The Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy recently released a report examining the state of Delaware women working in construction trades.According to the report, women make up 9.3% of Delaware’s construction industry and just 3% of construction and extraction jobs, such as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians.This week, Delaware Public Media’s Joe Irizarry caught up with Melanie Ross Levin – Director of the Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy – to learn more about the report.

This year, the University of Delaware is celebrating 100 years of global study abroad.Today UD offers more than 100 programs in 40 countries and despite the pandemic disrupting global travel plans in recent years, the university has responded and adapted its study abroad program to fit post-pandemic needs.Delaware Public Media’s Quinn Kirkpatrick recently spoke with Matthew Drexler – Director of Study Abroad at UD’s Center for Global Programs and Services – about the changes made to study abroad at UD and its centennial.

Maiss Hussein, a junior from Hodgson Vo-Tech High School, was recently crowned champion of the state’s 2023 Poetry Out Loud competition.Hussein’s recital of “The Poem You’ve Been Waiting For” by Tarfia Faizullah earned her high marks from the judges in the final round. As Poetry Out Loud state champion, Hussein advances to the national semifinals in May.This week on Arts Playlist, Delaware Public Media’s Kyle McKinnon sat down with Maiss Hussein for more on her Poetry Out Loud title and what to expect from her at nationals.

Listen to the full show or individual segments.

Earlier this week, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control closed The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park for most of the spring and summer. It’s a move DNREC makes annually to help threatened and endangered beach nesters and migratory shorebirds that stop there, such as red knots and piping plovers, among others.But the effort to protect those birds continues on other fronts, specifically regulating the harvest of female horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay.Contributor Jon Hurdle reports on the issue and the work being done by some local groups to get state lawmakers to ban any such harvest.

The American Library Association recently announced the winners of the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction books for adult readers.In fiction, the winner was Japanese American author Julie Otsuka for her most recent novel “The Swimmers,” which is about a group of people who go to a local underground pool to escape from their problems and one woman, in particular, who is slowly losing her memory.In this week’s edition of Arts Playlist, Delaware Public Media’s Kyle McKinnon sat down with Otsuka to talk about her award-winning book and life as an author.

This week, The Green brings you a portion of the first episode of the new Delaware Humanities’ podcast 2023/1973 In Conversation. The podcast celebrates Delaware Humanities’ 50th anniversary by focusing on the conversations it’s engaged in with Delawareans for more than 50 years and continues to encourage today.The current Executive Director of Delaware Humanities Michele Anstine and past member of the Delaware Humanities board Barbara Benson are featured in the first episode as they break down the history of Delaware Humanities, how it started, and the issues and events that shaped it.

Listen to the full show or individual segments.

Maternal mortality continues to rise across the country, including here in the First State. Racial disparities exacerbate the issue for women of color and are linked to such factors as implicit bias in the medical system, and the effect of general racialized stress.This week, Delaware Public Media’s Quinn Kirkpatrick examines the work being done to shine a light on Black maternal mortality and possible solutions.

After three decades of development, work to build up Wilmington’s Riverfront is in a bit of a transition. Attention is now moving to the largely undeveloped east side of Christina River, but before things take off on that side of the riverfront, there are still some spots on the west side that offer opportunities.Contributor Eileen Dallabrida reports one planned project will bring new dining and residential options to the west side of the Christina River.