The Fabulous 413

If you didn’t get enough beautiful bee content yesterday, Today is gonna melt your wax. Because we're going to one of only two state apiaries here in Massachusetts, nestled into the far reaches of the UMass Amherst Campus now in it's 10 year of collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR). We talk with beekeepers and researchers Kim Skrym and Jessica Glover, don protective suits and head off to see their many hives and the residents thereof and talk about the very necessary and incredibly hard work of keeping bees in the Bay State. While there, we get to taste royal jelly and fresh honey, get in-depth on the work and lifespan of Queens, drones and workers, and hear about some of the challenges facing bees in the northeast and more. Plus we'll let you know how you can visit the bees themselves at events around western mass this spring!

We are full of fiery passion, and bees Yesterday's show might have sparked your yen for equity and justice. In which case interlink books might just have the kindling for your acts of protest. "Don't Be a F#$king Marshmallow: A Beginners Guide to Revolution" is a new graphic essay from author-illustrator Jesse Mechanic about which he'll be in conversation with Leyla Moushabeck of Interlink Books this weekend at Amherst College, and we'll chat with both about how to keep starting proverbial fires But if your desire is bees, there's a festival for that. The Greenfield Bee Fest happens this weekend celebrating one of the most important pollinators, and the legacy of beekeeping connected to the city. We'll hear music from performers Mr. G (and Mrs G), as well as organizer Hannah Rechtschaffen of the Greenfield Business Association and get a taste of the festivities coming to the city formerly known as a town. And a great source to feed those bees is native plants and grasses. We head up to Conway Natives to talk with Lilian Jackman about integrating species that have called this land home longer than we have into your lawns and gardens and more.

Today is a bit of a bummer if equality is a thing that you’re into (and hopefully you are), but the recent decisions by the supreme court might have you questioning if equality is a thing that America is actually into. So we talk with Haydenville’s proverbial canary in our democracy coalmine, author and former editor at Slate Magazine, David Daley, who has now written two books outlining the possibility of what just happened with the recent Callais decision, to dig into the far reaching effects of the ruling both for right now, and beyond the current redistricting. But we have hopeful things as well. Rachel’s Table is a local organization that has made headway in local hunger for over three decades. This weekend they’re encouraging the community to come together for their Outrun Hunger 5K event in Forest Park raising funds for their many programs and services, about which we’ll chat with ex. dir Jodi Falk. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios’ Salman Hameed, takes a careful scientific comb to the many click-bait prone findings of recently released documents on UAPs, and how that sensationalism can affect later discoveries and more.

The unsavory necessities of today means that a city full of people are ostensibly also filling their bodies with food which eventually becomes… other things that fill up toilets and that we don’t want to keep in our houses. But if not there, where does that go? There’s actually several answers, but one of them sometimes affects the Connecticut River and your ability to go out on it and enjoy the things the water brings us. Andrew Fisk of American Rivers takes us on a walk along Springfield’s riverfront to explore what Combined Sewer Overflows (or CSOs) do and how they affect the nearby populations. We’ll also have Live Music Friday with the post-punk perfection of Grammerhorn Wren, whose intricate quitars and heady vocals are celebrating the release of their latest album AEOE with a show at the Marigold Theater tonight, May 8. And in that same city of Easthampton, we head just across Perfume Pond to celebrate the longer days at with the folx of Tip Top Wine Shop in a showdown of Savory white wines for this week’s thunderdome.

In Haydenville, a microfarm is bringing colorful blooms to events and homes all over the baystate by doubling down on locally grown flowers. Flora Farm began with a much wider perspective, but has been focused on making their quarter acre of blossoms key to the floral needs of Western Mass and beyond. We talk with farmer Aspen Bey about the farm’s history, some of the challenges for younger farmers, and how their own history is being continued through the flowers they grow. We’ll also head to Longmeadow to meet the many teens organizing the Future Planet Fiesta. A festival only in its second iteration, the event is gathering ecologically minded school groups of all ages and community organizations to host a fun and information filled gathering on the Town’s Common this Saturday, and we’ll hear from all of them the importance and cathartic nature of engageable action. And Congressman Jim McGovern checks in with us still riding a high from Hampshire Pride, to explore the hidden costs and repercussions of the Iran war, his encouragement for folx to continue to be civically engaged, the draining of the social security funds and much more.

