The Rogovoy Report 4.10.23

From around the corner to around the globe...

Apr 10, 2023

Quit Your Bucket List

(The Atlantic) - Research shows that humans have an intrinsic preference for things and people they are familiar with, something called the mere exposure effect. This tendency toward repetition may seem natural, even lazy, but it runs counter to much of our history. We, along with other animals, evolved to be exquisitely sensitive to novel experiences. Way back in the Paleolithic era, there was a clear survival advantage to being attuned to new situations, which could lead someone to a potential mate or a piece of mastodon, or reveal a deadly threat. Nowadays, though, with every conceivable reward—food, sex, drugs, emotional validation, you name it—either a click, tap, or ChatGPT query away, conventional novelty-seeking has lost much of its adaptive advantage.

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The ‘missing personality type’: Could you be a Highly Sensitive Person? (The Guardian)

If you do all the talking in your relationship, it’s time to share (WSJ)

What conversation can do for us (New Yorker)

‘Save the Triplex’ Campaign Seeks to Buy Triplex Cinema, Operate as Nonprofit

(Berkshire Edge) GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - A grassroots group of Berkshire area residents have come together to begin raising money to purchase the Triplex Cinema and operate it as a nonprofit cinema and education center. Community organizer and film lover Nicki Wilson organized meetings at her home in Great Barrington to discuss options and strategies. The decision to mobilize the community in order to buy the cinema and operate it as a nonprofit for the benefit of the area was unanimous. The immediate plan is to form a nonprofit and raise the required money to ultimately purchase the cinema from longtime owner Richard Stanley, who has stood by the Triplex through the Covid-19 pandemic and all the challenges to the movie industry but has determined it is time to move on.

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Film expert Leonard Quart bemoans possible loss of The Triplex (B Eagle)

At Mahaiwe, Joan Osborne plans to perform fan favorites and new material inspired by her mother and daughter (Berkshire Eagle)

Former Berkshire blues legend James Montgomery returns for Dalton concert (B Eagle)

Matthew Gold and Paul de Jong breathe life into silent film The Golem with live musical score at The Clark on Thursday (B Eagle)

‘Inspired Berkshires’ to feature a dozen poets at Stockbridge Library (Berkshire Edge)

Why Williamstown Theatre Festival has no full shows this summer (ATU)

Inaugural Adams Theater season includes music, dance, comedy and a Pride Pageant (B Eagle)

How arts enrich the state’s civic life (Commonwealth)

Weezer, Dinosaur Jr. headlining new music festival in Catskills (ATU)

At Curtain Call Theatre in Latham, N.Y., laughter forms a cultural bond (WAMC)

Ghent Playhouse stages Ruthless: a comic play that takes on theater (ATU)

NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

Berkshire Co-op in Gt. Barrington Opens Kitchen and Home Goods Shop Emphasizing Local Artisans

(Berkshire Edge) GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - Last week, the Berkshire Food Co-op opened its new retail store, The Attic, located right upstairs from the Co-op at 34 Bridge Street. The focus of the store is on kitchen and home goods, including non-plastic and reusable items, with a variety of handmade goods, bags, and wearables, along with gifts. Many of the products being offered at the store are from local artisans.

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Spring is in the air (Berkshire Eagle)

Homelessness on the rise in Pittsfield (iBerkshires)

Town of Lee files lawsuit against Monsanto over PCBs (Berkshire Edge)

Housatonic resident files $7K lawsuit against local water company for damages (Berkshire Edge)

Mandatory registration is underway for Great Barrington short-term rentals (WAMC)

North Adams sidewalks: ‘Crumbling’ and ‘dangerous’ (B Eagle)

Former resident of Berkshire Towers likes MCLA’s plan to convert dorm to homeless shelter (B Eagle)

North Adams city clerk explains why he resigned (WAMC)

Three finalists vie for W.E.B. Du Bois sculpture project in Great Barrington (B Edge)

Windsor couple plans to open LGBTQ+ high school in Cummington (B Eagle)

'Once-in-a-lifetime’ conservation effort has preserved 14K acres along ridge line bordering Monterey and Tyringham (B Eagle)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

New York Wants to Repopulate Hudson River with Shad, the ‘Poor Man’s Salmon’

(ATU) HUDSON RIVER, N.Y. - Shad, the “poor man’s salmon,” once populated the Hudson River estuary from New York Harbor north to Fort Edward. The silvery-blue fish, which can grow up to 30 inches, was an important food source in the region and was commercially fished on the Hudson in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming essential during World War II as fishing trawlers were forced from the open Atlantic by the specter of Nazi U-boats. Shad fisheries were closed in 2010 on the Hudson after a series of population collapses, but New York wants to grow shad populations in the river until recreational catch-and-release is once again possible, with the eventual goal of reopening commercial fishing.

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Summer-like temps on way later this week (ATU)

$100M for broadband access met with optimism (HV360)

Residents of Hudson public housing project raise concerns over needed repairs, cleaning, asbestos, painting, security (Columbia Paper)

Hinchey backs newspaper tax credit bill to aid local journalism (HV360)

‘End of an era:’ Rhinebeck’s A.L. Stickle Variety Store to close in May after 76 years (ATU)

Hudson River PCBs: Molinaro, Ryan join forces seeking proper cleanup (Daily Freeman)

ProPublica investigation uncovers Clarence Thomas’s Adirondacks connection (WAMC)

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