Connections Podcast

Indianapolis Colts star quarterback Andrew Luck announced his retirement over the weekend. ESPN staff writer Bill Barnwell called the 29 year old’s decision “the most shocking retirement American pro sports has seen since Michael Jordan left the NBA in 1993.” Luck chose to leave the NFL in the prime of his career due to a number of injuries. While fans booed Luck as he left the field, he has received support from a number of NFL greats, including Troy Aikman, Bo Jackson, and Aaron Rodgers. Luck

Has it gotten too hard to strike it rich in America? Economics writer and professor Noah Smith says it has. Writing for Bloomberg, Smith writes that many of the traditional ways of accumulating wealth are out of reach for modern Americans. Start a business? Invest in someone else's business? Flip houses? Work hard for long hours? Smith writes that these paths have significantly narrowed, if not disappeared entirely. What does it mean for our economy and society? Our guests discuss it. In studio:

When it comes to sex, "affirmative consent" is the standard taught on college campuses and in countless articles written for both the classroom and public consumption. But critics have recently intensified their claims that it's not working. The Washington Post's Megan McArdle writes that affirmative consent ignores human beings' basic ability to read cues from a sexual partner, and it creates an impossible standard to meet, particularly for someone who might be accused of crossing legal lines.

Since the 1980s, car culture has triumphed and we now drive more miles than ever before – but are we reaching the end of that road? That’s the question posed in a new book from author Dan Albert, who writes, “Fewer young people are learning to drive. Ride hailing is replacing car buying, and with electrification a long and noble tradition of amateur car repair―to say nothing of the visceral sound of gasoline exploding inside a big V8―will come to an end. When a robot takes over the driver’s seat

Should New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand be on stage for the next Democratic debate? What about billionaire Tom Steyer? Both are close to the cut line, and both have been pleading for voters to give even one dollar to their campaigns. That’s because the rules require a candidate to pile up 130,000 individual donors to qualify for the next debate. Gillibrand is not there yet, nor are many others. We discuss money in politics: are individual donors a good measure of success? Should a billionaire

The rate of eating disorders among young boys and girls is on the rise. Experts blame this on a wide range of reasons, not the least of which is societal pressure and unrealistic ideas of what makes a healthy body. Our panel discusses the impact of pressuring children to cut calories at a young age. Guests: --Dr. Deborah Pierce, M.D., clinical associate professor of family medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center --Terra Keller, chief operating officer of Foodlink --Aaron Williams,

India has shut off phone, cable, and Internet service in the entire region of Kashmir since early August. NPR reporters say the situation is tense and dangerous. But it can be difficult to get accurate information about what is happening. We sit down with a local attorney who recently returned from the region. Guest: Sareer Fazili, local attorney who recently returned from Kashmir.

We talk about adaptive sports for kids with disabilities. It's in advance of the Little League World Series Challenger Exhibition Game, which will air on WXXI-TV this weekend. The Challenger division includes children with physical and intellectual disabilities, and we have a Challenger program here in Rochester. We'll talk to an organizer and a player with the Webster Challenger program, and we'll talk to an organizer and camper at Camp Abilities -- a camp for kids with visual impairments. It's

Is recycling a feminine activity? Penn State researchers found that some men are hesitant to recycle because they don’t want to be perceived as gay or overly feminine. It’s a remarkable bit of research about how people view gender norms. We’ll explore the study and the consequences of attaching a patina of gender to pro-environmental behavior. Our guests: --Jim Tappon, part of the faith-based outreach team for the Citizens Climate Lobby --Mark Primus, professor in the department of social work

The New York Civil Liberties Union released a report showing racial disparities in Irondequoit and Greece policing. The report, based on information given by the police departments, says that in 2014, a third of all traffic stops in Greece involved black people, though only 6 percent of the town’s residents are black. In Irondequoit, black people were involved in 38 percent of police stops in 2014, though only 9 percent of the town’s population is black. The police chiefs from these two