June 4, 2026: The giving areas

June 4, 2026: The giving areas

Sadly, a wide array of local organizations and non-profits that provide an equally wide amount of services to the people of Western Mass and beyond have lost grants and programs just like we did, and this is our chance to help them like you our listeners have helped us. 413 Gives [https://www.nepm.org/more413Gives]is a one day four county wide effort to help fill the gap made for many organizations by recissions in federal funding, because we weren’t the only ones who felt that financial cut.  We’ll talk with the leadership behind these efforts: Megan Burke of Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts [https://communityfoundation.org], Kara Mikulich and Maeve O'Dea of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation [https://berkshiretaconic.org/], and NEPM’s [https://nepm.org] own Matt Abramovich and learn more about how this collaborative effort helps us all.  And our weekly conversation with congressman Jim McGovern [https://mcgovern.house.gov] sees a house resolution finally hit the floor, but brings up questions on russian sanctions and the US’ involvement in Lebanon, which is a stark contrast to the cuts simultaneously being made to WIC and SNAP, plus we get his opinion on AI oversight and regulation.

June 3, 2026: Unlikely approaches

This Sunday you’ve got an opportunity to see a new film by a Hampshire alum that explores a very American problem in a very unique way. Our Hero, Balthazar [https://ourherobalthazar.com/] addresses issues of control, connection, class inequities and the endemic of school shootings through the eyes of two young men with very different backgrounds and takes on those issues and we’ll speak with screenwriter Ricky Camelleri [https://ricky-camilleri.squarespace.com/about/] about this dark but poignant movie, that'll get a screening at Garden Cinemas [http://www.gardencinemas.net/] in Greenfield on June 7th. [https://www.gardencinemas.net/content/Special+Events] We’re also exploring ways to connect humor to the dark times in one’s life. Grief: a Comedy [https://alisonlarkin.com/grief-a-comedy-the-book/]has been a one woman show, a book, and next weekend  on June 12 & 13th at The Mahaiwe [https://mahaiwe.org/event/grief-a-comedy-tv-presents-alison-larkin-grief-a-comedy/2026-06-12/] in Great Barrington, will be taped for a special. We’ll chat with the woman behind the work, Alison Larkin [https://alisonlarkin.com],  to explore her career in comedy, and the importance of laughter in the overall healing process.  And Word Nerd Emily Brewster is taking the Mario® route, delving into the plumbing and across rainbow roads to see which is the original phrase of things that come down the pike, or down the pipe.

June 2, 2026: Shared Histories

The Tumble Science Podcast for Kids [https://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/] is hosting their Joke-Ha-Thon fundraiser after a difficult year facing the repercussions of federal funding rescissions. This year’s chuckle marathon competition will lead into a new pivot for Tumble’s creative team and we talk with Marshall Escamilla and Lindsay Patterson about this change and how well Monte will do against the other competitors It’s the nation’s 250th anniversary, but what about that whole 150-ish years before we made it official? And where in that history do we see the peoples who were brought to the colonies as property? Professor Ousmane Power-Greene [https://www.clarku.edu/faculty/profiles/ousmane-power-greene/] chats with us about the landscape of slavery in the north in the years before we were officially America for this month’s Power of History.  And in Granby, two farms that have been friends for decades have merged. In the past year the folx at Mckinstry Farms [https://mckinstryfarms.com/] has taken over the reins at Sapowsky Farm [https://www.buylocalfood.org/directory/listing/sapowsky-farms]  as its owners retired. We head to their farmstand to chat with Steve Sapowsky and Bill Mckinstry about this arrangement and the past and future of the farm.

June 1, 2026: Hidden community

We’re exploring some of the hidden aspects of our communities.  Novelist Tom Perrotta [https://tomperrotta.net/]’s latest book Ghost Town [https://tomperrotta.net/books/ghost-town-2/] is a look at the summer in a New Jersey town where the family of one young resident is forever changed, and how those experiences shape his future. We get into the specters and suburban spectacle within these pages before you can meet the author himself at Odyssey Bookshop [https://odysseybks.com] Tuesday Night, June 2nd.  In Northampton, some of the area’s folk music heavy hitters are coming together to raise funds for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hampshire County [https://www.cachampshire.org/]. One of those folk stars joins us for an extra special Live Music Monday, Pamela Means [https://www.pamelameans.com/], as we hear a preview of the music she’ll perform onstage at the Iron Horse [https://theparlorroom.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0SV500000BQSYbMAP] and why this particular cause resonates with her.  And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios’ [http://kainaatstudios.com] Salman Hameed has a wide range of things for us to ponder including how pigeons use magnetic fields, the ongoing conversation about who else might be in this universe with us, and whether or not they have already made a visit to the blue dot.

May 29, 2026: House Party Edition

It's a house party this weekend, y'all.  For the house, we have a conversation with newly appointed leader of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities [https://www.mass.gov/orgs/executive-office-of-housing-and-livable-communities], secretary Juana Matias in the midst of her whirlwind Western Mass Tour, and get to ask about the ways the Baystate is helping it’s westernmost parts to weather the storm of our current housing crisis while learning how the office pivots in the face of construction and community opposition.   In Parties, River Valley Democratic Socialists are seeking to make better working conditions for all of our trans neighbors and friends through a Pre-Pride Party [https://www.findaprotest.info/event/holyoke/evt-blk-d62c84e72a99aa5a] at Fame in Holyoke [https://www.fameholyoke.com/] on Saturday, May 30th, featuring the sound of the Trans Inclusive Crime Syndicate [https://www.instagram.com/transinclusivecrimesyndicate/] DJ collective on the turntables. NEPM reporter Phil Bishop joins us to speak with co-chair Sasha Morsmith about the needs of trans workers in the area and about the importance of celebration to protest and progress.  And since a good party needs music, we crash the rehearsal space of W. New England’s own Glad Machine [https://thegladmachine.bandcamp.com] for Live Music Friday to hear a bit of how their sound has evolved, and get folx ready to get down with them this weekend at the Drake in Amherst.