How will you preserve your family history? Maybe through journaling or family movies? What about grabbing an audio recorder?

Today, we’ll hear all about oral history projects in Connecticut that are recording stories for posterity. Later on, we’ll also hear how the Yiddish language and its dialects are being preserved.

Guests:

• Katie Heidsiek: Director of Exhibitions for the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History

• Jamil Ragland: writer for the New Haven Independent, Hartford community member and Hartford bureau chief for "Midbrow"

• Elizabeth George: Doctoral student at the University of Connecticut and an instructor for “My Story, Our Future.”

• Christa Whitney: Director of the Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project

This episode originally aired March 10, 2026.

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When you look around your room, what do you see? More specifically, what do you see that you love? Is it a cool souvenir? Maybe a seashell? Or a family photo that always brings back good memories?

Connecticut-based interior designer and textile artist Sophie von Oertzen Williamson uses tension, textiles and lots of color to make living spaces warm and inviting.

She is the author of the new book “The Art of the Clash: A Manifesto Against Mundane Design.” We’ll talk about ways to blow away the beige and highlight the objects you love with a few simple tips.

Where We Live is available 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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Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit author and educator, believes everyone's life is a spiritual journey.

"We're all on this spiritual journey to understand ourselves, to understand how God loves us, to experience God's love and to give that love back to God and to other people," he said.

Martin is the author of the new book, “Work in Progress: Confessions of a busboy, dishwasher, caddy, usher, factory worker, bank teller, corporate tool, and priest.”

The book explores the many professional experiences he had before becoming a priest.

Martin reflects on his early life and the formative time he spent in Connecticut, where he worked as an employee at General Electric and made a decision that would forever change the course of his life.

"Where We Live" is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

This episode originally aired on March 23, 2026.

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Breathe deep and think: What do you smell right now? The sweetness of the spring air? The smoky smells of the highway?

Our noses give us key clues about the environment and provide a critical daily link to some of our most cherished memories.

But smell, and its control over culture and politics, is often undervalued and misunderstood.

Today, we take a nose dive into the olfactory, exploring how humanity has used smell to communicate and control.

Guests:

• Ally Louks: Supervisor at the University of Cambridge and author of "Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose"
• Alexandra Segal: Wesleyan University anthropology graduate and winner of the school's "GLASS Prize in Queer Studies" for her 2025 paper, "On the Nose: What to Learn from Funk and Fragheads"
• Brittany Koziara: Owner of Forêline Parfumerie
• Hsuan Hsu: Professor of English at UC Davis, and author of "The Smell of Risk" and "Olfactory Worldmaking"

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Bestselling author Amy Bloom is widely known for 2022 memoir “In Love.”

The memoir follows her journey with her late husband, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. The pair made a decision to travel to Switzerland to help him end his life.

Bloom’s latest book is different. “Blunt Instrument” is a vivacious, and often hilarious, murder mystery that’s set in the world of academia. And it’s partly inspired by Wesleyan University.

Bloom recently sat down with us to talk about her book and writing process.

Where We Live is available 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 been more than 60 years since environmentalist Rachel Carson's book, "Silent Spring," challenged the widespread use of synthetic pesticides like DDT and helped launch the modern environmental movement.

This hour, we learn about Carson's life, work and her enduring legacy through a new exhibit at Yale's Beinecke Library.

We'll also examine a current environmental challenge: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS. This a class of man-made chemicals can be found in drinking water systems across Connecticut and the country. We'll explore the health concerns surrounding PFAS, efforts to limit exposure and what Carson's story can teach us about responding to today's environmental risks.

Guests:

• Vasilis Vasiliou: Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale University
• Carla Baricz: Librarian for Literature in English and Comparative Literature, curator for Beinecke Library’s exhibition: “Silent Springs, Windswept Seas: Rachel Carson’s Environmental Vision”
• James Kessenides: Kaplanoff Librarian for American History at the Yale Library, curator for Beinecke Library’s exhibition: “Silent Springs, Windswept Seas: Rachel Carson’s Environmental Vision”

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Did you know that the Library of Congress is home to half a million children’s books? That’s a lot of summer reading!

Today, it’s our annual summer reading show, dedicated to all things YA and kid’s reads. We’ll hear from the author of “Tell Me A Story: Fantastic Children’s Books from the Library of Congress” and talk about the books to inspire the young reader in your household.

We want to hear about your favorite YA read that brings you back to those carefree summer days; email us at [email protected].

Guest:

• Kym Powe: Children and YA Consultant for the Connecticut State Library
• Hannah Freece: Writer-Editor, Publishing Office at Library of Congress. She is the editor of “Tell Me A Story: Fantastic Children’s Books from the Library of Congress”

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In April, 18-year-old Rihan was mistakenly detained by U.S. Immigation and Customs Enforcement. The teen, who lives in Cheshire, Connecticut, spent two weeks in a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Today, Rihan is back home and just graduated from Cheshire High. 

But with his legal status in limbo what's next for a young man with a dream to attend college and an uncertain future in the U.S.?

"They have taken everything of mine," Rihan said. "My legal status and everything like that. I don't have anything now to move forward in the future."

This hour, we talk with Rihan and his father, Zia. We're using their first names only for their safety and the safety of their family in Afghanistan. We'll also speak with their immigration attorney about the tenuous road ahead for a family whose legal status hangs in the balance.

GUESTS:

• Rihan: Cheshire teen detained for two weeks by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in April, 2026.

• Zia: Rihan’s father. He served the U.S. Army as an interpreter and cultural advisor during the war in Afghanistan.

• Samantha Rosenberg: Cheshire Board of Education Chair

• Lauren C. Petersen: Private practice immigration attorney in New Haven, currently representing Rihan and his family. She’s Founder and Executive Director of Pavillion Immigrant Assistance in Hartford, and she’s also a co-managing attorney for the American Immigrant Legal Clinic in New Haven.

Connecticut Public's Patrick Skahill contributed to this episode. Special thanks also to Rihan's uncle Tariq, and family advocate, Dick Harvey.

Where We Live is available 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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The “sandwich generation” is made up of people balancing the demands of raising children while caring for aging loved ones.

This hour, we learn about the emotional, professional and financial realities facing this population of caregivers.

Journalist Kelli María Korducki discusses her reporting on caregiving and career sacrifice, while University of Connecticut professor Laura Mauldin offers insight into the gender dynamics of care.

And later, we hear from a Connecticut resident and member of the "sandwich generation.” We learn what it's like to navigate these responsibilities in everyday life and what policies could provide some relief.

Guests:

• Kelli María Korducki: independent, New York City-based journalist and author
• Laura Mauldin: associate professor in the Department of Social and Critical Inquiry at the University of Connecticut and author of "In Sickness and Health: Love Stories from the Front Line of America’s Caregiving Crisis."
• Natalie Shurtleff: Associate State Director of Advocacy and Outreach for AARP Connecticut

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