Podcasts: Talk The Talk
Talk The Talk
Weekdays 8:00 -10:00 a.m. EST; rebroadcast 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. EST
Bill Newman and Friends host newsmakers, activists, authors, & artists – including:
Mayors Monday(Northampton, Holyoke, Easthampton) & Amherst Town Mgr Paul Bockelman, Salman Hameed’s Universe, the Comedy Quiz, Black In the Valley (Professor Amilcar Shabazz) Political Gold (Josh Silver), Our House (Congressman Jim McGovern), DA David Sullivan, Writers Block (Megan Zinn), Science and Sensibility (Brian Adams), Righting Wrongs (ACLUM Carol Rose), State Senators Comerford & Mark, Representatives Sabadosa, Duffy, & Domb, ArtBeat (Donnabelle Casis), Cool Films (Larry Hott), Feminist Futures (Carrie Baker), Talkin’ Baseball & Fair Play (Duke Goldman), Your State U (MTA Pres. Max Page) All That Jazz (Ruth Griggs & John Anz), Exec. Editor, DHG & Gfld Recorder, Dan Crowley.
Celebrating and Grieving
1/23/26: MTA Pres Max Page: The Gov’s “State of the Commonwealth” address, Fair Share, social media regs, & cell phones in schools. Political Consultant Josh Silver: Trump, Greenland, Epstein, Davos, NATO & Europe. The Writers’ Mill Founding Members Mary Beth Caschetta & Morgan Griffin: “Industry Want Company.” UMass Poli Sci Prof & pollster Tatishe Nteta: Trump’s continuing popularity? Donnabelle Casis w/ STCC Prof Sondra Peron: “Faces of Grief.”
Frozen Out in the Cold
1/21/26: Former Amherst Town Council Member Andy Steinberg—crisis in muni budgets? Baseball historian Duke Goldman & Howard Bryant’s Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America. All Out Adventure Exe. Dir.’s Karen Foster Cold Plunge, Cool Films with Larry Hott Come See Me in the Good Light & Mistress Dispeller.
Minding Our Ps & Qs
1/16/26: MTA Pres Max Page: death by 1,000 cuts? Rep Lindsay Sabadosa: our democracy, ourselves. Amherst Coll Prof Austin Sarat: Trump, higher ed & troops on the streets. Josh Silver: behind the headlines, polls & pols. Donnabelle Cass w/ Smith Coll Museum of Art’s Emma Chub – the extraordinary exhibit “Don’t Mind if I Do.”
No Net
1/15/26: Dr. Jonathan Bayuk: flu is rampaging & the medical system failing. Gazette & Gfld Recorder Ex Editor Dan Crowley: Trump’s attacks on the press & behind local headlines. UMass Legal Studies Prof, Atty Jamie Rowen: Trump, Venezuela, Greenland & int’l law. Ruth Griggs w/ star flute and sax musician Anna Webber: coming to the Iron Horse w/ her nonet.
The Big Picture
1/14/26: Amherst Councilor Lynn Greismer: schools & the 2026 financial cliff. Phil Ringwood, Ex Dir, Dial Self: homeless youth here. Hillary Caws-Elwitt: light eaters, romantic turtles, talking trees & books. Amherst Cinema’s Alex Horbeck & George Myers: films you really want to see.
Looking Forward and Back
1/13/26: Pat Goggins on commercial rent in Northampton. Prof Amilcar Shabazz on violence in America – yesterday & today. Bishop Talbot Swan: MLK as a radical prophet. Duke Goldman: the Red Sox let another star go.
Taking Time
1/12/26: Amherst author Jill Shulman: choosing a college & taking time to tell them who you are. Megan Zinn w/ Jedediah Berry, author of “The Naming Song,” winner of the 2025 Mass Book Award for Fiction –a decade to write. Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garica, Treasurer Rory Casey & Councilor Megan McGrath-Smith: years to change the 1879 law. UMass Prof Amilcar Shabazz: years later, are we honoring MLK’s legacy?
A Stitch in Time
1/9/26: MTA Pres Max Page: strong unions, Social Security & the state budget. Community Action Pioneer Valley’s Lev Ben Ezra & Jess Thompson: the working poor & Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. Astronomer Salman Hameed: space station troubles, aliens & galaxies w/o stars. Donnabelle Casis w/ Hannah & Anneke Corbett: “Stitchin’ Kin.”
Proof
Proof
1/8/26: Heartbeat Theater’s Kimberly Gaughan & Jason Rose-Langston on “Proof.” Human rts atty Laura Pitter: Trump’s justifications for ICE’s killing & Maduro’s abduction. UMass Prof Cole Fitzpatrick: new local data on car fatalities. Ruth Griggs w/ Valley Jazz Voices Dir Jeff Olmsted: Saturday’s fabulous concert @ Bombyx.
