October 26, 2023: The armored axe speaks
Members of the cast and crew of the rock musical Lizzie, which takes a look at the life and motivations of Lizzie Borden, Richard Little stops by to tell us how we can help to take Jurassic Armored Mud Balls to the state level, and Congressman Jim McGovern gives his impressions of the new speaker.
The Fabulous 413 · Monte Belmonte & Kaliis Smith
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Show Notes
Today, more than most, we’re looking at tiny things on a much larger scale.
There is a geological structure that is unique to Franklin County and which currently is seeking state recognition. Jurassic armored mud balls are an incredibly rare sedimentary structure, only known of for about fifty years, and we sit with their discoverer, retired professor Richard Little, to talk about the House bill that could make their status state official, as well as some of the other neat things that happen on our patch of the earth.
Then there is a re-examining of a notorious New England historical figure. Over the next few weekends, Ghost Light Theater will be presenting the musical “Lizzie!!!” at the Divine Theater in Holyoke. The work is a rock examination of Lizzie Borden and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of her parents, and we chat about how theater reframes both its main character’s frame of mind and her historical circumstances with director Kevin Tracy, and actor Shealyn Berube, who plays Lizzie herself.
And it definitely does not feel like a small thing to have a new speaker of the house, or to still be seeking to help your constituents flee a burgeoning warzone. This week our mcgoverning with congressman Jim McGovern seeks to keep all of these fast-moving, fraught events firmly in perspective.
Correction: During the course of our conversation with Rep. McGovern, we mistakenly referred to newly-elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as being from Kentucky. Mr. Johnson is in fact from Louisiana.