We’ve got a super fun extra rare Live Music Wednesday in store with Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band before they take the stage at the Iron Horse in Northampton tonight, May 6th. They’ve been sterling examples of virtuosity in finger-picking , slide guitar, and washboard across their many albums and singles, and we’ll get a taste of their award nominated sound and heritage holding instruments right here in our studios with a few tracks from their latest LP, Honeysuckle. We’ll also head to Worthington where William Shakespeare and Tom Stoddard are meeting over a Danish kingdom. The Little Garden Theater is performing both Hamlet and the Hamlet-inspired Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead this weekend May 8-10th, intrepidly weaving together both stories and their respective casts in innovative ways. We speak with their production’s Danish prince themself Ace Tayloe, and hear about the largess of joining these two stories in the hilltowns. Plus Word Nerd Emily Brewster, Senior Editor at Merriam-Webster invites us to slide out chairs up to the table and dig into a listener question about the origins of words used to describe meals of the day, from breakfast, to supper, and beyond.

Today is all connected to the Berkshires In a new novel from Longmeadow native Vincent Yu, a small town and the base of the westerly mountains is rocked by a sudden alert about their imminent demise. What follows is the subject of the novel Seek Immediate Shelter, which highlights several Asian-American citizens of the fictional town of "Beckitt" and their connections to this mistake. We speak with the author about the novel, with its many twists, turns, and local easter eggs, before you can meet him in person at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley on Wednesday night, May 6th. We’ll also head to the very real city of Pittsfield to chat with our next Mayor of the Month: Peter Marchetti. Hot off the heels of a meeting with the many other mayors of the baystate we get to learn from him about Pittsfield’s housing issues and economic drive. Plus we’ll hear about his volunteer work with Berkshire Pride, and learn how the recently launched 413 link bus service is starting to make a difference for the folx of his city, and much much more.

Red Shirt Farm is a prodigal agricultural endeavor, but is innovating with vigor. Not only are they using green methods to heat their greenhouses, but a brand new farmstore is helping them to provide fresh produce and local products to folx in the northern and central berkshires. We speak with Farmers Jim and Sarah with Berkshire Agricultural Venture’s Dan Carr about the story of the farm and more. We’ll also have live music Monday from Max Wareham. The storied banjo player and historian has a brand new album due out in June. He takes stage at the Parlor Room this Friday, May 8th, and we’ll hear how recording this album by himself in the most bluegrass-y of locations has shifted his perspective on the music he makes. And it’s Star Wars Day, and even though Mr. Universe, Kainaat studios’ Salman Hameed is more of a Star Trek Person, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate by talking about super massive black holes, binary star systems, and other things that pop up in the galaxy far far away.

It’s free comic book day! Started 24 years ago, shops and libraries around the country have given away millions of issues in the ensuing years. We chat with Xtian Reader of Comics ‘N More in Easthampton about how they’re celebrating this year, and the community connections this day brings The Adams Theater will showcase the work of artists who are looking at grief and connection through the lens of Dance. Boca Tuya has been in residence honing a massive work called Yahaira Yahaira, and we’ll speak with founder Omar Román de Jesús company manager Rachel Secrest and Theater Director Yina Moore about the importance of being given space and more. And on Sunday, folx will gather to celebrate the memory and work of a beloved member of the community lost over the winter. Nat Graves was a conduit for creation, and we’ll talk with Kat Adler about the memorial Absence Presence that honors them at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls.

Today is a garden sandwich with musical bread. Next door to us at the Hope Center for the Arts, a heartland grown sound that’s been honed for 40+ years takes the stage in Springfield. The BoDeans formed in Wisconsin but have brought their take on roots music into the 21st century and we’ll speak with founder Kurt Neumann about his time in the music industry and more before you can see their show Sunday, May 3rd. Polyglot Emily Wells is known for her inventive and evocative take with the music that she makes. One of the most interesting of which is shifting some of the more electronic all in one approach to more acoustic bodies and instruments arrangements. She joins us alongside her string quartet of friends for Live Music Friday as her Antenna Cloud Farm residency concludes with a concert at The Shea Theater on May 2nd. And on the eastern edge of Springfield, the 16 Acres Garden Center has been bringing color to the yards and landscape of the area for almost 65 years. We take a tour of what spring is bringing to their facilities and learn about early pitfalls new gardeners can avoid.

