Connections Podcast

This hour, we explore cities that have reimagined their waterfronts. What can Rochester learn from Alexandria, Virginia; Burlington City, New Jersey; and others? It’s the topic of the next Reshaping Rochester presentation entitled “Drawn to Water: Design Stories of City and River.” We preview that presentation with the speaker, Richard Newtown, partner at OLIN, a landscape architecture firm that has done work for Charles Carroll Park in Rochester. Our guests: Richard Newton , partner at OLIN

A number of RIT alumni have been selected as winners or finalists for Pulitzer Prizes in photojournalism. The alumni have been recognized with 13 prizes over the last decade. Several of those winners are in Rochester this week to share their work and discuss the art of visual storytelling. They join us in a special two-part broadcast today and Thursday. This hour, we sit down with Paula Bronstein, a 2011 finalist in Breaking News Photography who was recognized for her coverage of historic floods

An upcoming conference aims to help fathers overcome barriers to parenting. The Resilience in Fatherhood conference is a collaboration between the Healthy Baby Network and Hillside Children’s Center. It will address challenges fathers face, stereotypes about fatherhood, and what healthy co-parenting relationships look like. We’re joined by conference organizers and program participants. In studio: Valerie Garrison, project director for Healthy Start, part of Healthy Baby Network Arthur Dilbert,

A number of local faith-based groups are coming together to help refugees who served the U.S. military. The refugees – from Afghanistan and Iraq – have come to America on Special Immigrant Visas through an organization called No One Left Behind . We discuss the current climate for refugees in the U.S., and we talk to local refugees about how they are adjusting to life in Rochester. Ellen Smith, president of the Rochester chapter of No One Left Behind Belal Ahmadi, interpreter for the U.S.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people from different faiths and backgrounds gathered to support the Muslim community in Rochester. It was a scene that played out in many Islamic Centers around the world. This hour, we sit down with local Muslims to discuss how to show solidarity with people of the Islamic faith following the terrorist attack in New Zealand. In studio: Sareer Fazili Alma Olmoerhodzic Iman Abid

Making decisions about end-of-life care can be challenging and confusing. A program called Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) seeks to help families through the process. MOLST forms record detailed descriptions of how patients and families want treatment and care to be handled in scenarios they may experience. Rochester has been recognized as a leader in IT advances that assist families with end-of-life care, so why don’t more people in the region know about and use MOLST? This

Weekend Connections is a collection of some of the most noteworthy moments from the week on Connections with Evan Dawson. This episode includes conversations about: Why a local woman says jail saved her life; The college admissions scandal, and who has access to higher education; What happens behind the scenes at the PBS show, "Nature."

The Rochester Music Hall of Fame recently announced its 2019 class. This year’s inductees include Emmy-winning composer Jack Allocco, Beach Boys founding member Al Jardine, and folk singer Christine Lavin. The Hall also has a new home at 25 Gibbs Street, which will host events and educational programs throughout the year. The announcement of this year’s inductees came with pushback from some local music critics , who say the Hall’s board members aren’t considering key players in Rochester’s

Students from more than 100 countries are holding strikes, protests, and climate-change related events today as part of “Fridays for Future,” a movement that demands world leaders take action on global warming. The movement was initiated by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Students in the Rochester and Finger Lakes area are participating the in the events. We sit down with some of them to hear their priorities for climate action. In studio:

When celebrity parents Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin were arrested this week, it set off a national conversation about what parents will do to help their children. According to law enforcement, Huffman and Laughlin paid bribes to agencies that would create false profiles in order to help their children get into elite colleges. Our guests discuss the value of letting children fail, and the advantages that wealthy families have. In studio: Mary Chao , reporter with the Democrat &