July 2, 2026: Statewide freedoms

July 2, 2026: Statewide freedoms

We conclude our trio of 250th focused Power of History talks with Clark University Professor Ousmane Power-Greene [https://www.clarku.edu/faculty/profiles/ousmane-power-greene/] by looking at the years just after our official separation from England, our baby steps as a nation seeking to establish federal criteria, and the circumstances that led to Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman’s court case that would officially end slavery in the Bay State.  On our nation’s birthday this weekend, you have an opportunity to expand your perspective to encompass the whole state. In Common [https://www.wgbh.org/shows/in-common] is a new program that seeks to connect the stories of all 351 towns and cities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and we talk with host Jeremy Siegel about the series, the surprising facts he’s learned about our corner of New England, and the pilot episode that you can hear this weekend.  And Congressman Jim McGovern [https://mcgovern.house.gov] is managing to survive summer in the DMV in this heatwave, a feat in and of itself, while simultaneously giving us his takes on recent SCOTUS decisions, his worries about possible executive branch intervention in the upcoming midterms, his thoughts on the nation’s birthday this weekend and more.

July 1, 2026: Berries, Cinemas, Schwa

In Williamstown, Images Cinema [https://www.imagescinema.org/] is about to emerge from a year of construction chrysalis with double the theaters and a wealth of other improvements. We head to the northern Berkshires to see the changes first hand and get a tour of the details from a member of their board who helped to design the upgrade, Matt Brogan, better known as the cider maker of Berkshire Cider Project. [https://www.berkshire-cider.com/]  Now that July is firmly upon us, the berries are all out, and at one of the biggest farms in the 4 counties, they’re cultivating better plants for the climate changes to come. Nourse Farms [https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.noursefarms.com/%3Fsrsltid%3DAfmBOooMNeio_wBMOTpFMJfRxoLAspEYMu4_diYW4zxZNIMlmbjyCIFe&ved=2ahUKEwikv5HHurKVAxU_F1kFHV88BBMQFnoECB4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0Rc2m96rAqOuI595Vpwi4Q] in Whately provides strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry plants for farms all over the country, and fresh fruit for us lucky residents of western Mass, and we get a tour of their massive facilities and a taste of their bounty with CEO John Place, and Chief Administrative Officer Rachael Monette. Plus Word Nerd Emily Brewster, Senior Editor at Merriam Webster, walks us through one of the trickier practies of the English Language, where the soft sounds lay in schwas, and how they pop up in words we use regularly.

June 30, 2026: Re-Wrapped

We eke out a Mayor of the Month for June with Jennifer Macksey of North Adams, amidst the chaos of Solid Sound. We hear how this year is going, the effect that the festival has on the businesses and more in their downtown area, and some of the ways the city might see traffic change in the years ahead Mount Holyoke College maintained a robust summer stock theater program for decades. After a 25yr dormancy, the program returns to the South Hadley campus to perform two fun family friendly mysteries. We speak with program revitalizer and director of the first production; Noah Ilya-Alexis Tuleja, an alum of the program himself, about bringing a more realistic theater experience back to campus.  And a last pride story for June as we head to the hilltowns to discover a brand new school tailored for the experiences and needs of LGBTQIA2S+ youth. The J.S. Bryant School is a year round theraputic high school nestled in Cummington, and we speak with founder and school head Allison Druin about their methodology, and challenges

BONUS EPISODE: The Loft's Mark Greenberg at Solid Sound 2026

Mark Greenberg is the studio manager and part of the production team at The Loft, Wilco’s Chicago recording studio and HQ. He composes and produces music for film, television, and video games through his own studio, the Mayfair Recordings Workshop.  A long-time contributor and advocate of art and music in Chicago, Mark was the assistant talent booker at Lounge Ax, headed the team that built the physical aspects of Art Chicago at Navy Pier, was a founding member of the Coctails, and continues to play and record with Eleventh Dream Day among others.  He's also one of our favorite people to hang out with every other year, so before Wilco's Saturday concert of originals at this year's Solid Sound Festival, Monte had a chance to sit with him and hear how the music is going.

June 29, 2026: Merchant of God's Canyon

In a brand new collection from Restless Books [https://restlessbooks.org], it’s made apparent that we as a country have been trying to figure out our relationship with the divine for centuries. A Nation Wrestles with God: American Prophets, Philosophers and Firebrands [https://restlessbooks.org/bookstore/a-nation-wrestles-with-god] is a collection of writings from before this was a western recognized nation to to present day and we speak with editor Ilan Stavans [https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/istavans] and contributor Reza Aslan [https://www.rezaaslan.com/] about the ways the untied states have engaged with and without religion.  This past weekend one of the most lauded guests at Wilco’s every other year festival was a surprise to Solid Sound attendees. Natalie Merchant [https://www.nataliemerchant.com/] was all over the festival, performing pop-ups, and comedy, and sitting in on sets over all three days. We chatted with her about her history with the project, and her musical education work including her project with the Chicago Symphony: Mother Goose & the Cabinet of Wonder. [https://cabinetofwonder.org/]   And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios' [http://kainaatstudios.com]Salman Hameed, is fresh off a trip to the southwest and returns to relate how our approach to the Grand Canyon gives a lot of insight to the ways people lay claim to the Moon.