As you prepare to cast your vote in this upcoming election, you may have questions about how campaigns work in Connecticut. This hour on Disrupted, we learn about the State Elections Enforcement Commission which oversees voter fraud allegations and campaign finance. We'll also examine America's youngest voters, Gen Z. Ruby Belle Booth will provide insight on Gen Z's voting impact followed by an all-Gen Z roundtable.

Looking to dive deeper in today's discussion? Here are some resource links from the show.

• Register to vote

• Check your registration status and find your polling place

• Absentee ballot request

• Your Town Clerk and election officials

• Municipal town ballots

• State Elections Enforcement Commission - eCRIS (Campaign Reporting Information System)

GUESTS:

• Joshua Foley: Senior Attorney and Spokesman, State Elections Enforcement Commission

• Ruby Belle Booth: Elections Coordinator, Tisch College Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement on the campus of Tufts University

• Samuel Weinmann: University of New Haven Senior majoring in International Affairs. Executive Editor of Horseshoe Magazine

• Cristian Corza: Graduate, UConn Hartford. Campaign manager to Hartford Mayoral candidate Arunan Arulampalam

• Yesenia Rodriguez: Graduate, Claremont McKenna College. Works for a non-profit back in her hometown of Philadelphia

Special thanks to our interns Lateshia Peters and Joey Morgan for hosting the Gen Z Roundtable.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Halloween approaches, we are exploring America's history of racism through horror books and films. Mark H. Harris, one of the co-authors of The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar, talks about different eras of Black horror cinema and the origins of the famous racist horror trope referenced in his book's title. Author and academic historian P. Djèlí Clark discusses his story “Hide & Seek,” which was recently included in the collection Out There Screaming, co-edited by Jordan Peele. He also explains how the idea of portraying the Ku Klux Klan as literal monsters in his book Ring Shout was based on his research into interviews with formerly enslaved people. And Professor Kali Simmons exposes stereotypes about Indigenous people that date back hundreds of years and appear in some of the most popular horror works. She also gives examples of positive representation and offers her thoughts on Killers of the Flower Moon.

GUESTS:

• Mark H. Harris: entertainment journalist, co-author of The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar

• P. Djèlí Clark: award-winning fantasy and horror author based in Connecticut. His works include Ring Shout and next year’s The Dead Cat Tail Assassins. His short story “Hide & Seek,” was recently included in the collection Out There Screaming, co-edited by Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams

• Kali Simmons: Assistant Professor of Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University

Special thanks to our interns Lateshia Peters and Joey Morgan.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour on Disrupted, we hear from three women who are rewriting narratives around death and dying in the U.S. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many of us to confront death head-on. At the same time, we’re also seeing major changes in the death care industry — from the emergence of things like green burials and human composting to the diversification of funeral directors.

GUESTS:

• Cole Imperi: Founder of the School of American Thanatology and one of America’s leading experts on death, dying and grief

• Joél Simone Maldonado: Licensed funeral director, also known as The Grave Woman

• Celine Currier: Co-founder of the Connecticut Death Collective

This episode originally aired on March 29, 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we listen back to a conversation with author and journalist Ari Berman on democracy and voting rights. He’ll talk about the decision the Supreme Court made 10 years ago in Shelby County v. Holder that removed key provisions from the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He'll also explain what Democrats need to do differently if they want to ensure people have access to the polls. This conversation was recorded at a live event as part of New Haven’s 2023 International Festival of Arts & Ideas.

GUESTS:

• Ari Berman: Senior Voting Rights reporter for Mother Jones, author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America

Special thanks to our interns Carol Chen and Stacey Addo.

This episode originally aired on July 12, 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Baratunde Thurston is a bestselling author, has been nominated for an Emmy and gave a TED Talk that now has over a million views on YouTube. He's also the host of the PBS series America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston. This hour, Baratunde opens up about everything from from doubting himself while attending an elite private school to the need for a rebirth of democracy. And he explains how America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston has shaped the way he relates to people and other parts of the natural world.

GUEST:

• Baratunde Thurston: bestselling author, activist and comedian. He's also host of the PBS television series America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston and the podcast How to Citizen with Baratunde.

Special thanks to our interns Lateshia Peters and Joey Morgan.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour on Disrupted, we explore sports and mental health. The Fall sport season has begun. For some families, this will be their child’s first experience in competition. For others, their student athlete will continue competing in high school or college sports. As the competition level increases, the performance, academic and even social expectations can impact an athlete’s physical and mental health.

Clinical Psychologist Dr. Ralph Dodd will discuss how the role of a sports psychologist has changed. It used to focus only on an athlete’s physical performance.

