Princess Joy L. Perry’s novel This Here is Love tells the interlocking stories of an array of characters in Tidewater Virginia. It’s a complex narrative that takes place in the 1690s as the hierarchies of slavery are still developing. Those hierarchies are complicated by further hierarchies— indentured servitude and gender also shape the way characters are perceived. This Here is Love is a book that isn’t afraid to delve into the messiest questions around how discrimination developed in the U.S. It’s a book about human nature and the moral questions we continue to face today. And above all it’s a gripping debut from an author whose assured voice guides us through a world where cruelty and love seem to coexist.

This hour, we’re talking to Princess Joy L. Perry about This Here is Love.

We’ll also speak with Casey Grambo from the Stowe Center for Literary Activism. They've awarded the novel with their annual Stowe Prize for Literary Activism.

GUESTS:

• Princess Joy L. Perry: Master Lecturer at Old Dominion University. Her debut novel, This Here is Love is the 2026 winner of the Stowe Prize for Literary Activism.

• Casey Grambo: Director of Development at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism.

You can find more information about the celebration of the Stowe Prize for Literary Activism in Hartford at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism's website.

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Many Americans can tell you exactly what they were doing 25 years ago when they learned the United States had been attacked. But for a younger generation, the attacks are something they’ve only learned about in history class.

With that in mind, it’s time to think about what we want future generations to remember.

GUESTS:

• Jay Winuk: Co-Founder of 9/11 Day, an organization that started in 2002 with the goal of turning 9/11 into a day of service. The group began after Jay's brother Glenn, an attorney, volunteer firefighter and EMT, died at the World Trade Center.

• Jeremy Stoddard: Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His work connects education, democracy, media and controversial issues.

• Mary Fetchet: Founding Director and President of the Voices Center for Resilience, an organization she helped create after her son Brad died at the World Trade Center. The group helps individuals and communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from traumatic events.

Image provided by 9/11 Day.

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Edwidge Danticat’s new book Dèy opens at a mall. A Haitian American real estate agent named Magnolia is there to buy a phone for her daughter. But before she has the chance, a mass shooting breaks out. Magnolia survives, but she doesn’t tell anyone what she’s experienced.

Dèy is a book about grief— the title comes from a Haitian Kreyòl word for mourning. But grief is only one of the complex ideas that the book explores.

GUEST:

• Edwidge Danticat: Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University. Her book Breath, Eyes, Memory was an Oprah’s Book Club selection, and she’s had two books chosen as National Book Award Finalists. Her latest book is Dèy.

Photo courtesy of Knopf

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Some inventions change the way we see the world. Others fail to meet the lofty expectations set for them. Those are the ones that make it into a traveling museum called the Museum of Failure. It recognizes products like Nintendo's early attempt at 3-D gaming and a clear soda called Crystal Pepsi. There's also the Hawaii Chair, a chair whose cushion gyrates in a way that will supposedly help you get in shape.

None of those products became everyday household items, but the Museum of Failure still honors them. After all, innovation is only possible when we try things that might not work.

This hour, we’re reframing failure and celebrating people who take risks.

In addition to talking about the Museum of Failure, we'll hear a from panel of young people whose educational journeys didn't go the way they expected. But rather than feel like failures, they've embraced their new paths as a way to redefine success.

GUESTS:

• Dr. Samuel West: Organizational psychologist who founded the Museum of Failure in Sweden in 2017. The museum now travels around the globe. It’s in Paris until May 17, 2026.

• Melina Floyd: Community organizer in Bristol

• Ella Nicastro: Paraprofessional at Duffy Elementary School in West Hartford.

This episode originally aired on May 8, 2026.

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According to the CDC, there are over 4,000 unintentional drowning deaths in the United States every year and around 850 of those are for people younger than 18.

And the numbers look different across various demographics. For instance, Black children ages 10-14 are nearly 4 times more likely to die from accidental drowning than white children of the same age.

And in 2017, researchers at Columbia University found that children with autism were 160 times more likely than the rest of the population to die from drowning.

This hour, we’re talking about how water safety can save lives, especially in underrepresented communities.

 

Photo Credit: Brian Bates

Photo Source: Diversity in Aquatics

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There was a lot of discussion surrounding the United States’ recent July 4th celebrations. There were festivities, like New York's parade of tall ships, and controversies, such as when musicians like Martina McBride and The Commodores canceled concert appearances due to an organizing group's affiliation with the president.

With so much being said— and felt— about these celebrations, it’s important to take a deeper look into what national anniversaries represent and the broader history behind them.

