The Fabulous 413

Today on the Fabulous 413, we’re turning dreams into reality, which is a tall order, but sometimes, the magic just happens. In Northampton which has had a particular hole in its culinary landscape. We head to the future home of Lichter and Levin Jewish Delicatessen to hear from the music stewarding duo at the helm of this endeavor, the eponymous Emily Lichter and Ben Levin, as well as their talented chef, Alex Hanley, and familiar face to their location, Robin Wynn, at their downtown digs about the joke that started it all, and the legacy they’re accidentally continuing. Oh and a quick taste test of some of their delicious menu items!We'll also head to Chicopee where Evan Nawrocki of Nightjar Farm turned almost an acre of land at his grandmother’s house into a growing farm operation and we head to his burgeoning homestead to hear how this very young farmer got into the business, along with CISA executive director Jennifer Core.And our very favorite of the Baystate’s unique geological features is once again up in the legislature to become the official sedimentary structure of Massachusetts. Professor Richard Little joins us to talk about how you can write in support of them becoming official, and about the JAMB-oree being held this weekend to celebrate them.

We are winding down from an amped up weekend locally and globallyLocally, the Green River Festival wrapped yesterday, and beyond our live show being the very first thing on any of the stages as the festival opened, a good handful of artists agreed to sit with us for pop-ups throughout the course of those 3 days. Including one who nearly didn’t make it to the festival at all. We hear music and stories from our session with Olive Klug. Globally, the US has been up to things. Kinda terrible things that have repercussions on the scientific community in ways you wouldn’t expect, so Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College's Salman Hameed, walks us through some of the implications of our bombing of Iran. And what better way to unwind from being amped up than to nestle in with a new noir novel that follows actors, con artists, journalists and the organizations that tie them all together. The Set Up is the first novel by UMass Professor of Sociology Jonathan Wynn that explores all of this against a Las Vegas Backdrop, and we chat with the author about this foray into fiction.

We’re in Franklin County, on the country fairgrounds, ready to begin 3 days of music, fun, and community in Greenfield.It’s time once again for the Green River Festival. What started as a small birthday party for a local radio station has grown to be much much bigger, from 1 day to 3, and with or without hot air balloons, it’s still one of the most fun gatherings around. And we are broadcasting live from the grounds as they open to let in the peoples, hoping against hope for better weather this year. We’ll hear from Maker’s Market Co-ordinator Mark Lattanzi about his role and the many creative artisans that you can encounter on the grounds this weekend, especially with a new twist on their location.Western Canada's Ocie Elliott joins us with the sweet harmonies of their folk sound, and some corrections to the internet's record. As will the Winterpills, with their western Mass. dream pop and an announcement of music to come. And speaking of new music, we check in with Philadelphia's Mo Lowda and the Humble before they take the Main Stage to hear about the album they just released today!

Today on the show, we double your Pride, double you chance to party for equality. We’ll head up to Charlemont and get wet at Zoar Outdoors. Jason Costa and Ann Gillard take us out on the river for a paddling experience, not unlike the ones folx will experience at their Pride event this weekend. We’ll hear about the importance of creating queer space outside, and hear about the classes, clinics and party they’ve got planned as we take a few kayaks on the Deerfield RiverWe’ll also head to Holyoke who’ve got Pride Fest happening this weekend. The city will be a-buzz with a wealth of activity, but post parade partying is headed back to one of our favorite haunts in Hampden county: Fame Eatery and Lounge. We’ll chat with proprietor David Blood, and mixologist and pride committee member Alex Torres about what fun activities you can expect on Dwight Street this Saturday. And word nerd Emily Brewster, senior Editor at Merriam Webster, has us take a closer look at the way our language pluralizes things, and how other languages we’ve borrowed from are leaving their marks at the end of words in English. (Looking right at you octopus, and you too mouse.)

We’re talking with folx creating connections in their fields.Sometimes literally as we venture out to see how the berries are doing at Dickinson Farm. We’re at the height of Strawberry season and on the verge of Blueberry season, both of which you can venture into the fields and pick for yourself at their Granby location. 3rd generation farmer Nate LaFlamme shows us the lay of their multi generation farm’s land, including the diversity they're growing across their just under 200 acres. . And sometimes it adorns the walls you see every day. This Thursday on Juneteenth, Common Wealth Murals is hosting a bus tour of some of the public artwork in Springfield with specific connections to the holiday and the Black community. We speak with executive director Britt Ruhe about the art you can see in the city of firsts, the importance of public art, and how you can be a part of a new mural going up in Indian Orchard. Occasionally, it’s crossing genres. Composer/saxophonist/bandleader Felipe Salles released a brand new album earlier this month. "Camera Obscura" blurs the lines between light and dark, chamber music and jazz, large and small ensembles to create an atmospheric auditory take on perspective and memory, and we chat with the creator about the work itself and two opportunities in the 413 you’ll have to see it performed live.

Today, we are getting a very intimate tour of an institution with someone who has seen the move of its evolution to the point where an exhibit was just created to cover the 5 decades of his tenure with them. Norton Owen began as a student at the festival, but now fills a position that was made for him: Preservationist, a title he gets to add to that of curator, archivist, dancer and more that he’s engaged with at Jacob’s Pillow. We get a personalized tour of the archives at the Festival with the Man himself and learn about his impressive tenure and the development and expansion of the archive and its attached exhibition space. We’ll also hear about the award he’s being honored with at the gala that marks the start of the festival and even delve into the depths of the archive itself to see some of the amazing costumes, film, posters and more marking the history of the festival and beyond for posterity. And Monte brushes the sand off of his recorder to hang out with Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed explains how scientists are using the Pandora Galaxy Cluster as a lens to check out more heavenly phenomenon.

