October 26, 2023: The armored axe speaks

Today, more than most, we’re looking at tiny things on a much larger scale. There is a geological structure that is unique to Franklin County and which currently is seeking state recognition. Jurassic armored mud balls are an incredibly rare sedimentary structure, only known of for about fifty years, and we sit with their discoverer, retired professor Richard Little, to talk about the House bill that could make their status state official, as well as some of the other neat things that happen on our patch of the earth. Then there is a re-examining of a notorious New England historical figure. Over the next few weekends, Ghost Light Theater will be presenting the musical “Lizzie!!!” at the Divine Theater in Holyoke. The work is a rock examination of Lizzie Borden and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of her parents, and we chat about how theater reframes both its main character’s frame of mind and her historical circumstances with director Kevin Tracy, and actor Shealyn Berube, who plays Lizzie herself. And it definitely does not feel like a small thing to have a new speaker of the house, or to still be seeking to help your constituents flee a burgeoning warzone. This week our mcgoverning with congressman Jim McGovern seeks to keep all of these fast-moving, fraught events firmly in perspective. Correction: During the course of our conversation with Rep. McGovern, we mistakenly referred to newly-elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as being from Kentucky. Mr. Johnson is in fact from Louisiana.