the next Watermelon Wednesday. We also talk with Paul Newlin, one of the originators of the Watermelon Wednesday series, which often does not occur on that central day of the week.

We’re headed to Whip City!But we’re not looking at whips, we’re checking out quilts! Internationally renowned fiber artist Ed Johnetta Miller currently has an exhibit showing in Westfield called “Journey Stories” that uses her work to highlight key moments in her life, and we’ll chat with the artist herself about the tales textiles can tell. It’s being shown at Westfield on Weekends Center, and we’ll chat with board member Kathi Bradford about the program, and the classes connected to the exhibit as well as get to check out some of Edjohnetta Miller’s work right here in the studio!And Congressman McGovern is having a hard week. In fact it’s been 7 straight weeks of difficulties, but this one sees the representative in the shadow of a government shutdown with a lot of fingers pointing at a lot of folx, and a slew of announcements about cuts in the USDA. All things we chat with him about today, and which folx may end up talking to him about when he’s here next week for his town hall

Although we are in the midst of a housing crisis, the Baystate is making changes. To hear how Gov. Maura Healy’s plans to combat this problem impacts us locally, we talk to Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Edward Augustus.And we gather flowers and herbs with Susan Pincus of Sawmill Herb Farm. We hear how a changing focus to perennials and moving to Montague has allowed for more community to blossom.Plus, Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, shows us a plethora of linguistic discoveries.

It’s been 5 years since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic that has lasting impacts to this day. So today, we head to UMass Amherst to check in with virologist Mandy Muller to help us understand more of what was happening in the uncertain, confusing beginnings of the COVID-induced shutdown. Since coronaviruses are not her main focus, we also learn about her favorite virus, herpes, and get to see it up close in her lab.And, speaking of things with global impact, the Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival is just one of the few places where you can see the 2025 Oscar-winning documentary, “No Other Land,” along with more films within the theme of “Documenting Dissent.” We speak with organizers Jim Hicks and Celia Sainz, and Mount Holyoke College professor Adriana Pitetta about the next three free movie screenings you can see to expand your celluloid borders.

We’re taking roads less traveled and encountering folx who are carving their own paths in history, not always in plain sight.A new queer-centered multipurpose space in Pittsfield is encouraging people of all walks of life to grab a camera and venture out. We head to WANDER Berkshires and meet with owner Jay Santangelo to show us around the space, give a little history of the building they occupy and how small dreams of a public dark room grew into so much more. The new book, “In Defiance: 20 Abolitionists You Were Never Taught in School,” celebrates the work of champions in the cause against slavery in America, including those who may be overlooked in history books. We chat with authors Tom Weiner and Amilcar Shabazz about the origins of the idea, some of the abolitionists they studied and what we can expect during their book launch at Odyssey Bookshop March 13.And Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, walks us through some recent successes and failures with rockets as many witnessed the sorry defeat of the SpaceX rocket in the battle against gravity. He also tells us about some wondrous things in the heavens you can see this week sans telescope.

We’re kicking off 3 days of music with more than 60 artists across 10 venues across the city of Northampton. The 11th Back Porch Festival is here to turn our chilly western Massachusetts into a New Orleans-inspired roots and Americana extravaganza. Despite power outages across the city, with some quick thinking on the part of our engineers, we broadcast live and in the dark from the stage at The Iron Horse, one of those 10 venues!We hear how the changes in format and the lineup of artists are still resonating with the music lovers of western Mass. with Jim Olsen of Signature Sounds, whose own back porch show on WRSI, our alma mater, was the impetus of the whole thing. Before you ramble through the streets, we give you a taste of the program with the classic bluegrass sounds of Old Hat Stringband, the catchy licks of Jake McKelvie and an artist who is no stranger to the greater music scenes of Northampton, Mike Flood.An extra special thanks to Bart Rankin, Jared Libby, Cara Foster and everyone that helped us make this show happen!

Today we take a local perspective of global happenings in art, in the environment and in the legislature. It is the very beginning of maple season, and the Bay State is celebrating this weekend as many producers open their sugarhouses and welcome the public to see their operations up close. We take a trip to Shattuck Sugarhouse in Belchertown to chat with the mother-son team, Judy and Nick Shattuck, about their 50 years of turning sap into syrup and more. And a new program is headed to Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) next week. “Eternal Echoes” takes timeless themes in music of connection, loss and community and pairs them with a local maestro, Cailin Marcel-Manson, a local soprano soloist, Jamie-Rose Guarrine. We sit with Manson, Guarrine and SSO President Paul Lambert about bringing these works and topics close to home. Plus, our weekly chat with Rep. Jim McGovern recounts the 47th president’s recent address to Congress, budget cuts to local environmental offices, the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of Congress on the DOGE debacle and more listener questions.

