Where We Live

Where We Live  is available as a podcast on  Apple Podcasts,   Spotify ,  Google Podcasts ,  Stitcher , or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! This hour on Where We Live, we hear from sickle cell disease experts at UConn Health and Yale on a successful transfusion therapy, and ongoing research that promises a full cure following a risk-reduced transplant. And, we h...

This hour, we sit down with Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski to discuss his plans for the final two months of the campaign, and to take your questions. This is Stefanowski’s   second time   running against Ned Lamont, after losing to the incumbent in 2018 by 3% points or around 40,000 votes. The former business executive has focused his platform on making Connecticut more afforda...

Steve Roberts launched the Push to Start Skate Program in 2017, using skateboarding "to create community, teach creative thinking, collaboration and self-confidence to youth in the Dixwell and Newhallville area" every Saturday. This hour, we hear from Roberts about his efforts to make skateboarding more accessible in his hometown, including the Scantlebury Park skate facility, which opened last su...

Making those student loan payments is among many Americans' monthly budgets. But with President Biden’s plan to wipe out student debt for some borrowers, what should people do with this new, discretionary income? Today, we talk about life after student loan debt, and how to set new financial goals. Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief of  the Balance , a personal finance website, joins us. And we hear f...

What role do taxes have in the habits of consumers? A  new Yale study  found that increasing taxes on e-cigarettes led to a decline in youth and young adults’ rate of daily vaping; but it led to an increase in cigarette use. The tobacco taxation in Connecticut is $4.35 cents per pack of cigarettes. The state also taxes e-cigarettes at $0.40 per milliliter. This hour on Where We Live, we hear from...

While Connecticut's craft beer industry has grown steadily over the  last decade , the pandemic posed challenges to taprooms and wholesale retailers alike. Nearly half of the state's 125 breweries received federal relief funding, according to the Brewers Association. This hour, we hear from the Connecticut Brewers Guild about how staffing shortages, supply chain snags and price hikes are still a f...

There’s a little more than 3 months until Election Day and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski has made big changes to his campaign team. Today, we get the latest in Connecticut’s governor’s race. Political Science professor Dr. Johnathon Wharton and Hearst CT columnist Dan Haar join us. Nationally, the Republican Party has split into distinct factions since Trump’s presidency. Comi...

Connecticut farms have experienced extreme drought and floods, finding it increasingly difficult to prepare for alternating extremes. While 2021 brought floods that devastated many Connecticut crops, farmers are again dealing with drought this summer. On Friday, federal officials declared New London and Windham counties "primary natural disaster areas" due to drought, while Hartford, Middlesex and...

With Roe v. Wade overturned, and abortion becoming less available, will we see more children placed in foster care and parents seeking adoption? This hour on Where We Live, we speak with experts and learn whether or not we should expect to see an increase in adoption. We hear from the Connecticut Department of Children and Family Services Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes. Later, we hear from Doris H...

South Asians have the highest death rate from heart disease in the U.S. compared to other ethnic groups. Globally, 60% of patients with heart disease are South Asians. Cardiovascular risk in South Asian Americans – Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi immigrant populations – leads to the early onset of plaque in arteries, compared to other groups. That’s what the 12-year long Mediators of Atheroscle...

Does this year's back-to-school mean "back to normal"? This hour, we sit down with Connecticut State Department of Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker to discuss top priorities for the agency. We touch on COVID-19 and monkeypox guidance, teacher shortages, and more. What are your questions for the Commissioner? GUESTS: Charlene M. Russell-Tucker:  Commissioner, Connecticut State Departm...

Connecticut is home to many architectural sites, but what about the ones that occur just off the coast? Today, Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni takes us through the many shipwrecks along Connecticut’s shoreline. We hear about what happened to these shipwrecks and how they’re being preserved so that divers will always have an opportunity to explore this piece of Connecticut history. First up, we hear from J...

