Call it Albany-envy, but every day, this more-or-less proud Valley resident spends a few hours in communion with our far western neighbors via WAMC, the excellent public radio station out of New York's capital city.
I'm not the only far-flung fan; WAMC's signal covers an impressive area, dipping down into Connecticut, across into New Hampshire and Vermont, and deep, deep into upstate New York. And yet the beauty of this NPR version of a super station is how decidedly local its programming all feels.
On any given day, Pioneer Valley listeners might hear an editor from the Greenfield Recorder or the Daily Hampshire Gazette talking about local headlines during the "Editorial Nook" segment, or someone from the Odyssey recommending titles on the "Book Picks" segment. Paul Tuthill, the Pioneer Valley bureau chief, files reliably solid reports from our neck of the woods. Sometimes WAMC even brings its show to the Valley, like its recent live broadcast from the Eric Carle Museum, where Joe Donahue, host of the "Roundtable" show, conducted one interview wearing a huge hand puppet representing the rascally pigeon hero featured in the books of Northampton children's author Mo Willems.
But I'd listen to WAMC even if the station never carried one word about the Valley, even if all its coverage focused on upstate New York communities I could never find, much less spell, without an atlas (Canajoharie, anyone?). That's because of its rich lineup of intelligent, entertaining and—a rarity in this age of corporate media and understaffed stations—locally produced programming (a testament, in large part, to station president, CEO and all-around fairy godfather, the ever-dedicated, sometimes grating, always worth-listening-to Alan Chartock, who is pictured). Cheers to WAMC for proving that "local" doesn't have to mean provincial or pandering, but can be smart, provocative and genuine. Hell, I even listen to its on-air fundraisers—now that's devotion.
WAMC, 90.3 FM, www.wamc.org