Joining us for the conversation is professor and political commentator Eddie Glaude Jr. His latest book is America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries.

GUEST:

• Eddie S. Glaude Jr.: James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and a frequent contributor to MS NOW. He is also the bestselling author of Begin Again. His latest book is America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries.

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In 2018, the Supreme Court Case Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association reshaped gambling in the U.S. The ruling ended a ban on sports gambling— it had previously been illegal in every state except Nevada. Today, 39 states and Washington, D.C. have at least some form of legalized sports betting. Sports betting became legal in Connecticut in 2021.

This hour, we’re taking a look at how gambling has changed since then. We'll talk about how sports betting companies think about the work that they do and the way people are impacted by gambling addiction. We'll also discuss the the effect gambling is having on college students.

GUESTS:

• Danny Funt: Reporter who’s covered the sports betting boom for publications like The Washington Post and The New Yorker. His new book is Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling.

• Brian Hatch: Community Engagement Manager for the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling. He’s also the host of All in: The Addicted Gambler’s Podcast.

If you or someone you know is being adversely affected by gambling, there is help available. You can reach out to the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling’s helpline at 888-789-7777. You can go to their website at ccpg.org. You can also reach the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-MY RESET (1-800-697-3738).

Here are some of the other resources mentioned in the episode:

• To find treatment programs in Connecticut, you can contact a Bettor Choice Program.

• You can find a local or virtual Gamblers Anonymous meeting through their website

• You can also listen to Brian's podcast, All in: The Addicted Gambler’s Podcast

This episode originally aired on April 10, 2026. 

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Great documentary films can teach people about the world. But the strength of the medium is that it doesn’t just explain facts, it can also reveal emotional truths.

One recent documentary film that does so is called The Librarians. It takes a look at book bans in U.S. public schools and shows how librarians have reacted to them.

Another is Missing In Brooks County. It explores what happens when people go missing after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

This hour, we talk to some of the people who made those films possible.

GUESTS:

• Kim. A Snyder: Oscar-nominated film director and producer. Her documentary Newtown won a Peabody Award. Her new film is The Librarians.

• Martha Hickson: Retired New Jersey librarian. She’s featured in the film The Librarians as one of the librarians fighting to prevent books from being banned. In 2022, Martha received the Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity.

• Jeff Bemiss: Peabody Award-winning filmmaker who co-directed and co-produced Missing in Brooks County. He is also Professor of the Practice in Film Studies at Trinity College.

• Lisa Molomot: Peabody Award-winning filmmaker who co-directed and co-produced Missing in Brooks County.

Photo Source: Engel Entertainment

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Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw's work as a legal scholar has been massively influential. She coined the term “intersectionality,” which refers to the way multiple interlocking systems of power overlap to shape people's lived experiences.

Her work has also faced its share of pushback. She came up with the phrase "critical race theory," a subject that has been widely misunderstood as it has become a flashpoint in the culture wars.

But when Professor Crenshaw meets controversy, she isn’t afraid to talk back. Hence the title of her new book, Backtalker: An American Memoir.

GUEST:

• Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw: Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and Distinguished Professor of Law and Promise Institute Chair in Human Rights at U.C.L.A. Law School. She is also Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum. Her new book is Backtalker: An American Memoir.

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So far, 2026 has been a big year for movies. There’s been the success of horror films like Backrooms and Obsession. There are movies that have been targeted by the culture wars, like The Odyssey. And there are the smaller films that have gotten critical acclaim like Camp and Is God Is.

All those films are coming out in a landscape that seems hopeful for theaters. In the first half of the year, films in the U.S. have earned more at the box office than in any year since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This hour, we’re talking about the year in film for our fourth annual summer movie panel.

GUESTS:

• Nadira Goffe: Staff Writer at Slate

• Walter Chaw: Senior Film Critic for FilmFreakCentral.net, author of A Walter Hill Film: Tragedy and Masculinity in the Films of Walter Hill and Film Instructor at the University of Colorado Denver.

• James Hanley: Co-Founder of the independent movie theater Cinestudio in Hartford in 1970

Recommendations from our panelists:

• Watch The Odyssey (2026) on the largest screen you can

• Revisit Sinners in a theater

• Camp

• Night of the Living Dead

• Is God Is

• You, Me & Tuscany

• 28 Years Later: Bone Temple

• Girls Like Girls

• Hope

• The Wailing

• When you see a great film, watch the creator’s earlier films that brought them to critical acclaim

Photo Credit: Petros Giannakouris

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