Today we are a bit playful, cause we all need more art and more laughter. So we bring back a guest from last week who’s got way too many projects going, one of which will be performing at the Back Porch Festival this weekend. Cowperson is the Americana outlet for Michael Hanson and Keith Dusoe, and we hear how this particular project stands out in its field from the rest in an impromptu Live Music Wednesday. It's also in the laughs just around the corner from our station because three decades of comedy are being celebrated at White Lion Brewery this Friday. We speak with the organizer and celebrant of the occasion, comedian Gerald Kelly, whose appearances span stage, screen, and beyond, about the night’s program which includes his sons.It’s in the words we use, some of which are not as proper as others, shall we say. Which is a great time for Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior-editor at Merriam Webster, to chat us up on slang and how it has had an impact on English for centuries, which is wicked cool and hella fun, yo…

In the words of John M. McCrea, "we are widening the corridors and adding more lanes." In one case, this means expanding where art can go and who gets to make it. At Berkshire Community College, the Justice Dance Performance Project is presenting “Unmuting,” a piece that highlights the lives of incarcerated people in their own words and movements. We talk with director Judy Dworin about the importance of getting these tales outside both for the storyteller and audience.It is also in making more space for the art we love. In Williamstown, Images Cinema is making a huge push to raise funds to double their screening capabilities, and we sit with Executive Director Dan Hudson to talk about the need for more screen time, discuss the Oscars, and highlight the community built in each curated showing. And, speaking of community, we find out how, once again, bunnies are bringing us together to help those in need. Author and illustrator Mo Willems joins us at R. Michelson Galleries to discuss his new book, "Me and Other Bunnies," and this year’s benefit exhibition. We learn how to relate to one another while still staying true to oneself with animals, the cutest way to bring a little unity wherever you are.

It’s officially maple season, so we head for the forests to get a taste of the Bay State’s very first agricultural product, and the sweetest by far.We go as far west as we can to Hancock and Ioka Valley Farm where thousands of maple trees are being tapped to bring sweetness to our tables. Co-owner and third-generation farmer Missy Leab walks us through her farm's journey in maple production and how agro-forestry fits into the farm’s greater mission, including some delicious lemonade and some super cute cows. We also hear from Ben Crockett, Climate Smart Agricultural program manager at Berkshire Agricultural Ventures, to help us put forestry into a better perspective for local farms. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College's Salman Hameed, stumbles into the rocky territory of "astroturf astronauts" as a certain owner of Amazon prepares to send a mission of hand selected women on a space voyage. And, we take a quick pause from science to rundown of the Oscars.

Today is action packed with art nutrition for what ails you.We head to Amherst College to talk with director Jen Acker about actor Jeffrey Wright, author Percival Everett, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the other star studded guests coming to campus for this year's 10th annual LitFest.We also get a triple dose of music for this Live Music Friday. We’re joined by local star Ciarra Fragale, who is celebrating a new video, an upcoming album and an appearance at the Back Porch Festival next weekend. We’re also joined by the ever-amazing tag team, Peter Mulvey and his labelmate, Ruth Theodore, from across the pond. Both will take the stage at The Iron Horse this evening, so we hear some notes and how the current state of American affairs is impacting the international tour. And, on this last day of February, we’re already looking ahead to Women’s History Month. For those that indulge, we head to Lenox to hang out with the awesome purveyor, Mary Daire, at Dare Bottle Shop and taste two women-led vineyards for the Tina Turner Memorial Wine Thunderdome.

We’re tackling hunger from both coasts, or at least seeing how the west coast is combating food insecurity and reframing what the need to combat hunger looks like. Award-winning actor and comedian Kristina Wong is in the midst of a week long residency at UMass Amherst, culminating in a performance of her latest work #FoodBankInfluencer. We talk about her own experiences at food banks and some misconceptions about them before you can see her solo show on Feb. 28. And yes. We are still reeling from the loss of auteur David Lynch, so we head back to Great Barrington where the "Time to Wake Up: Tribute to David Lynch" series continues at Triplex Cinemas with the director’s very first film, “Eraserhead,” this weekend. Creative director Ben Elliott chats with us about the other films they’ll be showing to showcase Lynch’s contributions to the artform.And, our weekly chat with Congressmen Jim McGovern covers many listener questions on House votes regarding tariffs, the firing of the joint chiefs, our nation’s eerie resemblance to moments of the Velvet Divorce, and more issues relating to the very thorny landscape of Capitol Hill.

We’re witnessing the creation of important amalgams, fusions of culture and preservation At Mt. Holyoke College, a new opera entirely in the Chickasaw language will have its east coast premiere on Feb. 28. Loksi' Shaali' (Shell Shaker) by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate combines elements of classical operatic styles with traditional songs, dances, and language of the Chickasaw people, and we chat with two cast members and maestro Tianhui Ng about broadening the scope of opera and how the campus played a part in its incubation. As for the city of Holyoke, it is in the conjunction of agriculture and municipal services. The Winter Farmers’ Market is bringing fresh produce to those who need it most amidst funding changes, shifts in leadership and other roadblocks that occur. Lisa Totz, interim director of the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, joins us to talk about the ways the city is helping everyone to eat better. And, like, it’s in the way we talk. Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, joins us to explore the incredible usefulness of the word, “like,” because she was like, “it’s one of the most versatile four letter words.”

