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. We hear about some bipartisan efforts to regulate social media.

Can the government make social media safer for children?

GUESTS:

• Connecticut Attorney General William Tong
• Georgia Wells - Tech Reporter at the Wall Street Journal
• Michael Robb - Senior Director of Research Common Sense

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 term “moral distress.”

Nurses are by nature the noticers, the canaries in the coal mine, but the conditions of the pandemic have prompted reports of higher-than-average nurse-to-patient ratios, exacerbating a long-looming shortage. As nurse and author Theresa Brown wrote, "nurses are not an infinitely elastic resource; they’re people, many of whom are exhausted, traumatized, barely holding themselves together. It’s time to really see and care for them."

What are the barriers to keeping new nurses in the field?

GUESTS:

• Theresa Brown, PhD, BSN, RN - Nurse; Author, “Healing: When A Nurse Becomes a Patient” (2022)
• Heather Evans, Ph.D., RNC-MNN, CLC - Nurse; Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of Saint Joseph
• Victoria Rufo, RN - Nurse; Student, University of Saint Joseph
• Tori Johnston, CNA - Nurse; Student, Quinnipiac University

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 reporter Kathy Megan joins us today to discuss Connecticut Supreme Court’s landmark decision Sheff v O'Neill. A recent Connecticut Public documentary focuses on the people impacted by this decision decades ago.

GUESTS:

• Kathy Megan - Associate Producer and Reporter on Connecticut Public documentary CUTLINE Special | Sheff v. O’Neill: Striving Toward Education Equity
• Henley Solomon - teaching assistant at Conard High School in West Hartford
• Kate Dias - Connecticut Education Association State President and high school math teacher from Manchester, Connecticut
• Cathy Vatterott - Professor Emeritus of Education at University of Missouri St Louis. Author of Rethinking Homework: Best Practices that Support Diverse Needs

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 while they’re finishing high school.

The drumbeat from employers and local leaders has been how to attract and train new workers to support a key sector in the state economy. There’s money pouring in to enable this.

This year, Connecticut was one of only five states to receive a U.S. Department of Labor $10 million State Apprenticeship grant.

The Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund Advisory Board recently approved $8.3 million to support new and established programs in Connecticut’s manufacturing sector, including an advertising campaign to highlight career opportunities in manufacturing.

And, the Connecticut Small Business Development Center, hosted at the UConn School of Business, received one of four federal grants, to operate a national Advanced Manufacturing Center. The $2 million grant will give assistance to minority-owned businesses to help them expand.

This hour on Where We Live, we hear from a high-school student who’s earning college credits in manufacturing, a young woman who's working on the shop floor, a manufacturer, academia, and the state. And, we find out more about what’s being done to attract more women to the industry, including minority owned businesses.

GUESTS:
Anya Santa Lucia: Manufacturing Program Student at Goodwin University, and High School Student at the Connecticut River Academy

Sara Langevin: CNC Machinist, Trumpf Inc.

Matthew Dadona: Assistant Superintendent of Pathways and Partnerships, Goodwin University Magnet School Systems

Keri Valente: Manufacturing Apprenticeship Representative at the Office of Apprenticeship Training, State of Connecticut

Christine Benz: Head of Training Services, Trumpf Inc.

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 an update on the Shellfish Restoration Project.

GUESTS:

• Bill Lucey - Long Island Soundkeeper, Save the Sound
• Norm Bloom - Owner, Copps Island Oysters
• Tessa Getchis - Aquaculture extension specialist, Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension Program

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 State of the Birds Report. What birds are at risk where we live?

GUESTS:

• Dr. Peter Marra - Laudato Si Professor of Biology and the Environment at Georgetown University and the director of The Earth Commons: A Georgetown University Institute for Environment and Sustainability
• Dr. Brooke Bateman - Director of Climate Science at National Audubon Society
• Tom Andersen - Director of Communications at the Connecticut Audubon Society

To read the Connecticut Audubon Society 2021 State of the Birds Report visit ctaudubon.org.

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 paid leave benefits going into effect in 2022. Hear from CEO Andrea Barton Reeves.

GUESTS:

• Andrea Barton Reeves - CEO, Connecticut Paid Family and Medical Leave Authority
• Nicole Leonard - Health Reporter, Connecticut Public
• Ilda Ray - Chairperson, Windham/Willimantic NAACP Education Committee; Windham Board of Education
• John Brady - Executive Vice President, AFT CT

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 the capital city. Delano discusses the ways the book defies traditional depictions of Hartford.

Plus, artist and photographer Rashmi Talpade believes art is everywhere and creativity is within everyone. Hear about her collaborations with different Connecticut communities, reimagining their surroundings through large-scale collage.

GUESTS:

• Pablo Delano - Visual Artist and Photographer; Professor of Fine Arts, Trinity College
• Rashmi Talpade - Artist and Photographer

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 health care services because of their LGBTQ+ identity," according to the report.

Hear more about the survey from the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition, plus Health Care Advocates International, and the Middlesex Health Center for Gender Medicine and Wellness, one of the first full-spectrum care locations for trans and nonbinary people in the state.

What challenges are there for trans and nonbinary people in getting health care in Connecticut?

GUESTS:

• Diana Lombardi - Executive Director, Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition
• Katy Tierney - Medical Director, Middlesex Health Center for Gender Medicine and Wellness
• Tony Ferraiolo - Youth and Families Program Director, Health Care Advocates International
• Dr. Christy Olezeski - Director and Co-founder, Yale Pediatric Gender Program

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 touches on his latest book, Missionaries. How much do we really know about America's military missions overseas?

GUESTS:

• Phil Klay - Author and Fairfield University MFA Professor of Creative Writing

Click here to read an excerpt from MISSIONARIES by Phil Klay, published by Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2020 by Phil Klay. Available in paperback.

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Allergy Foundation of America. The American Lung Association puts Fairfield County in its map for the highest ozone in the eastern half of the U.S., in part because of pollution transported from other states.

The Governor’s Council on Climate Change, Science and Technology Working Group in its 2020 report projected that average temperatures in Connecticut could increase by 5º F (2.7º C) by 2050 compared to the 1970-1999 baseline.

Our planet is heading towards a crisis brought on by climate change, but experts say our physical and mental health is also at risk.

A 2020 report by the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health found that between 2007 and 2016, heat stress led to an average 422 emergency department visits and 45 hospitalizations per year.

Connecticut Public Radio’s Nicole Leonard reported that New Haven, Hartford, Litchfield, Tolland, and Windham counties experienced an increase in heavy precipitation, which can and has led to a growth in ticks and mosquitoes, increasing the risk for vector-borne diseases.

Meanwhile, health insurers including Connecticut-headquartered Cigna and Aetna hold $24 billion in investments in fossil fuel.

As the United Nations’ climate summit — COP26 — is in its second week in Scotland with world leaders negotiating how best to limit global warming, what can we do at the state and individual level?

GUESTS:

Kate Rozen: Asthmatic Cyclist, Woodbridge

Dr. David Hill: Member, National Board of Directors, American Lung Association, Director of Clinical Research, Waterbury Pulmonary Associates

Susan A. Masino: Professor of Applied Science at Trinity College, and a Charles Bullard Fellow at Harvard Forest. Past Co-chair, the Governor’s Council on Climate Change, Science and Technology Working Group

Tom Swan: Executive Director, Connecticut Citizen Action Group 

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.