We start with the creative talents of our many interwoven communities. Not a Noplace is a nomadic QTBIPOC-focused open mic series inspired by a line from Lucille Clifton poem "what the mirror said." The events are a whole body experience, holding space and spotlighting marginalized voices and artistry in our area, and we’ll speak with organizer Camille Asia about their next occasion on Dec. 6th. 

We'll also hear the dreamy bedroom pop of the globetrotting Jeanines who get to join their western Mass and Brooklyn components in our studios for Live Music Friday before you can hear them at The Drake in Amherst tonight, and celebrate their recently released album “How Long Can It Last”.

Plus as the days dwindle the time for bubbles is upon us, so we head to Provisions’ new home in Thornes Marketplace to sample sparkling wines in the Tina Turner Memorial Wine Thunderdome with Benson Hyde and Toni deLuca, and learn more about how you can sample the bubbly at their upcoming Champagne tasting.  

We’re seeing our landscapes change through art. 

In Northampton a new work looks at the way the railroad has changed the city over the past century through music, historical archives, and theater. Rhythm and Rails will be performed at the Forbes Library this Saturday and is indicative of the multimedia, multi-disciplinary work that Red Skies Music Ensemble puts together. Creative director Trudy Williams and members of the cast help us explore the ties of the Railroad to our time.

We’ll also head out to Easthampton where a building full of artists are opening their doors to show the public what arts they are doing behind them this Dec 6, 7, and 13th. The Cottage St. Studios Open Studios only happens twice a year, so we join artist-art therapist Arielle Jessop-Humpage and bookbinder Lisa Hersey, two artists who’ll be participating, for a tour of the 5 floored facility and a sample of what beautiful works you might see this and next weekend. 

Plus our weekly chat with congressman Jim McGovern recaps the 43 miles walked last week for the food bank, the possible weaponization of SNAP against blue leaning states, war crimes in Venezuela and listener questions as well. 

Today it is an incredibly overstuffed Live Music Wednesday, complete with icons and holidays and spectacle galore

Americana legend Tony Trischka joins us ahead of his show tonight at the Iron Horse in Northampton. The renaissance banjo player has performed with Bela Fleck, Peter Rowan, Darol Anger, and way too many other notables to count, not to mention the bands and ensembles he’s led or been a part of, or the newer generation of players that have grown up listening to his incredibly versatile style, and we’ll get to chat with him about his career, latest album, and the joys of creating tonight's holiday spectacular. 

Then in Franklin County, the holidays are bringing the Franklin County Community Chorus together, under the direction of much beloved music director Paul Calcari, for a beautifully eclectic Holiday Concert this Sunday, Dec. 7th. We’ll hear a selection from a number of the chorus members, and hear about the appeal of making a more timeless program that you can see at this show on Sunday. 

And Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior Editor at Merriam Webster runs ragged into a particularity of English that native speakers take for granted as we look at the ending -ed and the many ways and wheres that we pronounce it. 

We head to Sunderland where a show that has become both timeless and indicative of ours is about to get on its feet for a cause. The radio play version of the timeless holiday tale “It’s A Wonderful Life” harnesses all of the goodwill of the movie, but lets your imagination roam. The mission driven theater company Valley Players will put on their version of this work over the next two weekends, complete with onstage sound effects, raising money for our neighbors: Wayfinders. We’ll talk with president Matteo Pangallo, director Chris Rohmann, John Bidwell of Wayfinders to talk about the collaboration and get hands on demonstrations of the wicked cool atmosphere of sounds that’ll be created by foley artist Chip Roughton about putting this production together. Perfect for Giving Tuesday!

And we’ll head to Chicopee to see the evolution of a 117 year old family farm as it continues to bring fresh produce to the area in ways many don’t get a chance to see. McKinstry Farms and Market Garden may no longer be on its eponymous street, but the current generation has recently bloomed into a new market, a new greenhouse, a snack shack and ice cream and more. We’ll get a tour of the new facilities and talk with Nicole, Will, and Warren McKinstry about moving this family operation into the future. 

We’re walking again, but this time at the end there’s a hot beverage and more awareness about issues and programs concerning domestic abuse in our area. This Sunday the 22nd Hot Chocolate Run for Safe Passage happens bringing literal thousands of folx to downtown Northampton to walk or run for their cause. We speak with executive director Marianne Winters and development director Natalie Ulrich  about the scope of the organization, the goal for this years event, and how you can help them reach it.  

We’ll also hear how the federal cuts earlier this year brought folx together to create a whole new organization hoping to strengthen the ties and infrastructure of the area’s foodways. Resilient Valley is starting an ambitious campaign tomorrow on Giving Tuesday, and we’ll talk with members of their team about how land trusts, food banks, community health advocates  and others are combining their powers to build an even better network. 

And Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed sits us down for a heart to heart about the facts of life and where planets come from, or at least how planetary discs help planets get born. 

Note: We mention the incorrect website for Safe Passage within this show, it is correctly linked within these show notes. 