We're headed to the screen to meet the young local Black W. Mass. creatives putting their work on it. We speak with the creator, producer, and writer of The Matumbilas, an animated series about a young Tanzanian family and their experiences in the US. Zulfiqar Manzi now finds the story that was inspired by his own experiences in Springfield on two African Based platforms, Kweli TV and AfroWatch, and we hear from the man himself about the changes that’s brought in his work and more. We also get to see a new production company emerge into the light with a fantastic script to boot. Christian Banda comes to the studios to talk about his past season writing a screenplay inspired by Polish cinema, the lessons learned from his first short film that he brings with him, and how the community can be a part of bringing the Decalogue to life through crowdfunding.And for Live Music Friday, indie tinged americana heads to the Marigold theater tonight, June 13th in the sounds of Melanie A. Davis. Noctalgia is Melanie A. Davis’ fourth full-length album and the first to feature her full-band outfit, Melanie A. Davis & The Madness. Released late last year, it is a love letter to the fading night sky that’s slowly “disappearing” from our perspective due to climate change, the 10-track collection runs from doo-wop, to honkytonk, and everywhere in between and beyond.

Including a brand new Pride celebration this weekend as Lee prepares to put on its very first Pride events EVER. Although nestled within Berkshire Pride, the southern Berkshires town is putting on its own festivities this Saturday June 14th and we speak with Leah Docktor about the full day of activity, the importance of towns beginning their own Pride traditionsWe also have live music THURSDAY with local Kinks inspired band the Muswell Hillbillies who are bringing Tom Petty to life on the Iron Horse Stage this Sunday. The band stops by the studio to relive some of the rock icon’s song glory and hear what's still compelling about his massive catalog. And Monte being out of town makes it the perfect time to make our regular guests play games with me, so I sit with Prof Ousmane Power Greene to talk about a crucial moment in American history with my favorite game to casually bring up with people: 6 degrees of the failure of reconstruction.

We're celebrating Juneteenth everywhere all the times and with tons of family. We check out two of the celebrations happening in the area in Holyoke and Amherst. In Paper city, Genuine Culture is teaming up with the Wistariahurst Museum to create a celebration of the holiday for all on June 19th, and we’ll hear from Mother son team Theresa Cooper-Gordon and Damany Gordon of Genuine Culture and Megan Seiler director of the museum about this years Juneteenth festivitiesWe’ll also head to Amherst to check out a brand new space that is re-framing the context of local history in Amherst. Ancestral Bridges is bringing the black and afro-indigenous legacies and people of the town back into the spotlight through exhibits and ongoing research. Mother-daughter team and directors Anika Lopes and Deborah Bridges show us around their new space and talk about their Juneteenth walking tour and more. And word nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, our dictionary in Springfield, reaches back in time to an era where the American language was experiencing a parallel expansion to the nation itself. We explore 19th century americanisms in all of their manifestations of destiny.

Today we herald poignant performances. Which includes an upcoming series of summer performances at Hampshire College.Silverthorne Theater Company is on the verge of opening the first of its two productions for the summer in Amherst, after a major shift in the structure of their season, and we’ll speak with company members Ezekiel Baskin, Gina Kaufman, and Mayte Sarmiento about their two upcoming shows "The Amateurs" and "The Comeuppance", their ongoing mission, and "Theater Thursdays."We’ll also get ready for next week’s holiday with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, who for the 3rd year have prepared a dynamic Juneteenth Freedom Day Concert celebration for it. We meet the three creative forces behind the program, conductor Kevin Scott, Director of the Extended Family Choir Kevin Sharp, and Director of the Springfield Symphony Chorus Nikki Stoia in addition to SSO President Paul Lambert about the pieces and community the concert will bring together this June 19th. And in Southwick, one of a handful of remaining farms is growing across a gaggle of greenhouses and 5 acres of land. Helmed by a mighty trio, Ray’s Family Farm has been bringing fresh produce to the region, and we speak with Heidi Brzoska and Sabrina Kannera, the base of this solid farming triangle, about this season’s growing, their unexpected crops, and the future of farms like theirs.

Today is a family affair. We speak with director, writer, producer Llewellyn Smith of Blue Spark Collaborative, who has been making documentary films of all lengths and topics for over four decades. From Eyes on the Prize, to Poisoned Water, to Race: The Power of an Illusion, to his producing role in the PBS series American Experience, the filmmaker is no stranger to the platform that Public Media offers. Now helming an independent company, his latest film “When Machines Prescribe” offers a chilling look at the Medical system and the histories it holds that have devastating repercussions in today. We’ll explore the work he’s done inside and outside of Public Media, the future of the films he makes, and perhaps get a family story or two out of him because it just so happens, he's Kaliis' uncle. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, joins Monte to take a closer look at an exo-planet, that is moving in ways that are puzzling for such a system, including that the binary stars of its system seem to be co-parenting it, and what that means for us observing similar systems in the future.

Today, we have two tales of community celebration alike in virtue, where we’ll head deep into the Hilltowns, and get out on the riverA celebration of the once incredibly plentiful anadromous fish of the Connecticut River who are currently fighting their way upstream to spawn in northern waters. The inaugural Shad Fest happens this Sunday so we head to Holyoke to witness the fish elevator and hear about the incredible festivities with festival organizer Stephanie Moore. And a glimpse of the important role Shad has played in the area’s history and ecosystem with Andrew Fisk, Northeast Regional Director for American Rivers. We’ll also celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Westhampton Public Library opening with a collection of tales of people from the area about the impact of our foodways. The Hampshire County Food Policy Council is opening the exhibit “Sharing Stories, Creating Change", featuring a new story from a family that’s been farming in the area for 80 years. And we hear from Storytelling Circle Coordinator Kristen Whitmore and Community Story Archive Coordinator Alexandra Mello about the impact personal stories can have in our community and beyond.

