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 Buz Eisenberg 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), Crime & Punishment (John Pucci), DA David Sullivan, Writers Block (Megan Zinn), Science and Sensibility (Brian Adams), Community Action (Clare Higgins), Righting Wrongs (ACLUM Carol Rose), State Senators Comerford & Mark, Representatives Sabadosa, Blais, 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.  

Making History

3/20/23: Tuesday’s hearing in Northampton on East-West Rail with Zane Lumelsky of Trains in the Valley; Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle on re-envisioning her city; John Pucci on the impending indictments of Donald Trump; Rhonda Anderson, of the Ohketeau Cultural Center, will moderate a panel that includes author and activist Larry Spotted Crow Mann on the attempted genocide of indigenous people, the resurrection of culture, and this Sunday’s event at the Ohketeau Cultural Center; Megan Zinn and John Sayles on “Jamie MacGillivray: a Renegade’s Journey” and his upcoming reading at the Odyssey.

Fighting Fascism

3/17/23: Rep Lindsay Sabadosa on health care and affordable housing; MTA President Max Page on MCAS, high stakes testing and state receivership of local schools; Artbeat’s Donnabelle Casis and musician Ken Winoker of Psychedelic Cinema on Saturday’s amazing event at the Academy of Music; historian and author Mark Bray on the rise of fascism in the U.S. and Antifa; Jeff Napolitano and Rose Webster-Smith from Springfield No One Leaves on rent control and Gov. Maura Healey’s housing policies.

An Amazing Mash-up of Headliners

3/16/23: The Shackleton Expedition and the Psychedelic Cinema Orchestra with Ken Winokur—coming to Northampton’s Academy of Music Saturday. Headliners, and headlines with Gazette, and Recorder Exec. Editor Dan Crowley. Edwards Church Rev. Michael McSherry on creation stories and human dominion.
16 y.o. climate activist hero Ollie Perrault from Easthampton on upcoming actions—with Science and Sensibility host Brian Adams. The Valley jazz scene with Ruth Griggs and Paul Arslanian.

Rock on!

3/15/23: “Rock of Ages” at NHS this weekend — with the play’s Director, Dave Grout, and two student stars; Northampton Councilors Jamila Gore and Garrick Perry on your becoming a critical part of city government; after the Oscars, Larry Hott on great films you should see; Greenfield Councilor Marianne Bullock on unresolved issues with the police; “Building Worker Power Through Solidarity, Cooperation & Care” with, UMass Labor Center prof. Clare Hammonds and Wellspring Cooperative’s Mary Hoyer and Nellie Marshall-.

Things That Really Matter

3/14/23: Death with Dignity Executive Director JM Sorrell and palliative care physician Jeffrey Zesiger on the proposed state law on end-of-life options. Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll on the budget and all things Western Mass. Long-time school superintendent (now Exec Dir. of Educational Collaborative) Todd Gazda on the conundrum of snow days. Alexis Breiteneicher, Exec. Dir. of Valley Community Development Corp., and Humera Fasihuddin, Chair of the Hadley School Committee, on the proposed affordable housing project in that town – the hearing is Monday.

Mayors Monday and Council Consideration

3/13/23: Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia on the upcoming 150 year late building dedication and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and his response to the highly critical report on the Holyoke police. Black in the Valley on Black businesses in Amherst and Hadley with Pat Ononibaku and Amilcar Shabazz with hosts Jacquelyn Smith-Crooks and Carlie Tartakov. Amherst Town Council President Lynn Greisemer on money, schools, the library, roads and the upcomingtown-wide vote. Writer’s Block with Megan Zinn and Sean Norton.

People Speak

3/10/23: Rep. Natalie Blais on our schools’ crucial need for state money now; Northampton School Committee Vice-Chair Gwen Agna on choosing (they’re getting close) the new superintendent; ArtBeat featuring Don Sanders, Director of Mass. Int’l Festival of Arts, on the restored WPA murals in Holyoke; Community Action with E.D. Clare Higgins and Energy Director Peter Wingate on our neighbors without heat; former Northampton City Council President (former Mayor Clare Higgins stays with us) on civility, or lack thereof, in public comment.

Silver Chord Bowl 2023

Tones and More

3/9/23: Members of Northampton High School’s a cappella group, the Northamptones, sing for us—a preview of Sunday’s Silver Chord Bowl. Michael Klare, Hampshire College Professor Emeritus of Peace and World Security Studies, on the War in Ukraine and avoiding war over Taiwan; Rabbi Riqi Kosovske, of Congregation Beit Ahavah, on Purim, International Women’s Day and antisemitism. Johanna Neumann, Amherst-based Senior Director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy at Environment America and DHG columnist, with some good news –finally! Take Five with Glenn Siegel and Angelica Sanchez, pianist-composer, on her concert Friday with the great trumpeter, Wadada Leo Smith, at Amherst College’s Buckley Recital Hall.

UMass Professor-Katherine-Whitaker.

Inner and Outer Space

3/8/23: Amherst College Professor of Humanities, Ilan Stavans, on his new fascinating book,“The People’s Tongue;” Florence-based Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, Larry Hott, on the upcoming Oscars; UMass. astrophysicist, astronomer and member of the James Webb Space Telescope team, Kate Whitaker, on peering into time and space; UMass. Minutewomen’s basketball coach, Tory Verdi, on the team’s amazing season and the post-season.

Tier and Tears

3/7/23: Economic development specialist Michael Kane on Congressman John Olver, the Northern Tier, and their friendship; activists Susan Lantz and Paki Wieland on International Women’s Day and tears over reversal of Roe v. Wade; Senator Paul Mark on student debt and the laws to protect workers that he hopes to pass this session; Play Bill with Jackie Walsh on “Intimate Apparel” by Silverthorne Theater Company, now at Hawks and Reed, with director Jasmine Brooks and the lead, Tahmie Der.

Recent Headlines

2 days ago in National, Trending

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is sentenced to over 4 years in prison

Sean 'Diddy' Combs was sentenced Friday to 4 years and 2 months in prison in case involving sex workers, violence and "freak-offs."

2 days ago in National

Hegseth announces latest strike on boat near Venezuela he says was trafficking drugs

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that he ordered another strike on a small boat he accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela, expanding what the Trump administration has declared is an "armed conflict" with cartels.

3 days ago in National

Trump says US is in ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels after ordering strikes in the Caribbean

President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in an "armed conflict" with them, according to a Trump administration memo obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, following recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean.

3 days ago in National, Trending

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is set to be sentenced and faces the possibility of years in prison

Sean "Diddy" Combs faces sentencing Friday in a sordid criminal case that could keep him locked up for years.

4 days ago in National, Trending

Trump uses government shutdown to dole out firings and punishment

President Donald Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors, by threatening mass firings of workers and suggesting "irreversible" cuts to programs important to Democrats.