Where We Live

We often think of the holidays as a time to gather with family. But the reality might look a little different. It can be a challenging time if you have a strained relationship with your family.  It can also be difficult for those estranged from family. Family estrangement can occur for a number of reasons.  And there is a lot of stigma around cutting ties with family.  But research says it’s more...

Trains may often be billed as a toy for tots, but there are locomotive-lovers of all ages where we live. This hour, go for a ride on the Naugatuck Railroad at the Railroad Museum of New England, and one holiday train tailored for children on the autism spectrum. Plus, Yale New Haven Children's Hospital is home to a toy train display that sparks joy in children and adults alike. GUESTS: Christine F...

If you’ve ever struggled driving through Hartford, you’re certainly not alone. Today, the  Connecticut Department of Transportation joins us to discuss the Greater Hartford Mobility Study.  Now that it is complete, stakeholders are working to implement some big projects to make Hartford a better city to live in. But it’s going to take some time, possibly even a few decades to implement. We take a...

"An act of translation is always an act of betrayal." This idea, and the questions it inspires, are central to author Rebecca or RF Kuang’s 2022 novel, Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution. As the title promises, the book also explores the nature of revolution and the "necessity of violence," in addition to those complex questions surrounding...

When it comes to certain fandom and cosplay communities, getting your costume right is key, or you might get called out for not being 100% accurate.  But Steampunk is a little different. It’s retro, but it’s futuristic. It’s Victorian, but you can also just go vintage. It's corsets, but also cogs, coils and gadgets. Steampunk, a subgenre of science fiction, is all about retro futuristic technology...

Ralph Nader doesn’t often praise big business leaders, but his new book, The Rebellious CEO , profiles a dozen who he says "did it right." This hour, we hear from the consumer crusader from Connecticut. In this extended interview, he discusses his new book and the need for visionary business leaders today, as well as his upbringing and recent journalism venture in Winsted. He also touches on the l...

Connecticut is one of 41 states that is suing Meta, the parent company of both Facebook and Instagram.  The suit is alleging that Meta is knowingly using addictive algorithmic tactics that are harmful to their users. Today, we give an update on social media regulation and we hear from an activist and researchers working to make these spaces safer. We hear from  Connecticut Attorney General William...

Heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the United States for decades, putting much of the focus squarely and rightly on cardiovascular disease. But what about congenital heart conditions, something affecting your heart since birth? There are 13 million adults living with congenital heart disease, and that number has grown as treatments advance; survival rates have improved by 75% sin...

Growing up, as a  transracial adoptee,  Angela Tucker friends, family and even strangers would make comments and assumptions about what her life would have been like if she hadn’t been adopted. Angela Tucker is the author of the book,  You Should Be Grateful": Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption  and she is Executive Director of the Adoptee Mentoring Society. Today, we talk about t...

When an  error was spotted  in the Spanish-language instructions for the capital city’s ballot, just before the November election, officials moved to correct it. Advocates have said the error underscores the language access issues many Connecticut residents face, and the different kinds of Spanish-language mis- and disinformation there are to tackle. Former Rhode Island Secretary of State and Pell...

Turtles are among one of the oldest reptiles to walk the planet. Although turtles often live long lifespans and are among some of the most resilient animals on the planet, human presence has meant a huge threat to their species.  In her new book Of Time and Turtles, Sy Montgomery says turtles live “slow.” She spent time working with the people who have dedicated their lives to rehabilitating these...

The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History is reopening early next year after four years of renovations. Celebrated Syrian-American artist and architect Mohamad Hafez just installed a new piece, titled “Eternal Cities,” alongside the museum’s Babylonian collection. 3D-printed replicas of ancient Babylonian artifacts are peppered throughout the piece, bridging the millennia between ancient Mesopota...

The holiday season is a time we all want to enjoy. Maybe that means indulging in more food than usual, buying those special gifts and treats for loved ones, and going all out with decorations in your home. But with all that indulgence, comes a lot of waste. At the end of the holiday season, an additional 1 million tons of trash enter landfills.  According to Stanford University's Waste Reduction,...

From the Mayflower's landing, to the meal shared by English setters and Wampanoag people, much is still widely misunderstood about the Thanksgiving holiday and its history. Connecticut-based educator Chris Newell recently wrote a book for children that helps to untangle some of the myths and misnomers commonly associated with Thanksgiving. For example, the book clarifies that "the holiday we celeb...

Every winter in Connecticut, the snowy owls will pass through our state and can sometimes be spotted at the Connecticut shoreline. But they are  just one of many owl species to look out for where we live. Some  cultures see owls as deeply spiritual creatures and as symbols of wisdom. Others see them as bad omens and as signs of impending doom. And that’s definitely impacting their populations. Tod...

For decades, there were cities and towns that were all-white on purpose. These communities are known as "sundown towns." Because this practice was both formal and informal, researchers put together  a database  of these laws, customs and firsthand accounts, under the leadership of the late sociologist and civil rights champion James Loewen. At the peak of the exclusionary practice in 1970, an esti...

For a Connecticut family of four, it costs over $126,000 just to meet their basic needs, according to a recent United Way report . That’s more than four times the federal poverty level. Food insecurity is a big part of the problem, affecting more than 1 in 10 Connecticut residents, according to Connecticut Foodshare. A new report from the United States Department of Agriculture found the national...

Approximately half of U.S. adults reported experiencing loneliness, even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The issue recently moved U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to issue an advisory around the "loneliness epidemic" in America. Soon after, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy introduced a bill that would launch an Office of Social Connection Policy, and fund CDC research to "better understand the ep...

Declining college enrollment has opened up a bigger conversation about the value of a college degree. From 2010 to 2021, undergraduate enrollment dropped by 15%. This declining trend in college enrollment was magnified by the pandemic, when perceptions of the value of a degree really began to shift. The decision making process for potential college students has become more personalized. Potential...

How do museums act as places of discovery, dialogue, and healing? These spaces engage with critical, often complex, issues important to the communities they serve. For two weeks, we're spotlighting two museums where we live doing just that, and speaking with Dr. Macushla Robinson about the power of art and curation. Last week,  we took a tour of Palestine Museum US in Woodbridge . It’s the first m...

There have been a lot of things that have revolutionized how educators teach in the classrooms. Things like Wikipedia, Google and even calculators have caused temporary panic in the education space.  Now that ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools are becoming a central part of our everyday lives, some educators are scrambling to rethink their curriculum. If you ask the artificial intelli...

Social studies education in Connecticut public schools has been getting a major revamp. It’s something we’ve covered on this program. This includes the statute requiring local Indigenous history that rolled out this year, and a statute in 2022 calling for Asian American and Pacific Islander studies, rolling out in the fall of 2025. The state legislature combined many of these mandates in 2021, cal...

It has been just over one month since the Israel-Hamas war began, resulting in the deaths of thousands of civilians and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The images and reports coming out of this region are dire. Many have been left traumatized from witnessing the atrocities of this war up close and from afar Some experts say this war alone will  create a generation in trauma.  That’s on to...

How do museums act as places of discovery, dialogue, and healing? These spaces engage with critical, often complex, issues important to the communities they serve. This includes, for some, the current war between Israel and Hamas, and the resulting humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This week and next, we’re going to bring you to two museums to explore that question, and speak with Dr. Macushla Robinson...

This year, we’ve been learning about how educators are getting students engaged in the electoral process. One way to do this: student government. When you think of class elections, a couple things probably come to mind. But our guests says  student government is much more than prom committees and candidate speeches in the cafeteria.  We'll learn more about the influence student representatives hav...