Maple has broken like the first dawning, and the commonwealth celebrates next weekend with Massachusetts Maple Weekend. And celebrate we shall, by heading to the hilltowns to meet some of the folx that are being recognized not just locally, but internationally for the way they handle sap. Boyden Bros Maple in Conway has been sugaring for 4 generations, and it’s current stewards are utilizing methods old and new to create a wide swath of maple products all season long and beyond. We meet Howard Boyden, the latest of his line to helm the endeavor, and learn much more about the nuances of sugaring, including his role in supporting maple producers across the continent, his family’s history in the business, his wife Jeanne’s award winning candy and more, and some of the ways their production differs from others. . And our weekly chat with congressman for the 2nd district Jim McGovern traverses the weirdness of the state of the union, venturing into the comments and behavior of the president at the event, and the ripples they have into the many issues that affect all of us. Plus a great listener question on fact checking.Note: We inccorectly refer in this episode to Mass Maple Weekend as happening on this weekend Feb 27-March 1st. Mass Maple weekend is actually occurring on March 7 & 8th.

Older practices are making their ways in to new routines and creations.In music that means bringing the roots of black sound into the times of now, which Corey Harris has been doing for decades. The MacArthur Grant recipient has been writing and performing the blues, reggae and more sounds of the afro-diaspora since 1990, and with 19 albums under his belt is bringing all he’s learned to a residency at the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts and a show at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity in Florence on Friday Feb. 27th, we bring the pioneer to the studio to hear those sounds in their purest form. We also learn how the grapes of old are delighting the palates and practices of the new. Winemaker Filipa Pato and chef William Wouters are the husband and wife team fostering the wines under the Patowouters label using their experiences from the past 25 years in wine to establish practices influential in her native Portugal and beyond. At Provisions, who’ll host her for an event tomorrow afternoon on Feb 26th at their Thorne's Marketplace location, we learn about some of her methods the importance of native grapes, where you can meet them tonight, Feb 25th in Great Barrington and more. And Word Nerd Emily Brewster helps us explore a new facet of Merriam Webster’s website that might help you stay a little more with the times as we take a dive into their new page on Slang.

In Easthampton, we head to Eastworks where at 50 Arrow Gallery a new exhibit shows the not so hidden lives of a people often relegated to afterthought. A Time, A Place, Our Gaze: Re-framing the Subaltern looks at the black communities of New Brunswick, and shows through photos a glimpse of their daily lives in a way that is often overlooked in favor of sensationalism. We speak with Slavery North Initiative Director Charmaine Nelson and gallery director Jason Montgomery about expanding the horizon of what black life can and does look like, and how that can affect more than just history. Easthampton also happens to be the former home for local wrestling. However with the loss and sale of The Pulaski Club, the search began to bring the rings elsewhere. We talk with Perry Von Vicious, The Human Monster Truck and current title belt holder for Pro Wrestling Grind, about that company’s move to Florence's VFW with the start of this year’s local wrestling season this Friday, and some of the amazing nuances to this very bombastic sport.

We’ll visit the Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield’s Public Library, and learn about how they are offering more than books with the inclusion of a brand new on-site social worker. We’ll meet library director Alex Reczkowski, adult services and programming librarian Caroline Villarreal, and the brand-new social worker Gabriela Leon to hear how they are keeping community care in steady circulation with references to what their patrons need the most.At The Hope Center for the Arts in Springfield this coming weekend, two legendary groups join forces to pay tribute to a beloved member at the center of their venn diagram. The musical sensations Sweet Honey in The Rock and the Young@Heart Chorus join forces to pay tribute to the late Evelyn Harris with a special concert this weekend, and we chat with folx about the memories and impact of her presence. And as our trees eagerly await the time when the weather triggers the sap to run, Mr Universe ponders whether trees can predict eclipses. Hampshire College’ Salman Hameed takes a look at an intellectual spat that looks at both sides of the possibility.

This Saturday in Springfield at the Hope Center, a multimedia presentation examines the violent history of this country and seeks to repair some of its harm through congregation and art. Ashes to Ashes is both the name of a memorial art work seeking to lay to honor 4000 people whose lives were taken by lynching, and a documentary that parallels it with the life of artist Winfred Rembert, who survived a lynching himself. We speak with artist Dr. Shirley Whitaker, and with bassist Avery Sharpe who composed a work for the original ashes to ashes event about the lynching of his uncle.And in Great Barrington, folx of all walks are coming together to get their hands in the soil and feed their communities. Solidarity Farm and Garden is one of the many facets of Bridge, an public equity and health organization, a passion project of self sufficiency finally come to life, and we’ll chat with Gwendolyn Van Sant CEO and founding director of the organization and Ben Crockett of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures about the equalizing nature of growing together.

There’s only 9 days left of February, so it’s time to really double down before we get back to reminding folx that every month is black history month. And we’ll start just north of W.E.B du Bois’ birthplace at an organization that he co-founded. The NAACP still looms large in black culture and its Berkshires chapter is being revitalized through a new office to house their archives of local black history and efforts to improve the community. Local chapter president Dennis Powell speaks about the importance of the organization, past and present. We’ll also encourage you to engage with the full breadth of the diaspora. Elms college is holding its 9th Black Experience Summit tomorrow afternoon on Feb 20th, seeking to diversify our collective understanding through the work of local, regional, and national notables. President Dr. Harry Dumay talks about the event, its legacy at the college, and the place of faith in the keeping of history. And our weekly chat with congressman Jim McGovern explores the partial government shutdown and possible social media surveillance, the Save Act, his end hunger tour and memories of the late Jesse Jackson.

