Last year, Phil Korman of CISA announced his retirement. And just recently, our friends at the organization have found someone to fill his shoes. We talk to the new director, Jennifer Core, to hear her connections to agriculture in western Mass. and beyond, and how her insights from her own farm help push the organisation’s mission further.

Our resident Word Nerd, Emily Brewster of Merriam-Webster, will have us salivating as we search for the origins of spit, spitting image, spit-take, and how clones are sorta connected to all three. Plus, how you can hang out with her in person this weekend!

And, we get our first-hand government rundown a day early as we speak with Rep. Jim McGovern about the nationwide protests this past weekend, the likelihood that his hunger-free future bill survives the rigors of both house and senate, tariff-aggedon 2025 and much more.

Oh plus, it's our 500th show. No biggie. 

We constantly strive to be renaissance people because knowledge is power, and everyone wants to be able to properly MacGyver things.

But, never in the course of the show have we seen a farm that does it like Barberic Farms. So, we head to Shelburne to see all the adorable lambs get their legs and discover the myriad of pots that Barbara and Eric Goodchild have their hands in, from wool to iron to pickles to pianos and more. 

Speaking of education, we discover a new film inspired by real events in the valley with locally-based actors on its celluloid. “Urban Ed” follows four students as they navigate their school’s closure, and we speak with writer, director and educator Wade Wofford and one of the movie’s main actors, Kayla Staley, about their connections to the story and the landscape for smaller films. 

Plus, we also learn some history with Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, who tells the tale of Greenland's colonization in the name of science in the late 19th century and the questionable results of those efforts.

It is National Poetry Month, and as the world could use more art [full stop], we broadcast live from the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst. 

We hear some of the reclusive poet’s work and about who was instrumental in getting her words posthumously published with the museum’s executive director, Jane Wald. Plus, we learn about some of the museum’s upcoming programs and exciting updates on the grounds with Brooke Steinhauser, senior director of programs, including the Phosphorescence series.

We also hear insights and inspiring and heartbreaking works of two local poets who’ve participated in the series, Joan Kwon Glass and DeMisty Bellinger. 

Content Warning: Some of the work read in this episode contains mentions of death, child death, and suicide. 

If the arts funding cuts are due to continue until morale proverbially improves, we’re pretty sure that means a lot is on the chopping block. 

Great birthday present for a nation 250 years young. 

At that juncture is Mass Humanities. Among it’s other initiatives like the 4th of July readings of Frederick Douglass and the Clemente Course for the Humanities, the organization is slated to be at the center of the state’s commemoration of the Revolutionary War. But just this week their federal grants were terminated.  Director Brian Boyles joins us to talk about how the festivities may continue, and what can be done to support their efforts to bring more Massachusetts stories to life. 

In that vein, we’re supporting organizations aiding each other, especially if it’s highlighting a pivotal work that shifted the entire landscape of two mediums in its wake. Triplex cinemas is showing a restored version of 1948’s The Red Shoes in conjunction with Jacob’s Pillow, and we’ll speak with Professor emeritus Lynn Garafolo and curator and archivist Norton Owen about the auteurs it has influenced, and the impact it has had

Live Music Friday brings the Lucky Shots to the studio. They’ve just released their second album Second Tongue and are celebrating with a show at JJ’s Tavern tonight, but we’ll get the story of their shift in recording process when they make a visit with us. 

In the words of R.I.S.E Fest co-founder Gina M. Krosoczka, "art of all mediums has been scientifically proven to increase self-esteem, foster community and connection, and process emotions, feelings, trauma and so much more."

So, today, we’re learning about folx at the beginning of their artistic journeys, someone with unlikely displayed artistry and someone who has been making copious amounts of it. 

We’ve got a little extra live music for your week with Ari Hest before he takes the stage at the Parlor Room tonight. With over two decades under his belt, we find out about the Grammy-nominated artist’s Patreon project that has him releasing a new song every two weeks.

Plus, your kids are extra alright when there’s art involved. Later this month, R.I.S.E Fest returns to provide two straight days of engaging workshops, performances, presentations and more. We hear from event co-founder and NYT-bestselling graphic novelist Jarrett J. Krosoczka about the importance of fostering the artistic inclination of kids, tweens and teens. 

