This Episode Originally Aired on June 9th, 2021

February is Black History Month in America. To celebrate, we revisit an episode on Black history from last year.

It may not be well known that by the American Revolution, Connecticut had the largest number of slaves of all the New England states. In fact, slavery in Connecticut did not officially end until 1848 – the last state in New England to do so. This week on Disrupted, the forgotten story of the free city of "Little Liberia". And how Connecticut tobacco farming impacted a young Martin Luther King Jr.

GUESTS:

• Maisa L. Tisdale, President and CEO of the Mary & Eliza Freeman Center for History and Community.
• Dr. Stacey Close, Associate Provost and Vice President of Equity and Diversity at Eastern Connecticut State University and co-author of the book ‘African American Connecticut Explored’.

Disrupted is produced by Catie Talarski, James Szkobel-Wolff, and Zshekinah Collier. And special thanks to Reverend Philippe E. C. Andal for helping us voice the great Martin Luther King Jr.

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(Update 1/29/22: This show has been updated from it's original broadcast to reflect the recent events surrounding the r/antiwork subreddit and Doreen Ford's removal as a moderator. We've added new context to our conversation with Doreen and linked to coverage below on the subreddit's changes.)

In recent years, self-care has become a multi-billion dollar industry and a focal point of the pandemic. This week on Disrupted, we dive into the meaning of self-care and its radical origins. And we talk to an anti-work advocate about the movement’s mission.

GUESTS:

• Dr. Maryam Aziz - African American History Postdoctoral Fellow at Penn State University
• Angelee Lopez- Certified meditation guide and founder of Manifest House, a virtual wellbeing space
• Doreen Ford - Anti-Work movement advocate and a former moderator for the anti-work subreddit r/Antiwork

Click here to find a links to recent coverage from Bloomberg and Business Insider on the r/antiwork subreddit. New moderators have addressed the changes to forum and you find that post here.

This week's episode was produced by James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, and Catie Talarski.

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Over the past decade, Connecticut has averaged nearly 200 gun deaths each year. How are community members responding? This week, two New Haven initiatives that are trying to prevent gun violence before it even happens. Plus, a new report on the staggering number of evictions in our state.

GUESTS:

• Marlene Pratt - Co-founder of The New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence.
• Lorenzo Boyd - Stewart Professor in Criminal Justice and Community Policing at the University of New Haven
• Salmun Kazerounian - Staff Attorney for the Connecticut Fair Housing Center
• Michelle Riordan-Nold - Executive Director of the Connecticut Data Collaborative

This week's episode was produced by James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, and Catie Talarski.

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2021 was a year of unprecedented moments. From an insurrection at our nation’s capital, to the end of the longest war in American history. We’ve struggled to make sense of all that has happened. This week, we’re joined by three political experts to help sift through the events of the last year, and look ahead to 2022.

GUESTS:

• Brian O’ Donovan - Washington Correspondent for Ireland’s Public Radio Service RTE
• Duchess Harris - Professor of American Studies at Macalester College
• Kaleigh Rogers - Technology and Politics Reporter at FiveThirtyEight

This week's episode was produced by James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, and Catie Talarski.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2020, following calls for racial justice, U.S. businesses committed over 35 billion dollars toward racial equity in the workplace. But still, corporate offices remain overwhelmingly white. According to a recent study by Mckinsey, less than 30% of corporate managers are people of color. This week on Disrupted, we’ll hear from individuals pushing for greater equity in the workplace.

GUESTS:

• Minda Harts - Founder and CEO of The Memo LLC and author of Right Within: How to Heal from Racial Trauma in the Workplace
• Janée Woods Weber - Executive Director of Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund
• Madeline Granato- Policy Director of Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund

This week's episode was produced by James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, and Catie Talarski.

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From a shocking insurrection at the Capitol, to the rise of cryptocurrency, and the continuing fight for voting rights, 2021 brought more disruptions – and our show has attempted to make sense of this complicated world.This week on Disrupted, we’re wrapping up the year listening back to a few of our favorite conversations of 2021.

GUESTS:

• Nancy Yao Maasbach – President of the Museum of Chinese in America
• Andrew Kahrl - Professor of African-American Studies and History at The Carter G. Woodson Institute at the University of Virginia and author of Free the Beaches: The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for America's Most Exclusive Shoreline
• Martine Dherte - Refugee Services Program Manager at the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants.
• Salma Mousa - Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale University.
• Melissa Harris-Perry – Host and managing editor of WNYC's The Takeaway. She's the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake University and founder of the Anna Julia Cooper Center
• Alex, Emani, Xochiquetzaly “ZoChee”, and Airiqa- Students at the High School in the Community in New Haven, Connecticut

Disrupted is produced by James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, and Catie Talarski.

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This episode originally aired on March 31st, 2021

This moment in American history can feel unprecedented. But white supremacist violence and debates over whose rights really matter are hardly new. This hour on Disrupted, we re-air conversations with two authors who provide crucial historical and theoretical context to this moment. Keisha N. Blain co-edited Four Hundred Souls, A Community History of African America. Jamal Greene is the author of How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession With Rights Is Tearing America Apart, a book untangling the complex history and politics of rights in America.

GUESTS:

• Keisha N. Blain – Associate Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh and co-editor of Four Hundred Souls, A Community History of African America. Her new book is called Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America
• Jamal Greene – Dwight Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and Author of How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession With Rights Is Tearing America Apart

This episode of Disrupted was originally produced by Catie Talarski and Anna Elizabeth. The rest of our team includes James Szkobel-Wolff and Zshekinah Collier.

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Materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez has made it her mission to tell the stories of little known inventors. She shines a light on the women and people of color that have helped create everything from the ice cream scoop to the GPS. This week on Disrupted, a conversation with Ainissa Ramirez.

GUESTS:

• Ainissa Ramirez - Materials scientist, science evangelist, author of The Alchemy of Us: How humans and matter transformed one another

This week's episode was produced by James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, and Catie Talarski.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, ten candidates were selected to join NASA's latest class of Astronauts. They will join the Artemis program, which expects to send humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. The new cohort will be one of NASA’s most diverse ever.On today's episode, hear from two Black Americans who helped pave the way for the next generation of NASA astronauts and administrators.

GUESTS:

• Leland Melvin - Engineer, former NFL Wide Receiver, and retired NASA Astronaut. He’s also the author of Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances
• Greg Robinson - Director for the James Webb Space Telescope Program in the NASA Science Mission Directorate

This week's episode was produced by James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, and Catie Talarski.

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During the pandemic, many people turned to art to process their feelings and cope with loss. Others turned to local artists to contextualize the current moment. Art has the unique ability to comfort us and get us through difficult times. Today, three New Haven artists and disruptors on the ways they are using art to affect change.

GUESTS:

• Kwadwo Adae - Visual Artist and founder of the Adae Fine Art Academy.
• Alisha Crutchfield McClean - Fashion Consultant and Owner of the New Haven store Bloom.
• Jacob Padrón - Artistic Director at Long Wharf Theatre and founder of the Sol Project.

This week's episode was produced by James Szkobel-Wolff, Zshekinah Collier, and Catie Talarski.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.