Today we deal with matters of great importance.Like the true nature of Hadley’s asparagus supremacy. We know that Hadley grass used to get shipped to the Queen of England, but how different is it from the spears grown in other western mass locales, or even other spots across the globe?To get ready for our very own Asparagus Festival happening at the Hadley Commons this weekend, we bring grass from three different locations to the NEPM studios and conduct our own experiment to see if we, ourselves, can tell the difference between Asparagus grown in three different locations, including Hadley. And we’ll learn more about traversing the 91 corridor for a very good cause when Tara Brewster and Chelsea Kline drive by the studio to tell us how a VW bus and a donated bed are helping to raise money for the Cancer Connection with their fundraising event “Grateful Bed” Plus, a check in with congressman Jim McGovern who'll address the "Big 'Beautiful' Bill" in the middle of the room, a slew of listener questions about CPB, PBS, and NPR funding, ICE activity, and his own upcoming visit to the NEPM Asparagus Festival on Saturday.

We’re exploring all the colors of the rainbow, cause it’s PRIDE MONTH, ya’ll. The Queer Joy Chorus recently became the Queer Joy Collaborative and is celebrating its first year in their new incarnation. This Sunday they’ll throw the first ever Queer Joy Fun Fair with activities, singing, food, and more at Smith Voc, and we’ll chat with Mara Levi and Micki McInnis about the shift.And in the Berkshires, an innovative incubating theater teams up with a NY theater company to tell lost histories in song. The Big Gay Speakeasy happens June 13th and 14th at the Adams theater and we speak with Adams Theater founder and artistic director Yina Moore and Life Jacket Theater Artistic Director Travis Russ about the production, their collaboration, and the music telling the tales of those lost. Plus word Nerd Emily Brewster digs into a listener question about poisonous words we don’t often get to use as we explore the similarities and differences of baleful, baneful, bale and bane.

Today we're talking about sweet things. Even when we’re talking about hard things to watch. This Saturday, The Triplex Cinema shows a special screening of the Oscar winning 1984 film The Killing Fields, which details the experiences of two journalists in Cambodia in 1975 at the beginning of the Khmer Rouge uprising. We chat with one of the stars of that movie who’ll be on hand at the theater for a post-movie Q & A, actor Sam Waterston. Plus it’s Pride Month, officially, and the pride celebrations are rolling out all over the 413. On June 7th you can join the celebrations with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Greenfield as Franklin County Pride gathers all for their parade and festivities. We speak with Cynthia Fritz, Jake Krain, and Heather Mahoney about all the celebrating through the rainbow they’ll be bringing downtown on Saturday. And its in jars, cause that’s where the jam goes. In Conway a passion project has become a whole career turning berries and other fruit into low and no sugar spread-ables. We chat with Devon Whitney-Deal of Beaumont’s Berries about her pivot from working corporate jobs and managing the Greenfield Farmer’s Market to picking fruits, and making jam.(and if you're curious about the version of Technotronic's "Pump Up The Jam" that Kaliis mentioned, you can see it here, performed by Damien Robitalle)

Today we’ll give you two opportunities to engage yourself and enact or acknowledge the changes you’d like to see in the area and the world, and each is in its second year of operating. One of those is the upcoming Equity in the 413: Western Massachusetts Racial Equity Summit, which seeks to re-align efforts to advance racial equity across the region. We’ll talk with Community Foundation CEO Megan Burke and VP for People and Culture Briana Wales-Thaxton about the need and utility of this gathering especially at a time when diversity is slowly becoming a dirty word, and how the event has grown since its inception in 2023. Another is Glenmeadow where they are currently accepting nominees for their “Age of Excellence” awards, honoring folx over 60 in the myriad ways they impact our lives. Dr. Kathy Martin, President and CEO of Glenmeadow, and Rania Kfuri, Vice President of Philanthropy, speak with us about the place this holds in their organization’s 140+ year history, and changing perspectives on what aging looks like. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College's Salman Hameed, talks about the cuts to the NSF in the big beautiful bill, including it's repercussions for NASA, and what happens to the American scientific landscape when student and research visas are unavailable or revoked.

Today we have something lost, something gained, and something re-imagined. At the Shea Theater this weekend, a kaiju classic is getting a sonic overhaul as Cinemastorm presents an extra special screening of Noriaki Yuasa’s “Gamera vs. Guiron,” accompanied by a live soundtrack by local composer Galen Huckins and live foley by Jonathan Greber of Skywalker Sound. We talk with each of them, as well as the cast, musicians, and other performers involved in the production. A pair familiar to the 617 will soon find a place within the 413 as Boston Public Radio begins airing here on NEPM. We chat with hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan about what the eastern shores can bring to the west, and see what they know about the 4 counties of western Massachusetts. And many of us were shocked by the death of singer-songwriter/playwright/activist Jill Sobule earlier this month in a house fire. A series of tribute shows in the dates and locations she would have performed on her latest tour have been planned by her friends and colleagues coming together to fill those bills themselves. The first of these happens Saturday, May 31st at the Iron Horse in Northampton. For Live Music Friday we hear some of Jill’s songs and discuss her legacy with the host of the 413’s contribution to Jillith Fair: Erin McKeown.

