July 31, 2025: BELLY breaks

We’ve got a bunch of current issues we’re tackling, some on stage, some in the houses of law. Two professors at Bard Microcollege in Holyoke are producing a theatrical work that dovetails with their teachings tidily. BELLY is a work that condenses a decade of research on Black motherhood, and reproductive autonomy into an experience of music, dance, and spoken word, while stretching those findings through the  the Transatlantic Slave Trade to the friendships and families of today. We speak with writer/producer Haile Eshe Cole and assistant producer Nicole Young Martin about the choreopoem itself and the ties to their academic lives in Holyoke, including a dissertation pivot. We also explore the lack of space for newer theater works, and the importance of recognizing cultural importance amidst universal experience. And our weekly conversation with Congressman Jim McGovern interrupts his congressional break to talk about the famine and ongoing issues in Gaza, questions about the Epstein files, the ever looming storm of impact the budget cuts will have to Energy initiatives and snap and more. Oh, and what he’s planning to do with the rest of that downtime. Seeing as he’s on vacation and all, sorta.