The Berkshire Edge On-Air Wednesday October 21, 2020

The Berkshire Edge LLC is a locally owned, regional publication. Our goal is to provide – regularly and in depth – content that truly reflects the life, interests and aspirations of this unusually rich and vibrant community.

Guided by respected journalistic standards, the principle of fairness, the quest for truth, a commitment to social, economic and environmental justice, and an abiding admiration for the independent spirit of the Berkshires, The Berkshire Edge offers in-depth local news reports and features, perspectives on the arts, wide-ranging commentary, and a comprehensive calendar of events – all written, illustrated, and, in some cases performed, with wit, intelligence, insight and humor.

1. A local libertarian think tank has been much in the news, both here and nationwide. Great Barrington-based AIER — American Institute for Economic Research — propounded the preposterous recommendation that we should rely on herd immunity rather than a vaccine to eliminate the COVID19 pandemic. Eventually, they argued, “herd immunity” would develop — at the expense of thousands if not millions of lives. This agenda attracted nationwide attention:

And we had several responses to AIER in the form of op ed pieces:

Attorney Dan Seitz wrote that the AIER viewpoint depended on faulty science:
https://theberkshireedge.com/the-great-barrington-declaration-another-viewpoint/

2. And speaking of Ayn Rand, our columnist Carole Owens has an intriguing column about social Darwinism, and about its acceptance by the American wealthy hierarchy who built “cottages” in the Berkshires:
https://theberkshireedge.com/connections-110/

3.  We have a story from your neck of the woods. In a memoir Allison Drew writes about the anguish and mystery of her 91-year-old father, Tom Drew, a retired fashion designer, who went missing 13 years ago.

4. In response to the COVID19 pandemic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has canceled its holiday pops and 2021 spring season. Tanglewood still up in the air:
https://theberkshireedge.com/bso-cancels-2020-21-winter-spring-season-and-holiday-pops-2020-series-at-symphony-hall/

5.  But back to reality, our writer Hannah Van Sickle focused on the emergence of new food pantries in South Berkshire, as the pandemic disrupts the economy and social fabric of small towns in the Berkshires:
https://theberkshireedge.com/new-food-pantries-support-local-communities-in-south-county/

6. It’s not all dark stages in the Berkshires. To a small audience, but to a much larger one online Close Encounters with Music hosted the Escher Quartet at the Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington:
https://theberkshireedge.com/close-encounters-with-music-still-killing-it-at-the-mahaiwe/