Tess Atkinson, who played soccer at CCSU, shares her experience with the stress of athletics.

Then we'll hear from two people who are providing mental health support. Bella Nadeau, a softball player in her senior year at UMass Boston, created a non-profit called Lets Get Real About Athlete Mental Health. Former college basketball player and entrepreneur Ivan Tchatchouwo talks about The Zone mobile app he helped create that evaluates and provides mental wellness for student-athletes.

GUESTS:

• Dr. Ralph Dodd: Clinical Psychologist practicing out of West Hartford.

• Tess Atkinson: Former Central Connecticut State University soccer player.

• Bella Nadeau: Senior softball player at UMass Boston and creator of non-profit website Lets Get Real About Athlete Mental Health.

• Ivan Tchatchouwo: Former college basketball player and CEO of The Zone mobile app.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we’re exploring the history of civil rights for Black Americans and how people can create change now. Professor Adriane Lentz-Smith gives us some context around the 60th anniversary celebration of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which happened on the same day as the shooting in Jacksonville. And Professor Ruha Benjamin, who is being recognized with this year's Stowe Prize, talks about her book Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want. She discusses the small things around us that produce both problems and solutions, and she explains why racism hurts even those it supposedly benefits.

Ruha Benjamin will be recognized for winning the Stowe Prize at events in Hartford on September 21st and 22nd. You can learn more about those events at this website: https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/stowe-prize/2023-stowe-prize/

GUESTS:

• Adriane Lentz-Smith: Associate Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Duke University, author of Freedom Struggles: African Americans and World War I
• Ruha Benjamin: Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of African American studies at Princeton University and founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab. Her most recent book, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want, is the winner of the 2023 Stowe Prize.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we take a look at anti-Chinese racism, anti-Asian racism and how government policy plays a role in both. Ava Chin discusses how the Chinese Exclusion Act continues to impact people today as we interview her about her book 'Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming.' And Russell Jeung, one of the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate, talks about the historical precedent for the current wave of anti-Asian racism and how people who oppose it can take action.

GUESTS:

• Ava Chin: Professor of Creative Nonfiction and Journalism at the City University of New York Graduate Center and College of Staten Island. Her most recent book is Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming
• Russell Jeung: Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and a Co-Founder of Stop AAPI Hate. In 2021, he was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World along with his fellow Stop AAPI Hate co-founders

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we look at how dance has excluded people based on race and ability and how some people are fighting to change that. India Harville, a Disability Justice Consultant, talks about the need to shift attitudes in order to make dance more accessible. Jennifer Wiesner explains how she promotes racial diversity in her Norwalk dance studio, Studio Arte. And Anna Jayne Kimmel, an Assistant Professor of Dance at George Washington University, tells us how we can learn about law by understanding dance.

GUESTS:

• India Harville: Disability Justice Consultant and Founder of Embraced Body
• Jennifer Wiesner: Owner and Director of Creative Movement, Ballet & Jazz at Studio Arte, a dance studio in Norwalk
• Anna Jayne Kimmel: Assistant Professor of Dance at George Washington University and Associate Editor for Performance Research

Special thanks to our interns Carol Chen and Elizabeth Van Arnam who helped produce this episode.

Special thanks to our intern Stacey Addo.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On June 29th, the Supreme Court ruled that colleges and universities can no longer use race as a factor in admissions, with an exception for military academies. The decisions came in 2 separate affirmative action cases, one against Harvard College and the other against the University of North Carolina. This hour, we discuss the impact of those decisions. Jin Hee Lee, who, as part of the Legal Defense Fund, led representation of 25 Harvard student and alumni groups in the Harvard case, offers her take on what the decisions mean. We'll also learn about the impact on community college from Dr. John Maduko, President of Connecticut State Community College. And, finally, we talk to U.S. Secretary of Education and former Connecticut elementary school student and teacher Dr. Miguel Cardona about how the Biden Administration plans to make college classrooms more diverse in the wake of the decisions.

GUESTS:

• Jin Hee Lee: Director of Strategic Initiatives at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). She also oversees LDF’s Pro Truth Initiative, and led LDF’s representation of 25 Harvard student and alumni groups in the Harvard affirmative action case
• Dr. John Maduko: President of Connecticut State Community College
• Dr. Miguel Cardona: United States Secretary of Education; former student, teacher and administrator in Connecticut schools; former Commissioner for the Connecticut State Department of Education

Special thanks to our interns Carol Chen and Stacey Addo, who helped produce this episode.

Special thanks to Priya Sagar, Celeste Petrowsky and Wena Teng.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.