Where We Live

Congressman Jim Himes has been serving in Congress since 2009 when he was elected to represent Connecticut's 4th district. Since then, he’s become a democratic leader focused on national security and intelligence concerns. This hour on Where We Live, he joins us to look ahead to the 2024 election and talk through his priorities. We also talk about what he thinks of the debt limit deal reached this...

A Pew survey from 2018 estimated 13% of adults consult tarot card readers, astrologers or "fortune-tellers." But more recent market research shows sales for tarot card decks and psychic services are growing. This hour, we explore the art of divination and "card-pulling" in Connecticut. Hear from professional tarot reader Afton Jacobs-Williams, AKA Monty's Tarot Child. Plus, Chelsea Granger is a mu...

In one episode of the docu-series Reciprocity Project , Connecticut-based educator and member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe Chris Newell teaches acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma a pow-wow song. Together, they play at sunrise, "singing up the sun" in the tradition of the Wabanaki or People of the Dawnland, a confederation of four tribes in Maine including Passamaquoddy. This hour, we hear about this film se...

Nearly 92% of American households reported owning at least one vehicle in a recent five-year 2021 census report . Connecticut falls just below that national average. A recent Forbes study found that the average annual cost of full-coverage car insurance in Connecticut is $1,730. Plus, the report ranks Connecticut as the most expensive state for car repairs, averaging around $400 for check engine l...

Whether they’ve been written by a loved one or a local newsroom, obituaries are an earnest attempt at the impossible: distilling one person's life into a couple of pages or paragraphs. This hour, we explore the delicate art of obituary-writing with two experts: Tampa Bay Times and Poynter writer Kristen Hare, and Lucy Gellman, an editor with New Haven's Arts Paper. Plus, Epilogg co-founder Mary Mc...

23% of the adult U.S. population cannot read above a third-grade level. Literacy isn’t limited to reading and writing, it can also refer to basic math, comprehension and critical thinking skills. There is no part of the U.S. population that isn’t touched by low literacy. And many people suffer from shame around the struggle to read and write. According to ProLiteracy, bringing reading levels up “w...

R.F. Kuang's works of historical fantasy, including  The Poppy War  series, have been racking up awards since she began publishing in 2018. Her novel  Babel  won the prestigious Nebula Award for science fiction and fantasy writers this week. The same day, her latest book  Yellowface  debuted. It is Kuang's fifth novel, and a shift from fantasy to literary fiction. The satirical thriller takes on t...

There are over  4,000 foster children living in Connecticut.  May is Foster Care Month. From what's seen on TV and the media, foster care looks like a selfless, philanthropic act; willing foster parents open up their homes to children in need.  But being a  foster parent is a complicated job  that requires many layers of kindness and sensitivity. Laura is a foster parent based out of California. S...

A proposed bill would set limits on how warehouses track worker productivity where we live. Amazon – which currently employs more than 15,000 Connecticut residents across its 14 locations – was the focus of a recent hearing on the bill. This hour, an Amazon spokesperson responds to the legislation. Kelly Nantel says they support the "goal of the bill" and look forward to working with state lawmake...

Spring is here and it’s time for our annual spring gardening hour and we are going back to basics. What’s a zone? How do you choose the right kind of soil? How to keep your succulents alive all year round? If you’re a new or inspiring gardener,  Charlie Nardozzi  is joining us to answer our questions and yours about getting comfortable with the soil. We want to hear from you, what questions do you...

the ripple, the wave that carried me home is a new play running at the Yale Repertory Theater, following a family of “aquatic activists” across decades, as they push for equity in access to pools. This hour, we hear from playwright Christina Anderson and director Tamilla Woodard, and we learn more about the history of racism at beaches and pool clubs where we live. GUESTS: Christina Anderson: Play...

Connecticut residents have the highest average credit card in the nation. Although personal finance courses are offered in high schools, they aren’t mandated to graduate. And often,  these courses don’t address the complex financial challenges of their students. Today, on Where We Live, we talk about giving more students access to financial literacy, and  making that curriculum more inclusive. We...

