Where We Live

Here in Connecticut, twice as many tenants faced evictions during the pandemic – not for falling behind on rent, but because their lease was up. They’re called no-fault evictions. And some believe the uptick is due to a loophole in an executive order. Today on Where We Live, we’ll explore what these no-fault evictions could mean to renters and how lawmakers are responding to it....

The history of flooding along the 400-mile Connecticut River runs deep, and disaster management expert Josh Shanley says one flood should be instructive. In his new book,  Connecticut River Valley Flood of 1936,  Shanley examines that devastating event, and warns that “past is prologue," calling for "a coordinated effort by many agencies on all fronts" to prepare for future floodin...

What better way to get to know a country and its people than through literature? Today, we talk about Ukrainian writers and what we can learn about this country through its poetry and prose. University of Massachusetts professor, novelist and poet  Askold Melnyczuk  joins us. His parents were Ukrainian refugees. He also works as a Ukrainian translator and he’ll talk to us about mak...

This hour on  Where We Live , we look into strategies that build resilience in local bookstores and discuss pandemic book launches. Long-time indie bookshops continue to stay afloat and even thrive despite the ongoing pandemic. Amazon  controls  more than half of the market for print books and at least three-quarters of publishers’ ebook sales. We also talk to booksellers abou...

Bloomberg reported that a shorter work week experiment in Iceland found that workers maintained productivity and had improved well-being. Today, Alex Pang, author of  Shorter: Work Better, Smarter and Less - Here’s How,  about how some companies are navigating a shorter work week, while paying workers the same salaries. And later, we hear from Mike Melillo founder and CEO of the Wa...

Tennis star Naomi Osaka and swimmer Michael Phelps are among a growing number of professional athletes who’ve been open about their mental health. Collegiate athletes are stepping up too, to say they need more support. Today, we hear from Fairfield University Division I swimmer Will Robinson, who has become an ambassador for mental health awareness. And Quinnipiac University rugby coach Beck...

Six in ten Americans  say they’re feeling the effects of climate change where they live, and that the federal response thus far has fallen short. Meteorologists are shown to be trusted messengers on climate change, and one non-profit news outlet is driven to help broadcasters connect the local weather conditions to the science of climate change. This hour, we hear from Bernadette Woods...

The National Women’s Law Center finds women in the U.S  lost more than 5.4 million net jobs in 2020 . But women are heading back to work now – there are nearly 600,000 more female workers in trade, transport and utilities; 200,000 more in transportation and warehousing, and 100,000 more in manufacturing. That’s from last March to this March (projected),  according to th...

Replacing your car with a bicycle might not sound possible, but would you change your mind if it was an electric bike? Today, we hear about a bill that could make E-Bikes more affordable and accessible in our state. State Senator WIll Haskell joins us to talk about the proposal, part of legislation to create a greener, more energy efficient Connecticut. And later, we hear why cyclists love these b...

A national nursing shortage has deepened during the pandemic. A  recent survey  by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses found that 92% of nurses felt that the pandemic had "depleted nurses in their hospital, and that their career would be shorter than they had intended as a result." This hour, we hear about a  new plan  to address part of the pipeline problem. Yale...

It’s hard to conceptualize what living under a censorship state feels like, unless you’ve experienced it first hand. Today, we hear exactly how Russia controls the free press and social media;  Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have all been blocked by the Kremlin  since the start of the war in Ukraine. And we learn how Russians have been circumventing censorship. We talk to Ac...

This hour, we explore the  "mysterious Internet phenomenon"  known as ASMR, autonomous sensory meridian response. According to physiologist and  ASMR researcher  Dr. Craig Richard, it's a relaxing reaction to various "triggers," including whispers. Hear from Dr. Richard about how "brain tingles" became a scientific term, and what he's observed in his  ongoing ASMR study ....

Half of the world’s population is made up of women. And by 2025, the number of postmenopausal women is expected to rise to 1 billion, according to the  North American Menopause Society . Despite the  $600 billion global market , menopause is still a taboo topic. But  new scientific research  on menopause on the heels of previous studies show how and where we  must in...

