Connections Podcast

An estimated 35 million kids between the ages of five and 18 play an organized sport each year in the U.S. While millions of them are treated for injuries, many are also treated for sports-related stress. Students athletes are feeling pressure to perform: to win games, be awarded scholarships, and meet the expectations of their parents and coaches. UR Medicine is hosting a sport summit next month, with the goal of helping students, parents, and coaches learn how to achieve greater balance in the

The Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI) was launched in early 2015 with the goal of reducing the percentage of people in poverty by 50 percent by 2030. Critics are calling for faster results and more transparency. Is that fair? RMAPI officials say the public misunderstands a number of subjects related to the initiative. We discuss what RMAPI is, what it is not, and its progress to date. Our guests: Leonard Brock, director of the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative Marvin

Our Summer of Food series continues with a discussion about...well, worm poop. Vermiculture is the process of using worms to decompose organic waste. Landfills make up 17 percent of the nation's methane emissions, and companies like Organix Green Industries are using vermiculture to keep organic waste out of landfills and recycle it for a variety of uses. Organix Green Industries is partnering with a number of local organizations and municipalities to make vermiculture and composting more

We take Connections on the road to WEOS in Geneva to meet the new president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Dr. Gregory Vincent began his tenure at the Colleges on Monday, and his welcome was more like a homecoming -- he's an HWS alumnus. Vincent is a former civil rights attorney and a national expert on civil rights, free speech, social justice, and campus culture. He most recently served as the vice president for diversity and community engagement at the University of Texas at Austin,

Rochester City School Board president Van White has written a new children's book. It's called "Heroes," and it's about the everyday heroes in our lives: doctors, firefighters, caregivers. He joins us to talk about why he wrote the book and the importance of diversity and inclusion in literature.

From the Washington Redskins to the Cleveland Indians to so-called “pow-wows” at summer camps, elements of Native American history are being used for commercial gain, and many people don't realize it's offensive toward Native Americans. Is there a knowledge gap when it comes to Native American culture? How are schools teaching Native American history? Our guests from Ganondagan say most schools need improvement when it comes to their lesson plans about Native American history, but there are a

Nazareth College is getting ready to host an international symposium on how religion intersects with women and gender relations. Sex, the role of women, equality… it’s all there. The symposium will offer discussions on a wide range of topics, and we explore them with our guests: Mohammed Shafiq, professor and executive director of the Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies at Nazareth College Nancy M Rourke, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Theology, and

Local nurse Theresa Bowick is known for her work launching Conkey Cruisers, a bicycling and fitness organization. Now, she's opening up about her personal story, which moves from domestic violence, anxiety, and eventually to a quest to lose weight. She’s written a play that will be in the upcoming Fringe Festival, and she’s partnering with a Hollywood actor to raise awareness about domestic violence at the local and national levels. We talk about the work Bowick and her colleagues are doing, and

If you told your boss you needed a couple days off for health reasons, what would he or she say? If you mentioned you needed time off for mental health reasons, would your boss understand? A woman in Michigan wrote an out-of-office message indicating that she'd be off for a few days to care for her mental health. The CEO of the company wrote back, thanking her for reminding everyone of the importance of using sick days for mental health. His response went viral. Our guests join us to talk about

A new report takes a look at how police accountability works or doesn't work in Rochester. The report is called "The Case for an Independent Police Accountability System." It was written by Barbara Lacker-Ware and Theodore Forsyth. The report looks at years of data regarding how police handle civilian complaints regarding allegations of brutality and misconduct. The report found that from 2002 to 2015, only two percent of civilian complaints of unnecessary force were sustained by the Chief of