How did Connecticut earn the moniker “Constitution State”?

Hint – it’s not the Constitution you learned about in history class!

We’ll travel back to the 1600s to explore how history, conflict and big aspirations helped shape the state’s identity.

GUESTS:

• Thomas Balcerski, professor of history at Eastern Connecticut State University and director of the Center for Connecticut Studies
• Kathy Craughwell-Varda, director of Conservation ConneCTion, Connecticut State Library
• Andrea Rapacz, chief curator of collections, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History

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Even though some anthropologists believe humans are apex predators, a new book argues we’re actually not.

Author Kurt Gray posits understanding our vulnerabilities – coming to terms with our former reality as prey – could help us co-exist in tumultuous political times.

Today on The Wheelhouse, Gray, a social psychologist at The Ohio State University, discusses his book, “Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics… and How to Find Common Ground.”

GUESTS:

• Kurt Gray, author, “Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground”

The Wheelhouse is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

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It’s 2025 and next year’s congressional races are already heating up.

We’re learning more about U.S. Rep. John Larson’s seat in Connecticut’s First Congressional District. Columnist Dan Haar says the 2026 re-election bid will be Larson’s “toughest challenge” yet.

Are Larson’s age and health a primary factor in a prospective close race?

Today on The Wheelhouse, Dan Haar and constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar tackle that question and explore why the U.S. doesn’t have term limits for Congress.

Also, do you know if there’s lead in your home’s drinking water? We talk to the reporters behind a CT Mirror investigation that found lead in the water lines of thousands of Connecticut homes.

GUESTS:

• Akhil Reed Amar, professor of law and political science, Yale University
• Dan Haar, senior editor and columnist, CT Insider
• Colin McEnroe, host, "The Colin McEnroe Show"
• Andrew Brown, investigative reporter, CT Mirror
• Jenna Carlesso, investigative reporter, CT Mirror

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Gen Z has grown up in an age of school shootings, climate anxiety, the pandemic and the algorithm.

With all that they’ve gone through, how is Gen Z engaging with media and with politics?

Today on The Wheelhouse, we’re looking at the forces shaping Gen Z in Connecticut and across the nation. We’ll explore how this generation votes at the ballot box and ask what their future role may be in American democracy.

GUESTS:

• Rachel Janfaza, associate writer, CNN Politics
• Elena Moore, reporter, NPR’s Washington desk
• Christian Paz, senior politics reporter, Vox

Coco Cooley and Isaac Moss assisted in the production of this episode.

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Legislation seeking to address Connecticut’s affordable housing crisis was vetoed earlier this year by Gov. Ned Lamont. But, the proposal could soon come back in a special session. 

If it does, state lawmakers face a question: can they craft an affordable housing plan that satisfies both the governor and local leaders? 

Opponents of the original bill say it was pushing quotas on cities and towns. Local leaders said it hampered their ability to make planning and zoning decisions.

But supporters say the law was a “meaningful step” forward in a state plagued by high rents and too little housing. 

Today on The Wheelhouse, what’s next for affordable housing legislation in Connecticut?

GUESTS:

• Rep. Jason Rojas, majority leader, CT House Democrats
• Sen. Tony Hwang, Republican representing Easton, Fairfield, Newtown
• Abby Brone, housing reporter, Connecticut Public
• Ginny Monk, children's issues and housing reporter, Connecticut Mirror
• Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, investigative reporter, CT Insider

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President Donald Trump’s massive tax-and-spending package is officially the law.

The legislation provides tax cuts for some Americans. But it could raise costs for some of the country’s poorest households. That’s due to reductions in Medicaid and food assistance. The legislation Republicans are calling the “big beautiful bill" seeks to cut Medicaid and food stamps by more than $1 trillion.

Today on The Wheelhouse, we’ll dig deeper into how the bill will impact SNAP and Medicaid benefits in Connecticut.

GUESTS:

• Andrea Barton Reeves, commissioner, Connecticut Department of Social Services
• Sujata Srinivasan, senior health reporter, Connecticut Public
• Amari Brantley, policy coordinator, End Hunger Connecticut!

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Connecticut lawmakers passed some of the most ambitious housing legislation in years this session. The bill looked to address affordable housing, zoning and parking.

But then, Gov. Ned Lamont vetoed it.

The Democrat is now inviting lawmakers to make a new proposal, which he hopes to pass it later this year in a special session.

Today on The Wheelhouse, we’ll speak to the governor live in-studio, asking about that veto. We’ll also get his thoughts on running for a third term.

GUESTS:

• Ned Lamont, governor, state of Connecticut
• Mark Pazniokas, capitol bureau chief and a co-founder, CT Mirror
• Liz Kurantowicz, Republican analyst and co-owner, The Drury Group
• Bilal Sekou, associate professor of political science, University of Hartford

The Wheelhouse is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, A

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This fall, students at Yale University will take a course called “Bad Bunny: Musical Aesthetics and Politics.”

Bad Bunny, born on the island of Puerto Rico as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, isn’t the first Latino musician to weave activism into his work. Regarding the Yale class, Bad Bunny told Rolling Stone magazine “I have in the back of my mind that I want to do big things and make a difference, but I do it for myself.”

“I don’t do it hoping that at some point, they’ll offer classes about me at universities,” he said.

Today on The Wheelhouse, how politics and music intersect on the island next door.

GUESTS:

• Albert Laguna, Associate professor of American Studies, Yale University
• Rachel Iacovone, Puerto Rican communities reporter, CT Public
• Petra Rivera-Rideau, Associate Professor of American Studies, Wellesley College
• La Gata, Multimedia Artist and Historian
• Charles Venator Santiago, Associate professor in the departments of political science and El Instituto, University of Connecticut

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Connecticut has hundreds of miles of shoreline, extending from Greenwich in the west to Stonington in the east.

Many of these coastal communities have found ways to exclude certain people. There’s actually a long history of segregation on our shores, dating back decades.

This hour, we’ll look at past and present beach access in Connecticut.

Plus, we’ll look at who does — and does not — get access to quality public spaces like parks.

GUESTS:

• Andrew Kahrl: Professor of history and African American Studies 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

• Dr. KangJae Lee: Associate professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, University of Utah

Hear more from Andrew Kahrl in this episode of Disrupted.

This episode originally aired on July 5, 2023 and was produced by Meg Dalton. Our technical producers were Catie Talarski and Cat Pastor. Robyn Doyon-Aitken edited the audio.

The Wheelhouse is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

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Connecticut lawmakers recently cemented their priorities for the next two years with final passage of a $55.8 billion budget.

At the end of the 2025 legislative session, they were able to find money for Medicaid programs and invest in our children’s future, especially young children.

But some – mainly the minority in the state legislature – say that it comes at too high of a cost.

Today on the Wheelhouse, the “fiscal guardrails” have been breached and lawmakers will press forward amid a foggy federal funding landscape.

GUESTS:

• Rep. Jason Rojas, Majority leader, CT House Democrats
• Rep. Vin Candelora, Minority leader, CT House Republicans
• Alex Putterman, Reporter, CT Insider
• Michayla Savitt, State government reporter, CT Public

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