Where We Live

Attorneys General across the country are demanding change from the big social media companies. This hour, we talk to Attorney General William Tong about his recent meeting with TikTok over disturbing trends happening on the platform. And later, Wall Street Journal tech reporter Georgia Wells walks us through some of the key takeaways from a recent Senate Hearing with Instagram head Adam Mosseri. W...

Should a statue of Connecticut Colony founder John Mason, who led a massacre of Pequot people in the 1600s, be removed from the State Capitol Building? That’s the question before the State Capitol Preservation and Restoration Committee after  weighing public input , with a vote expected Tuesday. This hour, hear the perspectives of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, and the State Historian....

Nursing shortages are being reported across the country, but there’s also rising interest in this critically important profession. This hour, hear from nurses entering the field in our state, and from nursing educators and experts about why the term “burnout” doesn’t capture what’s driving the shortage. University of Saint Joseph professor Heather Evans prefers the te...

Homework is a part of every student’s curriculum. But how much homework is too much? Experts say high school students can receive up to two hours of homework every night! Cathy Vatterott joins us. She’s Professor Emeritus of Education at University of Missouri St Louis and the self proclaimed “Homework Lady.” How much homework does your child get? First, long time education...

Manufacturing jobs like industrial engineering and mechanical engineering technicians   are projected to increase between 15% and nearly 30% by 2026, fetching an annual salary of around $65,000,  according  to the Connecticut Department of Labor. These jobs don’t require a traditional four-year college degree. And there are opportunities for students to go to trade school whil...

This hour Where We Live, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont answers your questions. Connecticut's Covid-19 positivity rate is back above 5%. With Omicron's detection over the weekend, we discuss the latest on the local response, and whether statewide restrictions could return. GUEST: Ned Lamont  - Governor of Connecticut Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

Next month a task force will release its recommendations about so-called magic mushrooms. Did that get your attention? Today, we learn why lawmakers and others have been studying the effects of psilocybin, the main ingredient in magic mushrooms. Alex Kwan, an associate professor of psychiatry from the Yale School of Medicine joins us to talk about clinical trials happening in Connecticut. Could ma...

More than $100 million in federal infrastructure funds will go towards protecting and preserving Long Island Sound. Hear from Soundkeeper Bill Lucey about spending plans, Save the Sound's priorities, and why oysters are so unique. Plus, Norm Bloom of Copps Island Oysters explains why conservation is his business; and Tessa Getchis with the Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension Program provides...

Scientists have warned us: since 1970 nearly 3 billion North American birds have disappeared. This hour, ornithologist Pete Marra, from Georgetown University joins us to talk about how to reverse this troubling statistic. And later scientist Brooke Bateman explains how climate change affects birds and talks about natural climate solutions. Today, the Connecticut Audubon Society releases its latest...

Three rural Connecticut hospitals have recently suspended labor and delivery services or announced plans to do so, leaving locals with fewer and farther away options. Today on Where We Live, we get the latest on what this means for rural residents. How are labor and delivery services changing in our state? Plus, the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority begins accepting applications December 1, with pa...

Sex ed curriculum varies greatly across our state and our country. Today, please be advised we’re talking about sex specifically, sex education. Although schools are required to teach human development and disease prevention, Connecticut schools are  not  required to teach sexual health education. It’s often a short curriculum taught in high school. And conversations about co...

Women-founded or co-founded firms in the U.S. raised $25.12 billion in venture capital in the first half of 2021, more than in any prior year, according to  PitchBook . The reason? Women founders are raising a greater share through late-stage deals and high-value sectors. More women are writing checks at VC firms. And networks of female founders are thriving in cities like New York. Yet the i...

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...

Photography can be documentary, capturing a place and time as they are. It can also provide a means for reimagining the world around us. Hear from two Connecticut artists using the medium to show where they live in a different light. Pablo Delano is a visual artist and Trinity College fine arts professor based in West Hartford, whose book of photography 'Hartford Seen,' was the first to focus on t...

Roya Hakakian came to the US as a refugee from Iran when she was just a teenager. Now, the Connecticut author and poet has drawn on her life story to create a “guidebook” about the immigrant experience. This hour, Hakakian joins us to talk about her new book,  A Beginner’s Guide To America . We want to hear from you, too. How has the history and experience of immigration in...

One hundred years ago in November, two Canadian researchers at the University of Toronto, Frederick Banting and Charles Best, discovered insulin, the life-saving drug for people with diabetes. What was once a death sentence is today a manageable condition with a tubeless insulin pump, and potentially oral insulin not far down the road. The rate of diagnosis of type 1 and type 2 diabetes  has...

The results from the first statewide  LGBTQ+ needs assessment survey  are in. More than 3,000 residents weighed in, informing the first-of-its-kind report for Connecticut's LGBTQ+ Health and Human Services Network. This hour, we focus on health care for transgender and nonbinary residents. "Transgender respondents were 11 times more likely than cisgender respondents to have been refused...

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...

Could that pandemic puppy you adopted last year be welcome at your workplace? More public spaces, such as restaurants, grocery stores and even offices, have become more welcoming to pets. This hour, we talk about how pets are changing the way we work and play and how they’re making us much healthier! We hear from Mark Cushing, author of  Pet Nation: The Inside Story of How Companion Ani...

Phil Klay's works of fiction and nonfiction have confronted the sometimes dissonant or disconnected public understanding about how America’s wars are waged — and its veterans. The Fairfield University MFA professor and Marine Corps veteran joins Where We Live to reflect on how some public perceptions have shifted in recent months. Klay revisits his debut book,  Redeployment , and...

This hour on Where We Live, a look at climate change and health. Physicians turned climate activists see worsening asthma, COPD, and seasonal shifts in vector-borne diseases, plus higher ER visits for heat stress. Hartford and New Haven have the unfortunate distinction of being in the list of  Top 20 Asthma Capitals  in the country, according to the 2021 report from the Asthma and Allerg...

Deciding to quit your job often takes time and consideration. But more and more people are saying, “I quit” with or without two weeks’ notice. This hour, we talk about why Americans are leaving the workplace. Some have dubbed it “The Great Resignation” The labor shortage goes beyond people quitting; it includes those that won’t return to low wage jobs with bad m...

Without adding any frills or frights, the Mark Twain House & Museum spotlights the home’s history with spiritualism, and maybe some spirits along the way. Hear from staffers there, and the restoration experts who help bring historic homes like it back to life. Plus, learn about the "ghost signs" from the 1800s being delicately unearthed in Old Saybrook. Mallory Howard  - Mark Twain...

A new  two-year, $500,000 grant program  can help Connecticut schools improve on child nutrition through "farm-to-school" programming. Overseen by the Department of Agriculture and with funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, schools can tailor the grant to address infrastructural needs, whether a stove or a new greenhouse; to buy local farm fresh food; or to integrate experiential...

President Biden has met with Pope Francis in Rome. The President later sharing that the Pope told him he was a good Catholic and should continue to receive communion. This hour, we talk about what it means to be Catholic in the 21st century. Although the Vatican has not changed much of its doctrine, lay Catholics viewpoints and opinions have changed and evolved with the times. We hear from Celia V...