JD is out this week, at some undisclosed beach location. We have a few rerun shows, and a few fresh ones. Happy listening!
Also, if you are in the Hartford area don’t miss this month’s *ear cave* next Tuesday night, hosted by State of the Re:Union producer (and Babe of NPR) Tina Antolini. 7:30PM at La Paloma Coffeeshop.
Here is the rundown:
MONDAY: Exploration Magazine, and Meteor Insurance
Today, let’s do some exploring. We’ll talk with our exploration expert, Michael Robinson of the University of Hartford. He’s written about the great arctic explorers of the past, but his new book has him on his own voyage, to the tops of giant mountains in Uganda, searching for a fabled “Lost White Tribe.” We’ll also talk to an artist whose work pushes the limits – from her own artistic exploration of Antarctica, and what it tells us about the human capacity for cooperation, to her statements about Water and Food as staples of life, Lucy Orta is challenging our ideas. Her work is as Wesleyan now, and we’ll preview a talk there.We’ll also get more practical: Like, what happens if a meteor hits? Are you covered by your insurance company? We’ll assess the risks of interplanetary acts of god.
TUESDAY: The Air We Breathe (rebroadcast)
The air we breathe is usually not something we can see. These days, in Beijing, that is not the case. Activist Zhou Rong of Greenpeace told NPR that the air pollution “is beyond index. It’s the worst since we have readings starting from last year.” But just because this blanket of smog highlight’s China’s less-than-stellar air quality, that doesn’t mean we’ve got the problem solved here at home.In 2012, Connecticut’s air surpassed the EPA’s mandated ozone restrictions on twenty-seven days – that makes Connecticut’s air quality the worst in New England. According to the CT Department of Public Health, Connecticut has higher rates of asthma than the rest of the country – especially among women, children, minorities, and urban-dwellers.Today – as part of our “health Equity Project” we’ll talk with experts from hospitals, universities, and the government, who’ll tell us what’s in our air, how it might be making us sick, and what we’re doing to lessen the impact.
WEDNESDAY: Backyard Wildlife (rebroadcast)
Wildlife of all kinds thrives in our verdant, wooded state. Most of us are used to seeing squirrels and possums, raccoons and turkeys, some of us even bears and many, many deer.But what happens when those furry critters rummage through your garbage, scare your kids or even burrow across your neatly trimmed lawn?Authors Jim Sterba and James Barilla join us, along with Connecticut wildlife biologist Peter Good, to talk bears, squirrels, deer, raccoons, possums, birds, turkeys, and more.
THURSDAY: Living with Guns
Today – we’re talking about guns. It seems like that’s all we’ve been talking about since the mass shooting in Newtown that left 20 children and 6 educators dead. While that crime left people stunned because of the horrific circumstances, Newtown is only part of a much bigger problem. Today, former NY Times editor Craig Whitney join us to talk about his book, “Living with Guns: A Liberal’s Case for the 2nd Amendment.” He’ll be speaking tonight at the Mark Twain House in Hartford. Also, Slate Magazine’s ongoing tally of U.S. gun deaths shows that 2000 people have died at the end of a gun since that tragic day at Sandy Hook Elementary.These were not mass shootings – but single lives, taken by guns, all over the country. And not all of them were homicides. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. and access to firearms plays a big role in whether people actually die by their own hand. Because many suicide attempts are impulsive, 90% of survivors do NOT go on to try again.Is the United States more violent than other countries? Or does our access to more guns make us more vulnerable to the kind of violence that kills?We’ll talk to Dr. Matt Miller from Harvard’s School of Public Health. He’s been plugging along, gathering data on gun violence, even during a 17-year-long federal ban on such research.
FRIDAY: The Wonderful World of Tinkerers (rebroadcast)
What do Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Steve Wozniack, and the Wright Brothers have in common? They’re tinkerers, of course. Yes, tinkering isn’t just something that your uncle does on the weekends. As author Alec Foege says, tinkerers help make America great. Today, the word tinkering can refer to any number of things. From fixing up old cars, to designing things with 3D printers, tinkerers are using the tools at their disposal to make even better tools, gadgets, and items that many of us take for granted. But a tinkerer doesn’t have to change the world. Even just messing around with computers can give us a better understanding of the way the world works. Today, we’ll talk with Alec Foege about his book, “The Tinkerers: The Amateurs, DIYers, and Inventors Who Make America Great.” We’ll also talk with someone who helps bring your tinkered creation to the masses, and a public library here in Connecticut that makes 3D printers accessible to patrons.
