News

  New Yorker staff writer and best-selling author Elizabeth Kolbert offers a startling look at the mass extinction currently unfolding before us in her new book – The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.

Over the last half billion years, there have been five major mass extinctions – we’ll learn more about the sixth with Elizabeth Kolbert.

The Oneida Indians have made their first payment of $11 million under a deal with New York state that guarantees the tribe exclusive territory for their central New York casino. A federal judge last week approved the deal reached with the Cuomo administration last May. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today the payment was made to Madison County and more money is forthcoming.

Last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he would revoke the city's offer of free classrooms in public schools for three charter schools. Enraged parents filed a historic lawsuit against the city yesterday, re-igniting a firestorm debate over charter schools.

Winter storm warnings, watches and weather advisories are posted for Wednesday and early Thursday. Newschannel 13 meteorologist Paul Caiano has the latest track predictions for this potentially large winter storm. 

    New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is the premier venue for the presentation of cultural and performing arts events for NYU and lower Manhattan. Since opening in 2003, the 860-seat Skirball Center has been an educational and community building resource, providing NYU's first large-scale, professional performance space on campus. Through university events, presentations, and partnerships, the Skirball Center offers a unique multi-arts performance program in its intimate proscenium theater located on the south of Washington Square in the heart of Greenwich Village.

Michael Harrington is the Executive Director of the Skirball Center and he joins us to talk about the goals of the venue, past presentations, and their annual Visions + Voices Global Performance Series.

    In The Invention of Wings, Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid.

  miSci is Schenectady NY’s Museum of Innovation and Science. You can escape winter’s seemingly never-ending chill and discover hundreds of brilliantly colored native butterflies at miSci’s new indoor butterfly house which is open through April 19th.

Dr. Mac Sudduth is miSci’s Executive Director and he joins us to talk about the Butterfly House and other goings-on at miSci.

We are also joined by Dr. Radislav Potyrailo a Principal Scientist in Chemistry & Chemical Engineering for GE Global Research. Tonight, he will be giving a lecture at miSci entitled Learning from Nature: Advancing Technologies from Biomimicry to Biomimetics and to Bioinspiration. He’s going to tell us a bit about sensors that were inspired by the iridescent scales of the Morpho butterfly wings.

About half of those charged in connection with a series of pre-St. Patrick's Day parties at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst last weekend were not students at the school.

The Republican newspaper of Springfield cross-referenced the list of those either arrested or issued a court summons against the student directory, and less than half attend UMass. One UMass employee was also charged.

Massachusetts is defending its heavily criticized process for selecting companies to run medical marijuana dispensaries.

    What happens to a Congressperson’s perspective once reelection is off the table?

In today’s Congressional Corner, New York Congressman Bill Owens tells WAMC’s Alan Chartock the answer to that question.