It’s day 3 of the March for the food Bank. 

But you, say, wasn’t it just the past two days? Isn’t that enough marching? The thing about it is that the march has never ventured west into the last county that the Food Bank supports…. UNTIL NOW. 

We’ll share how the very first Berkshires Mini march sounded from its start at Hot Plate Brewing to 3 locations all helping the nearly 30% of Pittsfield residents that are food insecure: The Dream Center, Mercado de Vida, and the Pittsfield Community Food Pantry, each with very different ways that they serve the people of the west-most part of the state. We’ll hear stories of the folx they see day in and day out, how the Food Bank aids their daily work, and more. 

Then we’ll hear from the Governor, who joined Monte for a second time on the march for the food bank. Maura Healey talks about the difficulties states are facing in light of the recent SNAP pauses and more and how hunger fits into the well-being of the state and its citizens, and how it affects some of the other issues currently on her docket. 

Plus we’ll hear yesterday’s totals from the March to End Hunger's end in Greenfield and tell you two places where you don’t have to walk to support the Food Bank with two musically driven events in Northampton happening tonight and Friday. 

Today we hear the conclusion of walking for 3 days across 4 counties and 46 miles to raise awareness of hunger and food insecurity in western Mass as the 16th March for the Food Bank is in the midst of its longest leg, 26 miles from Hampshire into Franklin County. 

We’ll hear from many of the folx walking along the way including Food Bank Ex. Director Andrew Morehouse, State Reps Homar Gomez, Lindsay Sabadosa, and Mindy Domb, State Senator Jo Comerford, DA David Sullivan, hear about the agricultural side of this issue from CISA’s Ex Dir Jennifer Core and Farmer Ben Clark, while visiting more of the almost 200 food pantries and meal sites that the Food Bank of Western Mass supports day in and out including the Amherst Survival center and the unlikely hub of food insecurity that is UMass. 

Plus a check in with the man dressed as Fred Rogers himself, Monte Belmonte as he and others push two empty shopping carts north to Greenfield.

Today on the fabulous 413, the 16th March for The Food Bank of Western Mass. begins, and we follow the journeys of Monte Belmonte, and those who seek to help our community members facing hunger and food insecurity. 

We’ll take on two counties today, walking from Springfield, through Chicopee, Holyoke, Easthampton, and finally Northampton to raise awareness and hear stories; not just about those trying to make sure our neighbors are fed, but about what repercussions the recent issues concerning snap have inflicted on folx in our area.

We’ll hear from US Reps Jim McGovern and Richie Neal, Ex. Director Andrew Morehouse, State Reps Pat Duffy and Shirley B. Arriaga, State Senator Jake Oliveira, mayors and marchers and more in addition to meeting folx in some of the food banks that count themselves among the 199 that the food bank supports across the 4 counties, as they push two empty shopping carts 17 miles north to raise awareness about the ongoing fight against hunger. And of course, as check in with the man dressed as Ernie from Sesame St himself.

NEPM’s Hunger Awareness week gets an endcap, with a tasty music sandwich, where the filling is birds. 

It starts at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, where the watercolor paintings of Robin Crofut-Brittingham’s new book, The Illuminated Book of Birds are currently on display through the end of the month. We speak with the author/artist about her work and her event at the exhibit on Nov. 29th

Then we head to Holyoke to meet with the most beloved octegenarian chorus in the world. The Young at Heart Chorus is performing a concert this Sunday, Nov. 23 at the Academy of Music comprised entirely of protest songs of many flavors. We speak with co-musical director Bob Cilman and several of the performers about the ongoing need for songs that question the state of the world, and the ones that'll show up in their "10 Alarm Fire: We Won't Shut Up" program.  

And for Live Music Friday, LuxDeluxe are making their post Thanksgiving show at the Iron Horse in Northampton a tradition, but this year are turning the concert into a benefit for the Food Bank of Western Mass. We’ll get a taste of the good times to be had with them on November 28th. 

NEPM’s Hunger Awareness week continues, and today our weekly conversation with Congressman Jim McGovern dials in on food insecurity. 

McGovern is one of the strongest anti-hunger advocates in Congress and today we’ll hear how fighting hunger used to be a bipartisan issue. And why and when that changed. We’ll separate fact from fiction when it comes to some of the narratives surrounding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. And hear about his involvement in the 16th annual March for The Food Bank.

While times may be tough and getting tougher for those who are hungry in this country, the US is a great place to be ultra-wealthy. Chuck Collins, the former heir to the Oscar Meyer fortune, has a new book called Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet. We’ll talk to the author about how billionaires may be impacting your everyday life more than you know. Chuck will be at the Odyssey in South Hadley tonight. 

And speaking of bookshops, dozens of them will descend on Northampton this weekend at the Northampton Antiquarian Book, Ephemera, and Book Arts Fair. We’ll talk rare editions, book bindings, and how this book fair is helping a local library with the book fair founder Mark Brumberg.