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.
Demystifying
3/18/25: State Rep. Aaron Saunders: federal cuts to agriculture & food programs. Prison Policy Initiative Comms Dir Mike Wessler on the just-published “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie.” Comedy Quiz w/ Maddy Benjamin, Allison Reding & Scott Braidman: Harry Houdini & you. Smith Prof Carrie Baker: “Abortion Pills: US History & Politics.”
$ Million Questions
3/17/25: W. Mass Food Bank Ex Dir. Andrew Morehouse: fed money cuts & food insecurity. Atty Joseph Schneiderman: Gfld’s appeal— a $million question. Ehmptn Mayor Nicole LaChapelle: balancing the school budget. Anthropology prof Cathy Stanton: “From Tapioca Pudding to Craft Beer.”
Civil Wrongs
3/14/25: MTA Pres Max Page: saving the Dept of Ed! Sarang Sekhavat of the MA Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition: the fed and state policies clash. Talkin’ Baseball w/ Duke Goldman: the boys of spring. Donnabelle Casis w/ artist Kahli Hernandez: the world famous “artoonist’s” “Art Heist.”
Finding Our Way
3/13/25: Keith Fairey, CEO of Wayfinders: threats to housing under Trump. David Knowles w/ Wm Spademan & Trish Perlman: Ehmptn Theater Co’s “On Golden Pond.” Rep. Natalie Blais: USDA slashing food & nutrition funding. “Watermelon Wednesdays” w/ Paul Newlin & music star Cory Pesaturo – in Nhmptn w/ Natalie Tenenbaum Tuesday.
Good CRAIC in Hard Times
3/12/25: Amherst Town Council Pres Lynn Griesemer: layoffs in schools. Todd Gazda, Ed Collab Dir: the future of DEI. GCC Prof Brian Adams w/ Karen Foster, Ex. Dir, All Out Adventures: “The Polar Plunge.” Rosie Caine & Cady Coleman play LIVE in studio — Wild Irish Shenanigans
Keep on Walking, Keep on Talking
3/11/25: Rep Pat Duffy: the crisis at hand – the loss of federal funds. Amherst Coll Prof Rick Lopez: “Beyond Fridamania” – the Frida Kahlo phenomenon here! Downtown Nhmpton Assoc new ED Andrea Monson: econ devel & the new face of Northampton. Hamp Mayor GL Sciarra: the threat of losing federal funds.
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
3/10/25: Amherst Prof Ilan Stavans: “Lamentations of Nezahualcoyotl,” translations from the Aztec, stories from an extraordinary, flawed empire. Megan Zinn w/ Nathaniel Miller whose new novel is “Red Dog Farm,” tomorrow at the Odyssey. Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia: feds denying his city $20 Million, sanctuary, school receivership, & St. Paddy’s Day celebration. UMass Prof Amilcar Shabazz & Tom Weiner, co-authors of ““In Defiance: 20 Abolitionists You Were Never Taught in School.”
Bad News, Some Good
3/7/25: MTA Pres Max Page: Trump dismantling DOE & DEI. Clare Higgins: Trump-induced chaos & an upcoming gov’t shutdown? W Mass Code Pink activists Paki Wieland & Susan Triolo on Intl Women’s Day. Astronomer Salman Hameed: planets aligning, Space X exploding, landers tipping over & the upcoming lunar eclipse. ArtBeat — Donnabelle Casis w/ William Baczek: the Landscape Exhibition.
The Essence of Our Being
3/6/25: Human Rights Atty Laura Pitter: Trump-Musk destroying USAID, deserting the world & threatening Sanctuary Cities. Rich Michelson & Eric Lesser — “Next Year in the White House: Barack Obama’s First Presidential Seder.” Rep Jim McGovern: Republicans gutting the gov’t. What hope remains? Ruth Griggs w/ rising star pianist Sean Mason — coming to the Drake.
Chickens
3/5/25: DA David Sullivan: Trump’s address & local scammers. Amherst School Supt Dr Xi Herman: accused, exonerated & back to work. Brian Adams w/ Underline Farm’s Karl Prahl: organic-fed poultry in Avian flu times. Johnny Memphis previews the Back Porch Festival. Larry Hott: the Oscar-winning documentaries.




