The holidays blaze bright as we stumble into the last days of 2025.  If holiday music is on your menu, we’ll show you how heading west can fill your ears with seasonal cheer. The Boston Pops are presenting a brass based holiday pops concert at Tanglewood, and the event is just a small part of a move for the grounds to host concerts year round. We’ll chat with principal musicians Mike Roylance, and Michael Winters, and Artistic Administrator for Tanglewood Learning Institute Mark Ruleison about the festivities and more.  We also continue our survey of the many musicians who are playing at Northampton’s First Night by getting Bunnies into the studio. They may be the only band that includes a sitting city council member, and their sound is a fun, trippy, magnetic amalgam of storytelling and far out effects. Plus our weekly chat with congressman Jim McGovern gets a recap of his recent appearance on BBC World, the attempts to stem the tides of war in Venezuela, possible SNAP restrictions, the grim prospects of health care resolution, and after all that, his hopes for the coming new year. 

We’ll start introducing you to some of the amazing performers taking stage at Northampton’s First Night Celebrations. This year over 100 musicians, actors, dancers, and more will delight folx as they ready to ring in the new year, and first on our docket is the East African centered sounds of Zikina, in  yet another live music Wednesday to lift up the middle of your week.  And although we know that "slop" topped Merriam Webster’s 2025 list and became word of the year, it’s just as interesting to see who was pretty close to the finish line, so we’ll chat with Word Nerd Emily Brewster about this year’s runners up for that distinction.  Plus the local musical community has been rocked with the loss of Evelyn Harris, who has been a pillar of vocal music in this area for decades. We’ll talk about our experiences with her and her impact in Western Mass both in performance and practice. 

It’s cold outside, but the cows are warm and we’ll head out to Ludlow to explore a farm that’s seen 5 generations of family stewardship. Bud Ellison of Ellison Farm was given a mission in his youth and he’s kept that and his cattle as local as possible, we’ll hear more about his process, and his farm’s ties to family and community.  We’ll also meet Ricky McKinnie of the Blind Boys of Alabama, currently the longest tenured member of the band, who’ll talk about the group’s legacy, its advocacy, and its depth before you can see them perform holiday classics at the Hope Center for the Arts this Saturday Dec. 20.  Plus just because hanging out with everyone in the holidays is fun for you doesn’t necessarily mean that it is for everyone in your life. So we welcome Janice Chaka, celebrated introvert interpreter, back to our studios to talk about her podcast and give some tips to fellow introverts, and the extroverts that love them, about surviving seasonal gatherings. 

2025 is practically in hindsight which means that everyone is making lists. But dictionaries crown a top jewel of lexicon for the year, each using a different method to select the word that reigns supreme.  We'll chat with Word Nerd Emily Brewster what her employer, Merriam-Webster, has discovered is its top word of the year.  We’ll also look forward to February when creatives and justice seekers will converge on UMass Campus. The Black Artistic Freedom Conference is now in its 3rd year and has just opened registration for its day long offerings on Feb 21st. Organizer and founder Imani Wallace joins us to talk about the intersectionality of art and social justice, the evolution and impetus of the Black AF Conference, and what cool things you can win if you’re brave enough to get onstage.  And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed, also gets nostalgic as we look back and review some of our favorite moments in Space and exploration from 2025, and a quick reminder of where you can discuss your favorites with others tomorrow. 

Today has a distinctly femme bent.  And a bit of awe as well, as these two xennials get to meet a Bay State musical Icon. Julianna Hatfield, in addition to her solo work, has been a part of Blake Babies, the Lemonheads, The Minor Alps, The I Don’t Cares, and a full swath of appearances alongside rock’s most influential voices, while influencing the next generation of guitarists as well.  Her twenty second album Lightning Might Strike comes out today and a return to the textured, punchy rock that was her M.O. for years of her early career, while remaining full of lyrics and progressions that are full of emotions still being processed, and for Live Music Friday we’ll welcome her in to the studio to hear more of her newest sounds, and tales of her journey until now, including her move to western mass.  And we head to Easthampton for a Wine Thunderdome with Lauren Clark and Miranda Brown (rocker in her own right) of Tip Top Wine Shop, as we explore rich sanguine sangioveses along with fledgling wine enthusiast from the NEPM Newsroom: Nirvani Williams. 

