Resilience and Perspective

10/13/26, Co-Host –Amilcar Shabazz

Rep Patricia Duffy on this weekend’s killing, alleged murder, in Holyoke and Question 9 on November’s ballot: should Massachusetts keep its gun-safety laws?

Hadley School Superintendent Anne McKenzie on the proposed “End-of -Course Assessments.” Is this MCAS 2.0?

Everyone has a story to share. We speak with Jennifer Polins, Artistic Dir of the School for Contemporary Dance and Thought, and Diane Porcella, Ex Dir of Northampton Neighbors, about Sunday’s performance of “Across the Generations” at 33 Hawley.

The end of baseball as we know it? Duke Goldman shares his perspective on this season and the impending owners’ lock-out of the players.

Right Angles, Write Angles

10/12/26, Co-Host—Megan Zinn

October is ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Awareness Month. We speak with local ADHD specialist, clinical psychologist Sharon Saline, about ADHD & women, increased diagnoses & living with ADHD.

“The Violin Maker.” Our guest is the author, Amherst College’s Molly Terrill, who this Thursday will be in conversation with Jacqueline Sheehan at the Odyssey Bookshop. We talk about historical fiction, what’s real, what’s fiction, the value of rarities, and our relationship to objects and music.

The Supreme Court has just begun its new term. We speak with UMass Legal Studies Professor Paul Collins about the Court’s upcoming decisions on guns and climate change and the possibility — if Democrats take back the Senate — Justices Alito and Thomas resigning and the lame duck Senate confirming young, right-wing MAGA Republicans as new justices.

For writers, by writers. The Straw Dog Writers Guild WriteAngles Conference is Saturday, October 24. Our guests are Morgan Sheehan and Marisa Williams who discuss the 23 workshops, for whom the conference is valuable and how to succeed as a writer both personally and professionally.

Taking the Long Way Home

October 9, 2026, Co-Host—Josh Silver

Newman interviews Josh Silver about the midterms. Will the Dems take back the Senate as well as the House? Silver makes his predictions.

The $72.80 Project. Residents of Massachusetts nursing homes have to live on HOW MUCH per month? Noah Daube-Valois has vowed to change this. He tells us how we can –and will–make our Commonwealth more humane.

Get outdoors! We speak with Paul Jahnige, Dir of Mass Office of Outdoor Recreation, about accessibility, mountain biking, the outdoor economy, hiking trails, and our incredibly beautiful state.

Silver interviews Bill Neman about whether the damage that Trump has done to democracy can be repaired and what, if anything, the Supreme Court will do to restrain him.

OOO. On ArtBeat, Donnabelle Casis interviews OOO Gallery Co-Founder Matt
Cummings and exhibiting artists Christina Donner and Andrew Young. The show is titled “A Sanctuary for Earthly Matters.”

Diverse & Eclectic, Serious & Fun

10/8/26 , Co-Hosts — Andy Bukowski & Carrie Baker

Sex. Animals are sexual geniuses; they do it for fun; some have body parts humans think only we have. Our interview with Perrin Roosevelt Ireland, author of “Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex,” is just too much fun! She is presenting at Mount Holyoke College today.

Israel & Palestine. Amita Jarmon of Amherst, the co-leader of an upcoming trip for women to Israel and Palestine, speaks with us about the upcoming election in Israel (she will vote there, having dual citizenship), protecting the harvest, and being a protective presence on the West Bank. This work is not for the faint of heart.

Feminist Futures. Carrie Baker interviews Amy Mittelman, whose new book is “Dames, Dishes and Degrees: Faculty Wives in America” — a history that is not very far in our past and actually still is present. Mittleman has a Ph.D. in history, was never offered a faculty position and was herself at Amherst College a “faculty wife.”  She shares the relevant histories of Amherst, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges. 

“Swap Your Vote: Stop MAGA Republicans and corporate Democrats from destroying our future.” We speak with the authors and activists Timmon Wallis and Vicki Elson.

Mostly Angry with Rays of Hope and Happiness

10/7/26, Co-Host — Brian Adams

The rape case at Cornell. District Attorney David Sullivan explains how such a case is and has been handled here. We also discuss sexual abuse in the Catholic diocese and criminal and civil liability.

Happy 150th(!) birthday, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. We celebrate with Tricia Paik, Director, and Emily Wood, Ass’t Curator, and take a 5,000-year walk through its collection, tease out their favorites among the 18,000(!) pieces in its permanent collection and then focus on women artists whose work is on display.

Trump Administration v. our most vulnerable friends, neighbors, and colleagues. We speak with Angelina Ramirez, CEO of Stavros Center for Independent Living, about the world as experienced by people with disabilities and helping them stay out of nursing homes.

Keep art alive! Larry Hott, Board member of Massachusetts Humanities, and Jillian Morgan, Development Director, on how and why the creative economy works here and creates community.