Today, we have nostalgia in all sorts of flavorsEspecially if you grew up watching roller derby on tv like we did. And if your dreams see you getting up on wheels with your friends and neighbors and creating a little chaos on the track, you’ll be happy to know that Pioneer Valley Roller Derby is hosting two recruitment sessions in the next few weeks. We talk with players Bash-it Hound and 23rd Century Fox Gorl (aka Bash and Fox) about the appeal of the game, and the many ways you can play it here. And it’s in the communities that have been built before. A new documentary takes a look at De Colores, an organization made to support lesbians of color in Northampton through the women who were a part of it, and we’ll chat with the team that brought De Colores: Defining Kinship, Finding Peace to screen: historian Erika Slocumb and multi disciplinary artist Michael HansonAnd speaking of screens and Northampton, if you miss the appeal of stepping into a brick and mortar location to choose your evening’s options rather than scrolling on a screen, then the community minded Vision Video is definitely for you. George Myers, Jesse Hassinger, and Bill Dwight still in process storefront of the non-profit to find out more about the efforts to get a full picture of what engendered the idea, and what they seek to build beyond the celluloid

Today’s show is jam packed with FACTSDid you know that there’s a whole day to celebrate and encourage reparations? Professor Ousmane Power-Greene of Clark University tells us more about this grassroots holiday effort to get more folx more acclimated to the concepts being proposed in today's Power of History.And did you know that only last week DOGE stripped away contracts with agencies that will affect many small farms in Western Mass and around the country? We’ll speak with Abby Ferla about the repercussions of these cuts at Foxtrot Farm, and why size may matter in the ways Federal funding comes to agriculture. How about the shortage of Primary Care Physicians in the Baystate? The NEPM Newsroom’s Karen Brown has just completed a series looking at the issue and how it relates not just in Massachusetts but nationwide and how both patients and doctors themselves are feeling the strain. Maybe you wanna find out about Asteroid 2024 YR4, which had a shift on the Torino Scale. Or perhaps a beloved Amherst College Astronomer we lost this week, both of which we’ll learn more about from Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed.

We’re celebrating a local band that is almost as old as we are, and that’s saying a lot because not many groups get to see 40 years. The Iron Horse is hosting the Lonesome Brothers’ birthday party where they and their friends will take the stage. We hear a couple songs and tales from the journey as they join us for Live Music Friday. And speaking of music to make your weekend bright, it’s getting close to Mardi Gras, and Nola flavor is coming to Springfield with the Fat Tuesday Jazz Night happening on Saturday. Organizer and Blues to Green director Kristen Neville visits the studios to talk about the impact this fundraiser has on arts programs in the area and all the event’s offerings to help bon temps to rollez.Plus, the Tina Turner Memorial Wine Thunderdome looks at two grapes and a border between them. We head to Provisions in Northampton to pit France against Spain and Beaujolais-Villages against Bobal.

We’re drawing connections in both likely and unlikely places. For instance the connection that those of the African diaspora have had with the land in the western hemisphere. The art exhibit Black Hands, Black Earth takes a look at the connections between people, earth, and the plants and people they’ve carried for generations. Artist and Educator Kerrita Mayfield walks us through her work and process to bring more of the roots of those connections to light. Or perhaps it’s in gambling, and the Bay State’s unlikely penchant for it. The new podcast Scratch and win takes a look at Massachusetts connection to the lottery, and how that relationship has evolved in a significantly different way to the rest of the nation. Documentarian Ian Coss joins us to explore the course of scratch tickets, the Numbers, Megabucks and more, and even tie some of those tales directly to Western Mass. And our weekly chat with Jim McGovern tackles the house budget, the prospect of working *with* DOGE, conspiracy theories about Elon Musk and the elections, and more questions from listeners about what comes next.

Congratulations parents, you’ve made it halfway through vacation week!Just in case you still need a little something to get your littles up and going, we get to take a totally age appropriate journey to the Holyoke Children’s Museum, where program director Emmy Garick and operations manager Julie Cologne let us run around like the kids we are at heart, and show us how the city itself continues to contribute towards learning and playOnce the kids are done, you might want to relax with a seasonal beverage and snacks to boot. Protocol in Amherst unexpectedly stumbled into seasonal fair, but local produce is influencing not just its food, but its bar menu and appeal to the burgeoning downtown scene as well, and operations manager Alden Peotter walks us through bringing a cosmopolitan approach to a rural setting and more. And the horrors abound at our dictionary in Springfield as Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam Webster makes us face the vocab with the words we use to describe our fears (with apologies to the logophobes out there).

Malcolm X once said “Mississippi is anything South of the Canadian border.” And, when it comes to the legacy of slavery, northerners often tout our abolitionist history but overlook what happened above the Mason-Dixon line for the 200 years before abolition.So today, we introduce you to Charmaine A. Nelson, provost professor of Art History at UMass Amherst and founding director of the Slavery North Initiative, supporting research on the study of slavery in Canada and the American north. We hear how her background in art history has shaped Slavery North’s approach to tell this history. You can catch some of the tales she and her colleagues have discovered so far at a talk at Historic Northampton. And speaking of borders, we preview the documentary, “Borderland: The Line Within,” screening tomorrow at Amherst Cinema. The film discusses how the U.S. border is not just a geographic location, but is everywhere, creating a chilling effect for undocumented families under the threat of deportation. We talk with the director, Pamela Yates, and producer, Paco de Onis, about their work on and surrounding the film. We also speak to Jim Hicks, guest curator of the 32nd Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival: Documenting Dissent, about this year’s free program.

