Nightly Entertainment: Out With the Old, In With The New
Treating yourself to a night (or day) out can sometimes feel like you have to alter your everyday life to squeeze in that extra me-time. Do you feel guilty for that? You shouldn’t. Mental health awareness month is right around the corner, and with a pandemic that has...
On a mission: Nayana LaFond’s portraits bring attention to the violence many Indigenous women face
Just under a couple years ago, Nayana LaFond, like so much of the world, was stuck at home, sheltering from COVID-19. The Athol artist, who until that point had mostly been a semi-abstract painter, was looking both to keep busy and maybe take on a new project. In...
Illegal grow operations may be ‘tip of the iceberg’ in western Mass.
When police raided a house at 276 Amherst St. in Granby earlier this year, they described finding an “elaborate” marijuana grow operation with nearly 1,400 plants, an extensive lighting system for six grow rooms and a packaging operation. The person they arrested,...
With warehouse delivery service, Easthampton’s Budzee aims to become the Amazon of weed
Seen from the road, the commercial warehouse at 17 East St. is unassuming. A garage door opens up to a sally port in the front with a drab office building connected to the side. The ambitions of its owners, however, are anything but modest; they want their new...
Monte Belmonte Wines: Chardo-haters Gonna Hate
I was in a certain local fine wine store, eavesdropping on a person who was picking out wines for a home wine tasting. I happened to be standing in front of a selection of Chablis, when I heard them say, “We need some white wines. Anything but Chardonnay!” I blushed...
The V-Spot with Yana Tallon-Hicks: Am I Polysaturated or Polyinfatuated?
Dear Yana, As a polyamorous person who’s having much more success building new connections these days, I worry sometimes that I am dating from a feeling of not enoughness-ness, in a way that keeps me too focused on the new and the possible, and not enough with the...
The Magic of Edibles
Tucked in the back of INSA’s Easthampton headquarters on Pleasant Street is a little slice of heaven. Like any restaurant with great food, the kitchen is where the action is at — and at INSA, it’s a place that combines the sweet smells of chocolate, sugar, and, yes,...
Stagestruck: Live on Screen
National Theatre Live, the series of live-capture high-def performances from the English stage, is back at the Amherst Cinema. Coming up: Philip Pullman’s “La Belle Sauvage,” a rap version “Cyrano” with James McAvoy, and a modern-dress makeover of “Henry V” with Kit Harington.
What’s 420 all about? (Sponsored Content)
Celebrate the cannabis holiday with Pleasantrees
Stagestruck: Movie/Theater Face-Off
In “The Flick,” at the Academy of Music this weekend, the usual roles are reversed. The audience is on the stage and the play is in the seats. Which makes sense: it’s set in an empty movie theater.
Keeping Tabs on Pot Purity
The machines inside Analytics Labs seem like futuristic, esoteric devices. Workers in lab coats move around instruments with names like Agilent High-Performance Liquid Chromatography System, performing what seems like complicated science experiments. But the work that...
Sessions
Check out our most recent performances in the playlist below, or click here to dig into interviews and related material!
O Cannabis: Finding Your Perfect Dose
Discovering your ideal cannabis dose can be tricky.
Happenings in the Valley
Our online calendar has listings from organizations across the country hosting virtual events, but we’ve chosen to highlight some from local venues and groups.
The V-Spot with Yana Tallon-Hicks: Am I Polysaturated or Polyinfatuated?
Dear Yana, As a polyamorous person who’s having much more success building new connections these days, I worry sometimes that I am dating from a feeling of not enoughness-ness, in a way that keeps me too focused on the new and the possible, and not enough with the...
Staff Picks: Loudon Wainwright III, Valley Voices Story Slam, 13th Floor Music Lounge show, and Irish music
There are few songwriters who have raided their family history as much as Loudon Wainwright III — and even fewer who have done it as successfully.
The Beerhunter: Local Breweries Adapt to a New, Locked-Down World
This article was supposed to be about gathering in large groups.
Stagestruck: Live on Screen
National Theatre Live, the series of live-capture high-def performances from the English stage, is back at the Amherst Cinema. Coming up: Philip Pullman’s “La Belle Sauvage,” a rap version “Cyrano” with James McAvoy, and a modern-dress makeover of “Henry V” with Kit Harington.