Today has holiday gifts, tangible and intangible.  As we explore a place for you to get locally made crafts and art this weekend. Yet Another Queer Pop-Up Market hosts its 3rd annual Winter Market in Eastworks this Saturday, Dec 13th, bringing artisans of all disciplines of the 2SLGBTQIA+ BIPOC communities together to share their wares and work. We’ll talk with organizers M and Jey about building space for community to create and thrive. We’ll also hear what people have been inspired to create. "30 Poems in November" is a fundraiser for the Center for New Americans, and many of the 90+ poets that participated will read their work at an event this Saturday, Dec 13th on Smith College’s Campus. We’ll speak with Executive Director Laurie Millman, and the chairperson of the 30 poems effort, Nerissa Nields, about the event, and the impact of recent ICE activity on their work.  That activity in the Bay State also has congressman Jim McGovern concerned as well, and in our weekly chat we’ll address that as well as get an update on healthcare costs, the reserve’s interest rate cuts, an upcoming farmer bailout, the ongoing conflicts with Venezuela and more. 

Wednesdays are becoming a tasty musical center to our week here, and today is no different as we gear up for another live music Wednesday with the extra dynamic and charming Irish ensemble Socks in the Frying Pan before they head just north of our studios to perform at the Iron Horse Tonight, to hear sounds of the season from across the pond We’ll get simultaneously more global and more local with the Holiday Pops program from the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. The concert will feature a wealth of songs and symphonic arrangements from South America, the Carribean, and secular and sacred music of many types, and we’ll chat with conductor William Waldrop , soloist Florencia Cuenca, and SSO President Heather Cassie-Roberts about Saturday’s selections.  And Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, knows that familiarity indoctrinates usage for the English language. So we’ll look at words that used to be trademarked, but now are just a part of our linguistic landscape. 

It’s not technically winter, but it definitely looks like it, and in Amherst that means a new market is bringing fresh produce, carefully crafted artisan goods and more to the Bangs Center. The Amherst Farmer’s Market has officially started staying open to the public through the end of the year and we’ll chat with market manager David Machowski about his almost 4 decade tenure, and the wintery future of one of the more popular and populated Farmers Markets in the area.  We’ll also meet someone who made their own way in the music Industry with accapella music that has grown to be much more. The renowned 10 time Grammy winning vocal group Take 6 comes to Springfield this Thursday, Dec. 11th to perform at the Hope Center for the Arts, and we speak with founding member Claude McKnight about the groups’ history, present, and aspirations.  Plus look who got his book in an amicus brief! It’s professor Ousmane Power-Greene of Clark University! So we’ll look at the parts that got quoted, the context of the suit it is a part of, and the possible repercussions of the decisions that will follow, all of which pertain to birthright citizenship for another power of history.

We head to Granby where a new barn rises from the ashes of a past February’s tragedy at Red Fire Farm. They are in the middle of replacing the facility that burned to the ground almost two years ago, and doing it in a way that will help them provide more to the community, and that incorporates more of Western Mass into its structure. We get a tour from Ryan and Sarah Voiland and hear about how you can help them finish the project.  We’ll also hear about a new foundation seeking to get more folx to read more work from the global south. Interlink Publishing has just launched the non profit Interlink Foundation, which aims to inform and expand public discourse on issues of global significance and preserve and archive cultural heritage in the face of erasure and censorship.  We’ll speak with Michel and Hannah Moushabeck about this new endeavor, how it fits along with their current publishing house, and their upcoming holiday market where you can find out even more.  Plus Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College’s Salman Hameed talks with us about returning to the asteroid Bennu, the important building blocks of life that can be found there, and what this could mean for us on earth and future explorations. 

We start with the creative talents of our many interwoven communities. Not a Noplace is a nomadic QTBIPOC focused open mic series inspired by a line from a Lucille Clifton poem. The events are a whole body experience, holding space and spotlights for marginalized voices and artistry in our area, and we’ll speak with organizer Camille Asia about their next occasion on Dec. 6th.  We'll also hear the dreamy bedroom pop of the globetrotting Jeanines who get to join their western Mass and Brooklyn components in our studios for Live Music Friday before you can hear them at The Drake in Amherst tonight, and celebrate their recently released album “How Can It Last”. Plus as the days dwindle the time for bubbles is upon us, so we head to Provisions’ new home in Thornes Marketplace to sample sparkling wines in the Tina Turner Memorial Wine Thunderdome with Benson Hyde and Toni deLuca, and learn more about how you can sample the bubbly at their upcoming Champagne tasting.  