Authors, Artists, Peace and War

10/6/26. Co-Host Amilcar Shabazz

Rich Michelson, owner of RMichelson Gallery and acclaimed children’s book author and poet, on his recent honor at the Obama Presidential Center, his presentation today on Justice Louis Brandies, and a preview of his performance with Leslea Newman, Owen Lewis and the Sherman Chamber Music ensemble. Also, a discussion of genocide in Gaza and antisemitism here.

We are family! The Shabazzs — Professor, Ursa, & Amilcar — on what’s on a name (Shabazz) and the PAL (Progressive Artists League) exhibit at the Anchor House of Artists/The New England Visionary Artists Museum in Northampton.

The Ashfield Fall Festival is this weekend ! Listen to what you, your friends and fam will see, hear, feel, do and eat—New England at its best. We speak with Phil Pless, Chair of the Ashfield Fall Festival Committee.

Michael Klare, Sr. Visiting Fellow at the Arms Control Association, discusses his new article in the Nation titled “How AI will Kill Us All: Mapping the Pathway to Human Extinction.” But he ends on a hopeful note.

Big Projects, Big Decisions

10/05/26 Co-Host Megan Zinn

The Cost of a Failed Override. We speak with Lisa Wong, South Hadley Town Administrator, on the practical consequences of the failed override.

The event tonight at Forbes at 6:30. Smith Coll English Prof Michael Gorra on his new book “The Storytellers: Reading the Masterpieces of Nineteenth-Century Short Fiction” such as Poe, Melville, and Hawthorne. How and why short stories came to be and why their ghosts still haunt us.

The Ballot Questions. Sen Jo Comerford shares her perspective on these critical questions that we are about to vote on.

Big Projects. Northampton Mayor GL Sciarra tells us about the road safety construction project in front of the high school and the new NHS geothermal project. The Mayor also discusses the FACT (Fiscal Assessment Community Task) Force , the potential override, and also, Picture Main Street.

Perspective

October 2, 2026, Co-Host—Josh Silver

This week’s failed execution of Christa Pike. We hear the perspective of death penalty expert, attorney (Yale law School), Amherst College Professor, and prolific author Austin Sarat.

The SNAP cuts in Massachusetts, the scourge of food insecurity in western Mass and what you can do to help. We speak with Community Action Pioneer Valley Ex Dir Lev Ben Ezra and Cheo Ramos, Coordinator of the Center for Self-Reliance Food Pantry.

The space we live in. A preview of “Earth Music Theatre Live,” a cinematic (stunning astronaut photography) multi-media experience at Bombyx Saturday at 7:00. We speak with composer & guitarist Steve Thomas and astrophysicist Dr Salman Hameed.

“Saints, Scoundrels and Statemen: Tales of the Massachusetts Legislature.” We speak with Sen Richard Moore, who will be presenting and sharing these tales at the GCC Symposium in Greenfield next Wednesday.

“Remittance” at the Mead Art Museum. ArtBeat Host Donnabelle Casis speaks with artist and participant in the Filipino Overseas Worker Program, Xyza Crus Bacani.

Plays, Playing, and Not Playing Around

10/1/26 , Co-Host Carrie Baker

Conway Festival of the Hills with the Festival’s Chair, Hazel Golman — it’s this Sunday.

“Escaped Alone” by Caryl Churchill at 33 Hawley on 10/7 and 10/8, a play for our present moment. We speak w/ Sheryl Stoodley (Director) and actors Mary Beth Brooker & Christine Adaire.

Feminist Futures with Smith Professor Carrie Baker. Carrie interviews Genee Coreno, the director of “Camp Siegfried,” a play about a Nazi summer camp on Long Island in 1938—w/ –no kidding- – some humor and theater artist and designer, Nora Marlow Smith.

Congressman Jim McGovern. Can democracy survive the midterms?

All That Jazz w/ Ruth Griggs and Dave Sporny, leader of the big band Amherst Jazz Orchestra—celebrating their 30th anniversary with a free concert at the Drake on October 7.

Mazes

9/30/26 Co-Host –Brian Adams

David Wissemann, co-owner of Warner Farm and Mike’s Maze. We talk about the corn maze and the beer maze(!), how they are conceived and constructed and how they incorporate 100 years of television on 8-acres of corn – funny stuff — with a bit of seriousness about the economics of farms, farming and agritourism.

Habitat for Humanity’s Megan McDonough tells us about their new affordable housing project in Northampton, who’s eligible and how the lottery works, sweat equity and President Jimmy Carter.

The Hidden Lives of Sharks: Eat, Prey, Love with UMass researchers Grace Casselberry and Andy Danylchuk—their new discoveries revealing intimate details—seriously, intimate details.

Cool Films with Larry Hott. Larry interviews Nina Kleinberg on “Some Like It Hot,” “Witness for the Prosecution,” and “The Apartment”– a retrospective on Billy Wilder coming to the Amherst Cinema.