Welcome to this week’s show! If you’re here for the first time, The Left Hook is a locally focused weekly live internet radio show and podcast based in Williamstown, Mass. We do our best to wade through the spin and biases and bring back the important stuff that most of us really care about. Every Wednesday, we’re going to tell you what we think about local current events and the national stories that directly affect the people of Williamstown and Berkshire County.

We also interview amazing guests. It’s been a strange week. There was a performative impeachment trial in the Senate that’s been mesmerizing the CNN and MSNBC crowd and that came to its inevitable conclusion on Saturday. Meanwhile, Biden’s promises to the American people–no more kids in cages, immediate $2000 relief checks, etc.–seem to be receding, mirage-like, into the distance. Congress is currently on vacation, and Biden is at Camp David playing video games with his grandchildren.

Here in Williamstown, we’re still hunkered down under an increasingly shabby layer of snow, but the days are getting longer. Pretty soon we’ll be scraping mud off our shoes and chasing the dog around the house with a wet towel for mopping up footprints. For an antidote to the gloom, check out this week’s pet pics at the end of the show notes.

—Jay and Steve

P.S. We want to hear from you! Participate live during the show or anytime by using the chat box on our show page, sending an email to us at [email protected], or sending us your tweets: @heylefthook. P.P.S. Please send us your pet pics! We’ll post them on our show notes every week, and if you include a caption we’ll read it live on the air. Send your pics to [email protected].

LIGHT (OR NOT)

* We’ve been obsessed this week with Radio Garden, a website (and app) that lets you search for and listen to radio stations all over the world. Want to know what the kids are listening to in Puerto Rico? Try Mundo Rock FM out of San Juan. Wondering what’s happening on St. Helena, the South Atlantic island to which Napoleon was exiled and one of the remotest inhabited places on earth? Check out Saint FM 95.4.* Parts of our country that see snow maybe once a decade have been experiencing brutal winter weather. We know we’re not supposed to mess with Texas, but maybe our listeners can offer some advice to our friends from the Lone Star State about how to drive in snow.

LOCAL

* Tammy Daniels at iBerkshires reported earlier this month that the TD Bank branch in downtown North Adams will close in April. Mayor Bernard is right to be concerned both about the employees of the North Adams branch as well as the citizens of North Adams who may not be able to travel easily to Pittsfield or Williamstown to full-service branches. When the private sector can’t be bothered to provide essential services, that’s where the government in a healthy country steps in. It may seem like a distant memory now, but Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders both support...