Where We Live

Democratic candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania John Fetterman continues to recover from a stroke, but some have questioned his capacity to serve as a potential Senator. But disability rights advocates have come to his defense. This hour, on Where We Live, we talk about ableism in life and politics. Dr. Janet Williams, CEO and president of Minds Matter, LLC. and Lydia X. Z. Brown joins us. We also...

Descendants of accused witches in Connecticut are pushing for exoneration 375 years later, hoping our state will follow others in clearing their ancestors' names. This hour, we hear from Beth Caruso and Sarah Jack, two of the five founders of the Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project. Their goal is to "clear the names of those wrongfully accused of witchcraft in Connecticut through legislati...

Alexandra Horowitz is a dog cognition researcher, professor and the head scientist at Barnard College's Dog Cognition Lab. Her latest book,  The Year of the Puppy , follows her first experience raising a puppy. "Instead of following an instruction manual for a puppy, I wanted to follow the puppy," she writes. "By slowing down to observe the changes in our new charge from week to week, I hoped to m...

Superstorm Sandy hit Connecticut back in October of 2012. Since then, residents of Connecticut’s coastal towns have tried to rebuild, but some have also moved on. Today, we talk about the 10 year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy and how climate change is impacting our aging infrastructure. We speak with a resident of Fairfield, Connecticut, who’s home was flooded during the storm. If your home was...

Superstorm Sandy hit Connecticut back in October of 2012. Since then, residents of Connecticut’s coastal towns have tried to rebuild, but some have also moved on. Today, we talk about the 10 year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy and how climate change is impacting our aging infrastructure. We speak with a resident of Fairfield, Connecticut, who’s home was flooded during the storm. If your home was...

Dr. Emily Wang  from the Yale School of Medicine was named a 2022 “MacArthur Genius.” The Chicago–based foundation  recognized Wang  for her  research on health barriers for incarcerated people transitioning to the community , and for her work at the Transitions Clinic Network, which she co-founded. The clinic provides healthcare to people transitioning to civil society, often with chronic unmanag...

Yale Law School Professor Robert Ellickson explores the detriments of current zoning practices and possible means for reform in his new book,  “America’s Frozen Neighborhoods: The Abuse of Zoning.” The book builds on an article Ellickson published in 2020 that provided "an empirical study of zoning practices in Silicon Valley, Greater New Haven, and Greater Austin," titled,  "The Zoning Strait-Jac...

New Haven resident Winfred Rembert was a civil rights activist , who survived a near-lynching in the 1960s and seven years on chain gangs. Today, we talk about his 2022 Pulitzer Prize biography, Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South . We hear from co author Erin Kelly and talk with Rembert's wife, Patsy. Rembert passed in March 2021, and his Pulitzer Prize was awarded po...

How is plastic pollution changing our oceans? Elizabeth Ellenwood addresses this pressing question through art, capturing images of pollution that are both formally beautiful and conceptually shocking. She recently worked alongside scientists at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute to produce  a book  and photography exhibit titled "The Interweaving of the Synthetic and Natural World." This hour,...

Online harassment takes many forms, and victims often have limited ways to protect themselves. Today, we explore we explore this form of harassment. We hear about how an online forum called Kiwi Farms served as a platform users to dox and torment transgender and neuro-divergent people for years. Kat Tenbarge, Tech and Culture Reporter at NBC, joins us. We also hear from Nina Jankowicz, author of H...

A deadly combination of Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, and fentanyl, resulted in 221 overdose deaths up to August this year, up from 141 deaths for the full year 2020, according to the Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner’s Office .This hour on Where We Live, we look at the fentanyl crisis. Data from the state Department of Public health show that 86% of the 1,524 overdose deaths in 2021 were cau...

This hour, George Logan joins us to discuss his campaign against  incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Jahana Hayes . The 5th District face-off has  attracted national attention . With three weeks to go until Election Day, we sit down with the Aquarion executive and former state senator, to hear more about his stance on issues like education, inflation and what he has referred to as "the energy cris...

