As a teenager, Albert Woodfox had his first encounter with the criminal justice system. After being sentenced to prison for robbery, he would go on to spend more than 40 years of his life in solitary confinement.

Woodfox is the recipient of the 2020 Stowe Prize, which is awarded to books that illuminate a critical social justice issue in our society.

We hear about his experience surviving solitary in the Louisiana State Penitentiary—known as Angola—one of the nation’s most notorious prisons.

The damaging psychological impacts of solitary confinement are well documented. Later we hear from State Senator Gary Winfield, who supports legislation to end solitary confinement in Connecticut’s prisons.

Learn more about the Stowe Prize In Place Part 2 Event on October 4, 2020.

GUESTS:

• Albert Woodfox - Recipient of the 2020 Stowe Prize from the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford. Woodfox spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. He wrote about the experience in the memoir Solitary.
• Briann Greenfield - Executive director of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
• Senator Gary Winfield - Represents New Haven and West Haven, and Co-Chair of the Judiciary Committee in Connecticut General Assembly

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September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a dedicated time to come together around a difficult topic. Losing someone to suicide is an especially devastating loss. It’s a different type of grief. The effects on surviving loved ones can be profound and long lasting. 

This hour, we speak with a survivor of suicide loss. And we hear from a clinical psychologist at UConn Health about the impact of suicide loss on a family, and what you can do if you or someone you know is struggling.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

GUESTS:

• Karen Steinberg Gallucci - clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychiatry at Uconn Medical School

• Gary Gianini - facilitator of a support group for people that have lost a loved one to suicide. He has been a facilitator for seven years from Avon, Connecticut

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How often do you buy new clothing?

Stores like H&M and Forever 21 sell new styles at low prices, making it easy to constantly update your wardrobe. But, this hour: the environmental and social costs of "fast fashion". 

From unsafe garment factories to pollution in rivers, we hear about impacts of the fashion industry from journalist Jasmin Malik Chua.

We’ll also talk about overlooked ways to extend the life cycle of your clothes, from buying used -- even to learning basic sewing skills.

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

GUESTS:

• Jasmin Malik Chua - Sustainable fashion journalist (@jasminchua)
• Sue Murphy - Family and Consumer Science teacher at The Morgan School in Clinton, CT
• Phil Guerette - Store manager at Savers in Manchester, Connecticut

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As Connecticut looks to keep COVID numbers low, some researchers have turned to studying poop -- as a tool to help public health officials.

This hour, we talk with scientists studying our waste. Can our collective toilet flushing give public health officials a head start on detecting coronavirus outbreaks?

We hear from Yale researchers who have been testing New Haven sewage to track COVID-19 cases since March. That work was recently published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

We also hear from the mayor of Stamford about how wastewater data will shape that city’s public health response.

And we check in with Yale epidemiologist and Governor Lamont advisor Dr. Albert Ko. How should Connecticut prepare for a potential coronavirus surge this winter?

Guests:

• Jordan Peccia - Thomas E. Golden Jr. Professor of Environmental Engineering at Yale University
• Dr. Albert Ko - Department Chair and Professor of Epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health; he was Co-Chair of the Reopen CT Advisory Group and continues to serve as an advisor to Governor Lamont on Connecticut's COVID-19 response
• Mayor David Martin - Mayor of Stamford, Connecticut

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This hour, it’s our Fall Pandemic Book Club - Connecticut Only Edition! The Connecticut Center for the Book joins us to discuss this year’s Connecticut Book Awards Finalists, and some of those finalists join us for the hour.

Coming up, our guests will tell us what they are reading, and what inspired their work. 

And we want to hear from you, too! Tell us what you’re reading while we are still all in quarantine. Are you reading an old favorite? What was your favorite book that you’ve read this year?

You can find the full list of Connecticut Book Award Finalists here.

GUESTS:

• Lisa Comstock - Director at the Connecticut Center for the Book
• Anne Perkins - author of Yale Needs Women
• Keith Scribner - author of Old Newgate Road
• Elissa Altman - food writer and author of Motherland

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Maria Hinojosa has been a groundbreaking journalist reporting on politics, immigration, and more for years.

From being the first Latina in NPR’s newsroom to starting her own media company, Hinojosa has pushed the mainstream to acknowledge the importance of Latinx representation.

This hour we talk with Hinojosa about her new book Once I Was You, A Memoir of Love and Hate In A Torn America.

The memoir weaves together her personal story with an in-depth analysis of the US immigration system.

GUEST:

• Maria Hinojosa - journalist and founder of Futuro Media a nonprofit media organization, where she is the host of NPR’s Latino USA and co-anchor of “In the Thick” political podcast. She is also the author of the new memoir Once I Was You, A Memoir of Love and Hate In A Torn America.

Listeners can tune into Latino USA every Saturday at 6 p.m. on Connecticut Public.

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Believe it or not, next Tuesday is the Autumnal Equinox - the first day of fall! This hour, Charlie Nardozzi, from Connecticut Garden Journal joins us to answer all of our fall gardening questions.

What’s the best approach to wintering your garden and getting it ready for spring to come? What are some indoor gardening projects to tackle while we’re still in quarantine? 

What questions do you have for Charlie? Are you getting ready to put your garden to bed or harvest some fall veggies? We want to hear from you.

We want to hear from you.

GUESTS:

• Charlie Nardozzi - host of the Connecticut Garden Journal on Connecticut Public Radio

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A new report from Connecticut’s Child Advocate finds staff at Waterbury Public Schools have called the police hundreds of times on elementary and middle school students experiencing mental health crises.

Some of these children were as young as five years old.

This hour, we talk with the Child Advocate and the school district. What better tools should teachers and administrators use to help children in crisis?

We want to hear from you, too. Are you a parent with children in Waterbury Public Schools?

GUESTS:

• Sarah Eagan - Child Advocate for the State of Connecticut
• Jackie Davis  - Climate and Attendance Coordinator for Waterbury Public Schools
• Dwayne Pittman Jr. - Waterbury Public Schools parent and the Vice President of Waterbury Strong Community Collective
• Irene Parisi - Chief Academic Officer at the Connecticut State Department of Education

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Many Connecticut families have faced a child care crisis during the pandemic and it hasn’t changed despite most schools opening. Remote learning during the school week has some parents struggling to balance work and child care.

This hour, we talk with Beth Bye, the state’s Early Childhood commissioner. How are you managing childcare and remote school while working? 

First, we talk with a Fairfield woman who ran for the Connecticut General Assembly in 2018 and wanted to use public election funds to pay for child care while she campaigned. A recent court ruling has sided with the former candidate. What does this mean for working parents in Connecticut who see child care as a barrier to running for elected office?

We also hear from the state's election enforcement commission about this new development.

GUESTS:

• Caitlin Clarkson Pereira - Former candidate for state representative in Fairfield
• Shannon Clark Kief - Legal Program Director for SEEC 
• Beth Bye - Commissioner for the Office of Early Childhood

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As the weather gets colder and more students go back to school, what do the next steps in reopening Connecticut look like? Will Connecticut need to even scale back reopening? This hour, Governor Lamont calls into the show to answer our questions and yours.  

And later, we’ll talk to members of the domestic violence prevention community here in Connecticut about how shelters have stayed afloat during the pandemic, and why we are hearing increased reports of domestic abuse.

What questions do you have for Governor Lamont? We want to hear from you. 

We want to hear from you.

GUESTS:

• Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (@GovNedLamont)
• Karen Jarmoc - CEO of Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (@CTCADV)
• Barbara Damon - Executive Director, Prudence Crandall Center (@PCC_CT)

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