Many pandemic babies, infants born shortly before or during the pandemic, haven’t had as much interaction with the outside world. Today, we talk about how  the last two years could impact these children long term , and what pediatricians are seeing. First, we hear from Sarah Laskow, a Senior Editor at the Atlantic, who gave  birth in the early days of the pandemic. And later, we ta...

Average rent in the state is up 15% on average, with more than half the state’s renters cost-burdened,  according to a recent report . Meanwhile, evictions are creeping back to pre-pandemic levels. Those numbers had dipped because of pandemic-related state and federal relief programs, but most of those resources have lapsed or dried up. This hour, we hear from Connecticut Public housing...

Spring is officially here and that means, the peepers have arrived. Today, we learn about Connecticut’s amphibians, many are waking up now and migrating to wetlands. Coming up, we also talk about the ways volunteers can help collect data on amphibians around our state with  FrogWatch , a national citizen science project. And we talk to a field scientist about the climate and biodiversit...

Through his art, Mohamad Hafez confronts preconceived notions of refugees and the "baggage" they may carry. He was recently the subject of an Oscars-shortlisted documentary , an intimate portrait of how Hafez's acclaimed UNPACKED series was informed by his own experience leaving Syria. This hour, we visit Hafez at his studio, just above the location of his latest venture, Pistachio Cafe. Hear abou...

Hartford Seminary has a new name. It’s now the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. Today, we talk to its President Joel Lohr. And we hear from other faculty members about their efforts to create a more inclusive, interreligious university focusing on peace studies. There have been a lot of conversations about diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace - but of...

A new study by the National Institutes of Health and the Research Triangle Institute, found alcohol consumption by women with children younger than age 5, surged 323% during the pandemic. Researchers compared alcohol consumption rates in February 2020 to April of 2020, when stay-at-home guidelines were in effect, and further along into the pandemic year in November. More women than men exceeded re...

How has the steep drop-off in COVID policies like masking affected immunocompromised individuals and those with disabilities? The CDC's  list of those at risk of severe COVID-19 illness  is long and wide-ranging. This hour, we're joined by Kayle Hill, a Waterbury-based writer and an advocate with Disability Rights Connecticut. Plus, epidemiologist and activist Gregg Gonsalves and Atlanti...

Music schools in Philadelphia denied her admission because she was Black, and so did a segregated concert hall, leading to a  spectacular performance at the Lincoln Memorial  and a fight for Civil Rights. The opera legend  Marian Anderson  lived and sang in  Danbury , Connecticut, for five decades. This hour, we’ll learn about her  life , her studio in Danbury,...

After months of uncertainty, Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum has found a new home in Fairfield. Quinnipiac University’s decision to permanently close the 9-year-old museum in August met public outcry at home and abroad, and prompted a still-pending inquiry by the State Attorney General’s Office. Nevertheless, earlier this month the university  announced a plan  to move th...

The Yale School of Medicine has a new  digital tool  for adults 60 and over to self-identify and report abuse. Tested at the Emergency Department of Yale New Haven Hospital, St. Raphael Campus, the study found 11 cases of abuse – that’s 1.1% of a total of 1002 study participants. Also, 5.6% of the participants – 56 individuals – were identified as requiring social...

What better way to get to know a country and its people than through literature? Today, we talk about Ukraine writers and what we can learn about this country through its poetry and prose. University of Massachusetts professor, novelist and poet  Askold Melnyczuk  joins us. His parents were Ukrainian refugees. He also works as a Ukrainian translator and he’ll talk to us about makin...

"What would Connecticut do without child care?" Providers and parents are organizing an event across several Connecticut cities on Tuesday to pose an answer to that question. The  Child Care for Connecticut's Future coalition  coordinated A Morning Without Child Care to call for $700 million in state funding, and "to bring attention to the impending collapse of the child care industry."...