The pandemic led to a decline in the incarcerated population, and many states have been re-evaluating the purpose of prisons. In this hour, Bill Keller, Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Marshall Project, joins us to talk about his new book, What’s Prison For? Punishment and Rehabilitation in the Age of Mass Incarceration. Keller details how the United States prison population became so massive and...

Charlie Nardozzi, award-winning garden writer and host of Connecticut Garden Journal, joins us to answer your autumn gardening questions. What are the best bulbs to plant this time of year? How can you make better use of the leaves piling up in your backyard? Nardozzi answers these questions and more. But first, Connecticut Public hosted a debate on Thursday  between 4th District Congressional can...

The war in Ukraine shows little chance of slowing down after the Crimean bridge was destroyed, and Russia launched massive missile strikes in Ukraine. Today, we get an update from Washington Post National Security reporter Missy Ryan from Kyiv. We also hear from an Ukrainian American who has committed to staying and working to aid the war effort in Ukraine. And later we talk to a  refugee who arri...

CT Public’s debate series continues in the lead up to Election Day November 8. This hour on Where We Live, a Hearst politics reporter breaks down the issues at stake from a debate between Democratic incumbent John Larson and Dr. Larry Lazor, Republican, both candidates in the first congressional district. They debated each other at Manchester Community College, Tuesday, moderated by CT Public’s Ra...

"Maintaining and bolstering trust in science has never been more critical," writes Connecticut College chemistry professor Marc Zimmer. His latest book, Science and the Skeptic: Discerning Fact from Fiction, explores the impact and "origins of fake science." Written to help young readers "distinguish between science and fake science," Zimmer offers tips and tricks to help "detect science misrepres...

The National Marine Fisheries Service says seaweed farming is the fastest-growing aquaculture in the U.S. Suzie Flores and her husband Jay Douglass launched Stonington Kelp Co. in 2017, and now run the largest commercial kelp farm in Connecticut. Stonington Kelp Co. is also a "regenerative ocean farm. "Kelp helps to absorb carbon and nitrogen from the water as it grows, "resulting in a nutrient-de...

Beauty standards change with each generation, but today’s standards of beauty seem to be more unachievable than ever. Today, we talk about how the beauty industry and its influencers are causing a rise in cosmetic surgeries. Beauty reporter Jessica DeFino joins us. She writes the “ Unpublishable ," a beauty critical newsletter. Think about the type of beauty products you consume. What influences y...

The road for Rob Hotaling to secure the Independent Party nomination for governor received some scrutiny leading to an  unsuccessful court challenge  by Republican candidate, Bob Stefanowki to keep Hotaling off the ballot. Today, Hotaling joins us to explain why he’s running. We hear where he stands on the issues and key differences between him and the 2 other major party candidates. Historically,...

Incumbent Congressman  Joe Courtney (Democrat) , and State Rep.  Mike France (Republican) , candidates in the second congressional district, faced each other in a debate hosted by Connecticut Public, and moderated by Connecticut Public’s education reporter Catherine Shen, at Eastern Connecticut State University, Tuesday. This hour on Where We Live, Connecticut Public and CT Mirror’s Lisa Hagen, fe...

Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission launched a  task force to target digital discrimination and "digital redlining." This hour, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel joins us to discuss this effort. "Your zip code should not determine access to broadband," the Chairwoman has said. She tells us, "The pandemic made this issue crystal clear for everyone." The Chairwoman explains how...

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 Bernstein,...

Agricultural fairs or "country fairs" originated in New England,  according to the International Association of Fairs & Expositions . The idea was "initiated" by Elkanah Watson in 1811. IAFE explains that Watson, a "New England patriot and farmer," organized the Berkshire Agricultural Society and hosted a fair in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. "It was not a market, and was more than just an exhibi...

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...