Much To Do

2/21/23: Sci-Tech Café with MHC professor Kerstin Nordstrom and UMass biologist and researcher, Dr. Andrew Swafford, on fungi with eyes (seriously!); our monthly Comedy Quiz—come play along with the Happier Valley Comedy folks — Maddy Benjamin, Kate Jopson, Sally Ekus and Laura Patrick; Feminist Futures with Smith professor Carrie Baker and Jenifer McKenna on “Crisis Pregnancy Centers;” Playbill with Jackie Walsh and Ann Berman on Behind the Curtain at Shakespeare & Co.

Happy 50th Hip Hop!

2/20/23: Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle on transforming downtown; Antiques Roadshow appraiser and rare book specialist, Ken Gloss, on what’s in your attic; Professor Kwame Harrison on hip- hop’s happy 50th birthday — thanks to Black student radio on predominantly white campuses; Ryan Road School reading specialist Mary Beth O’Connor (with Megan Zinn) on how kids learn to read.

Home Rule

2/17/23: Representative Lindsay Sabadosa on her proposal to allow sixteen-year-olds to vote in municipal elections and other proposals for Hampshire County towns; Massachusetts Teachers Ass’n President Max Page on debt-free public higher ed. NOW; ArtBeat with host Kim Carlino, Northampton Director of Arts & Culture Brian Foote, and muralists Sharon Leshner and Ramiro Davaro- Comas on local public art; Dr. Deborah Offner on “Educators as First Responders;” and Jeff Napolitano with the nonprofit Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds.

Separating Families & Deporting Kids

2/16/23: 2/16/23: Professor Silvia Rodriguez Vega on Drawing Deportation: Art & Resistance Among Immigrant Children; Edwards Church Rev. Michael McSherry on the bible and violence. Then, why we need more loons in western Massachusetts and how to get them — Brian Adams speaks with biodiversity researcher Lucas Savoy. Also, LIVE IN THR STUDIO—SHE IS AN AMZING VOCALIST! — Ethel Lee interviewed by Ruth Griggs– on her upcoming gig with the Amherst Big Band Orchestra.

Look Up!

2/15/2023: Hampshire College professor and astronomer Salman Hameed on the recent spate of UFO sightings; Cool films with Larry Hott on “The Fire of Love” and “Stranger at the Gate;” Greenfield City Councilor Marianne Bullock on police accountability in her city; independent investigative reporter Dusty Christiansen on the Holyoke Police response (and non-response) to civilian complaints.

Reparations!

2/14/23: Black in the Valley with Evanston, Ill reparations leader Robin Rue Simmons; Talkin’ Baseball with the Duke — Duke Goldman — on the new season (how about those Red Sox! new rules, and new HoF inductees; Educational Collaborative Executive Director Todd Gazda and Pioneer Regional Superintendent Patricia Kinsella on MCAS, covid, and rural schools; and Jackie Walsh’s Playbill with Shakespeare Stage Artistic Director Julian Findlay on Shakespeare, hip-hop, and the upcoming performance of Twelfth Night.

Policing the Police

2/13/23: Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia responds to the revelations about his police department; National Defense expert Michael Klare on China, the balloon, UFOs and Ukraine; legislative aides Corrine Coryat and Elena Cohen on working for Rep. Natalie Blais and Sen. Jo Comerford; and Writers Block with Megan Zinn and Bookends owner Madden Aleia.

Blaising Saddles

2/10/23: Representative Natalie Blais on cannabis cultivation, protecting farmland, and dramatic changes at UMass Amherst; Executive Director of the Massachusetts Coalition to End Gun Violence, Ruth Zakarin, on the fight here for new gun safety laws; ArtBeat with Kim Carlino and Luke Jaeger; Dan Torres on the January 6th Committee report—a detailed analysis.

Live in the Studio!

2/9/23: This weekend’s Youth Performance Festival in Northampton with Co-directors Sarah Marcus and Kelly Silliman and the performers—from a fourth grader to a high school senior; Rabbi Riqi Kosovske on the tragic earthquake in Turkey and Syria and our response; Professors Brain Adams and Denise Baden (live from the U.K.) on climate fiction and fact; Take Five with Bruce Niemczyk and Ruth Griggs –they trip out on jazz cruising.

Northampton Youth Performance Festival:
https://www.nohoarts.org/youth-performance-festival

Activists Welcome!

2/8/23: Nicholas Dawidoff on his acclaimed new book “The Other Side of Prospect;” “Plant, The Musical” with Serious Play Artistic Director Sheryl Stoodley; Attorney Ruth Greenberg on her case before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, asserting that life without parole for people under 21 is unconstitutional; and David Fenton on “The Activist’s Media Handbook.”