May is often when we think about the growing things. Including our youth, as they are our future, as they dance into new horizons in the School for Contemporary Thought’s first narrative work: Wonderland. We speak with the director, Jen Polins, about the company members blooming into the plotlines in their pre-professional company The Hatchery, and the importance of inspiring young dancers to take up more space. Also private gardens are being opened to the public are being opened to the public. The Garden Conservancy is holding Open Gardens this week and next where many beautifully cultivated landscapes across western Mass, and the country, will be available for folx to peruse and enjoy. We’ll chat with Greenfield gardeners Elise and Laura Schlaikyer, and Sarah Chadwick, Regional Ambassador for Western Massachusetts at The Garden Conservancy, about this event which may inspire you to get your hands dirty, and how the non-profit collaborates with gardening organizations across the US, including the Greenfield Garden Club. Plus, we speak to gardner, witchy folklorist and author Varla Ventura about her latest book, “Enchanted Plants: A Treasury of Botanical Folklore and Magic,” before her event on May 31 at the South Hadley Public Library. We discuss the interesting tales the plants have to tell and the poison garden she raises at home.

We’re exploring emphasis. In Amherst, we return to an exhibit, “Sowing History, Reaping Justice,” where students of the Slavery North Initiative have spent a semester developing picture books for younger audiences to learn about slavery. We talk to student authors Emmanuel Nkuranga, River Riddle and Georgia Brabec as well as professors Charmaine Nelson of UMass and Raphael Rogers of Clark University to explore their projects. We also learn how to make art as sustainable as possible. Nestled in the neighborhood of Florence, the printmaking studio, Zea Mays, is preparing to share its wealth of knowledge with the public. We get a tour with founder Liz Chalfin of their two levels of printmaking wonders, meet some studio members and preview the prints that you too can make at their open house this weekend. And resident wordster Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, gives us some rules-of-thumb about the ways we pronu-ounsee things in response to a listener's question about accents, and where we should be placing them.

Franklin County is taking the spotlight. Because that’s where Tumble Science Podcast for Kids is making its home these days. Tomorrow night is their Joke-ha-thon, raising funds for their next season of fun things about the world to littles everywhere. We chat with hosts Lindsay Patterson and Marshall Escamilla about what makes a good dad joke and how even they are feeling the sting of the NSF cuts. It’s also where democracy is currently on display. Mohawk Trail Regional High School has been host to the exhibit, “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America,” which examines the process, procedure and current status of American democracy through historical documents and local connections. We meet with civics teacher Catherine Glennon to explore the collection before it travels across the mountains to Lee for its next stop.And it's home to tiny aliens growing in the woods. We head to the Leverett-Montague border where Boulder Top Farm is innovating mushroom agriculture and more on their 4 acres. We take a walk with proprietor Elijah Lagreze through the wood chips, wine caps and baby turtles to explore the crops, see how integrating mushrooms into other parts of the farm have had a big impact and learn where you can try some of his culinary creations locally.

Last month on April 13, we inaugurated our own holiday, 413 Day. Today on The Fabulous 413, we take you back to play a science quiz with our friends from Tumble Science Podcast for Kids, Lindsay Patterson and Marshall Escamilla.Plus, we had great music at our western Mass. celebration, so we revisit some live selections from The Fawns and Silvie’s Okay.Speaking of live music, the MiFA Victory Players are remounting their performance, “Puerto Abierto” at Holyoke’s DeLa Luz Soundstage next week. We hear about the show’s origin story with musical director and conductor Tian Hui Ng.

Today there is an over abundance of talent. We welcome back wine friend and sommelier Ken Washburn, general manager of the Leverett Village Co-Op, to the Tina Turner Memorial Wine Thunderdome with two extra fragrant choices as we pit Vouvray against Beaujolais. We also celebrate Ciarra Fragale's brand new album, "Get What You Want," for Live Music Friday, hear about her upcoming tour and how she adjusts her synthy new sounds for solo performances.Multi-disciplinary artist Saul Williams has broken ground in just about every artistic avenue he’s been on, from slam poetry to music to film and more. We chat with the inspirational artist before you can catch his concert at Mass MoCA to kick off the opening of artist Vincent Valdez’s new exhibit.

Amherst is perhaps the most densely concentrated locale of academia in western Mass., and today we give you a glimpse of how the wealth of knowledge is shared with the wider community.Amherst A Better Chance (ABC) is part of a national initiative to help Black, Latine, Indigenous and Asian students in underserved school districts achieve their dreams. Started in the late sixties, it’s been bringing young people into its residential academic program to help the transition to college and beyond. We meet the residential directors, Temistocles Ferreira, or Tem Blessed, and Nancita Alejandro, and scholar Frank Partida to learn about the program, national initiative and how their education is a community-wide effort.And Congressman Jim McGovern has had a very busy 48 hours, so we get more details of the conflicts that are associated with the latest bills and budget hitting the floor of the House of Representatives.

Say the name, say the name, because word on the common is that this weekend is a time of celebration. In Amherst, many Indigenous and First Nation peoples from the northeast and across the continent will gather for the 5th annual Odenong Powwow in song, dance, food, craft and more. Founder, organizer and multi-disciplinary artist Justin Beatty joins us to talk about sustaining the event, the nuances to learn about the traditions and peoples at the only powwow in the five college area and how this event is a perfect place to create common ground. And, Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, is talking truth and taking names as we talk about eponyms large, small, unlikely and far beyond just album titles.

We’re honoring the area’s abolitionist past with those who carry its spirit into the future. Since 1992, the Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee has been supporting folx in the spirit of its namesake, and for twenty of those years has given to enterprising students from Hampshire and Hampden Counties who push their work toward a more just and liberated society. We meet Jameicia Estes, scholarship committee chair, and scholarship recipient Charlie Kocsmiersky to learn more about the organization, the weekend festivities, and how the changes we want to see in the world can start in your neighborhood. And, it’s also asparagus season here in western Mass., and with NEPM’s own Asparagus Festival looming on the horizon, we figure we visit where they say the best stalks grow. We head to Plainville Farm in Hadley to see Wally Czajkowski to learn how to properly harvest the ferns and how national immigration issues are affecting daily operations on the farm.