It’s President’s Day. And what’s a thing that ties the two presidents we’re celebrating today? Slavery. So, today we are going to hunker down and talk Black history for the whole hour with three local historians. We talk with Smith College professor Jennifer DeClue on the overlooked histories those who were enslaved in the Connecticut River Valley, how women have been often left out of the slavery narrative, how the legacy of slavery is evident as you walk down Main St. even today and how you can learn all this and more through a talk she is giving through Historic Northampton Tuesday night. Clark University professor of history Ousmane Power-Greene will introduce us to two Black women who we all should know more about, one whom you would’ve found in the opera houses and one who you can find in your U.S. passport.And, UMass Amherst doctoral candidate and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Museum director of interpretation and visitor experience, Erika Slocumb, will talk with us about the challenges and importance of preserving oral history and how to preserve the present day.

Today we bring you 13 instruments to hear on both sides of the mountains this weekend.We head to Pittsfield to the 10 x 10 Upstreet Arts Festival where a celebration of short plays has grown to encompass the entire upstreet arts district and beyond. We chat with the director of the Office of Cultural Development of Pittsfield, Jen Glockner, and one of the festival performers, saxophonist Scott Robinson, who’ll bring 10 saxophones to the occasion, about the 11 days of arts and activities engulfing the city.And, local musician and ethnomusicologist Tim Eriksen stops by the studio for Live Music Friday before you can catch him in a rare solo show at The Parlor Room. In addition to hearing his interpretation of old American songs and sounds, he brings a bevvy of fascinating instruments with interesting stories for us to explore and keys us into a convention bringing Sacred Harp singing enthusiasts to the valley.Plus, one of our cinematic heroes is getting a posthumous celebration in Great Barrington. The Triplex Cinema starts their David Lynch festival tomorrow with the film “Wild at Heart,” and we talk with Creative Director Ben Elliott about the impact not just of Lynch’s work and style, but the importance of kicking off the “Time to Wake Up” series with this particular movie.

Today we’re taking a closer look at the folx telling stories about themselves in new ways and through new avenuesIncluding much beloved author of children’s books and more, local legend Jane Yolen. A new picture book has just been released about her earliest work titled "Janie Writes a Play: Jane Yolen’s First Great Story", which proves there’s no age restrictions on coming up with a great tale. And that book’s author has a tale of her own also. Heidi E. Y. Stemple joins us to talk about writing this book about her mother, how narrative clearly runs in the family, and how you can celebrate the heroine of the story and her 86th birthday this Saturday at High Five Books in Florence. We’ll also find out about a storytelling event in Florence.The second Queer Story Slam is happening at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity this weekend exploring all expressions of love and desire in the tales being told onstage, and we’ll chat with organizers Wylder Ayres and Reen Smith about the power of seeing these lives in their own words, and how those visions reinforces community. And our weekly chat with Congressman Jim McGovern tackles the possibilities of constitutional crisis, the consequences of lying in senatorial confirmation hearings, the budget, his vote on a recent bill concerning fentanyl and how you can ask your questions of the representative IN PERSON very soon.

It’s a pre-Valentine’s Day extravaganza for those of you celebrating, with wine and chocolate and innuendosWe’ll take you to the heart of Thorne’s Marketplace in Northampton, where chocolate dreams are being made real from the worlds of pure imagination. Dan McKenney of Firetype Chocolate talks about his unlikely journey into confectionery, the impacts that climate change has on making sweets locally, and the many delicious treats you can get from their location year roundThen we head up to the hilltown hinterlands to get a taste of an extra special beverage. Headwater Cider is making Ice Wine with their apple bounty and we chat with proprietor Peter Mitchell about his apples and the many ciders they’re fashioning in Hawley, and with Doctoral Candidate Elizabeth Garofalo of UMass Extension about the science helping those apples to thrive.And word nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam Webster, shows us yet another evolution of language with a delve into algospeak, including a little exploration into the other online based language variations that got us to here.

Today, we have live music, history and a cultural journey. A virtuoso on the national instrument of Puerto Rico, cuatrista Fabiola Mendez, makes a visit to the studios. We find out about her call to educate the public on the cuatro and its versatility and the other projects her music has connected her to, including a children’s series you might have seen on NEPM TV. And, we also speak with an extra-local connection to the instrument. William Cumpiano has been making cuatros and guitars for many decades right here in the valley. We ask him about his luthiership and the history of the instrument he's been called not just to make but to document the history thereof with the Puerto Rican Cuatro Project.And, the Power of History is also strengthened by four this month as Clark University professor Ousmane Power-Greene takes a look at the long lasting impacts of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), including now-contentious diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and what its removal may mean for all of us.

