Coming Up! January 2 to 6, 2012

Happy New Year!

Here at Where We Live, the staff have made a few “resolutions”: Tucker has vowed to not trim his beard once in 2012. Dankosky is branching out to start a hip clothing line for “working professionals”  (Lots of tweed jackets/sweater vest combos.) And I hope to reach my life-long goal of making it on Hartford.com’s list of “25 Connecticut Twitter Users you Should be Following.” (@Scuttlebuttt, ahem)

Oh, and of course we’ll continue to bring you the best radio shows every single day.  Here’s what’s coming up:

MONDAY: New Years Special
Majora Carter’s The Promised Land Episode 2: Farm-to-Plate Innovator — Cheryl Rogowski
Where does our food come from? Since we pay close attention to so many aspects of food in the holiday season, host Majora Carter visits the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area, where Cheryl Rogowski, a fourth-generation farmer, grows 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables. In 2004, Cheryl became the first farmer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She was honored for her innovative approach to agricultural programs and for reimagining and reinvigorating the American family farm. Farming in the 21st century encompasses agricultural work but also addresses community, social, civic and education needs. “It’s not enough to just ride a tractor today,” states Rogowski. She will give us a tour of her farm, and we’ll hear from people she works with in the many programs she has created — from mentoring migrant farmers to creating low-cost CSAs for senior citizens, from supplying food for soup kitchens to helping with innovative sustainable farming programs in local communities.

TUESDAY: I Do? 
About half of all adults in the United States are currently married. This is a record low, according to a new Pew Research Center study. If current trends continue, the share of adults who are currently married will drop to below half within a few years. Despite this trend, the decline is far less for adults with college educations than among the less educated. If marriage is becoming more concentrated among the more affluent and educated, what does this mean for future generations? Coming up, we’ll look at the issue and what it looks like here in Connecticut?

WEDNESDAY: Where’s the Beef?
In 2010, Americans consumed 26.4 billion pounds of beef. Like many things, not all beef is the same. We’ll speak with the owner of a Connecticut beef farm who was feeding his cattle grass before it was popular. We’ll also discuss the impact of droughts and government regulations on the beef industry as a whole. A recent Texas drought reduced the cattle population by 600,000 in that state and the FDA relaxed antibiotic regulations in beef.

THURSDAY: Cable TV
Today it’s a look at cable companies in Connecticut. A new UMASS study says despite the bad economy, the cable industry added jobs and generated almost a billion and a half dollars in economic activity in 2010. We’ll look at how the cable companies operate in the state – where customers have very little choice on price and provider. And what’s the future for cable TV? We’ll find out.

FRIDAY: Just Checking-In
We’re really checking in on some recent shows, including our fracking and natural gas show from August. Environmental reporter Nick Kusnetz will once again join us for the latest in the fracking debate from Canada to the States. And what’s happening with Hartford’s rebranding campaign?

New Years Eve Fun!

PinkStock Photos!

If you’re looking for something fun tomorrow on New Year’s Eve, join WNPR personalities at Middletown’s “Middnight on Main” – a daylong event that’s happening at locations all through town.  At 3pm, Join WNPR Reporter Jeff Cohen as he sits down with members of Middletown’s music scene to find out what makes the city such fertile ground for eclectic musical sounds.

Then, at 4PM and 5PM, it’s the latest installment of Catie Talarski’s Radio Adventure Theater – a radio listening session meets jam session.  Join Where We Live’s Senior Producer as she presents ear opening documentary radio.  And her special guest is the acclaimed singer/songwriter Kate Callahan.  Both events are right on Main Street at The Buttonwood Tree. Hope to see you there! 

Coming Up! December 26 to 30, 2011

Happy holidays from your favorite local public radio show <3

Cordey, Creative Commons

The Where We Live team is taking a much needed mental health/catch-up week during the holiday season. We hope you enjoy revisiting some of our favorite BIG conversations from the past few months. And we’ll be back on Friday with a great show that we haven’t yet booked.

