March 26, 2024: Electric return to the land

There’s a lot in our pasts in which we are seeing merit. For instance the Szymonik family who stepped away from their past lives in the early stages of the pandemic to seek something a little more connected to the land. And where they landed is Granby on the grounds of Deere Creek Farm. We speak with Naomi Szymonik about the intense diversity at the farm, from livestock, to flower CSAs, to event space, and why their various roads to agrotourism make their endeavor more sound. The Biden Administration has just issued new tailpipe pollution limits that could transform the automobile market. But is this too little too late, and will it have a greater impact on the current auto industry than believed? As the driver of an electric car, Monte speaks with professors Dwayne Breger and Erin Baker of UMass, as well as the institution’s director of transporation, Connie Englert, about how they see the present of electric cars shifting into our future, in Western Mass and beyond. And Kaliis is back from galavanting in Knoxville, Tennesee. We’ll ask how her schedule at the Big Ears Festival went, highs and lows and what she actually thought of seeing Andre 3000’s flute playing live.