We’re seeing our landscapes change through art.  In Northampton a new work looks at the way the railroad has changed the city over the past century through music, historical archives, and theater. Rhythm and Rails will be performed at the Forbes Library this Saturday and is indicative of the multimedia, multi-disciplinary work that Red Skies Music Ensemble puts together. Creative director Trudy Williams and members of the cast help us explore the ties of the Railroad to our time. We’ll also head out to Easthampton where a building full of artists are opening their doors to show the public what arts they are doing behind them this Dec 6, 7, and 13th. The Cottage St. Studios Open Studios only happens twice a year, so we join artist-art therapist Arielle Jessop-Humpage and bookbinder Lisa Hersey, two artists who’ll be participating, for a tour of the 5 floored facility and a sample of what beautiful works you might see this and next weekend.  Plus our weekly chat with congressman Jim McGovern recaps the 43 miles walked last week for the food bank, the possible weaponization of SNAP against blue leaning states, war crimes in Venezuela and listener questions as well. 

Today it is an incredibly overstuffed Live Music Wednesday, complete with icons and holidays and spectacle galore Americana legend Tony Trischka joins us ahead of his show tonight at the Iron Horse in Northampton. The renaissance banjo player has performed with Bela Fleck, Peter Rowan, Darol Anger, and way too many other notables to count, not to mention the bands and ensembles he’s led or been a part of, or the newer generation of players that have grown up listening to his incredibly versatile style, and we’ll get to chat with him about his career, latest album, and the joys of creating tonight's holiday spectacular.  Then in Franklin County, the holidays are bringing the Franklin County Community Chorus together, under the direction of much beloved music director Paul Calcari, for a beautifully eclectic Holiday Concert this Sunday, Dec. 7th. We’ll hear a selection from a number of the chorus members, and hear about the appeal of making a more timeless program that you can see at this show on Sunday.  And Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior Editor at Merriam Webster runs ragged into a particularity of English that native speakers take for granted as we look at the ending -ed and the many ways and wheres that we pronounce it. 

We head to Sunderland where a show that has become both timeless and indicative of ours is about to get on its feet for a cause. The radio play version of the timeless holiday tale “It’s A Wonderful Life” harnesses all of the goodwill of the movie, but lets your imagination roam. The mission driven theater company Valley Players will put on their version of this work over the next two weekends, complete with onstage sound effects, raising money for our neighbors: Wayfinders. We’ll talk with president Matteo Pangallo, director Chris Rohmann, John Bidwell of Wayfinders to talk about the collaboration and get hands on demonstrations of the wicked cool atmosphere of sounds that’ll be created by foley artist Chip Roughton about putting this production together. Perfect for Giving Tuesday! And we’ll head to Chicopee to see the evolution of a 117 year old family farm as it continues to bring fresh produce to the area in ways many don’t get a chance to see. McKinstry Farms and Market Garden may no longer be on its eponymous street, but the current generation has recently bloomed into a new market, a new greenhouse, a snack shack and ice cream and more. We’ll get a tour of the new facilities and talk with Nicole, Will, and Warren McKinstry about moving this family operation into the future. 

We’re walking again, but this time at the end there’s a hot beverage and more awareness about issues and programs concerning domestic abuse in our area. This Sunday the 22nd Hot Chocolate Run for Safe Passage happens bringing literal thousands of folx to downtown Northampton to walk or run for their cause. We speak with executive director Marianne Winters and development director Natalie Ulrich  about the scope of the organization, the goal for this years event, and how you can help them reach it.   We’ll also hear how the federal cuts earlier this year brought folx together to create a whole new organization hoping to strengthen the ties and infrastructure of the area’s foodways. Resilient Valley is starting an ambitious campaign tomorrow on Giving Tuesday, and we’ll talk with members of their team about how land trusts, food banks, community health advocates  and others are combining their powers to build an even better network.  And Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed sits us down for a heart to heart about the facts of life and where planets come from, or at least how planetary discs help planets get born.  Note: We mention the incorrect website for Safe Passage within this show, it is correctly linked within these show notes. 

It’s day 3 of the March for the food Bank.  But you, say, wasn’t it just the past two days? Isn’t that enough marching? The thing about it is that the march has never ventured west into the last county that the Food Bank supports…. UNTIL NOW.  We’ll share how the very first Berkshires Mini march sounded from its start at Hot Plate Brewing to 3 locations all helping the nearly 30% of Pittsfield residents that are food insecure: The Dream Center, Mercado de Vida, and the Pittsfield Community Food Pantry, each with very different ways that they serve the people of the west-most part of the state. We’ll hear stories of the folx they see day in and day out, how the Food Bank aids their daily work, and more.  Then we’ll hear from the Governor, who joined Monte for a second time on the march for the food bank. Maura Healey talks about the difficulties states are facing in light of the recent SNAP pauses and more and how hunger fits into the well-being of the state and its citizens, and how it affects some of the other issues currently on her docket.  Plus we’ll hear yesterday’s totals from the March to End Hunger's end in Greenfield and tell you two places where you don’t have to walk to support the Food Bank with two musically driven events in Northampton happening tonight and Friday. 