In Amherst, a musical meeting of cultures and landscapes is happening in a project from Sunny Jain. Wild Wild East is an exploration that blends ideas of expansion, cowboy mythos, the immigrant experience, and ritual. It’s a mesmerizing shift from his work in the brass focused Red Baraat, and we speak with the percussionist and composer about the pilgrimage into a more progressive sound. We also head northwest where two family farms have merged into a year round market feeding its community. Hager's Farm Market has made itself into a one stop shop for produce, dairy, ready made meals, maple, ice cream and more. We speak with Sherry & Chip Hager about becoming an indispensable resource for the hilltowns, the impact of SNAP and HIP, and their recovery from a devastating fire. And Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, our dictionary right here in Springfield, looks to the east for a question we posed about the origins of the word orient and its many iterations, which evolves into a look at its opposite end in the occident as well.

It’s another one of those awesome rare live music Tuesdays with local saxophonist and more Mtali Banda, who’s been honing his craft for years in the valley and beyond and will present a concert next weekend at De La Luz in Holyoke. We’ll hear a bit from the musician and teacher himself as we dig into the themes of this latest show, which focus on Black History and Art, and hear from Damany Gordon of Genuine Culture LLC about bringing history in the making to western Mass.And Williams College’s most prolific son, John Sayles has a brand new book out, his third in as many years. Crucible is a historical novel of boggling scope that looks at the duality of Ford Motors as they strive to become completely autonomous by harvesting their own rubber, and what that means at a time of global and industrial crux. Spanning two continents, a little over 3 decades, and a whirlwind of characters, it may be his most intricate work so far, and we speak with the author about this new work before you’ll have two opportunities to ask all your questions yourself right here in Northampton and North Adams.

Love is in the air and that love is taking many formsOne of which is conservation. The Trustees of Reservations are on a mission to conserve 30% of the Bay State’s natural resources for public use. After their successful acquisition of Beaver Brook Golf Course, even more efforts are on the horizon. We speak with Katie Theoharides, president of the organization about their next initiative, how you’ll see their efforts at the ballot box this year, and the fun things you can get up to with all this snow around.There’s a whole season of love onscreen at Triplex cinemas, with a new series called Screwball Valentines. From the tight dialogue of The thin Man to the hapless antics in Bridget Jones’ Diary, the warts, scars, and triumphs of the fall shift these romances in important ways, and we’ll chat with creative director Ben Elliot about the many films they’re including. And we welcome professor Ousmane Power Greene of Clark University back from Liberia to talk about a figure who is often tied to that country, Marcus Garvey, and the ideologies those that followed him engendered for another Power of History.

Thursday continues to steal all of Friday’s thunder and today we have two musical guests making incredible sounds all over the area. The Iron horse in addition to its recently announced Playing It Forward Campaign is launching a new series anchored by the Deep River Ramblers, a hit list of local musicians. The Happy Valley Bluegrass Church is far more secular than its name implies, but we’ll get a taste of the community sing-a-long that the event aspires to be. Then the incredible versatility in both voice and guitar of Emily King joins us before her performance in Amherst tonight, Feb 12th, at The Drake. The much acclaimed artist who’s collaborated and toured with the likes of Sara Bareilles, Alicia Keys, Robert Glasper and many many others and we’ll get to hear how deft and heartfelt her sound is first hand. And our weekly chat with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern touches on some of congress’ responses to yet still more Epstein files, the relief of Canadian tariffs, the ongoing issue of funding for ICE, and some of the nuances of how his office interacts with us: the public.

Valentine’s Day is this Saturday so today we’re talking about love. What is it? We’ll hear the answer to that question, at least in a lexicographical fashion, when Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster in Springfield defines love for us, and some of the disappointment the public has had with their etymology.Loves comes to town when the Springfield Symphony Orchestra hosts a pair of US debuts. Planet Earth: A Symphonic Journey is a pairing of film and symphony that builds both on Gustav Holst's Planets series and an abundance of budding love. We'll chat with conductor and composer Johan de Meij, filmmaker Dyan Machan, and SSO president Heather Caisse-Roberts about the many firsts this program entails. And if you love live music, The Iron Horse in Northampton is looking for your love. They are unveiling an ambitious new effort and we’ll talk with executive director Chris Freeman about their Playing it Forward Campaign, as well as the importance of that venue and beyond as community connective tissue, and how you can be a part of its future.

Today we have a trio of badass women, all smashing proverbial ceilings and bringing us closer together in the things they are building. Ashfield has been the home of a theater company that pushes the boundaries of how acting engages with community and the world for the past 27 years. Double Edge Theater’s founder Stacy Klein has recently released An Alchemy of Living Culture, a book that outlines not just the troupe’s history, but its philosophies and endeavors to embody the art it makes and we talk with her about our discoveries within its pages. In Chicopee, a food desert if being transformed by the efforts of one grocer and it’s greenhouse. Fruit Fair has been in it’s location on Front Street for 90 years, but it’s the decision of the new owners to grow some of its offerings themselves that help it to stand apart and we talk with co-owner Sam Newell about their drive towards inclusivity and food autonomy for the community.. And there’s expansion of traditional music as well. The trio Cécilia joins three well renowned musicians on their respective instruments together for forays into Celtic, Quebecois, and cape Breton tunes, and we’ll chat with pianist Erin Leahy of that group about the upcoming performance this Thursday, Feb. 12th at Bombyx in Florence, as well as Jennie Darby, Irish Dance Teacher at Scoil Rince Bréifne Ó Ruairc whose students are a part of this particular performance.