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Easthampton Mayor Salem Derby, Word Nerd

We make our second stop with our next Mayor-of-the-Month in Whoville, which is to say Easthampton's newly-elected mayor, Salem Derby.

Though he’s been in the office since last July as interim mayor, it was only made official with this past election. We talk with him about the exit of his opponent Lindsay Sekula, who had been working in the office, the first wave of issues he’s preparing to face and his first proposed budget. We also hear about his hopes for a more robust performing arts scene in the city, housing initiatives and much, much more.

Then we get embroiled in scandal, or rather a modern suffix that has begun to denote controversy with Word Nerd Emily Brewster, senior editor at Merriam-Webster, as we look at the origins and many usages of “gate” from its beginnings with Nixon, to it’s latest iterations attached to pizza and gamers.

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.