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National Spelling Bee, Mr. Universe on LRDs

We're running the gamut of niche academia today.

It's the 100th anniversary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and it's just our luck that Jazz à la Mode host and local dictionary editor Peter Sokolowski is one of the judges for the event. We speak with him about the nature of spelling bees, how he got involved in the event, the interesting origins of the word "spell" and more.

And, Mr. Universe, Salman Hameed of Kainaat Studios and Hampshire College's, explores the very boring and unimaginative scientific naming conventions for very interesting and universe breaking discoveries, little red dots (LRDs).

Christopher “Monte'' Belmonte is host and executive producer of NEPM's The Fabulous 413. He was born and raised in Massachusetts and has been a radio host in western Massachusetts for the last 20 years — the last 17 of them as host of Mornings with Monte on The River 93.9/WRSI.
Kaliis Smith is a radio host and producer for NEPM's The Fabulous 413. She was most recently host and producer at The River 93.9/WRSI where she appeared on Mornings with Monte for the Nerdwatch segment and hosted weekday evenings.