We’re giving lots back to the community in these very grey days of February while learning how greater community has helped us as well.The Lift Every Voice lecture series returns to the valley this week with a theme, "Resilience and Resistance: The Fight for Justice in the Age of Regression," bringing speakers from all parts of Black culture to Springfield all month. We talk with organizers Bishop Talbert Swann and Ayanna Crawford as well as tomorrow’s featured speaker, UMass professor Whitney Battle-Baptiste, about the ongoing importance of the event, the community members they’re honoring and who is coming to broaden our perspectives this year. The Center for Human Development's Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Hampshire county are bringing the community together to sing at the Big Love Little Performances fundraiser at the Iron Horse Feb. 13. But, how can karaoke improve the lives and wellbeing of the Hampshire County youth? We find out from organizers Tara Brewster and Ann Walsh.And, Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, continues to be alarmed by federal cuts to research, programming and international aid and the impact they may have on the scientific community. Particularly, he tells us a story about the impact of USAID that hits very close to home.

We're bringing you a well rounded course of music and context. Live Music Friday brings Le Vent du Nord to the studios ahead of their show in South Hadley this evening. The group has spent decades seamlessly blending new and old french folk songs into their repertoire, and they tell us about the appeal of preserving and growing those traditions.We also spend time with rising bass phenom Endea Owens. From Detroit to Julliard to Jon Batiste's band on The Late Show to humanitarian work with the Community Cookout, she's been making a name for herself everywhere. We hear about her inspirations and many collaborations before you can catch her band onstage at the UMass Fine Arts Center tonight. The Super Bowl is this weekend, but it's been a struggle to see equity in the field. Professor Ousmane Power-Greene joins us for another Power of History segment to look at the legacy of Black quarterbacks in the NFL, the evolution of the halftime show and where Kendrick Lamar's presence fits in that line. And, we head back to our origins in the Tina Turner Memorial Wine Thunderdome at State Street Fruit Store where we eschew the call for hearty reds in these cold times for a touch of spring in French rosé instead.

We get to find out more about “MORE LOVE,” curated concert series put together by Secret Planet, De La Luz Soundstage and Original Ting Music to bring the best electronic dance music from around the globe to Holyoke.We speak with one of the folx taking to the turntables this Saturday, Deejay Theory, about bringing the sounds of the Bay area to the Bay state, digging into some of the lesser known genres that will totally get you grooving and venturing the dance music landscape as a whole.And Secret Planet’s own Edo Mor joins to talk about the impetus for the event some of the other ways the international music “CSA” is bringing the sounds of the world to the 4 counties of western Mass., including their upcoming Almost Spring Weekender.Plus, our weekly chat with Rep. Jim McGovern addresses a LOT of listener questions. We gain his take on Elon Musk’s recent actions, the plight of the U.S.Treasury and USAID, cryptocurrency and more.

Today we get a little tricksy and build connections right underneath our very eyesIncluding a father son combination bringing folx together in communities near and far. We’ll speak with Tom and Stefan Weiner, who’ll bring a polar plunge raising money for Palestine and a queer centered concert both in Northampton this weekend. We’ll hear how they’ve come to their respective causes including the Palestinian House of Friendship, a little about their family, and a lot about the change communication can bring. And last week we got a little into the possible effects of a federal freeze on funding where education is concerned, and that might hit one of the more effective programs that’s been supported by those funds: Head Start. We chat with executive director of Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start, Nicole Blais to find out if the youth really will be alright if the program ends up on the federal chopping block. Plus word nerd Emily Brewster tackles a listener question about the pronunciation of word mischievous as the senior editor at Merriam Webster helps us examine this tricky wicket and a few others like it.

Today, we have kids, food, drink, and an organization that connects them all!At Holyoke High School, the students are putting a William Golding classic on its feet as they perform Lord of the Flies this weekend. One might say that the presentation is an inspired choice and we’ll talk with Holyoke High School Theater Company director and theater teacher Bevan Brunelle and cast member sophomore Darius Baez about choosing to have this work as their winter production.We’ll also meet another of the storytellers taking the stage at CISA’s Field Notes event on Saturday. Kyle Zegel from Just Roots joins us to talk about how their farm evolved from a community garden into so much more, including participating in several innovative commonwealth initiatives encouraging healthy eating throughout the bay stateAnd we’re singing the trees into good health, which sounds very pagan, and it sorta is! We’ll hear all about traditions old and new when we speak with Kat Hand and Matt Brogan of Berkshire Cider Project about their wassailing event at Tourists in North Adams on Sunday, and how bringing community together in the cold times can actually help local agriculture in addition to getting you a nice warm beverage.

Now, more than ever, you probably need a good laugh and, perhaps, a reason to be hopeful. So we’re doing both with an added dose of science for good measure. We head to Hadley where a comedy dream has come to life and has continued to grow in the past 10 years. Happier Valley Comedy may have started on a personal dare, but it has since become a philosophy of improv that can apply to any aspect of human interaction. We chat with Pam Victor and Scott Braidman about how to craft community around and with the chaos as the organization enters its second decade. There’s a new audio documentary exploring the lives of lifelong activists and idealists Wally and Juanita Nelson in their own words and through the perspectives of people who knew them. We speak with one of the producers of the “Eyes on Freedom: Evolving Gifts of Simple, Nonviolent Living,” Carrie Kline, and get you ready to hear the whole piece in person later this week at their community listening sessions.And, Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, shows us how life may be finding more ways in space as the OSIRIS-REx mission returns with fascinating discoveries about amino acids on the asteroid Bennu.