And, our weekly chat with Rep. Jim McGovern may not last for 24 hours, but it definitely covers his thoughts on Sen. Cory Booker’s filibuster, ICE arrests at Red Fire Farm, tariffs, possible weekend protests and more. 

We’re jumping into National Poetry Month with two poets, extra descriptive language and a former state senator.

One of these things may not be like the others, but is relevant to a key moment in history. Former Poet Laureate of Northampton Richard Michelson has written a new children’s book on the first presidential Passover Seder, “Next Year in the White House.” We talk with him and Eric Lesser, former state senator and White House aide, about being at the table with the Obamas.

In Shelburne Falls, another poet is celebrating a new work. UMass professor and Guggenheim fellow Martín Espada is releasing his new book of poems, “Jailbreak of Sparrows,” and we gain his insight on the nuances of collecting his pieces anew before his reading at Raven Used Books this weekend.

Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, is encouraging us to be more descriptive with unusual words for very specific shapes. 

Literacy equals liberation, and each can take several forms. 

To the letter of this equation, the western Massachusetts-based Literacy Project has been providing adult basic education programs and opportunities for 40 years. We talk with Executive Director Colleen Kucinski and Sagrario “Charro” Turner, a recent program graduate and commencement speaker, about filling this often overlooked gap in education, supporting participants to engage in meaningful and equitable learning to participate in the economic, social, cultural and civic community. And an event where you can celebrate the milestone with them!

And the 4th annual Power of Truths Festival is happening this Friday and Saturday in Florence to harness the power of education and art for racial and social justice.  We welcome back to the show festival co-founder Michael Lawrence Riddell, executive director of Self-Evident Education, and one of the festival performers, Washington DC-based emcee and author Sa-Roc.

New lands, and new works, and new looks oh my.

We meet Margaret Russo, board president of the Scarlet Sock Foundation, whose mission it is to support works of social Justice theater. But how does a foundation come to such a specific niche. We’ll learn the history of the organization, about the many folx they support, and hear more on the free gala they’ll be hosting this Saturday

And we’ll head to Amherst to see the newest farm we’ve ever been to. Little Light Farm is taking a novel approach to CSAs, land conservation and preservation, and community connection, and they’re just getting started. New farm proprietor Emmy Smella talks to us about her plans for the plot of land, as well as some of the framework she’s established in starting a brand new farm. 

Plus PhD candidate at UMass, local historian Erika Slocumb outlines some of the recent changes that have been happening at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism, and how they’re shifting focus in their collection and in their curation, which might just shift some of your perspectives as well

This is about making big efforts in small places. 

We head to Pittsfield for one such endeavor. March 31 is Trans Day of Visibility, and Wander Berkshires is hosting a series of events to celebrate transgender and non-binary folx in a time when community members increasingly face endangerment and anti-trans legislation. We chat with founder Jay Santangello about the things he’s got planned for us all to enjoy and to make our neighborhoods inclusive. 

In Montague, the Bard comes alive all over town, bringing folx from all the way across the pond to breathe life into his words. The Montague Shakespeare Festival is in full swing with performances this weekend and the next, and we speak with artistic director Nia Lynn, artistic director; Kenny Butler, executive director; and Fiona Ross, director and lead practitioner, about what the second year of the festival has to offer. 

And Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College, remembers our eclipse fever from last year and tells us about 2 more eclipses, one of which you can see here in western Massachusetts, and dark energy in space (somehow those aren’t directly related). 

If you’ve driven on Route 9 through the hilltowns, you’ve probably seen Beaver Brook Golf Course on the bend between Williamsburg and Northampton. But, there are some changes on the horizon for that gigantic parcel of land with the goal of expanding public access and climate resiliency.

We talk with Kate Theoharides, Wendy Ferris and Mary Dettloff of the Trustees of Reservations about the goal to purchase the 200+ acres with help from the fundraising and conservation efforts of the public and surrounding towns.

Live Music Friday brings author and banjoist Max Wareham to our shores before you can celebrate the recent release of his album. “DAGGOMIT!,” with him at a Watermelon Wednesday concert next Saturday.

And, we get ready to feel the pain of EU tariffs in the next Tina Turner Memorial Wine Thunderdome. We explore one of the mother varieties at State Street Fruit Store in a return to Cabernet Franc as California challenges Loire on our palettes.