The Fabulous 413

Today, we're trying to fix that which is broken.

How we as a nation care for those less fortunate is broken, but not in the way the rhetoric often puts forward. Cuts to SNAP, to housing assistance, to services that people rely on have very real consequences. For the commonwealth, there is a significant delay in getting people access to these services through the Department of Transitional Assistance. We head to Gardening the Community which is now at the center of a very physical call to action made by the farm’s director Liz O’Gilvie, and DTA Supervisor (also president of SEIU local 509) Antoinette Hughes to hear about what’s currently happening with the Baystate and DTA. 

Academia is also broken, and some of that proof is that the 5 college consortium at the end of this year will return to being a 4 college one. But an intrepid and eager collection of alums, students, parents, faculty, and folx that have a connection to Hampshire college have gathered to try to preserve some of of the campus in the name of its mission. We head to Amherst to speak with Joan Wattman, Ann Hackler, and Bera Dunau about the efforts of Hampshire Next and how the organization seeks to keep that curious academic experiment going. 

And our weekly chat with Jim McGovern sees the congressman returned from holiday on the Cape to talk about our many exploits in Iran, how ageism influences congress, more efforts to Save SNAP, the blatant exploitation of the judicial branch, and questions from listeners like you. 

We resume our efforts to explore local legislation with our Mayor of the Month for August, William C. Reichelt of West Springfield. With the Big E looming, we get to ask about the fair’s involvement with the greater city, the plethora of current, ongoing and upcoming construction projects the city is taking on, his take on the congressional primaries, and more. Plus we’ll hear how this recent election process shifted his perspective on some of the municipalities needs and plans. 

We’ll then head to Northampton where a batch of budding creators will open their new show this Friday as part of Arts Night Out. The Emerging Artist series is an ongoing endeavor of 33 Hawley to encourage and highlight newcomers to the local art scene, and we’ll meet the curator and a few of the participating artists to hear how their perspective is shifting on their own personal relationships with the work they make. 

And summertime funtime word nerd, Jazz a la mode host and Merriam-Webster editor at large Peter Sokolowski shows us a fun way to explore the dictionary through time by shifting to chronological order. 

Diemand Farm in Wendell is way bigger than it looks, with it's 3rd and 4th generations currently stewarding the land they’ve farmed for 90 years. The farm has grown and shifted a lot in the intervening decades, bringing innovations, new diversity to the birds they’re raising, a whole farmstand and more. Annie Diemand Bucci and Tessa White Diemand, the mother-daughter pair currently helming their massive operation, show us some of the ins and outs of western mass poultry farming, and ways that local philanthropy and government agencies have helped them to get to where they are today. 

Then we dance, because if we can’t dance in your revolution, we don’t want none, which seems to also be a prevailing principle behind the band Bhangra Liberation Orchestra. Featuring sound rooted in the genres of bhangra, qawwali, afrobeat, and jazz, we speak with 2 of the members of the ensemble, Miwi La Lupa and Sonny Singh, about the get downs they’ll encourage onstage at the Iron Horse this Sunday August 16th.

In Easthampton, the Chickadee Karaoke Rooms have just opened. Rooted in the experiences of owners James Crawford and Ashley Anglin as they finished graduate work in Hawaii, the space is seeking to get the community to come together without the pressures that sometimes come from singing in, or at, an unfamiliar crowd.  We get a tour of the beautiful new space and sing along with "May" Crawford, as we hear about getting folx on mic and more comfortable with their own voices. 

Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and consortium astronomer Salman Hameed, mentions how you can do a bit of astronomy yourself this week, and further explores the heavens with a talk on Betelgeuse, the super nova it will become, and its unique circumstances concerning companion and neutron stars. 

And Professor Ousmane Power-Greene got into a supreme court dissent! We speak about his work that is referenced, its connections to Liberia, Lincoln, and the current plight of birthright citizenship for another Power of History segment that brings a fine toothed comb to go over the details and impact of the 14th amendment.  

We are learning to process better, for everyone’s sakes. 

The Adams Theater has had a bustling summer full of interesting productions and with more on the way. We speak with artistic director Yina Moore about the many shows finding a home in their end of the northern Berkshires, their collaborations with Williams College, and get a heads up on the innovative multigenerational shows happening this very weekend: Lost Place on Saturday, August 8th, and The Light House on Sunday, August 9th. 

In Wilbraham, an important resource for our human journey has helped families navigate their grief for almost twenty years. Rick’s Place provides free resources to those facing the repercussions of loss intergenerationally in western mass and we’ll speak with some of the folx who know their work intimately and hear about their upcoming Golf Tournament Fundraiser, where you can help them to continue providing this important programming. 

And for Live Music Friday, Kimaya Diggs is on the verge of releasing a new album in addition to performing at the Emily Dickinson Museum today. We’ll hear songs new and old and learn how this new album and her songwriting have been shaped by her own grief and resilience. 

