The Fabulous 413

We’re boldly going forward with new projects The first of those is an effort to check in on the proverbial health of the 7 cities of Western Mass with a brand new segment, Mayor of the Month.  First up is the newly appointed leader of the Massachusetts Mayors Association , Holyoke mayor Joshua Garcia . We talk about the importance of connection to community with his city's very swift evolution int...

At Holyoke Community College nestled into the Taber Art Gallery is an exhibit bringing together organizations of many aspects and local artists to imagine a western Mass of the future. River Valley Radical Futures is a multimedia examination of post capitalist society and what it would need and encompass. We speak with curator Alix Gerber and gallery director Rachel Rushing about what the people i...

We sit with a pioneer in methods of modern history. Dr. Deborah Grey White , who in addition to elucidating the nuances of intersectional history before that was a more widely used term, has been confronting the gatekeepers of history throughout her entire career. We speak with her about the importance of archives and first hand accounts before you can meet the Rutgers Professor Emerita of History...

Today is all about reparations, because repair can build things better.  Aaron Vega is only a month into his tenure as the newly minted President and CEO of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council , but his ideas to restore the area as a sought after commodity for industries of all types are already taking shape and we’ll speak with him about his vision for the organization’s future...

The dance mecca of the Berkshires, Jacob’s Pillow has just announced that it is moving to a year-round model for its programming, launching with two online classes and two performances in its recently re-opened Doris Duke Theater. We speak with executive and artistic director Pamela Tatge about this shift and the inspirational work on display this spring .  We’ll also head to Ludlow where Jane Aus...

Today is about gathering together and enjoying what the season has to give.  For the United Way of Hampshire and Franklin Counties , that means gathering on a slope and tackling the powder at Berkshire east. Ski United is a multifaceted fundraiser for all that the organization does and we’ll chat with executive Director Geoff Naunheim, committee member John Ebbets about the power of community in w...

Next Sunday, the Super Bowl pits the Patriots and Seahawks against each other. Perhaps even more important is that this year's halftime show will feature global superstar Bad Bunny. We speak with Clark University Professor Juan Pablo Rivera and NEPM News Editor Elizabeth Roman about the cultural significance of this occasion to the greater Hispanic community, and where you can delve even deeper in...

We encourage you to engage your programming chops with the Global Game Jam happening at Hampshire College . Game developers of all experience levels and ages will gather in Amherst to create games over the course of 48hrs, starting on Friday Jan. 30th, and being presented on Sunday Feb 1st. We speak with organizer Violet Henriques about the appeal of this sort of creation, and how to get involved....

We head to Northampton where this year’s annual Ice Sculpting Event is taking on a contemplative tinge with the community coming together to celebrate the life of one of the artists whose absence will be felt among the produced work. Dave Rothstein was a lover of all things winter and especially where the cold season and art intersected and we’ll chat with Park Hill Orchard's Russel Braen and othe...

Today is all about learning.  For those beginning life’s journey, we look at a local television show that’s given them a platform to challenge themselves and each other and bring the whole community together in the process. As Schools Match Wits is western Mass. grown and sustained, and has been highlighting the knowledge excellence of students in the area for 65 years. We’ll chat with executive p...

Today amidst the snow, we give you two places in where you can learn new ways to interact with art in ways you may not have before For instance, it's not often that you get a chance to hear certain Bach works on the instruments that he originally composed them for. A new recording seeks to remedy that with modern sensibilities. The Bach Dialogues joins keyboardist of many tempers Christopher O'Ril...

Today is all about preparation, because we don’t know if you heard, but rumor has it that snow is a’comin’. So we bend the ear of local weather enthusiast Dave Hayes the Weather nut, to find out what this storm might entail, how much snow we’re expecting, and other meteorological phenomena that may descend upon us over the next few days. Plus we get to show you a new way to get his updates! Live m...

Today is a bit chilly. Especially in Westfield where the community is coming together to support a local organization by jumping into incredibly cold water. The Amelia Park Children’s Museum’s Penguin Plunge happens this Saturday at Hampton Pond State Park, raising funds for the operation and growth of the facility, of which we get a tour from director Diane Chambers to see why folx are freezin’ f...

