Change can help us improve not just ourselves, but the world around us.
We find that in Hampshire County at Amherst Cinema, where they are in the middle of a series titled "Transformed". This collection of full length and short films seeks to
amplify trans stories, representation and filmmakers through showings and curated talks on the works. We chat with Professor and filmmaker Elliot Montague, professor Jen Malkowski, and Amherst Cinema director Yasmin Chin-Eisenhower about the importance of the series, and some of the process and themes we may encounter.
We're also finding it in more representative education. Only one community college in the whole of Massachusetts has a Latinx studies program, and it just so happens to be in Hampden County. We head to Holyoke Community College to speak with the head of the department, Professor Raul Gutierrez, as well as some of the program's current students to hear about the origins of the program and it's growth, as well as the impact it's had on the campus.
And we're seeing it on Capital Hill as well. Now that Kevin McCarthy's ousting is actual rather than speculative, Congressman Jim McGovern has a lot on his mind. But the spectacle itself also turns into an opportunity for us all to understand better how that particular office works.