On Saturday August 8th in Northampton at the A.P.E. Gallery, the stories of several continents and generations will culminate in the performance of one woman. Muriel "Monik"Johnson has been telling tales from far, wide, and right here for decades, and using them as a base for her careers in education and art. We speak with the modern day griot about her one night only show "Fredella Mae's Daughter is a Storyteller", and the tales of her life and beyond that provide inspiration. 

Two local music venues are collaborating to support each other and the local scene with a fundraiser this September. Miles for Music will have music lovers walking and running from The Drake in Amherst to the Iron Horse in Northampton to raise funds and awareness for both non-profit ventures. We’ll speak with the ex. directors of each, Claudia Pazmany and Chris Freeman respectively, about this collective effort. 

And congressman Jim McGovern may be tired of rehashing the issues of our ongoing war in Iran and the benefits being cut from the latest proposed Farm Bill, but we’ll hear how a 40M agricultural reimbursement, this latest wave of primary results and more are keeping him going during congress’ break.

In Greenfield, a parcel of land belonging to the city is being stewarded by new farmers who’re actively building access into the way they tender the land. Just Roots is located on what used to be the town’s “Poor farm” but now is 61 acres of community garden, produce and fruit, and companion land for their agricultural endeavors and others as well. We speak with farm manager Meryl La Tronica, Greenfield Farmer's Market managerTaylor Lopatofsky, and CISA's Clarissa Adan about the important place the farm plays in Franklin County.

Just south on rt 9 in Florence, a bookstore is feeding the literary dreams of littles all across western Mass. High Five Books might have blossomed just before the pandemic, but it’s fostered a love of reading and an incredible network of authors and illustrators in the intervening years. We sit with owner Lexi Wright to hear about the store’s journey, a journey you can make of your own for the Pioneer Valley Book Crawl, and the recent honor she’s received from the Commonwealth. 

Plus interim word nerd and Jazz a la mode host Peter Sokolowski duplicates our understanding with a look at the unique ways English deals with pluralization. 

We’re on the grounds of The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home for the event that really marks the middle of summer for the area. 

It’s Tanglewood on Parade today, where the many musicians on campus along with performers of all disciplines from all over the Berkshires and beyond for a celebration of music, community, and more. 

We’ll meet some of those performers and presenters including Chris Newell, founding director of UConn’s Native American Cultural Program and co-founder and director of education for the Akomawt Educational Initiative, Angela Palmer, President of Festival Latino of the Berkshires, Fiddler and educator Ida Mae Specker and her legendary dad John Specker, plus Joanne Nelson of Lee Junior and Senior High schools, who’ll lead her school as well as young musicians from Pittsfield High School and Hoosac Valley High in the actual parade. 

Tanglewood’s own Mark Rulison, Artistic Administrator for the Learning Institute and Humanities, and Amy Aldrich, Senior Director of Patron Experience, join us to explore the many festivities happening today on the campus showing how this event connects Tanglewood to the greater southern Berkshires community. 

Plus we’ll learn from all of them about the ongoing We the People project curated by Yo Yo Ma that was a major factor in how this year’s parade came together.

Tonight and tomorrow you have a chance to hear about one of America’s most important cultural icons of the 20th century, from the author who’s written an incredibly nuanced tome on the figure’s bright but brief life. 

Water, Mirror, Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America examines the man from birth to death and the many cultural contexts that lead to his acting career and infatuation with many styles of martial arts, drawing parallels to the trajectory of post war life and culture for Asian-American communities. Author Jeff Chang joins us to talk about the insights he gleaned in the making of this work, from its inception to the lessons he learned in his previous work on hiphop that helped shape this biography. All of which he’ll bring to The Mount in Lenox for their Summer Author Series on August 3rd and 4th. 

And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios founder and proud member of the Asian community himself, Salman Hameed, is not proud of the current administration’s efforts to shift federal science funding from research institutions to specific scientists instead. We get into the details of why that’s a step backwards. 

10 bands from near and far are headed to the northern Berkshires on Aug 15th for the inaugural Williamstown Blues and Roots Festival. Organizer Gina Coleman of Misty Blues joins us for live music Friday to talk about this brand new gathering and the folx who’ll join her on stage for it, as well as where you can see her and her band perform tonight as well. 

In Northampton, a fun fundraiser will help bring new life to communities on both sides of the Atlantic. The Midwifery Exchange in Ghana is an educational collaboration sharing knowledge between birthing professionals and on Saturday, in Northampton, they’re raising money to help those learning experiences continue. We speak with one of the organization’s core members, Anastasia Hallisey, about the importance of this work, and the fun they’ll have on August 1st. 

Plus we return to the wine bunker to the birthplace of the Thunderdome deep underneath the walls of State Street Fruit Store Deli Wine and Spirits to explore a region and style we don’t think gets nearly enough love, but is perfect for summer: Alsatian Gentiles