Coming Up! May 27 to 31, 2103

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Monday: Redefining Disability (rebroadcast)
If you take a look at movies or TV, you’d think that having a disability is the worst fate possible– maybe even worse than death.  Better to not be born at all than struggle through life unable to walk, hear, see or talk. Then there’s the flip side – the media loves to show us the brave, courageous, inspiring stories of disabled people. Those stories meant to teach a lesson of compassion to the able bodied. But people living with disabilities are beginning to challenge these ideas. Their impairments are not the problem, but it’s social and environmental barriers that make them “disabled.” And as for that “sympathetic” portrayal, long the standard practice of the Jerry Lewis telethon? Disabled advocates are pushing for a new picture that doesn’t pity or single out – but treats everyone as equals. Today, we’ll look at the history of the disability rights movement, and how we got to where we are today. We’ll discuss changing perceptions, and how media and news coverage affect our views about disabilities.

Tuesday: Connecticut’s Native People and Tribal Casinos
Lucianne Lavin, of the Institute for American Indian Studies and the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, will join us in studio to discuss her new book Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions Teach Us about Their Communities and Cultures. And we’ll check in with Boston Globe reporter Mark Arsenault about the proposed tribal casino in Southern Massachusetts.

Wednesday: Connecticut and Submarines
Connecticut is home to the first submarine base in the nation. But discussions about BRAC – Base Closing and Realignment Commission – put Connecticut’s base on the defensive. As warfare and national defense continues to evolve, what does the future hold for submarines? The nation’s military focus is pivoting towards Asia so does it make sense to have a base on the east coast? We’ll talk about the role of Connecticut in the military’s submarine program and what is being done to protect it from future BRACs. What would happen to our state’s economy if the base does shut down?  

Thursday: DSS Commissioner Rod Bremby
It’s the 20^th anniversary year of the Department of Social Services and today we’ll sit down with Commissioner Rod Bremby to talk about the organization’s new modernization project, health care reform, and so much more.

Friday: TBA

 

Ryan Crocker: Drones “can’t substitute for an entire nuanced counter-terrorist strategy.”

President Obama just gave a major speech on U.S. foreign policy, including the use of drone strikes. His comments echoed those of former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who has served in Iraq, Pakistan, and most recently Afghanistan. Crocker appeared on Where We Live earlier this month  before an event with the World Affairs Council of Connecticut.

You can listen to Ambassador Crocker discuss the use of drones in the clip below. He talks about coordinating strikes with the Pakistani government and the use of drones in an overall counter-terrorism effort.

 

 

Harmonized Palindrome

One thing I learned about the great new folk duo The Sea The Sea is that they love palindromes. I also love palindromes, mainly because my birth date is palindromic.

Even if we didn’t share this love, Chuck and Mira would have quickly won me over. It’s hard to not tap your foot and sing along to “Love We Are We Love,” even if you don’t know the words.

The Sea The Sea performed in-studio before their appearance at the HartFolk Festival. I’ll try to get a few more videos up from that show over the next few days.

Update: You can now buy “Love We Are We Love” on iTunes.

A Passenger’s Account From the Derailed Metro-North Train

The derailment and subsequent collision of a Metro-North train could have been much worse. Despite more than 70 injuries and major inconveniences for commuters, nobody died in the accident.

On this morning’s episode of Where We Live, we talked about what happened on Friday and we were joined for a few minutes by Rob Oliver. He works in New York City and was on the train that derailed. In the clip below he describes his experience and says he knew “something awful” was happening.

Our other guest, chairman of the Connecticut Metro-North Commuter Council Jim Cameron follows up with a question about the time between derailing and colliding with another train.

Oliver said he didn’t even realize they had hit another train. “All you felt was this waving, this incredibly loud metal-on-metal screeching noise, and the engineer desperately trying to stop the train,” he said.

Coming Up! May 20 to 24, 2013

Monday: A Slower Than Usual Commute

The derailment of a Metro-North train on Friday evening resulted in dozens of injuries and threw this week’s commute into disarray. We’ll check in with reporters who are covering the state’s response to this accident, talk to a passenger involved in the collision and Jim Cameron, chairman of the Metro-North Commuter Council. Do you normally get to work by train? How did Friday’s events affect your commute this morning?

(Note: our originally scheduled show with Dan Kennedy about his new book, “The Wired City: Reimagining Journalism and Civic Life in the Post-Newspaper Age” has been rescheduled for a later date.)

Tuesday: Suburban Poverty
It’s common to associate city life with poverty. But a new study suggests otherwise. Is poverty spreading faster in suburban communities? We’ll talk to several authors about their findings and hear from the executive director of the Connecticut Commission on Children about what’s happening in our state.

