The Fabulous 413

NYT Bestselling author/illustrator/animator Mo Willems shows us around his latest series of sketches, visit one of the largest livestock farms in western Mass at Great Falls Aquaculture, and Congressman Jim McGovern addresses the latest wave of student activism and the health care issues arising in Arizona.

We hear about the "this Light of Mine" event for the Childrens Advocacy Center of Hampshire County, discover a new book about the boy from Longmeadow who would become Johnny Appleseed with local author Melissa Cybulski, discuss developments with Merriam-Webster and the idiom "Begs the question" with word nerd Emily Brewster, and revisit our trip to the path of totality with all of it's adventurous...

It’s National Poetry Month! And what better way to celebrate than at the home of the area’s most famous, and possibly most prolific, poets! So we get a quick tour of the Emily Dickenson Museum . Located right on Main street in Amherst, the institution has just re-opened the Evergreens building to the public . We chat with Executive Director Jane Weld and Senior Programs Director Brooke Steinhauser...

One would think that in a week were we had an unseasonably large nor’easter and an earthquake that we might be a little wary of finishing the time with a total solar eclipse. But it is also the last time this phenomena will be in New England until 2079 so there’s also little else we are thinking of, portents and precidents aside. So Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, clues us into so...

We check in with the folx of the Cancer Connection at their Bed-In, drink superhero wines with the folx at Tip Top Wine Shop in Easthampton, and have a double Live Music Friday with locals Stompbox Trio, and Lady Moon & the Eclipse

We delve into the virtual worlds designed for this weekend's Power of Truths Festival with designer Khalif Neville, hear about pushing the boundaries of chamber music with the folx behind the Connections Concert at Bombyx this Sunday, And McGovern ponders what to do about Israel after the tragedy with World Central Kitchen

Caroline Rose joins us for a check-in before the second night of their residency, Diane and Robert Rollins tell us of the long road to bringing produce and poultry to the region at D & R Farms, Dave Hayes updates us on the slightly unseasonable sky-goings-on, and Word Nerd Emily Brewster sets time markers on our vocabulary with Retronyms.

We speak with State Senator Jake Olivera about some of the many issues on his agenda and his love of NPR, and we hear about the amalgam of art, history, and education that will make up the third Power of Truths Festival.

We hear about the $2M gift received by CATA, explore laughter in the 413 with the folx from Happier Valley Comedy, and Mr. Universe tells us about a western Massachusetts tie to eclipses though Emily Dickenson.

The weekend is a great time to explore. So we’ll encourage you to experience the full gender spectrum and support those on their gender journeys with the Resource and Arts Fair presented by Translate Gender on Sunday, March 31st. It’s not just celebration of the Transgender Day of Visibility , but a way to bring communities together for some of the gender affirming needs they may not have access t...

Word Nerd Emily Brewster doubles down into the history of the word "ditto", the MIFA Victory Players combine the music of Amy Beach and the poetry of Emily Dickenson in a program that will air on NEPM Classical this weekend, we learn about the first woman to play professional baseball with author Martha Ackmann, and Congressman Jim McGovern bemoans our inability to truly hear each other and have d...

It’s a triumphant return of the arts. Not that they ever left per se, but we are packing a bunch into this show. And honestly that return wasn’t certain in some cases. The strike of the UAW at Mass MoCA as events and festivals planned at that institution loomed ever larger on our calendars had everyone wondering what the future might hold for the museum. But as we check in with NEPM Reporter Jill...

There’s a lot in our pasts in which we are seeing merit. For instance the Szymonik family who stepped away from their past lives in the early stages of the pandemic to seek something a little more connected to the land. And where they landed is Granby on the grounds of Deere Creek Farm . We speak with Naomi Szymonik about the intense diversity at the farm, from livestock, to flower CSAs, to event...

