The unsavory necessities of today means that a city full of people are ostensibly also filling their bodies with food which eventually becomes… other things that fill up toilets and that we don’t want to keep in our houses. But if not there, where does that go? There’s actually several answers, but one of them sometimes affects the Connecticut River and your ability to go out on it and enjoy the things the water brings us. Andrew Fisk of American Rivers takes us on a walk along Springfield’s riverfront to explore what Combined Sewer Overflows (or CSOs) do and how they affect the nearby populations. We’ll also have Live Music Friday with the post-punk perfection of Grammerhorn Wren, whose intricate quitars and heady vocals are celebrating the release of their latest album AEOE with a show at the Marigold Theater tonight, May 8. And in that same city of Easthampton, we head just across Perfume Pond to celebrate the longer days at with the folx of Tip Top Wine Shop in a showdown of savory white wines for this week’s thunderdome.

In Haydenville, a microfarm is bringing colorful blooms to events and homes all over the baystate by doubling down on locally grown flowers. Flora Farm began with a much wider perspective, but has been focused on making their quarter acre of blossoms key to the floral needs of Western Mass and beyond. We talk with farmer Aspen Bey about the farm’s history, some of the challenges for younger farmers, and how their own history is being continued through the flowers they grow. We’ll also head to Longmeadow to meet the many teens organizing the Future Planet Fiesta. A festival only in its second iteration, the event is gathering ecologically minded school groups of all ages and community organizations to host a fun and information filled gathering on the Town’s Common this Saturday, and we’ll hear from all of them the importance and cathartic nature of engageable action. And Congressman Jim McGovern checks in with us still riding a high from Hampshire Pride, to explore the hidden costs and repercussions of the Iran war, his encouragement for folx to continue to be civically engaged, the draining of the social security funds and much more.

We’ve got a super fun extra rare Live Music Wednesday in store with Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band before they take the stage at the Iron Horse in Northampton tonight, May 6th. They’ve been sterling examples of virtuosity in finger-picking , slide guitar, and washboard across their many albums and singles, and we’ll get a taste of their award nominated sound and heritage holding instruments right here in our studios with a few tracks from their latest LP, Honeysuckle. We’ll also head to Worthington where William Shakespeare and Tom Stoddard are meeting over a Danish kingdom. The Little Garden Theater is performing both Hamlet and the Hamlet-inspired Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead this weekend May 8-10th, intrepidly weaving together both stories and their respective casts in innovative ways. We speak with their production’s Danish prince themself Ace Tayloe, and hear about the largess of joining these two stories in the hilltowns. Plus Word Nerd Emily Brewster, Senior Editor at Merriam-Webster invites us to slide out chairs up to the table and dig into a listener question about the origins of words used to describe meals of the day, from breakfast, to supper, and beyond.

Today is all connected to the BerkshiresIn a new novel from Longmeadow native Vincent Yu, a small town and the base of the westerly mountains is rocked by a sudden alert about their imminent demise. What follows is the subject of the novel Seek Immediate Shelter, which highlights several Asian-American citizens of the fictional town of "Beckitt" and their connections to this mistake. We speak with the author about the novel, with its many twists, turns, and local easter eggs, before you can meet him in person at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley on Wednesday night, May 6th. We’ll also head to the very real city of Pittsfield to chat with our next Mayor of the Month: Peter Marchetti. Hot off the heels of a meeting with the many other mayors of the baystate we get to learn from him about Pittsfield’s housing issues and economic drive. Plus we’ll hear about his volunteer work with Berkshire Pride, and learn how the recently launched 413 link bus service is starting to make a difference for the folx of his city, and much much more.

Red Shirt Farm is a prodigal agricultural endeavor, but is innovating with vigor. Not only are they using green methods to heat their greenhouses, but a brand new farmstore is helping them to provide fresh produce and local products to folx in the northern and central berkshires. We speak with Farmers Jim and Sarah with Berkshire Agricultural Venture’s Dan Carr about the story of the farm and more. We’ll also have live music Monday from Max Wareham. The storied banjo player and historian has a brand new album due out in June. He takes stage at the Parlor Room this Friday, May 8th, and we’ll hear how recording this album by himself in the most bluegrass-y of locations has shifted his perspective on the music he makes. And it’s Star Wars Day, and even though Mr. Universe, Kainaat studios’ Salman Hameed is more of a Star Trek Person, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate by talking about super massive black holes, binary star systems, and other things that pop up in the galaxy far far away.

It’s Free Comic Book Day! Started 24 years ago, shops and libraries around the country have given away millions of issues in the ensuing years. We chat with Xtian Reader of Comics ‘N More in Easthampton about how they’re celebrating this year, and the community connections this day bringsThe Adams Theater will showcase the work of artists who are looking at grief and connection through the lens of Dance. Boca Tuya has been in residence honing a massive work called Yahaira Yahaira, and we’ll speak with founder Omar Román de Jesús company manager Rachel Secrest and Theater Director Yina Moore about the importance of being given space and more. And on Sunday, folx will gather to celebrate the memory and work of a beloved member of the community lost over the winter. Nat Graves was a conduit for creation, and we’ll talk with Kat Adler about the memorial Absence|Presence that honors them at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls.