We're running the gamut of niche academia today. It's the 100th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and it's just our luck that Jazz à la Mode host and local dictionary editor Peter Sokolowski is one of the judges for the event. We speak with him about the nature of spelling bees, how he got involved in the event, the interesting origins of the word "spell" and more. And, Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, explores the very boring and unimaginative scientific naming conventions for very interesting and universe breaking discoveries, little red dots (LRDs).

Have you ever looked at large architecture and wondered just how much space is being actually used, or how you could take advantage of that space? Today, we speak to Michael Townsend, a member of Tape Art art collective, who answered both of those questions with resounding yeses. We learn about “Secret Mall Apartment," a documentary about the 4-year-long inhabitable art project in a most unlikely spot, a hidden and unused space at the Providence Place Mall. You can catch the documentary and Townsend on May 19 in a screening and Q&A at Amherst Cinema. We also say goodbye to Cheap City on today’s Live Music Friday. They've been democratizing dance floors across the east coast for years and performing one of their last shows in western Mass. at the Marigold Theater on May 17. Self described as "what would happen if Zappa and Fugazi were, for some reason, collaborating on a disco record,” Cheap City affirms that they were “tasked by the city government of Cheap City to document life in the town." We find out how efforts to archive the town’s existence has led to a post-punk theatrical amalgam of psychedelic sound with many instruments and many slices of life.And, at Tip Top Wine Shop, Miranda Brown introduces us to a grape we’d never heard of before, whose name is spelled wrong, but who tastes totally right, Pineau d’Aunis enters the Wine Thunderdome.

We have to lift you up after the tumult of yesterday’s conversation, and we do it with music since our favorite time of year is swiftly approaching. June 20-22, the Green River Festival will descend on the Franklin County Fairgrounds, bringing over 40 bands, local vendors and our community together (with hopefully better weather than last year). For the second year, John Sanders of DSP Shows is at the helm of USS GRF, and we talk to him about the lessons learned from last year, the gems in this year's lineup and how music brings us all together in times of trial.While we’re in the neighborhood, we sneak around the corner to Franklin County Technical School (FCTS) where the students have just been given an important resource on campus. We chat with school counselor Taryn Canfield about the brand new food pantry for students and how you can help them keep it stocked. Plus, we welcome back Congressman Jim McGovern and discuss some of the struggles he’s been facing since the death of his daughter, including the ICE raids in Worcester and protecting SNAP benefits and other budget line items that need fighting for on Capitol Hill.

Basically since January 21st, we’ve been hearing about federal cuts to agencies its supported and run for decades, and seeing the carnage to programming, businesses, and federal departments themselves as the dominoes continue to fall. From the USDA to the NSF, from Health to the Humanities, greater infrastructure to academics, the Library of Congress to the NEA, it seems like no industry is immune to the removal of important grants and programs.It was only a matter of time before the many arts and service organizations that we speak to were also affected, so today, we’re speaking with people from a wide swath of the organizations in the area who’ve seen their federal grants and funding disappear, or are currently unsure of where their federal funding may end up. We’ll hear from Sally Loomis of Hilltown Land Trust, Claire Higgins of Community Action Pioneer Valley, Jim Hicks of The Massachusetts Review, and Ilan Stavans of Restless Books, and review some of what organizations who've spoken with us this year have said about their operations, plus a glimpse at the official statements of some of the other local organizations that are now attempting to deal with the fallout of these rescissions as we attempt to address the federal funding elephant that’s been cut out of the middle of our 4 counties.

Today is fluffy and textured and a little afraid of us because sheep scare easily. We’re in Buckland to talk with folx at Walking Cloud Farm about the upcoming MA Sheep and Woolcraft Festival. What started as a 4H event to encourage youth in sheep raising has grown over the past almost 50 years to encompass that and much more. From spinning, to shearing to herding, we chat with farm owner Marty Ferguson, and festival organizers Barbara Goodchild and Lonnie York about the legacy and importance of Sheep as an agricultural crop, and the festival in helping to maintain that. And from across the border JayWood stops by the studio before the sold out tUnE-yArDs show at the Iron horse he’s opening for this evening. We’ve been excited about getting his band into our space since our chat with him a few weeks ago and are eager to share a glimpse of his sound with those who were not quite quick enough to snag a ticket. Plus did you know that Springfield was one of the sparks that ignited the witch trials across the Massachusetts Bay Colonies long before Salem picked up their torches? We head to Springfield Museums to get a sneak peak of their brand new exhibit highlighting the incident with curator of history Elizabeth Kapp: "Witch Panic!".

Space is the place, but first we’re headed to the ring to find the local wrestling scene, because, oh yes, western Mass. has a wrestling scene. Perry Von Vicious, a.k.a The Human Monster Truck, joins us in the studio to give insight beyond kayfabe, a lay of the local wrestling landscape, his start in the industry and what you can expect at the match up on Memorial Day Weekend to defend his title. Then, we head to space as we hear that it is not only the place, but the homeland of Sun Ra Arkestra. The collective has been innovating in jazz, funk and beyond for over 7 decades and are stopping in Northampton on May 18. We check in with the team bringing the legends to the valley, Ruth Griggs of Northampton Jazz Festival and Jim Olsen of Signature Sounds about collaborating for this show, and about the sonic legacy Sun Ra engenders. While we’re off in space, we talk to Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, applies the scientific method to more terrestrial issues and shows us how you too can do the same.