We’ll hear from the Massachusetts Farm to School panel with Irene Shiang Li, food justice advocate and co-founder of Mei Mei Dumplings in Boston; Shavel’le Olivier, the executive director of Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition ; and Easthampton’s Ollie Perrault, a seventeen year old climate activist, farmer, director of Youth Climate Action Now , and founding member of Maura Healey's advisory Yout...

We are joined by the resident Swiftie and director of science at the Springfield Museums , Jenny Powers, to talk about the new planetarium show to feature “1989 -Taylor’s Version” every Saturday afternoon from Mar. 23 to May 18. For this week's Thunderdome, we join Michael Quinlin at Table and Vine to taste the “sun, stone, sea, and wind” of the Mediterranean. We choose which bottle best captures...

The Fair Housing and Civil Rights Conference brings together people who share a commitment to protecting and furthering the rights of all Americans, both regionally and nationwide. We invite conference hosts John Fisher, fair housing coordinator for Way Finders , and Shaundell Diaz, entry coordinator for Three County Continuum of Care , to tell us more about the conference and how folx can come to...

All the world’s a stage. Or at least a select part of Montague Massachusetts is a stage. At least for the next 3 weeks. The first ever Montague Shakespeare Festival descends upon The Shea Theater and working with the famous Royal Shakespeare Company, this is such stuff that dreams are made on for fans of The Bard. We’ll hear all about the method to the madness of The Montague Shakespeare Festival...

It’s more than just legacy that we discover by looking at the past. Sometimes, we see a way forwards. What started as an orchard in 188, evolved into a retail market in 1962, and has continued to expand into what we now know as Atkins Farms Country Market . Although the original orchard is no longer attached to the retail store, the location is still dedicated to providing local produce and prepar...

Sometimes it feels like we’re making our own adages about things being lost and found. In the instance of Mr. Universe, Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, it’s with the ongoing question of extraterrestrials and whether they’ve visited us or not. The Department of Defense has recently released a paper on this subject with perhaps disappointing results depending on which side of this coin one finds...

We get another glimps of the Back Porch Festival with Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem who'll perform twice in the event's run, check out the new tanglewood season with conductor of the Boston Pops Keith Lockhart, and make the wine thunderdome into a battle of north vs. south with white burgundies at State Street Deli, WIne & Spirits.

We hear about Emily Dickenson's Irish connection with Rosemary Caine and folx connected with her work "Margaret Maher and the Celtification of Emily DIckenson", talk tree gold with the MAssachusetts Maple association president Keith Bardwell in Whately, check in with congressman Jim McGovern about Capitol Hill and the recent "visitors" to his office, and eat pie, because it's Pi Day.

We learn how to play the bagpipes (sorta!) with Tina Harkness and Rick Rabe of the Springfield Kiltie Band, sit with Hector Flores and Denise Carlos of Las Cafeteras who are headed to Northampton for the Back Porch Festival, and learn the proper places to put prepositions with our resident wordster, Emily Brewster of Merriam Webster

It’s inevitable that new paths be forged. We see it in the 71 year tradition that has become the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It’s grown from a one day celebration of the Irish community, to a two day extravaganza recognized by the Library of Congress. Committee president Hayley Dunn joins us to talk about the evolution of the parade, and her role within it, as they gear up for the culminatio...

Sometimes things we don’t expect come together. Like entirely new artistic direction. Musician Caroline Rose is preparing for a 2 night residency at Bombyx in Florence, expanding her latest album “The Art of Forgetting” with performances backed by the Metropolis Ensemble. We explore the coincidence of losing their grandmother plus a literal and figurative breakup that caused them to explore the na...

Music, wine, and a movie sounds like a good time, right? Sometimes, you gotta take that good time on the road. We heard about Juicebox from our Franklin County Wine Friend and sommelier Ken Washburn, who mentioned it’s opening as he opened his oldest bottle for us to try. We are always down for a field trip, so we make the journey to Shelburne Falls to visit this tiny gem of a wine bar and pit its...