Today is a garden sandwich with musical bread. Next door to us at the Hope Center for the Arts, a heartland grown sound that’s been honed for 40+ years takes the stage in Springfield. The BoDeans formed in Wisconsin but have brought their take on roots music into the 21st century and we’ll speak with founder Kurt Neumann about his time in the music industry and more before you can see their show Sunday, May 3rd. Polyglot Emily Wells is known for her inventive and evocative take with the music that she makes. One of the most interesting of which is shifting some of the more electronic all in one approach to more acoustic bodies and instruments arrangements. She joins us alongside her string quartet of friends for Live Music Friday as her Antenna Cloud Farm residency concludes with a concert at The Shea Theater on May 2nd. And on the eastern edge of Springfield, the 16 Acres Garden Center has been bringing color to the yards and landscape of the area for almost 65 years. We take a tour of what spring is bringing to their facilities and learn about early pitfalls new gardeners can avoid.

Amherst Media takes the tools of tv, video, and podcasting and puts them in the hands of a public eager to create their own content for themselves, the folx of the town, and beyond. We take a tour of the oldest continuously operating public access station in the nation, and learn how you can both celebrate and support them this weekend at their gala from executive director Rachael Figurasmith, board president Jennifer Shiao, and board member Andrew Hart. Then we head to Becket where Jacob’s Pillow’s inaugural spring season brings an examination of sound, body, and connection through intercontinental pathways. Rowdies in Love returns to Jacob’s Pillow this weekend, having honed the vision birthed from Hari Krishnan and the company inDance at the Pillow Lab. We’ll speak with the choreographer and dancers Spenser Stroud and Eury German about the many manners of affection that manifest in the work as Indian Classical dance meets modern body movements. And congressman Jim McGovern addresses the press correspondent’s dinner events, Hegseth’s defense of our actions in Iran, his attempts to fight for the steadily eviscerated Farm Bill, SCOTUS’ demolishing of the Voting Rights Act and more.

Today on the Fab 413, we immerse ourselves in an exhibit that seeks to make sure everyone has access to art with temporal freedom in that connection. Don’t mind if I do is a collaborative experiment demonstrating how temporary changes in power structures create pathways of access for visitors, artists, and staff. Anchored by a conveyor belt that brings artworks to visitors who are invited to sit around comfortable furniture and engage with it directly.We’ll head to Smith College Museum of Art, where this work is currently on display, to engage with it in person alongside curator Emma Chubb, and learn how the public of western mass has been interacting with it, and what the museum has done to make it western Mass. specific. We’ll also get to speak with the Artist behind the whole work Finnegan Shannon, and the original and traveling curator of the piece Lauren Leving to hear about it’s origins, and some of the hidden nuances that have really resonated with folx in it’s travels around the country. After which we’ll tap senior editor at Merriam Webster word nerd Emily Brewster to get into the very weird way we talk about the vegetation we eat.

We now turn our attention to another film that is locally grounded. Watching Mr. Pearson is a beautiful look at fame, legacy, memory and care through an aging actor and his two caretakers, and we speak with the core of the movie’s production teams Samantha Valletta and Dillon Bentlage about the process of completing this work before you can see it for yourself at Garden Cinemas in Greenfield this Wednesday. April 29th at the Hope Center for the Arts will be filled with an ongoing legacy of vocal prowess. Madeline Peyroux joins us before she takes that stage tomorrow to talk about the political arc of her recent albums, the joys of collaboration, and the winding road her sound has taken to get to this point. And Mr. Universe, Kainaat Studios and former Hampshire College astronomer Salman Hameed, talks about that loss in particular and how it resonates on a larger scale against a backdrop of recent and ongoing federal cuts to science agencies, even in the wake of the successful Artemis mission.

We head to the homestead of one of the area’s most famous and prolific writers to celebrate National Poetry Month with the written word past and present, because when your body of work is 1800 strong, there’s plenty to read and connect with. We’re broadcasting from the Emily Dickinson Museum in the Evergreens with Jane Wald (Executive Director) and Brooke Steinhauser (Senior Director of Programs). We’ll hear some of Dickinson’s work and learn more about some of the museum’s upcoming programs in person and virtual, and learn about the updates and restoration happening in the Main building that will bring us closer to the times Emily was living in. Then we turn to the poets of now as we’re joined by two local writers: Nathan McClain and Rebecca Hart Olander. We’ll hear poems from each of them, learn more about the writing and editing process from their extensive careers, and process the academic tie that connects them: Hampshire College.

We’ve been a little remiss with our prose, because it’s National Poetry month and we have not really leaned into thatSo today we fix it because we’re chatting with folx from The Massachusetts Review. Founded by professors from area colleges, the magazine has become one of the most prestigious in the nation, having featured the work of Pulitzer and Nobel winners, and remains on the forefront of writing that confronts important issues facing us all. We speak with executive editor Britt Rusert, and managing editor Edward Clifford about the latest issue, and more. Springfield’s own Parris joins us for Live Music Friday. The multi-hyphenate performer is preparing for the release of her latest EP “2002”, but joins us as she also readies to put those songs on stage next week for the Community Music School of Springfield’s Spring Gala on May 1st. And the Wine Thunderdome returns to the location of its origin at State Street Fruit Store, Deli, Wine & Spirits, to explore new world takes on old world styles as California takes a hard look at France and tries to recreate it in bottle.