We’re recuperating a lot after this week and, in that renewal process, we’re getting more in touch with ourselves and others. We bring local singer-songwriter Heather Maloney in for Live Music Friday to celebrate the release of her new album, “Exploding Star,” full of songs that almost didn’t see the public eye. We hear how art and grief have shaped her songwriting process in this new collection of songs and get a preview of her sold out two-night residency at the Iron Horse next week. And UMass Amherst is preparing to host the Black Artistic Freedom Conference (Black AF) bringing folx together to explore the expansion of education in a more equitable and modern way. We speak with Imani Wallace, otherwise known as Lyrical Faith, about the intersection of art, activism, and education.Plus, it’s the very last day of January, and we almost made it dry for the whole month. Alas, we return to our old ways back to West Springfield to taste two Veneto wines with Michael Quinlan at Table & Vine for our first Wine Thunderdome of 2025.

We’re putting the many in multi-disciplinary and putting on our party hats because there’s anniversaries aheadThe LAVA Center in Greenfield is about to celebrate its fifth birthday this weekend, adjacent to the Winter Carnival festivities. Their scope is so broad that it’d be easier to narrow down what they don’t do, so we head up to the city formerly known as a town’s center to get a glimpse of what the organization has been up to in this half decade with manager Vanessa Query.We’re also meeting the friends made along the way in music with a trio of folx taking the stage at the Iron Horse tomorrow night, the duo High Tea and singer-songwriter Wallace Field are co-billing a performance in Northampton on the 31st, and we’ll have all three in the studio to talk about new things on the horizon, and the communal nature of the music scene in the area. And our weekly chat with Representative for the 2nd district Jim McGovern is a doozy. If we thought last week was a hotbed of crazy activity, this week said to "hold its beer", and steers our conversation through the Fed funding freeze, constitutional crises concerning the balance of power, censorship with the NIH and CDA, reader questions, Guantanamo and immigration and ICE and more.

We’re digging into a difficult time in the country’s history that folx are still reckoning with to this day, through a new novel from a multi disciplinary artist who has spent his whole life shining light on struggles like it. We’re joined by actor, director, script writer, producer and most importantly in this case, Author John Sayles to discuss his latest novel “To Save the Man", and find out from that man himself the appeal and difficulties of portraying the Carlisle Indian School as a living breathing character itself without shying away from the lasting consequences the institution has and had on Indigenous and non-indigenous populations in the United States, before you can meet the author tomorrow night at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley. (we also let you know where you can do a deeper dive through a beloved NPR program on the Carlisle Indian School's connection to football) We also take a term right out of the kitchen and into the realm of the Word Nerd as the senior Editor at Merriam Webster fires us through the origins of the phrases “86” and Deep Six”.

We’re delving into how every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name. We kid. But, the second-worst Disney movie has a point. CISA’s upcoming storytelling event, Field Notes, seeks to bring farmers, activists, makers, entrepreneurs and more together to tell their stories on stage and bring us all closer to the land we live in. We get to spend time with one of the storytellers, Lincoln Fishman, and hear more about his organization, Momentum Ag, that is helping farmers to discover better techniques to do what they do best. State Senator Jake Oliveira of Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester counties joins us to talk about his priorities for western Massachusetts, and his concerns about how federal actions may impact the commonwealth.An accumulation of collaboration is happening in Holyoke, and this Thursday you can see the fruits of those projects. Valley Artist Mentors is an organization that pairs local artists together to study art ecology in the area, and we chat with the organizers and participants about their showing at Holyoke Media later this week.

Today, we have happy cow stories, but uncertain science ones. We head to Ashley Falls where 200 acres and 150 head of cattle co-exist happily at Twin Rivers Farm. Owner Bob Kilmer takes us on a tour with the ladies, the robots that milk them, the most challenging breeds and the cutest little calves the winter has ever seen.There, we’re also joined by Dan Carr, technical advisor for Berkshire Agricultural Ventures who shares insight on not just what that organization accomplishes overall, but how it’s building community and how the dairy industry contributes to the agricultural landscape everywhere. And, Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, takes on some heavier topics for the scientific community, including the fervor to colonize Mars and the implications of the president's diversity, equity, and inclusion restrictions in NASA.

We're bringing in the bands today. Two of em. Count em two. Westfield native Madison Curbelo joins us for Live music Friday. The sweet voiced singer songwriter is fresh off of her semi-finalist status on The Voice and fleshing out her sound beyond her red six string. We’ll hear the inspiration for the music she plays, and the lessons TV taught her before you can catch her set at the Drake Tomorrow night. And a double Live Music Friday brings the punk aesthetic of Les Derailleurs into the studio. Frontman Joe Pater joins us ahead of the band’s show at the Rendezvous in Turners Falls tonight, and we’ll hear how this particular week is actually tied to the group’s founding. Plus author Megan Tady hits the slopes for a cause bringing her ski focused novel Bluebird day, to an Apres SKi Party at Berkshire East, and we’ll get to learn how a chance encounter on our very show inspired the event, and the many ways that your time on the powder can help your neighbors survive the next snowfalls and plummeting temperatures in Charlemont on Saturday.

