HUNGER

We speak with author Chuck Collins about the elite class and his book, "Burner by Billionaires," preview the Northampton Book Fair this weekend and McGovern with Rep. Jim McGovern.

We visit Born Free Food Pantry in Springfield, hear live music with musician Jude Roberts and discuss silent letters with the Word Nerd.

Food banks around the U.S. have been busier than usual in the past month. Produce for soup kitchens and pantries comes from several sources, including fields that are gleaned of excess crops, after farmers finish their harvest.

In Springfield Public Schools, about 87% of all students eat breakfast every morning, followed by 75% of elementary school students in North Adams and 73% in Holyoke, a new report finds.

We visit community center The Brick House in Montague, walk through Crabapple Farm and learn about a play about musician Teddy Pendergrass premiering at CitySpace this weekend.

When politicians use food benefits as political football, Prof. Mariana Chilton says the country — not only hungry families — experience a collective trauma.

Though SNAP has been restored and the shutdown has ended, some local restaurants took action to feed residents who relied on this aid and they've decided to continue this work throughout the month of November.

U.S. Representative Richard Neal, D-Springfield, says he will be voting against a plan to reopen the federal government. The plan offers no guarantees of funding being restored for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. That's something most Democrats had been holding out for.

The fallout from the federal government shutdown continues to chip away at federal funding for safety net programs designed to aid low-income Mass. residents.

We check in with the executive director of The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts about SNAP benefits, learn about Westfield's Hutghi's at the Nook, and learn about mounweasels with the Word Nerd.