Amherst Media takes the tools of tv, video, and podcasting and puts them in the hands of a public eager to create their own content for themselves, the folx of the town, and beyond. We take a tour of the oldest continuously operating public access station in the nation, and learn how you can both celebrate and support them this weekend at their gala from executive director Rachael Figurasmith, board president Jennifer Shiao, and board member Andrew Hart. Then we head to Becket where Jacob’s Pillow’s inaugural spring season brings an examination of sound, body, and connection through intercontinental pathways. Rowdies in Love returns to Jacob’s Pillow this weekend, having honed the vision birthed from Hari Krishnan and his company inDance at the Pillow Lab. We’ll speak with the choreographer and dancers Spenser Stroud and Eury German about the many manners of affection that manifest in the work as Indian Classical dance meets modern body movements. And congressman Jim McGovern addresses the press correspondent’s dinner events, Hegseth’s defense of our actions in Iran, his attempts to fight for the steadily eviscerated Farm Bill, SCOTUS’ demolishing of the Voting Rights Act and more.

Today on the Fab 413, we immerse ourselves in an exhibit that seeks to make sure everyone has access to art with temporal freedom in that connection. Don’t mind if I do is a collaborative experiment demonstrating how temporary changes in power structures create pathways of access for visitors, artists, and staff. Anchored by a conveyor belt that brings artworks to visitors who are invited to sit around comfortable furniture and engage with it directly. We’ll head to Smith College Museum of Art, where this work is currently on display, to engage with it in person alongside curator Emma Chubb, and learn how the public of western mass has been interacting with it, and what the museum has done to make it western Mass. specific. We’ll also get to speak with the Artist behind the whole work Finnegan Shannon, and the original and traveling curator of the piece Lauren Leving to hear about it’s origins, and some of the hidden nuances that have really resonated with folx in it’s travels around the country. After which we’ll tap senior editor at Merriam Webster word nerd Emily Brewster to get into the very weird way we talk about the vegetation we eat.

We now turn our attention to another film that is locally grounded. Watching Mr. Pearson is a beautiful look at fame, legacy, memory and care through an aging actor and his two caretakers, and we speak with the core of the movie’s production teams Samantha Valletta and Dillon Bentlage about the process of completing this work before you can see it for yourself at Garden Cinemas in Greenfield this Wednesday. April 29th at the Hope Center for the Arts will be filled with an ongoing legacy of vocal prowess. Madeline Peyroux joins us before she takes that stage tomorrow to talk about the political arc of her recent albums, the joys of collaboration, and the winding road her sound has taken to get to this point. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and former Hampshire College astronomer Salman Hameed, talks about that loss in particular and how it resonates on a larger scale against a backdrop of recent and ongoing federal cuts to science agencies, even in the wake of the successful Artemis mission.

Today on the Fabulous 413, we head to the homestead of one of the area’s most famous and prolific writers to celebrate National Poetry Month with the written word past and present, because when your body of work is 1800 strong, there’s plenty to read and connect with. We’re broadcasting from the Emily Dickinson Museum in the Evergreens with Jane Wald (Executive Director) and Brooke Steinhauser (Senior Director of Programs). We’ll hear some of Dickenson’s work and learn more about some of the museum’s upcoming programs in person and virtual, and learn about the updates and restoration happening in the Main building that will bring us closer to the times Emily was living in. Then we turn to the poets of now as we’re joined by two local writers: Nathan McClain and Rebecca Hart Oleander. We’ll hear poems from each of them, learn more about the writing and editing process from their extensive careers, and process the academic tie that connects them: Hampshire College.

We’ve been a little remiss with our prose, because it’s National Poetry month and we have not really leaned into that So today we fix it because we’re chatting with folx from The Massachusetts Review. Founded by professors from area colleges, the magazine has become one of the most prestigious in the nation, having featured the work of Pulitzer and Nobel winners, and remains on the forefront of writing that confronts important issues facing us all. We speak with executive editor Britt Rusert, and managing editor Edward Clifford about the latest issue, and more. Springfield’s own Parris joins us for Live Music Friday. The multi-hyphenate performer is preparing for the release of her latest EP “2002”, but joins us as she also readies to put those songs on stage next week for the Community Music School of Springfield’s Spring Gala on May 1st. And the Wine Thunderdome returns to the location of its origin at State Street Fruit Store, Deli, Wine & Spirits, to explore new world takes on old world styles as California takes a hard look at France and tries to recreate it in bottle.