It is all about clean starts in this new year.  In the case of education, that means sources of connection that can create long-lasting change in the lives and evolution of young students. Vilenti Tulloch is a local educator who not only is CEO of Academic Leadership Association , but has recently published a book about that work titled Engage to Excel: Building Trust, Belonging, and Success in th...

It’s cold. And after a full weekend of snowfall we can’t help but think of our neighbors in the winter who are facing heat insecurity So we’ll chat with newly minted Ex. Dir of Community Action Pioneer Valley , Lev Ben Ezra, about their Eat up for Heat up fundraiser, which has a full week of local restaurants donating to the Claire Higgins Fund for Community Resilience. We hear more about who’s pa...

A full weekend indeed.  There’s a brand new theater company bringing a much lauded play to Easthampton for their first production ever. Heartbeat Theater will perform the nuanced exploration of family, insight, and mental illness to the stage of CitySpace and we’ll talk with actor Kimberly Gaughan and director Jason Rose-Langston about both performance and process. We’ll also meet the president of...

Today, we celebrate the struggles of the past and present and top it off with art, because art is why we endure.  Let’s make a sandwich of it and start with the struggle of the past, because it is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s actual birthday today, and the rights he pursued in his life loom large right now. Starting today, there’s a whole week of activities happening throughout the city to hon...

Today is about laughter, and changes in language, and how the history of each is important to us as a nation as well.  We’ve got one last best of word list for 2025 to address before we can fully commit ourselves to 2026 with word nerd Emily Brewster, as we look at the most democratic nomination and choosings of the American Dialect Society .  At Smith College, a history professor is offering a co...

We’re bringing color to the drab days of winter in New England with tulips, music, and aliens.  The history of aliens and our curiosity about their possibility is a colorful one and we’ll speak with Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, about the ties between the conjectures of the late Erich von Däniken and the Apple+ tv show: Pluribus .  The Springfield Symphony Or...

We’re back from vacation, and into more movies and books! We chat with local author and professor of creative writing at Emerson College Margot Douaihy about the brand new book in her Sister Holiday series that gets released tomorrow. Divine Ruin sees the queer almost-nun with vice and faith in equal measure thrust into the throes of the fentanyl epidemic at her school, and we’ll talk about the se...

Celebrations everywhere as we careen into the last days of the year where all the holidays are all overlapping with each other.  And as such, we’ll hear about the ways you can observe and connect with community for one of the newest of the season’s holidays: Kwanzaa. This year the Kwanzaa collective is already in the midst of their many celebrations and we’ll hear about the holiday’s origins, it’s...

The holidays blaze bright as we stumble into the last days of 2025.  If holiday music is on your menu, we’ll show you how heading west can fill your ears with seasonal cheer. The Boston Pops are presenting a brass based holiday pops concert at Tanglewood, and the event is just a small part of a move for the grounds to host concerts year round. We’ll chat with principal musicians Mike Roylance, and...

We’ll start introducing you to some of the amazing performers taking stage at Northampton’s First Night Celebrations. This year over 100 musicians, actors, dancers, and more will delight folx as they ready to ring in the new year, and first on our docket is the East African centered sounds of Zikina , in  yet another live music Wednesday to lift up the middle of your week.  And although we know th...

It’s cold outside, but the cows are warm and we’ll head out to Ludlow to explore a farm that’s seen 5 generations of family stewardship. Bud Ellison of Ellison Farm was given a mission in his youth and he’s kept that and his cattle as local as possible, we’ll hear more about his process, and his farm’s ties to family and community.  We’ll also meet Ricky McKinnie of the Blind Boys of Alabama, curr...

2025 is practically in hindsight which means that everyone is making lists. But dictionaries crown a top jewel of lexicon for the year, each using a different method to select the word that reigns supreme.  We'll chat with Word Nerd Emily Brewster what her employer, Merriam-Webster, has discovered is its top word of the year.  We’ll also look forward to February when creatives and justice seekers...