E16:  Here we are episode number 16 since March 30th.  It doesn’t just feel like it’s been 6 weeks.  I’ve enjoyed doing the interviews and producing the shows.  Thank you to all the guests that have been on.  Thank you to everyone who has listened to the shows and subscribed to our email list or on Apple Podcasts.  I appreciate you making me, our guests and this project part of your day. 

 In this episode it is just me, no guest.  I have two things that I want to cover today.  I want to update you on a few changes I’m going to make to the podcast and our email newsletter.  I want to introduce and share a small series of episodes I have lined up for May and why I’m doing these episodes.

The quick updates on the Great Amherst Podcast are:
1) I'm going to publish one episode a week on Mondays
2) I'm going to send out our email newsletter on Wednesday and I'm looking to include info on upcoming community events.  I'm going to share more info on this coming up soon.

I asked for your help with a couple things.  Here are the contact links you need:

• Submit guest ideas - tgapod.com/contact
• Apply for ad spots - tgapod.com/contact
• Sign up for our email newsletter - tgapod.com/subscribe

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My May Project -

For my project I want to start talking about how individual people can advocate for, and push to make the changes that they want to see in our community.  I know that coming out of the Coronavirus situation we have the opportunity to talk about and act to make the changes we want to see, or to keep things the way they were.  We have the ability to act to make this happen.  But, I believe for many reasons over the last 30 to 40 years we have lost the skills, ability, confidence or knowledge on how to do this.  With the Municipal Election in October of this year it's important for us to start thinking about what we can do individually.  I want to start talking about this now.

We have the following interviews coming up:

• Monday, May 18 - Former MP for Cumberland-Colchester, Bill Casey
• Monday, May 25 - Former MLA for Cumberland North, Terry Farrell
• Monday, June 1 - Former Mayor of Amherst, Rob Small

Please subscribe to our  newsletter to never miss an episode.

A few links from this episode:

• College-Educated Voters Are Ruining American Politics by Eitan Hersh, Published in the Atlantic on January 20, 2020
• Politics is For Power: How to Move Beyond Politic Hobbyism, Take Action and Make Real Change by Eitan Hersh