Where We Live

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...

Where do our clothes come from? According to the Textile Exchange,  52% of our clothes are made from polyester. Fast fashion is  an enormous industry,  allowing us to purchase low cost clothing quickly and efficiently. But the  toll these companies take on the environment is significant, and the workplace conditions for the factories  that create these products are questionable at best. Building s...

Willie Mae Brown is the author of a new book My Selma: True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement . The book, written for young adults, reflects on her time growing up in Alabama and how the civil rights era shaped her coming of age. Today, we’ll hear her message for the next generation of activists. Brown lived in Selma, Alabama until she was 17, when she move...

Anticoagulant rodenticide, a quick fix for controlling the rat and mice population, is now having an effect on birds of prey. Today, we talk to A Place Called Hope, a local raptor rehabilitator here in Connecticut, about how it’s impacting birds across our state. After ingesting this poison, there is little that can be done to save the life of these birds. We’ll hear about legislation to limit the...

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, acclaimed scientist and Connecticut native Dr. Peter J. Hotez has helped translate what we know about the virus and vaccines, taking countless live "news hits" from his office at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. Behind-the-scenes, he helped develop a COVID-19 vaccine, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Now, he’s working on a new book, his third a...

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. According to  ProLiteracy, bringing reading levels up “would generate an additional $2.2 trillion in annual income.  Today, we get a deeper understanding of adult literacy in our country and across our s...

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 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 ligh...

The recent congressional hearings  with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew  showed a continued disconnect between lawmakers and social media companies, and their users. With lawmakers pushing for tougher restrictions on TikTok and in some cases an outright ban, many are asking,  what are the real solutions to protecting our privacy online? Today, we explore ways to  regulate social media.  Is a TikTok ban th...

Conley Monk Jr. came home to Hamden in 1970 after serving in the Vietnam War. His discharge was prompted by a PTSD-induced altercation in Okinawa, and categorized within the military as "other-than-honorable." Mr. Monk spent decades trying to access basic benefits like disability coverage, until  his appeal in 2015  ultimately changed how these kinds of cases are heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals...

While contestants with Connecticut ties have appeared on the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race in the past, the Season 15 premiere on MTV marks the first time more than one Connecticut drag queen has been represented. Robin Fierce from Hartford, Loosey LaDuca from Ansonia, Amethyst from West Hartford and Jax from the Bronx, raised in Connecticut, comprised this season's Connecticut con...

How are museums where we live faring in returning sacred Indigenous objects and human remains, more than thirty years after a federal law mandated "repatriation"? The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, was passed by Congress in 1990. It called for federal agencies and federally-funded museums to repatriate Native American cultural items, including sacred objects and...