 Wednesday: Daphne Lee Martin (rebroadcast)
Today, a memento from our yearly pilgrimage to our favorite little seaport town: New London, Connecticut.  It’s home to a DIY art and music scene that seems to grow every year.  We’re revisiting our program from February, where we broadcast live from The Telegraph – It’s a record shop, used bookstore and performance space owned by Daphne Lee Martin and her husband, Rich Martin.  Daphne has been a fixture on the Connecticut music scene for years with her bands Raise the Rent and Roadside Attractions.  She was voted “Best Country Artist” at last year’s Connecticut Music Awards.  Her brand new record, Moxie is an altogether different affair. Less a collection of songs – more a soundtrack to a wild burlesque show.  Underwater, dreamy vocals, you hear reggae beats under New Orleans horns, bossa nova, honky tonk, gypsy and swing – all in a late-night cabaret.  We’ll be hearing this new music played live, and talking more about the music scene in New London, about the “vinyl  revival.”

 Thursday: Sexual Assault in the Military
Earlier this month the Pentagon released a report estimating that 26,000 people in the military were sexually assaulted in 2012 – that’s up from 19,000 in 2010. Also in the news, officers in charge of sexual assault prevention programs for the Air Force and the Army have been arrested for alleged sexual assaults.  Today, WNPR’s Lucy Nalpathanchil guest-hosts a conversation about the push to reform the U. S military in addressing this epidemic. We’ll also check in with advocates in Connecticut to find out how local veterans are finding support. And U.S Senator Richard Blumenthal will update us on legislation he’s co-sponsoring to eliminate sexual assaults in the military.

 Friday: The Water Dilemma
In Connecticut, many of us take our clean drinking water for granted. Turn on the faucet and the water pours out for drinking, cooking, bathing, watering our lawns…but will that always be the case? Other parts of the world and even this country are not as lucky. The droughts throughout much of the U.S. are decimating agriculture out there. Today, Connecticut Mirror and WNPR reporter Neena Satija guest-hosts a show on Connecticut’s need for a water strategy. We’ll also check-in with other states who are preparing for potential water shortages and those who already have a problem.

“Can we really blame (teenagers) for not being concerned with politics?”

Today’s show asked a question that has entered many minds over the years: What’s government good for? That feeling is understandable, especially this week (the IRS scandal, the Justice Department secretly collecting phone records from AP reporters, and the Robert Braddock Jr. trial happening here in Connecticut).

Our in-studio audience are students in the Introduction to American Politics class at Bulkeley High School in Hartford, CT.

Kyle Phillip is a senior from Bulkeley High School. He raised the question of political apathy among his classmates. But he demonstrated that he’s not apathetic himself.

Listen to the full show with Christine Stuart from CT News Junkie and Urania Petit, the Working Families Registrar of Voters in Hartford.

Coming Up! May 13 to 17, 2013

Monday:  Skills Gap, LIVE from the Hartford Public Library
“Middle skills” jobs – which require more than a high school diploma, but less than a 4-year degree – could be key to our economic growth. Does Connecticut have the workforce to fill them? Or do we have a “skills gap” between workers trained for jobs, and employers looking to fill them? 52 percent of American employers surveyed by staffing company ManpowerGroup say they’re finding “talent shortages.” But the problem may come down to being able to pay those workers a living wage – and offer a little bit of training. The Connecticut Department of Labor predicts that by 2018, two thirds of jobs in the state will be middle or low skill. Whose problem is it if the workers who could fill those jobs aren’t quite ready for them – and what are we doing in Connecticut to try to close the skills gap? Today we air a previously taped show from the Hartford Public Library, in partnership with the Connecticut News Project.

Tuesday: Labeling GMOs and Toxic Chemicals
We’ll hear about current legislation that would require labeling of “genetically engineered foods.” Grassroots organization GMO Free CT is pushing the bill, while some in the farm industry see this as unnecessary regulation. Also, Connecticut has been on the forefront of banning toxic chemicals from baby bottles, children’s jewelry and receipt paper. Now the Coalition for a Safe and Healthy CT is pushing further laws to require manufacturers of children’s products to provide notice to the public health commissioner if products contain chemicals that might harm children. Bills would also ban toxic fire retardants in children’s products, and label food and drink packaging that contains BPA. And CT Mirror reporter Mark Pazniokas joins us to talk about former House Speaker Chris Donovan’s campaign finance director’s corruption trial starting this week.

Wednesday: Paving Paradise
The retail landscape of Connecticut is…repetitive. It’s evident just by John Dankosky’s drive to work down Route 44. We took a drive down that stretch of road with the Hartford Courant’s Tom Condon and took note of the numerous shopping plazas that now line the road. On 44, why does just 1.4 miles separate CVS pharmacies? And why are there so many darn Dunkin’ Donuts? We’ll talk about the landscape and retail sprawl of Connecticut and America.

Thursday: Government: Why Bother?
Why do we bother with government? The influence of money and power can seem to get in the way of democracy. Compromise might water down our ideals to no real change at all. How big a problem is apathy among young voters? What can we do to get people engaged – and will it make a difference? Join us for a conversation along with special guests in studio – a civics class from Bulkeley High School in Hartford.

Friday: Back to the Present
What does it mean to be human right now? Big thinker Douglas Rushkoff joins us to talk about “presentism” and his new book, Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now. We’re now living in the future but we just don’t have time to live in it. Instead, we’re playing the endless game of “catch-up” on email and social media. Block off your calendars and join the conversation live – you won’t want to listen to the podcast later.