Opting In and Opting Out

7/17/26, Co -Host Josh Silver.

MTA rank-and-file member Max Page w/ Anthony Clough from the Mass Budget and Policy Center: should Massachusetts opt into the federal school voucher program? Clough provides a completely understandable explanation of the issue and explains why the answer should be a resounding No.

Amherst College Prof Austin Sarat on Trump’s speech last night. Will the President try to rig, and can he sabotage, the Midterms?

Rep Lindsay Sabadosa takes on the most contentious issues before the state legislature now.

Political Good with Josh Silver: Rep Sabadosa stays with us, and we discuss ICE on the streets and in court houses and other sensitive locations in Massachusetts. Plus the Rep’s take on the ballot questions.

The Fires This Time

7/16/26. Co-Host Andy Bukowski.

Dr. Jonathan Bayuk on health threats from the fires, cyclosporiasis &  the lone-star tic. Also finding a doc & securing medical care.

Dan Crowley, Ex Ed, Daily Hampshire Gazette & Greenfield Recorder, on today’s biggest stories: “Distant fires bring smoky skies;” “Body of missing man is discovered; “‘Meet the moment,’” disability advocates urge;” “Kratom bans being considered;” “City discussing gender affirmation ordinance.”

Silverthorne Theater’s Ezekiel Baskin, Ash Governman & Mary Beth Brooker on “Deep Blue Sound”—tonight is opening night & this play will be their last production at Hampshire College.

All That Jazz with Ruth Griggs and Ryan Hollander, Northampton Jazz Fest bd member & producer: behind the scenes, his remarkable music & Summer on Strong.

On the Home Front

7/15/26, Co-Host — Brian Adams

“Hatfield on the Home Front”  w/ Meg Baker, curator, Hatfield Historical Museum: the beginnings of the Revolutionary War – here, in 1774.

Carolyn Misch, Northampton’s Director of Planning and Sustainability: rewilding land in the City and an update on Picture Main Street.

Jim Johnson, Smith College Prof Emeritus (after 52 years as a professor!) of Sports and Exercise Science:  preparing for the World Cup, the heat, the competition & caring for yourself—his most recent Gazette column.

Cool Films with Larry Hott: Larry reviews “John Candy: I Like Me” and the recent documentaries on Steve Martin and Martin Short and their focus on home and fathers.

Credit Where Credit Is and Isn’t Due

7/14/26, Co-Host Amilcar Shabazz

Rep Pat Duffy: the commemoration for the airmen who died when their B17crashed into Mt Tom –why she attends, what it says & why it matters; also, the Economic Development Bill the House just passed.

Hadley School Super Anne McKenzie: the federal tax credits that will support private schools, part of Trump’s  “BBB” legislation — how it will work, what effects it will have, the arguments for and against.  

Milan Clark, Amherst Media’s Media & Broadcasting Mananger: the League of Women Voters show (League Talk), community engagement, & how you can become a producer.

Duke Goldman, Negro League expert and BIG baseball fan on why the All-Star Game is ridiculous; why baseball owners are hell-bent on killing the golden goose & destroying the sport; the Home Run Derby on Netflix?! And the book he is writing about Monte Irvin and integrating baseball.

Beginnings and Endings

6/13/26, Megan Zinn — Co-Host

Nancy Gertner, U.S. Dst Ct Judge (ret) & Harvard Law Professor: what the recent Supreme Court’s recent decisions mean for democracy, the future, & all of us.

Daniel Mason, the superlative, award-winning novelist on a nationwide book tour — tonight at the Odyssey Books in South Hadley– on “Country People.”

It’s Mayors Monday w/ Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia: the ban/moratorium on data centers in his city & the $2million/yr in tax revenues one (!) could bring; then, summer in the City.

“And Death Shall Have No Dominion”— the community’s response this weekend.

Kemper Carlsen, Clinical Director, Fisher Home Hospice in Amherst: hospice & end-of- life care—what it is; also, their 20th anniversary & a $100,000 endowment campaign.

