The Valley says goodbye, for now to a Broadway and LGBTQ icon. Congressman McGovern with an update on the war in Ukraine and on his upcoming commencement speech for UMass grads. Plus some sparkling wines you might want to try to celebrate your graduate. Playing videogames you don’t win on NERDWATCH. Poking fun at Van Morrison while giving away tickets to his upcoming show.

Congressman McGovern makes a surprise trip to visit President Zelensky in Kyiv and gets a surprise from the White House. We’ll hear all about it. Plus thoughts on the imminent demise of Roe v Wade. Is there anything to be gruntled about? Is “gruntled” even a word? We’ll learn more from the Word Nerd. Delving into comic books and the Multiverse of Madness.

Preparing to Meltdown. Our free family music and book bash. I’ll talk with well decorated authors JJK and Heidi Stemple and the creators of the Tumble Science Podcast for kids. Resurrecting an extinct bar with…a dinosaur. On saving The Drake and on what actually killed the dinosaurs. Poetry, pie and pugilism with National Book Award winning poet Martin Espada.

Celebrating 40 years of the feminist theater company that makes its home on a farm in Ashfield with the Magdalena Project. Celebrating the amazing Michelle Yeoh on Nerdwatch. Rats and maggots on Capitol Hill? And not just the Congresspeople. We’ll hear about from Congressman Jim McGovern. Using comedy as a weapon and tasting Grenache with panache.

National Book Award winning poet Martin Espada reading his poetry and being welcome to his new Western Mass neighborhood. A rabid fox on Capitol Hill? And no its not the TV station. We’ll hear all about it from Congressman Jim McGovern. Goat milk? We’ll hear from a local goat farmer about the benefits of goat over cow. Getting your gently used books into the hands of the 3 in 5 kids in Springfield who don’t have a single book in their home. And drinking Argentinian wines.

One of the world’s leading Marxist intellectuals Vijay Prashad from Northampton on what the US media might be leaving out in regards to the war in Ukraine. More with our peace correspondents on the border between Ukraine and Poland, the Cycons from Leverett. Our last chance to maintain the health of the Connecticut River draws nigh and I’ll talk to two folks trying to save it. Orcs! Turns out, they’re real. Oh and there was some big thing that happened at The Oscars.

I check in with my war correspondents-strike that PEACE correspondents. Dean and Annette Cycon live from Poland. Congressman McGovern on the Ketanji Brown Jackson hearings. The first image from the JWST is in and we’ll see it, with our ears. Rethinking Chardonnay for all the Chardohaters.

Western Mass rallies around one of the Valley’s favorite and most community oriented couples as they head to the Polish/Ukrainian border to volunteer assisting refugees. I’ll introduce you to them. Congressman McGovern on the Zelensky address to Congress. The Irish and American India connection on St. Patrick’s Day. Throwing down the gauntlet of Merlot at the feet of Paul Giamatti, who is making a movie here in Western Mass. King Tut’s extra-terrestrial dagger. Cat arthritis and more.

This week marks the two-year anniversary of the Pandemic. We’ll do a little reflecting and a little ranting and a little drinking. It’s been a long two years. The history of the popular Western Mass term The Tofu Curtain with the Word Nerd. A TOTALLY nepotistic interview about a pretty dang cool interpretation of the Phantom of The Opera. Congressman McGovern on the omnibus bill and the continuing situation in Ukraine and more.

The Cancer Connection Bed-In 2. A John and Yoko style fundraiser to raise money for an AMAZING local organization and featuring appearances from Rickie Lee Jones, Valerie June, Congressman Jim McGovern and so many people whose lives have been bettered by the work of The Cancer Connection.