Connections Podcast

Have you heard the remarkable story of the poet, Sara Holbrook, whose work was selected for standardized test questions in Texas? Holbrook took the test designed for seventh graders, and she couldn't figure out the correct answers to questions about her own poems. And she decided to write about it; see here . Her piece has gone viral, sparking fresh discussion about how tests are created, and what it means that the author of a poem doesn't know the answers to questions about her own work -- on a

Back in the summer of 2015, something changed in local school districts. Maybe it was national news coverage of issues related to the LGBTQ community, but something caused many local districts to reach out to the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley with requests for training activities. District staff members wanted to learn how to make their classrooms more inclusive, and how to make all students feel more comfortable. We discuss what the training entails and how effective it is. Our guests:

I n a previous program, we discussed how transportation intersects with poverty . This hour, the CEO of RGRTA, Bill Carpenter , joins us to discuss what RTS is doing to serve as many people as possible.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is offering his annual State of the State address in regional chunks, and his Monday address contained some promises for Rochester. But what should we expect? After confusion surrounding photonics in Rochester, Cuomo says the state will establish a $10 million photonics competition. What about other industries? What about school spending, and taxes, and early voting, and more? We get you up to speed. Our guests: Karen DeWitt , WXXI's Capitol Bureau correspondent Michael

So-called "fake news" continues to offer problems. Sometimes it's propaganda. Sometimes it's a hoax. Sometimes it's unsourced, bad information. Public media has a vital role in helping the public sort through what is real and what is not. We discuss that role, how it's performed, and whether our guests think fake news is here to stay. Our guests: Michael Oreskes , senior vice president of news and editorial director for NPR Norm Silverstein , CEO of WXXI and award-winning journalist Neal Shapiro

It's our Monthly Science Roundtable, and we're talking about robots. Specifically, how to make robots more efficient, better at decision-making tasks in complex situations, better at performing tasks with common human motions, better at understanding language. That's all fascinating, but there are many ongoing conversations about whether we should want those things to happen; after all, automation is taking jobs. Our guests talk about the research, the progress, and what it might mean. In studio

Have you ever found yourself arguing with someone who clearly is in over their head, but just can't see it? Or have you ever realized that you're not nearly as skilled at something as you once thought you were? There's something to explain this phenomenon: the Dunning-Kruger Effect . It explains how someone can read a single article and then profess to know everything there is to know about the American health care system. Or how someone who is a truly awful singer can go before the American

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 federal court ruled that companies can fire employees for wearing dreadlocks to work; Journalistic ethics, specifically, when to publish graphic news photos; How Syria could define Donald Trump's foreign policy; How to improve transportation in Rochester for people living in poverty; Conflict resolution and "Restorative Circles

With Star Wars dominating at the box office and TV shows like the Big Bang Theory ruling prime time, is now the best time to be a nerd? Ask any self-proclaimed nerd or geek (yes, there's a difference), and you'll find that they are reclaiming those terms with pride. Think, The Nerdist and Geeks Who Drink. Depictions of nerds have changed over time -- from hairy critters created by Dr. Seuss (read If I Ran the Zoo) to people who are "unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept" (you can thank

Open Mic Roc is a locally based, online black publication, with news, interviews, opinion pieces, and a platform for discussion. Recently, Open Mic has covered the debate over La Marketa in the City of Rochester. On Thursday, the staff sat down for an interview with Mayor Lovely Warren, a sign of growing respect for what Open Mic is doing. On December 27, the staff published a piece that included a graphic with the words, "You're pretty for a black girl." The story was about microaggressions: