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Power of History, new show 'In Common,' Rep. Jim McGovern

We conclude our trio of 250th-focused Power of History talks with Clark University professor Ousmane Power-Greene by looking at the years just after our official separation from England, our baby steps as a nation seeking to establish federal criteria, and the circumstances that led to Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman’s court case that would officially end slavery in the Bay State.

On our nation’s birthday this weekend, you have an opportunity to expand your perspective to encompass the whole state. “In Common” is a new program out of WGBH, CAI, and NEPM that seeks to connect the stories of all 351 towns and cities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We talk with host Jeremy Siegel about the series, the surprising facts he’s learned about our corner of New England, and the pilot episode that you can hear this weekend.

And Congressman Jim McGovern is managing to survive summer in the DMV in this heatwave, a feat in and of itself, while simultaneously giving us his takes on recent SCOTUS decisions, his worries about possible executive branch intervention in the upcoming midterms, his thoughts on the nation’s birthday this weekend and more.

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.