Music is the food of active minds, and that’s just science. Plus, Fridays are typically the time that The Fabulous 413 gets its music on, so we’re excited to meet those for whom a musical journey is just beginning. We head to STEM Middle Academy with Rachel Rivard and Carolyn Dufresne of the Community Music School of Springfield (CMSS) to check out the 6th grade woodwind band, one of the classes that participate in the Sonido Musica program and benefit from the Play It Forward Drive. We hear from the students and teachers on the greatly positive impacts of having music in the curriculum.Then, for Live Music Friday, a western Mass. fixture makes a pivot in sound and a change in lineup to reinvent itself for a wider sonic perspective. Splendid Torch has risen from the bones of Mamma’s Marmalade with their latest album, “Icon,” for which you can join their release celebration tonight at The Drake in Amherst. Plus, if you were also heartbroken at the departure of our Hampden County wine friend Michael Quinlan, you’re in for a treat with the cameo in today’s wine Thunderdome at State Street Fruit Store.

There are a lot of old mill buildings in western Mass., and a lot of those old factories are finding new lives and new industries to fill their halls.Frankly, there’s so much to find in these spaces that we spend our whole day in one in North Adams,, Greylock WORKS. We chat with designer and architect Salvatore Perry about his and co-founder Karla Rothstein's vision to bring function, community and utility together in the many-purposed space, while exploring some of those spaces ourselves.We talk with one of the artist creating in the space, Julia Dixon, walk through the barrels of the Berkshire Cider Project with Kat Hand and Matt Brogan and stretch out in the newly expanded studios of Greylock Yoga with owner Nicole Rizzo. Plus we gush about the goodness and connections food brings with chef, artist and farmer Tu Le at his restaurant State.

We are taking the good with the worstest and sometimes blending the two! Author Heidi Stemple’s latest work is a complete amalgam of poetry and narrative fiction. "The Poetry of Car Mechanics" measures family trauma against self-discovery and nature in a way that try really hard not to spoil when she visits the studio to talk with us. We find out about her process of weaving plot through this mixed format.We also head to Amherst Nurseries, where trees are the lay of their agricultural land and have been for decades going. Owner John Kinchla walks us and the new head of CISA, Jennifer Core, through the rain-soaked acres to see their innovative growing methods. Plus, he provides insight to the real extent of some of the federal cuts to agriculture from a landscaping perspective. Then word nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, drudges up some better words for us to use for things that are terrible, so that even at our lowest, we can still use fun language to describe our catastrophic and awful circumstances.

Today has a proper patch of aligned alliteration.First, fandom, which is what we have for Randall Poster, who has been the music supervisor for over 200 films and TV shows. Starting this weekend, The Triplex Cinema will host him for conversation with a program to highlight his work and the films that inspire him. We bring the hidden aural gem onto our show to talk about soundtracks v.s. scoring, the nature of curation and more. Now onto farms, so we head into the north Berkshires. Against the backdrop of a massive limestone quarry, the woman and queer-led Full Well Farms has been thriving for 8 years, shifting focus from dairy to sustainable practices. Owner Meg Bantle, whose family has been working the land for over a century, takes us on a tour of the regenerative farm, explains the goal to address local food inequities and how flowers help succeed the farm’s mission.And lastly, funding cuts, which are on all of our minds as of late. State budget cuts are affecting Cutchins Programs for Children and Families. Established in the 1980s as an alternative to the state hospitals, the organization provides programming to help children with school, medical treatment and much more. Director Tina Champagne joins us to talk about their work and the challenges these cuts present.

Today our size is shifting to get larger and smaller simultaneously. We talk with Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, who explains the proposed cuts to NASA and the NSF and the potential impact on both academic institutions (like the five colleges) and American astronomical research as a whole. Then, just to narrow our aperture a bit, we explore books all over the four counties! All week, Mass Kids Lit Festival will host events for kids of all ages and their grown ups all over western Massachusetts. It’s their first year expanding into the Berkshires, and we chat with organizer Courtney Andree about bringing Children’s Book Week to the Bay State and the many authors your little one can meet and collaborate with in the coming days.Speaking of narrowing, a much beloved event with a long running history at the Shea Theater in Turner’s Falls has had to put a pause on this year’s occasion. The Immigrant Voices performance has gathered many students, clients and alumni of the Center for New Americans to share talent and culture with the community. Director Laurie Millman joins us to talk about the hard decision to put the series on hiatus and the shift in circumstances her organization is seeing.

Today we've got copious amounts of music, some joy of saving the planet and two sterling examples of resisting labels within one’s artwork. One of our neighbors to the north is about to make a visit to the area, Canadian independent artist JayWood. We chat with him about his day job as a postal worker, the impact that grief has had on some of his most poignant works and the clandestine meeting that lead to his collaboration and tour with tUnE-yArDs. And, right here at home, singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst just released a whole new album in March and will celebrate the accomplishment at the Iron Horse next week. After two years of begging and pleading, we finally get her into the studio to talk about the wealth of musical talent within her family, the wide variety of sounds that find her fretboard and what spurred her to collaborate with so many folx on this batch of songs. Plus, in Lenox, although we are in troubling times, not all news is bad news. At Dare Bottleshop with Ben and Mary Daire, we taste through some vineyards that are engaged with more sustainable growing practices and learn about their event with climate optimist and local author Anne-Therese Gennari next Tuesday.