MONDAY: Holiday Special: Majora Carter’s The Promised Land
Think Like a Bee — Marla Spivak
When you sit down at your holiday table, thank a bee. A third of the food on your plate is made possible by these pollinators, whose numbers are being decimated by disease and colony collapse disorder. But the bees have a champion in Marla Spivak, a University of Minnesota researcher and MacArthur “Genius” who thinks like a bee. Her intuitive approach — combined with scientific method — has given the world tremendous insight into these fascinating insects. Marla will show host Majora Carter (no newbie herself — Majora is an urban beekeeper) the secrets she’s beginning to uncover about the lives of bees. Marla’s work explores how bees can help themselves become more resistant to modern-day threats — and how bees can help us humans to be more resilient and to build healthier communities.

TUESDAY: Decisions, Decisions (Rebroadcast)
When you make a decision, do you carefully deliberate? Or do you go with your gut? It seems as though those are our choices…but as scientists dig deeper into the human mind, they’re discovering that this is not actually how the brain works. Our best decisions – they find – are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason and the precise mix depends on the situation. Today, where we live – decisions, decisions. Scientist Jonah Lehrer joins us to discuss “How We Decide” …And we’ll talk to an author who says that while the idea of freedom of choice is at the core of American thought,that choice might be an illusion. Head or heart, brain or gut – how do you choose? And ow do you live in a world with what seems like limitless choice?

WEDNESDAY: Dr. Steve Perry’s Education Revolution (Rebroadcast)
Principal Steve Perryhas been hailed for his “tough love and high expectations” atCapital Prep Magnet Schoolin Hartford. He’s had success in keeping kids in school in a city that’s struggled with dropout rates for decades. He preaches strict discipline and no excuses. He greets kids every morning at a school right downtown – in a famous former department store. The students wear uniforms – and he says all of them go to college. This has gotten him into the national spotlight, and onto cable TV shows -he’s a regular on CNN. But maintaining success is difficult. As we head back to school, we’ll talk to Perry about what he’s doing to close the nation’s biggest achievement gap.

THURSDAY: Robert Gates (Rebroadcast)
Robert Gates was defense Secretary for two Presidents – one Republican and one Democrat. Gates also oversaw two wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, getting mixed reviews from defense experts for his handling of those conflicts. He’s also been sharply critical of the types of wars that were left to him, pointing to a Future US strategy that avoids “big land wars” in places like the Middle East. That future may also include a different, smaller military. Today we revisit our conversation with Gates, who has called for cuts to “excessive” military spending, something that may be unavoidable in a Washington primed for budget cutting.

FRIDAY: Checking in
Today we’ll follow up on a few recent shows. Which ones, you ask? Tune in to find out!

 

Coming Up! December 19 to 23, 2011

MONDAY: National Politics
The race toward the Republican presidential nomination approaches its first real milestone – the Iowa caucus – only a few weeks away…with two real frontrunners, and several other candidates who can influence the race. Our national political reporters – Anna Sale from “It’s a Free Country” and Dave Weigel of Slate will consider the possibilites – and we’ll look at a Trinity college study about how Mormons vote.

TUESDAY: Magazine
Today we hear from UConn president Susan Herbst on tuition hikes, and Uconn economist Steven Lanza about the “CT Economy” publication recently released. And since the war on terror started more than 10 years ago, one question has remained: What should we do with the detainees? We’ll talk with a Captain and professor at the United States Coast Guard Academy, who recently wrote about this challenge in an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle.

WEDNESDAY: Alzheimer’s Disease
As baby boomers age, Alzheimer’s disease could become the nation’s greatest health care crisis. Is there an effective treatment on the horizon? Might the disease be prevented? Will we provide enough funding for Alzheimer’s research, and to care for those stricken by the disease? An in-depth series of reports from station WBUR looks for answers to these questions. We’ll present a special: “Fade to Darkness: The Age of Alzheimers.”

 THURSDAY: Ian Ayres
 The ratio of the average income of the nation’s richest 1% to the median household income has skyrocketed since 1980 – from 12.5 times the median income to 36 times greater. Yale economist and law professor Ian Ayres wrote a recent New York Times op-ed suggesting that we’ve reached a tipping point. He says it would be bad for our democracy if 1-percenters started making 40 or 50 times as much as the median American, and he proposes that Congress reform our tax law to put the brakes on further inequality – a tax that would limit the after-tax incomes of the 1% club to 36 times the median household income. Ayres says, this will tax the inequality – not the wealth. Join our conversation with Ayers as he calls for an economy where a rising tide really does lift all boats.  