Today we hear the conclusion of walking for 3 days across 4 counties and 46 miles to raise awareness of hunger and food insecurity in western Mass as the 16th March for the Food Bank is in the midst of its longest leg, 26 miles from Hampshire into Franklin County.  We’ll hear from many of the folx walking along the way including Food Bank Ex. Director Andrew Morehouse, State Reps Homar Gomez, Lindsay Sabadosa, and Mindy Domb, State Senator Jo Comerford, DA David Sullivan, hear about the agricultural side of this issue from CISA’s Ex Dir Jennifer Core and Farmer Ben Clark, while visiting more of the almost 200 food pantries and meal sites that the Food Bank of Western Mass supports day in and out including the Amherst Survival center and the unlikely hub of food insecurity that is UMass.  Plus a check in with the man dressed as Fred Rogers himself, Monte Belmonte as he and others push two empty shopping carts north to Greenfield.

Today on the fabulous 413, the 16th March for The Food Bank of Western Mass. begins, and we follow the journeys of Monte Belmonte, and those who seek to help our community members facing hunger and food insecurity.  We’ll take on two counties today, walking from Springfield, through Chicopee, Holyoke, Easthampton, and finally Northampton to raise awareness and hear stories; not just about those trying to make sure our neighbors are fed, but about what repercussions the recent issues concerning snap have inflicted on folx in our area. We’ll hear from US Reps Jim McGovern and Richie Neal, Ex. Director Andrew Morehouse, State Reps Pat Duffy, Jake Oliveira, and Shirley B. Arriaga, mayors and marchers and more in addition to meeting folx in some of the food banks that count themselves among the 199 that the food bank supports across the 4 counties, as they push two empty shopping carts 17 miles north to raise awareness about the ongoing fight against hunger. And of course, as check in with the man dressed as Ernie from Sesame St himself.

NEPM’s Hunger Awareness week gets an endcap, with a tasty music sandwich, where the filling is birds.  It starts at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, where the watercolor paintings of Robin Crofut-Brittingham’s new book, The Illuminated Book of Birds are currently on display through the end of the month. We speak with the author/artist about her work and her event at the exhibit on Nov. 29th Then we head to Holyoke to meet with the most beloved octegenarian chorus in the world. The Young at Heart Chorus is performing a concert this Sunday, Nov. 23 at the Academy of Music comprised entirely of protest songs of many flavors. We speak with co-musical director Bob Cilman and several of the performers about the ongoing need for songs that question the state of the world, and the ones that'll show up in their "10 Alarm Fire: We Won't Shut Up" program.   And for Live Music Friday, LuxDeluxe are making their post Thanksgiving show at the Iron Horse in Northampton a tradition, but this year are turning the concert into a benefit for the Food Bank of Western Mass. We’ll get a taste of the good times to be had with them on November 28th. 

NEPM’s Hunger Awareness week continues, and today our weekly conversation with Congressman Jim McGovern dials in on food insecurity.  McGovern is one of the strongest anti-hunger advocates in Congress and today we’ll hear how fighting hunger used to be a bipartisan issue. And why and when that changed. We’ll separate fact from fiction when it comes to some of the narratives surrounding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. And hear about his involvement in the 16th annual March for The Food Bank. While times may be tough and getting tougher for those who are hungry in this country, the US is a great place to be ultra-wealthy. Chuck Collins, the former heir to the Oscar Meyer fortune, has a new book called Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet. We’ll talk to the author about how billionaires may be impacting your everyday life more than you know. Chuck will be at the Odyssey in South Hadley tonight.  And speaking of bookshops, dozens of them will descend on Northampton this weekend at the Northampton Antiquarian Book, Ephemera, and Book Arts Fair. We’ll talk rare editions, book bindings, and how this book fair is helping a local library with the book fair founder Mark Brumberg. 

As NEPM’s Hunger Awareness Week continues, we head to another newer pantry just up the road from us here in Springfield. Born Free Food Pantry was birthed from a need in Six Corners to give access to the community to food and services that generally aren’t as easily available. We speak with founders Charlie Holmes and Terrence Lee, and other volunteers about feeding the people’s needs through faith and more.  We also have an extra rare Live Music Wednesday with Jude Roberts, who we last saw as part of The Mammals. He’s got songs all his own, and a beautiful take on catchy folk in his latest album "The Olive and the Vine”, and we’ll give you a preview before you can see them for yourself at the Dream Away Lodge in Becket.  Plus word Nerd Emily Brewster senior editor at Merriam Webster helps to explain the letters we don’t say and why as we explore the origins of silent letters in english words, and the historical occasions on which we sometimes say them.