We hear that it’s warming up, but we’ll believe that when we feel it. Today we explore piles of delicious things to warm this extra cold day.We venture into Northampton to Local Burger and hear how its menu has evolved to center local produce and beef. We speak with Tabitha Salfrank, Joe Igneri, and Lexi Badelucci to help us discover what keeping local has meant for their expanding business, and where they source inspiration for their unlikely burger combinations.We also invite you to become more familiar with one of Mexico’s most important spirits. On Jan. 24, De La Luz in Holyoke will host a mezcal-pairing dinner, offering folx a chance to educate both mind and palette. We speak with the pair helming the endeavor, Tess Rose Lampert, author of The Essential Tequila & Mezcal Companion, and chef Neftali Duran, about the appeal and nuances of the beverage and what other tasty treats might be included in the event. And, it’s been an eventful few days since the presidential inauguration on Monday, and Congressman Jim McGovern has much to say about what’s happened so far. We listen to his insights regarding pardons for January 6 insurrectionists, the avalanche of executive orders, and the things that keep him hopeful in these contested times.

We’re examining some of our given rights, to certain freedomsBut how exactly do those freedoms work online? We sit with Professor Amir Houmansadr of Umass to learn about the nature of the TikTok ban, and American digital censorship, and how game theories might help prevent the possibilities of those same security breaches that everyone is nervous about. We’ll also head to Great Barrington, where a theater full of 8th graders are getting a civics and civil rights lesson through a screening of the movie Selma. We’ll chat with Triplex Cinema creative director Ben Elliot, a handful of observant pre-teens, and post movie conversation moderator Shirley Edgerton about the importance of the movie and bringing those lessons into the present day in and out of the classrooms. And we’ll head back to Philadelphia in our hearts and the past with word nerd Emily Brewster as we delve further into the American Dialect Society’s picks for it’s many other words of the year. Because although there’s only one that gets to be THE word, much like other award shows, there’s a whole lot of other accolades that are given out when a room full of linguists and language enthusiasts come together.

The Oscar nominations are due out this week and two of the frontrunners for Best-Picture nominations have connections to the 413. The Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown" is making headway in theaters now, and we’ll uncover the connection on the album cover of "The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan" to a prominent business owner here in western Massachusetts. Patrick Pezzati from Turn It Up CDs and More is the cousin of Suze Rotolo, portrayed by Elle Fanning in the new movie. We’ll have him help us separate Dylan fact from Dylan fiction, and discover how the shift she engendered in the folk singer's approach stems from a long running family tradition. And "The Brutalist" is now playing at Amherst Cinema. Right down the street from their theaters is a plethora of Brutalist architecture to explore on the UMass Amherst Campus. We’ll talk with Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Senior Campus Planner and Architect at UMass to get her take on the film, the architectural style that inspired it, and the impact those buildings have on the institution's grounds. Also we’ll bring in our resident film buff, Mr. Universe, Hampshire College's Salman Hameed, as the two explore the themes on immigration that resonated with each of them in the movie. .

There is an interesting confluence of events happening this Monday where by law we are required to install the new president on Jan 20, and by different laws we celebrate MLK JR Day on the closest Monday on or after his birthday. This year they’re at the same time, lucky usSo we’ll look at the connections between the Rev. Dr. King and the inaugurations of his time, as well as the long activist history of his wife, and the implementation of this holiday happening Monday with Prof. Ousmane Power-Greene of Clark University for another look at the Power of History Live Music Friday sees Aaron Borucki of Behold! True Believers and Abby Hanna making a stop by our studios before you can catch them at Luthier’s Co-Op in Easthampton on January 17th, and we’ll hear how the long tenured band’s sound is continuing to evolve with the time, and maybe how convenient it is when one of your band members works at a music shop. And Dry January makes another stop with Jim Zaccara at Hope and Olive in Greenfield, where their non alcoholic menu has been serving up delicious concoctions for years, and we’ll taste a trio of beverages for the thunderdome.

In space no one can hear you scream, but if you’re looking at footage of earth FROM space, that might be unsettling, so the videos on the ground get a soundtrackWe’ll speak with one of the people making the sounds those videos are tracking to. Guitarist, composer and engineer Steve Thomas has had his work paired with videos of earth from the International Space Station, and he’ll be playing some of that work this weekend in Northampton with a giant pile of other talented musicians , and we’ll get to ask about making a score for the earth, and how the music he makes for the planet ties into the other compositions he makesAnd we can’t talk about things seen on the Space Station without bringing in the person we know in the area who’s actually BEEN on the ISS. So we welcome real life astronaut Cady Coleman back to the studio to talk about the importance of sharing the views of earth from this particular perspectivePlus our weekly chat with Jim McGovern, sees the congressman with an awful lot on his mind, including Biden’s Farewell address, the recent ceasefire agreements, Cuba’s change in categorization, the tiktok ban, the fact that it’s 4 days until the inauguration. Not to mention what indeed could the official be looking forward to or worried about with the incoming administration.