 FRIDAY: Where We Celebrate the Holiday
As we head into a little Christmas break, we’ll listen back to a few Where We Live segments from Christmas’ past…including one about the Christmas entertainment staple, A Christmas Carol. We’ll also hear from an author who wrote a book on Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays. But we’ll end with the happier side of Christmas: a couple who teaches Santa how to be a good…well, Santa.

 

Christopher Hitchens on WNPR

Christopher Hitchens is dead at 62. John Dankosky had an opportunity to talk god and politics with him in 2009 on Where We Live. It was a memorable interview for us, as Hitchens got snippy when Dankosky conversationally called him “Chris.”

It’s Christopher by the way. It does not take any longer to say it…

That was followed by a question about what you get when you cross a Unitarian with a Jehovah’s Witness. And if you want to know the punch line you’ll have to listen in.

And of course not long after his appearance on our show, the author was part of the Connecticut Forum’s conversation God: Big Questions… Bigger Questions.

Reflecting this morning, Dankosky wrote “We want the people among us who are the smartest and sharpest to also be the nicest. We want to believe that our superstar brains, athletes and musicians are also excellent, approachable and kind. We are then regularly disappointed when they are not. Hitchens never purported to be anything other than a pain in the ass. Even the people who knew him and have eulogized him admit that. How refreshing…to know oneself. Good for him.”

The New Yorker also has a lovely  remembrance written by his friend Christopher Buckley.

Coming Up! December 12 to 16, 2011

MONDAY: Mandatory Reporting
Two more men have come forward in the Penn State child abuse scandal.  The case has raised questions about what one is required to do when they see or suspect abuse. Policymakers in Connecticut are discussing whether to make all adults “mandatory reporters.” Some worry this might mean a flood of reports clogging the system. Hartford Courant’s Susan Campbell guest hosts.

 TUESDAY: Stalin Archives
It’s been nearly 80 years since a famine killed millions of Ukrainians. Now, a new digital archive at Yale may provide some additional insight into the man behind the famine, Joseph Stalin. We’ll talk with someone with the new archive and other experts on this complicated figure from World War II. Are you part of the Ukrainian community? Were your ancestors affected by Joseph Stalin?

WEDNESDAY: Healthcare Advocate
Connecticut’s new healthcare advocate, Victoria Veltri is tasked with helping residents through the maze of health care laws, regulations and roadblocks. Today, Where We Live, Veltri talks about solving problems with insurance companies and medical providers, and helps to clear up confusion over state and federal health care reform.

THURSDAY: TBA

FRIDAY: Mates of State
Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are Mates of State, a husband and wife duo that recently released a new album Mountaintops. Today, the Connecticut musicians join us in the WVOF studios to talk about the album, touring with two kids, and being an NPR favorite.

Coming Up! December 5 to 9, 2011

MONDAY: Internet Sales Tax
In the week after Thanksgiving, U.S. consumers spent nearly six-billion dollars online. Those numbers come from research firm ComScore, which says online sales are already up 15% from last year. The benefits of internet shopping can include free shipping, no crowds and seemingly…no sales tax. Across the country, states miss out on more than seven-billion dollars from online sales. Connecticut is among the states trying to figure out how to rake in this revenue. We talk with UConn law professor Richard Pomp and Commissioner of the Department of Revenue Services Kevin Sullivan about enforcing the existing internet sales tax.

TUESDAY: Youth Media
Today we’ll talk to organizations that use multi-media to reach young people. We’ll talk to folks from Youth Rights Media in New Haven and the Yale World Fellow who founded The Remix Project.

WEDNESDAY: TBA

THURSDAY: Science Magazine
A new PBS film “Journey of the Universe” invites viewers to become travelers on a journey that explores the origins of the universe, the emergence of life, and the rise of humans. Coming up, we’ll talk to producer Mary Evelyn Tucker about the human connection to the Earth and the cosmos. And we’ll talk to a Fairfield University Professor who just got a grant to study “chaos theory.” Could the gentle flap of a butterfly wing in China set off a tornado in Texas? He’ll study the evolution of systems that change over time and attempt to understand their stability and predictability.

FRIDAY: Heart Show
Each year, more than 325,000 Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest. One of the keys to survival is CPR. The other is a portable device called an “automated external defibrillator” or AED. AED’s are easy to use, and have saved many lives – so why aren’t they accessible in all public places? Coming up, a conversation on cardiac arrest, and the accessibility of these lifesaving devices.