There’s been heavy emphasis put on computer programming education in recent years. Tech moguls like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have all predicted that "learning to code" will be as ubiquitous as learning algebra. What opportunities are there to learn to code in Connecticut? This hour, we hear from the owner of three  Coder Schools  in our state, Vaishali Shah.  Hartford Business Jo...

106,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant, yet federal officials have raised serious questions about the national transplant system, known UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing. This hour, we learn about a  confidential government report  and  Senate investigation , both finding serious weaknesses in the transplant system. Washington Post health and medicine reporter Lenny Bernste...

Microbeads were banned in the U.S. in 2015, but tiny bits of plastic known as microplastics, and another manmade family of chemicals called PFAS, are turning up in our environment and in our bodies. A recent survey conducted by Connecticut Sea Grant identified both materials as "top" contaminants of emerging concern this year. This hour, we hear about efforts to track PFAS and microplastics in Con...

Brother Carl Hardrick has been a leader in violence prevention in Hartford for decades. Now there is an  Institute for Violence Prevention and Community Engagement  in his name. This hour, we sit down with Hardrick to reflect on his impact and his hopes for the Institute. "Interrupters" and "interveners" will train to take local action, working with youth and families and mediating conflict. "We'r...

A  new study examining "news deserts" in the U.S.  finds an average of two newspapers are closing per week, and estimates that by 2025, "one-third of American newspapers that existed roughly two decades ago will be out of business." This hour, we hear from lead author Penny Abernathy, plus, a researcher with Oxford’s Reuters Institute who found that at the same time,  digital news is failing to fi...

A new study examining "news deserts" in the U.S. finds an average of two newspapers are closing per week, and estimates that by 2025, "one-third of American newspapers that existed roughly two decades ago will be out of business." This hour, we hear from lead author Penny Abernathy, plus, a researcher with Oxford’s Reuters Institute who found that at the same time, digital news is failing to fill...

In 2018, New London was designated a "site of memory" on the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization's  slave route project , an effort launched in 1994 to "break the silence" around the history of slavery. New London Landmarks held a ceremony in July to recognize the designation, installing a plaque at Amistad Pier. The site is considered the sixteenth stop on the  New Lon...

The recent monkeypox outbreak started in May, and the virus continues to spread. Today, we learn more including how monkeypox is transmitted to who’s eligible for vaccination. We hear from Dr. Celine Gounder Senior Fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Editor-at-Large for Public Health at Kaiser Health News. What questions do you have about monkeypox? But first up, Wesley Renfro, Professor o...

New research from multiple studies – yet to be published – was highlighted at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in San Diego, August. This hour on Where We Live, we discuss studies that show high blood pressure during pregnancy; consumption of highly processed foods; and the loss of smell and taste are all predictors of cognitive decline later on. We hear from an Alzheimer’s pat...

How are the deep racial disparities in reproductive health care being addressed in light of Roe v. Wade’s overturning? Connecticut nurse-midwife, nurse educator and historian Dr. Lucinda Canty recently launched Lucinda's House, to help local women of color "become an active part in eliminating structural barriers to improve their overall health and well-being." This hour, we hear from Dr. Canty ab...

Tuesday is the Connecticut primary, will you be voting? The races to watch include four candidates competing in the Democratic and Republican primaries for Secretary of the State, and the Treasurer’s race where three candidates are vying for the Democratic vote. And which Republican candidate has the best chance to go up against US Senator Richard Blumenthal in November? Mark Pazniokas from the Co...

As non-profit, tax-exempt institutions, colleges and universities are often seen as a source of public good. For example, a  recent New York Times Magazine article  celebrated a bustling New Haven arts scene that has arisen "both because of and despite Yale." Author and historian Davarian L. Baldwin describes a "public good paradox," calling for a "broad examination of higher education's growing f...

Journalist Erik Hesselberg has covered Connecticut’s waterways for decades. This hour, we preview his new book about the vibrant history of steamboats in our state, taking a trip on  Night Boat to New York . "For more than a century, overnight and day-excursion steamers had plied the route between Hartford and New York," writes Hesselberg, "carrying passengers, mail, and goods on regularly-schedul...