We get our flags ready for one of the area’s longest running traditions. Hampshire Pride hits the streets of Northampton and beyond on Saturday, May 2nd, one of the first of the calendar year in the nation. This year, the organization which was revived after the pandemic has an even larger celebration planned for the LGBTQIA2S+ community and its allies. We speak with Clay Pearson, Jay Kehoe, and Colleen Jordan about the considerations and spectacles that will make up this year’s event. This Sunday, you can learn more about one of music’s more notorious figures through an afternoon of local luminaries, and a beverage or two. Opera on Tap Boston makes a stop at the Iron Horse to perform its program on Mozart, complete with pianist, a set of renowned western Mass. based opera singers, and a potentially tipsy historian to take you through some of Mozart’s less shining moments and notorious rumors. Mezzo-Soprano Caitlin Felsman walks us through some of the experiences they’ll bring to life in Northampton on April 26th. And our weekly chat with Jim McGovern sees the congressman in a whirlwind of activity and upset regarding the continuing war in Iran, issues that beleaguer the upcoming midterms, and his own disappointment with his party in regards to some bills that will soon be voted upon that have very real impact on the whole nation.

We’re looking for answers about sustainability because it’s earth Day today. So in the most literal sense we’ll chat with organizers behind the Amherst Sustainability Festival taking place this Saturday, April 25th. Bringing together demonstrations, over 50 vendors of a wide variety of disciplines, workshops, bands and entertainment on the Amherst common so we all might make shifts for a better tomorrow. Stephanie Ciccarello, Amherst’s director of Sustainability, chats with us about this free event and how her department strives to shift the practices of the town. For the more esoteric, we’ll look at the sustainability of profession in times of uncertainty. Reporter Melissa Sances has just released a fascinating report on the entropy of the Strathmore Paper Mill in Turners Falls that brings to question not just our ongoing issues regarding industry of old, but of the place and drive of those pursuing these truths in a time where revelations of this sort can be incredibly polarizing. And word nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, explores the sustainability of one word’s direct object usage as we look at the place, time and frequency with which we use the word “whom”.

The 4 counties are rife with film creators. The fifth Easthampton Film Festival takes place this weekend bringing a whole host of new and established movie makers together to screen their work, deepen their craft, and engage with the public! We speak with founder Chris Ferry, programming chair Lena Vani, and filmmakers of the short film "Thickly Settled" Brian Jones and Jordan Brooks, about the weekend’s showings and beyond. The David Ruggles Center is using it's Founder's Day celebration to explore the area’s history with worker owned co-operatives through the mission of The Northampton Association. We speak with Education Coordinator at the David Ruggles Center for History and Education Tom Goldscheider and founding member of the Ruggles Center and worker-owner at Collective Copies Steve Strimer about this history that you can learn more about through a panel discussion they'll host this Sunday, April 26th at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity in Florence. And a tale of two cafes joined in their pursuit of local produce and products. We head to Northampton to Woodstar Cafe to talk to owner Mark Krause about the connection with his first cafe, Esselon, to the bakery and beyond, the important part that local sourcing plays in their day to day operations and more.

Today on the Fabulous 413, we head back to the Berkshires to read more. The inaugural Berkshires Book Con happens Tomorrow April 18th through a super fun collaboration of local businesses and organizations. We talk with the folx making it happen at the Athenaeum, Pittsfield’s public library and hear about those partners helping to get the community more engrossed in all aspects of books with Librarians Caroline Villarreal and Tom Jorgenson, including their community read of Rules for Ghosting by local author Shelley Jay Shore. Live Music Friday brings the heartfelt lyrics, deft vocals, and inspired guitar of Liz Longley to the studios. Hot on the release of her latest album “New Life” we hear about the inspirations she draws from the many music scenes she’s been a part of and the influence of motherhood on her work as she readies for a performance tonight, April 17th at the Button Ball Barn in Egremont. And at the Leverett Village Co-Op, the only store in Leverett, Massachusetts, 2nd level sommelier and Franklin county wine friend Ken Washburn helps us discover Italian red varietals that hadn’t been on his radar before until how.

Today, we head to Pittsfield where we’re using literacy to help encourage your littles to be more accepting in one of the best ways possible: with a drag show and dance party! The Berkshires chapter of the national non-profit Drag Story Hour is hosting the fundraiser EXTRAVAGANZA: Once Upon a Comeback at Wander this Saturday. We speak with organizer Poppy da Bubbly aka Casi Kristant about the importance of the work they do and how you can help, by getting down. And we’ll hear four voices from Europe’s breadbasket in song. Yagody may have started as a spontaneous collaboration, but it’s become a new take on the traditional sounds of the Ukraine, and they’ll join us in studio to share their amazing harmonies and novel takes on folk songs before you can see them yourselves in Florence on April 17th at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity. And the congressman for the 2nd district Jim McGovern is just as baffled as we are by the AI gallery being proffered of and by the current president, not to mention his other questionable actions as week one of the ceasefire sails by, but finds time to speak with us about the vitriol that befalls elected officials, and answer some listener questions as well.