We’re looking at the center of a couple of venn diagrams and the overlapping circles that bring those centers together. For instance, the artistic circles often overlap through the fantastic venues we have in the area. At the Shea theater, Nero Orchestra will conclude its season tomorrow night, and on that same stage the next night, Eggtooth Productions will bring in partners in unconventional theater, Karen Montanaro and Jack Golden. Additionally, Eggtooth will soon host a production of Sarah Ruhl’s “Orlando” at the Academy of Music. So we chat with Cailin Marcel Manson of Nero Orchestra, Linda Tardif of the Shea Theater and Linda McInerney of Eggtoth Productions about the performances and art spaces that have crossed their respective streams. And in Amherst, some intrepid art students are taking on a daunting task of making picture books about slavery. We head to UMass Amherst to meet a handful of students with books that are a part of the exhibit, “Sowing History, Reaping Justice,” to hear about their experiences in creating these works. Plus, we gain insight from some of the academic stewards in the topic of slavery in children’s books, Clark University professor Raphael Rogers, and the history of enslavement Canada and the U.S. north, UMass professor and Slavery North Initiative Director Charmaine Nelson.

Today we're spending all our time in higher education. Merriam-Webster Senior Editor and UMass Amherst alumna Emily Brewster joins us on the upper floors of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library to meet with digital content editor Lauren Hubbard. She introduces us to the library’s most notorious residents, the peregrine falcons, with names that should be of particular interest to our Word Nerd. The birds making their roost and catching attention with eggs close to hatching. And, just down the street at Amherst College, there is a revered literary publication called “The Common” that is celebrating its 25th year of publication. And on the last day of National Poetry Month, we talk with Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Acker and student interns Kei Lim and Aidan Cooper about the place of poetry and prose in a nation that continues to chip away at the arts.

We’re bringing up the lights on cool community action. Starting May 1, the fourth annual Easthampton Film Festival will kick off, with 4 days of panels, workshops, concerts and more than 30 films in a wide range of genres. We hear from organizer Chris Ferry about putting this event together, and creating community among the filmmakers in the areaWe also get to talk with folx involved in a western Mass.-focused feature film that is premiering at the festival, “Tallywacker” directed by Brendan Boogie. To hear about the filmmaking process and the vital role of music, we speak with the film’s inspiration and lead, Jeremy Macomber-Dubs, co-star Chris Goodwin and assistant producer and actor Rebecca Macomber. And, we discover a new farm that is hoping to bring fresh produce and food equity to its neighborhood. Nordica Community Farm sits on a nicely hidden 11-acre plot in Springfield that nearly was razed and developed, but through community action and community partners, this small CSA allows you to pick your own herbs among a burgeoning orchard. We speak with owners Anne Richmond and Todd Crosset with CSA Member Ariana Williams about the triumphs and trials of city growing.

Today is all rainbows, double rainbows in fact!We start with Hampshire Pride, marching in Northampton this Saturday, May 3. They’re the first and longest running pride event in the area, which means its events and leadership have seen a lot of evolution. We chat with organizers Clay Pearson and River Matos about what’s in store for the community this year and what they’ve learned in their three years at the helm.And, the valley-based Rainbow Players are celebrating 25 years of creating devised improvisational works firmly grounded in social justice and disability advocacy. We talk with the program’s artistic director and founder, Ezzell Floraniña, and company members Wole Abiodun and Jay Lithgow about their work, the development of related non-profit ETTA International, the upcoming gala, fashion show and other events to benefit their work.Plus Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, discusses a possible sign of life on a planet 120 light years away and the pitfalls of assumptions made when such discoveries become public.

What do you get when you mix a novel approach to foster care, devised theater, and youth leadership all in one place?The answer is Truth Tellers Theater, an inter-generational theater group where cast members use the healing powers of storytelling, community and performance to share their own tales with audiences each spring. We head to Holyoke to talk with folx from the Treehouse Foundation, Heroes Youth Leadership Program and the Truth Tellers ensemble about the strength of their collaboration, the history of their short but impactful past and the bevvy of upcoming programming, including the Runway 5k at a local airport next weekend. Live Music Friday puts dance in your orbit with the space-psych-rock disco that is Escaper. We hear some of their music before they perform at The Iron Horse.Plus, we get a preview of the upcoming Italian Wine Festival at Provisions in North Amherst with a north vs south Thunderdome with a tasty cheese guest appearance.

Today is for the brothers and the birds, not a bee in sight.Well, seeing actually factors into it, too! We head to Amherst where, on a particularly idyllic corner of the UMass campus, hordes of migratory birds are making their way back north. Professor Nathan Senner grabs binoculars and his trusty dog, Oliver, to head out into the woods to discover the many feathered friends that are finding their way home. He enlightens us to the ways that the campus itself is posing problems to conservation efforts, the methods they’re experimenting with to make the school’s landscape a bit safer for the traveling birds and how you can help.And, in Florence at the Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, prose, theater and pie are coming together on stage this weekend. The Florence Poetry Carnival is bringing in Brother’s Keeper Poetry Ensemble as the featured literary artists for “Poetry and Pie.” We speak with founding member Marlon Carey about the group’s work, the melding of their styles on stage and the clandestine meeting between him and the carnival’s founder.And, although we don't have a chance to chat with Congressman Jim McGovern, our hearts and sympathies are with him as his family navigates recent tragedy. Note: The comic artist Kaliis mentioned with illustrations of bird calls is Rosemary Mosco.

Today we’re getting extra retro with an extra New England pastime, archaic conundrums and classic ways of making art. The art is found up and down the Hilltowns through Hampshire and Franklin Counties. The Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail is a network of studios that are open for the public to witness ceramic artists in their craft. We head to Florence to peek at the only wood fired kiln along the route and chat with artists James Guggina, Tiffany Hilton and intern Lucas Putney about their work and the upcoming festivities. And, few outside of New England know of or have played our classic pastime, candlepin bowling, but it's the style housed by some of the oldest operating bowling alleys in the nation, one of which is right here in western Mass. We head to Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley where owners Tony and Tam Hanna show us how the game is played, how the lanes are maintained and how far the history of the location stretches. Plus, Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, lays an over 700-year-old mystery in our laps. Or does it lie in your lap? We look at the homophone pairing of lay and lie, and which one we should let sleeping dogs do.