Touching

7/10/26, Co-Host-Josh Silver

MTA President, about to become rank & file member, Max Page: a touching, feel-good story — the Tartan Army, school buses, the World Cup, a magnificent contribution, & Good Morning America; MTA accomplishments during his Presidency & his return to UMass; the labor movement’s recent past and immediate future.

Community Action’s Lev Ben-Ezra (Exec Dir) & Lisa LaPierre (Dir, Youth & Workforce Dev): a win-win-win for the community—well-paying jobs, free training while providing good and safe housing.

Political Gold with Josh Silver & his guest Joe Lyman: audit the legislature, the governor & the courts—really? Boston Globe investigations, transparency & public record requests. Touches a nerve.

Josh Silver on Maine’s U.S. Senate race—who will replace Graham Platner what qualities should the candidate have?

ArtBeat w/ Donnabelle Casis & Kiah Tinkham of Waterway Arts in Turners Falls: “Please Touch”— we tell you why.

Eyes, Ayes and Ears

7/9/26, Co-Host- Andy Bukowski

Karen Giuliano, UMass Prof & Co-Director of the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation: her just-published break-through study at UMass that will make hospitals safer and improve patient care, using eye-tracking technology.

Rep Aaron Saunders: the ayes have it –approved by the legislature –money for UMass & research, the Bright Act, the Protect Act, and closing a criminal law loophole of sexual exploitation.

Helen Kahn, Farmers Market Manager for Grow Food Northampton – a feast for your eyes –the Tuesday Market, this week’s produce, HIP & your Bicycle Benefit.

All That Jazz with N’hmptn Jazz festival Pres Ruth Griggs & extraordinary musicians Ed Brainerd (trumpet, flugelhorn & piano) & Ethel Lee (vocals) – listen to this!

Fascinating Facts and Fallacies

July 8, 2026, Co-Host Brian Adams

Lynn Griesimer, Amherst Town Councilor: new schools, new library, new h.s. principal, a new school superintendent on the horizon. Welcome to Amherst, pop 17,000 (summer) 40,000 (when student are back).

Hillary Caws-Elwitt, Nature and Environment Book Group Coordinator at Forbes Library: we start with “Total Garbage” and go from there.

Richard Joyce, Conservation Biologist at Xerces Society: everything you wanted to know about fireflies here and now, lighting up our night sky.

Cool Films with Larry Hott: Larry recommends watching “Natchez,” an extraordinary film on heritage tours—whose heritage—slave owners or enslaved persons? And the names of streets in Northampton.

Fighting for Freedom

7/7/26, Co-Host Amilcar Shabazz

Sen Paul Mark, Commission Chair of America 250 in Mass, on how and why we are celebrating the Declaration of Independence; also, freeing children from social media exploiters.

Amilcar Shabazz on freedom in our history, celebrating Juneteenth, & “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

Tom Weiner on “In Defiance: 20 Abolitionists You Were Never Taught in School.”

Monica Cage, owner of Crown by Cage & Sec of Black Business Assoc of Amherst Area on Black entrepreneurship in western Mass, community support & the road ahead.

Noah Bullock, Ex Dir, Cristosal, the Central American human rts org, on human rts abuses & the death of the rule of law in El Salvador & the tight friendship between Pres Trump &, El Salvador’s authoritarian right-wing President, Nayib Bukele.

Facts Force

7/6/26, Co-Host Megan Zinn

Sen. Jo Comerford: Reading Frederick Douglass Together, recent Supreme Court decisions, the legislature’s approval of bonds for our future.

Writers Block — Megan Zinn interviews Cara Benson on “An Armsfull of Birds: A Personal Field Guide to Love, Loss, and Commitment” — at Broadside Bookshop this Wednesday.

Dr. Xiomara Herman, Amherst, Pelham & Amherst Regional School Superintendent: why is she leaving at the end of this school year?

Mayors Monday w/ Northampton’s Gina Louise Sciarra: the July 4 Naturalization Ceremony, the Declaration of Independence this Wednesday at Memorial Hall, and the FACT Force (Fiscal Assessment Community Taskforce) – the override in the City’s future.