We have a dream that is still hoping to be realized after 6 decades and as we continue to create a more equitable world.It's one that you can help celebrate on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services is once again helming a grand celebration, “Pursue Justice: Persist in Peace,” in Springfield, and we speak with organizers Shannon Rudder and Rania Kfuri about the many arms of the organization and preparations for Monday’s event.One of the event’s featured artists, Vanessa Ford, is on a mission to uplift other artists in the community to pursue their passions. She stops by the studios to tell us more about the Trust Transfer Project Artist Development Fellowship, a cohort of 80 local artists to engage their crafts to build community and a resilient career in the arts. We even find out how you can get involved! Plus, Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, is back from living our linguistic dreams in Philadelphia at the American Dialect Society’s vote for word of the year. We hear all of her highlights from the affair.

We’re looking into legacies of sound, old and not quite as old.For instance, we’re traveling about 13,000 years in the past with tales by Indigenous people who have been storytelling on this land for millennia. On Jan. 19, the Wendell Meetinghouse will host a presentation of "New Lights in the Dawnland," an audiodocumentary which brings Indigenous voices together to weave the history, story, and song of Northfield and beyond. We speak with producer and archivist Michael Kline and one of the featured voices, David Brule of the Nolumbeka Project, about this important auditory journey.And this Saturday, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra will kick off its annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration concert. We speak with Conductor Jeri-Lynne Johnson and violin soloist Melissa White about the importance of integrated programs, their experiences in musical education, and the ways each of their ensembles are changing the world of symphonic and chamber music. We also talk to the SSO’s own Heather Caisse-Roberts to fill us in on the connections this program continues to bring to the greater Springfield community.

We’re off to the farm again, but this time we’re looking at an innovative approach to agriculture that is helping folx nationwide, and Western Mass is right at the epicenter of it’s network this week. Prospect Meadow Farm has been growing rapidly for a little over a decade to now three locations in Hampshire and Berkshire counties, as a department of Service Net umbrella to build community and prosperity for individuals with intellectual, developmental, and mental disabilities.And it turns out that although they were the first in the state to start a model of this nature, they’re by no means the only ones in the country doing it. And Today through Wednesday they’ll be bringing in folx from all over the nation who are doing this work to the valley for the first ever Care Farming Network National Conference So we’ll head to Hatfield to hear about the nature of Care Farming, the Story of Prospect Meadow Farms, and get a tour of the grounds from the administrators and farmhands working there, while discovering what this concept of CARE farming is all about and how you can learn more about it too at their workshops over the next few days. Plus Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College's Salman Hameed, talks about the interesting confluences of astronomy and astrology, including an explanation of what retrograde actually means so everyone out there worried about Mars can settle down.

We’re blissing out and detoxing while we’re at it since January is often a time when people take breaks.For all those people and the folx that love them, a previously online-exclusive non-alcholic beverage shop is getting a brick and mortar location in Easthampton. Dry Humor is here to prove that beverages can totally be tasty without pesky ethanol getting in the way, so we chat with founder CJ Mutti about the rapid growth of the business and the industry and sample one of her wares. Plus, we learn about the New England Synth Fest, an interactive event for electronic sound happening at The Clark Institute in Williamstown this weekend. But, there’s a huge range of what synths are and could be, so we speak with organizer Kent Lundberg and performer NXOR about the vast array of sounds one my encounter in the galleries, the ways you can get hands on with the music at their Synth Petting Zoo, and get a preview of one of NXOR’s works for Live Music Friday.

We’re in the presence of royalty, because a third generation in Columbia's cumbia legacy is landing in Amherst this evening to spread the sound of the genre. Yeison Landero, the grandson of “King of Cumbia” Andrés Landero, stops through our studios before Secret Planet brings him to The Drake in Amherst this evening for a little live music Thursday. But even though Yeison has been playing music since he was seven all over Columbia and beyond, you might not know much about the legacy that his grandfather engendered, so we’ll hear a bit of context from Dj Bongohead, Pablo Yglesias of Peace & Rhythm Records, on the history of cumbia, it’s importance in Columbia in particular, and the Landeros’ very large place in the genre’s standing. And it’s our first Thursday back and our first chat of the year with Congressman Jim McGovern, where the woes of 2024 carry over into Social Security, the Laken-Riley and Leahy acts, ongoing issues in Gaza, and how all of those tie into a speech he gave recently. Not to mention the flurry of activity in the executive branch with the day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter’s passing, and the distribution of Medals of Freedom.

If we mention Texas Longhorn Cattle, the first thing that comes to mind is probably not Western Massachusetts, but today, we’re going to take you on a tour of a farm in Granby that may change your mind about that. Cote Cattle Company, (also known in some parts as Double C Ranch) switched its beef herd to being a purely Texas Longhorn dedicated operation and since have become nationally trusted stewards for the breed despite being one of a handful of locations raising this particular animal in the commonwealth. In addition to getting the story on how proprietor Charlotte Cote and her family came to this direction of agriculture, we get a hands-on tour of their farm’s innovative pastures, and absolutely adorable and astounding head of cattle. Hooray for happy cow stories! Unless you are a vegetarian, for there is much smiting, it is a beef farm after allBut where smiting is concerned, we could be talking about affection or fighting, which seems like a good time to bring in Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, to look at the etymology and usage of the word Smite. Not just for all of you paladins and clerics out there, and the people smitten with them.