Of the millions of people working in STEM fields in the U.S., only 9% are Black, according to the Pew Research Center. Those numbers are "unchanged" since 2016.How can efforts around “inclusivity” in these fields go farther? Environmental scientist Dr. Nyeema Harris has written about the importance of Blackology.“Blackologists are not simply scholars that are Black but, rather, are scholars who de...

Toys are occasionally marketed to "children of all ages." In recent years, market research has shown the number of toy-buyers over 12 years old is growing. The demographic, sometimes called "kidults," now comprises a quarter of the annual toy retail market, and an impressive 60% of the market’s growth in the last year, according to market research company NPD Group . Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a profe...

As of January 1 , Connecticut children are eligible for Medicaid or HUSKY Health until the age of 12, regardless of their immigration status. A new bill would expand coverage to 15, and possibly to 18 .This hour, we get the latest on the legislation from State Sen. Matt Lesser, and hear from organizers with the HUSKY 4 Immigrants campaign. Werner Oyanadel, the Latino and Puerto Rican policy direct...

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto is a native of Torrington and a big proponent of transit oriented development. Today, he joins us to answer our questions and yours about Connecticut transportation. From pedestrian safety to lowering the blood alcohol limit, we’ll hear about his office’s efforts to create safer roadways in our state. With transit oriented dev...

While May Day may draw its roots from a pagan holiday pinned to spring's arrival, it has a more modern incarnation inspired by the fight for the eight-hour work day in Chicago, and later, in Connecticut . This hour, Fairfield University history professor Cecelia Bucki discusses. Plus, we check in on some of the recently-formed unions where we live, including Starbucks and student unions at Yale an...

Last week, a  12-year old Se'Cret Pierce living in Hartford was killed in a drive-by shooting . Gun violence is one of the leading causes of deaths in America, and  the leading cause of death in children . According to the Kaiser Family Foundations,  gun-related incidents are common among adults.  Despite this,  research around this issue remains limited and vastly underfunded. There is several ar...

Whether they’ve been written by a loved one or a local newsrooms, obituaries are an earnest attempt at the impossible: distilling one person's life into a couple of pages or paragraphs. This hour, we explore the delicate art of obituary-writing with two experts: Tampa Bay Times and Poynter writer Kristen Hare, and Lucy Gellman, an editor with New Haven's Arts Paper. Plus, Epilogg co-founder Mary M...

After collecting oral histories from generations of women in her family in "My Little Red Book," Rachel Kauder Nalebuff created  Our Red Book , an extended project reflecting the experience of people of all races, ages and genders around the world. But there’s so much stigma and misinformation around periods. This hour, three Connecticut-based contributors featured in her book join us, breaking do...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently updated its standards around a group of manmade substances called PFAS, promising stricter enforceable limits that would require public water systems to add filtration, or find another source. So what will that mean in Connecticut, where water quality isn't uniformly monitored, and where the advisory limit currently in place under the State Departm...

When you’re searching for personal care products, whether a bar of soap or a bottle of lotion, are you reading the ingredients label? What harmful ingredients should be avoided? A  recent study from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute  found potential links between the regular use of hair straightening products like relaxers that contained "formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemical...

Calls to observe Muslim holidays in school calendars are growing in the U.S., along with the population of Muslim students. In 2018, Pew Research Center projected that Islam could be the country’s second-largest religion by 2040. After students and advocates spoke up, Stamford's school board voted to observe Eid al-Fitr in the upcoming school year. Eid al-Fitr is the final, celebratory day of Rama...

Climate change is presenting so many challenges in our region, but residents around New England are rising to the occasion. Today, we hear from reporters from the New England News Collaborative on new solutions to mitigating climate change. From green burials, to  eliminating construction waste  and even climate proofing our agriculture, we’ll hear about a variety of innovations that could make a...

Between March 2020 and September 2021, over 10,000 incidents of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported. That’s according to the advocacy group, Stop AAPI Hate . It was only recently that Connecticut mandated AAPI studies in public schools- by the 2025-26 school year it’ll be a core part of social studies education. How are those directly affected by this change res...