It’s Earth Day!So we’re going to look at our mother through local lenses and explore our waterways, our skies, and of course, the ways we feed ourselves and each other. If we’re looking up, light pollution has more factors than just keeping you up at night, and one of the organizations seeking to bring more awareness to those factors is Northampton City Lights. Their mission is to Protect human health and wildlife by changing the way we think about municipal lighting and we’ll hear from Catherine Moriarty how their Northampton Night Fest event tonight at Historic Northampton will help them do more of that. And if we’re looking down to the water, Prof. Christine Hatch of Umass Extension has been examining swamps, bogs, streams and more. how those precious ecosystems are affected by human interaction, and how we can aid in their preservation and restoration are some of the questions we’ll ask when she joins us in studioPlus, transport may be the least sexy part of our local foodways, but that doesn’t make it any less vital. Nick Martinelli of Marty’s Local and Cathy Stanton of Quabbin Harvest Co-op talk to us about the important place local distributors have to farmers, retailers, and consumers as well to make a healthy food ecosystem.

Today is Patriots Day, a holiday to commemorate the battle of Lexington and Concord and the “shot heard round the world” in what is now the 617 area code. But today in the 413, we look back to last week when western Mass. planted a flag on our OWN side of the state and declared April 13 as 413 Day.At our party at CitySpace in Easthampton, we were joined by regular guests of the show including Emily Brewster, resident wordster from Merriam-Webster, who enlightened us on Massachusetts regionalisms and accents and answered live audience questions.And, we talked with prof. Ousmane Power-Greene from our Power of History segment about why our abolitionist history here in the 413 is worth exploring and celebrating.Plus, we hear live music from the western Mass. stalwart, singer-songwriter Erin McKeown, with songs on a borrowed guitar and a preview of the new musical they’re working on, set to debut next year.

We are encouraging you to stay up late because The Iron Horse, now almost a year in its new incarnation, is bringing back late shows. We preview tonight’s doozy of dance, connection and genre defying music.For Live Music Friday we hear from Bella’s Bartok as they wrap up their winter/spring residency at the horse. We hear how their latest album, “Apocalypse Wow,” sounds on its feet and learn how important a residency can be to the growth of one’s sound.On that same bill is the powerful queerpunk duo, Film & Gender, who’ve just come off of a 10 day east coast tour. We talk to bassist Issley about new music, the difference in feel between DIY venues and more established ones, increasing vulnerability in lyrics and more.And, with spring officially springing, we head to the Juicebox Wine Bar in Shelburne Falls to check out orange wines in a coastal battle for the latest Tina Turner Memorial Wine Thunderdome.

Today, as every day, we are speaking the language of community near and far and in all walks of life. For instance, we’re getting to know an organization that services the Berkshires (and a little beyond) to increase access to healthy food despite widespread funding cuts. We chat with Berkshire Agricultural Ventures Executive Director Rebecca Busansky about the Market Match program, which is currently fundraising for the 2025 growing season, and filling the gap left by HIP cuts while raising all boats in the effort. We also get a little Live Music Thursday with Brooklyn and Northampton-based singer-songwriter Stefan Weiner. He’s ending a music hiatus with the release of his new album, “How Lucky You Are,” and we hear about what inspirations lay amongst the tracks and if coming home has anything to do with it. And, our weekly chat with Rep. Jim McGovern hits both far and close to home as we discuss the proposed cuts to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, the inaction regarding detained legal immigrants, the insurrection act’s possible enactment and a pile of questions from listeners like you.

We are covering a lot of ground.Including a brand new venture for a collective right here in town, Marketplace at Gasoline Alley, a collective effort of 5 entrepreneurs who are expanding their offerings attached to the Urban Food Brood. We speak with some of the folx who’ve settled into this new spot, Kate Forest and Missy Doe of Forest Doe Botanicals and Kristina Marie Denson of Journey’s Lemonade (with the CUTEST CAMEO by the business namesake), and find out how collaborative economics can work right in our own backyard.And, we sample a 35-year career in folk music bringing all that experience and versatility to The Parlor Room stage next weekend. David Wilcox started playing guitar in college in the eighties and hasn’t stopped since, and we pepper the singer-songwriter about his Canadian doppelgänger, his greatest inspirations and the shifts in the musical landscape, both esoteric and physical.Plus, resident wordster Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, explores a listener question about the contexts of the dictionary’s citations while Kaliis accidentally side steps into a question about curing meats.

Two tales of agriculture and commerce, alike in virtue, a spring of hope from a winter of despair. The Cannabis Control Commission recently swept through western Mass, making visits with officials and business owners in all 4 counties. Despite the recent shake-ups within the department, they’re currently looking forward into expanding how businesses might offer more green to the people through social consumption. We speak with acting Chair of the CCC Bruce Stebbins about what that concept could entail, how cannabis businesses are faring in the Bay State and especially Western Mass., and how the commission is faring after nearly 10 years of legal weed. We’ll also head to Conway to a farm most innovative in practice, philosophy and action. Natural Roots has been growing produce in the hilltowns in a number of ways that are unique to their plots and bringing their crops to the area. From their crop rotation, to the actual horses powering their equipment, they’ve sought to reduce and remove fossil fuels from their farming operations. We’ll chat to proprietor David Fisher about his recent award from CISA, why reducing their carbon footprint through their machinery choices was so crucial to their agricultural plans, and get a tour through their sprawling beautiful grounds along the South River, and get to meet the horses!