Where We Live

After the first presidential debate last week, Americans have a lot of questions about absentee ballots and how to make sure their vote is counted. 

This hour, Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill joins us to answer our questions and yours.

Coming up, where can you drop off your ballot? When do absentee ballots need to be mailed or dropped off to make sure they are counted? 

What questions do you have for Secretary Merrill about casting your vote this election? We want to hear from you.

GUESTS:

• Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill (@SOTSMerrill)
• Anna M. Posniak - Windsor Town Clerk and President of Connecticut Town Clerks Association
• Sue Larsen - Registrar of Voters in South Windsor and President of Registrars of Voters Association of Connecticut.

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Do you worry about how you’re everyday actions contribute to climate change? You may think about the carbon gas-burning cars are putting into the atmosphere, or coal-powered electricity in your houses.

But what about the food you eat?

This hour we talk about the role of the livestock industry on putting carbon into the atmosphere. Are our carnivorous habits contributing to the climate crisis?

We talk with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization about how the meat industry worldwide can reduce its carbon footprint. And we hear from a Connecticut beef cattle farmer about an innovative type of grazing that may reduce the environmental impact of raising cattle.

And how should we as consumers here in Connecticut think about lessening the carbon footprint of our dinner plates...especially if going full-on vegan is not on the table?

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

GUESTS:

• Dr. Anne Mottet - Livestock expert at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (@Anne_Mottet)
• Dr. Joe Orifice - Connecticut beef farmer & owner and operator of “Hidden Blossoms Farm” in Union, CT. He’s also the Director of Forest and Agriculture Operations at Yale School of Forestry
• Allison Johnson - Sustainable Food Policy Advocate with the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC)

READING LIST

New York Times: The Meat Question, by the Numbers (January 2018)- “Worldwide, livestock accounts for between 14.5 percent and 18 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. The percentage is lower in the United States in part because our overall greenhouse gas emissions are so much higher than other countries”

FAO: Tackling climate change through livestock: A global assessment of emissions and mitigation opportunities (2013) – “With emissions estimated at 7.1 gigatonnes CO2 -eq per annum, representing 14.5 percent of human-induced GHG emissions, the livestock sector plays an important role in climate change. Beef and cattle milk production account for the majority of emissions, respectively contributing 41 and 20 percent of the sector’s emissions. While pig meat and poultry meat and eggs contribute respectively 9 percent and 8 percent to the sector’s emissions. The strong projected growth of this production will result in higher emission shares and volumes over time.”

Washington Post: How we can make beef less terrible for the environment (May 2018)– “Though little known to the public, silvopasture is currently practiced on an estimated 15 percent of the world’s grazing land. Yet scarcely a word about the method is found in key climate change documents and agreements. When it is mentioned, it is lumped in with other “agroforestry” practices that integrate trees with crops and sometimes livestock. Cropland agroforestry has recently been shown to have a much greater climate impact than previously believed.”

Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired on October 5, 2018.

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As climate change continues to raise temperatures worldwide, the arctic is warming even faster than the rest of the world.

Today, we take a look at the unique arctic terrain that is under threat from climate change: the permafrost. This frozen landscape is defined by deep layers of soil that never get above freezing.

The areas globally where permafrost is found.

CREDIT WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER

But now, that’s starting to change, and the permafrost is starting to thaw—with devastating affects for the communities living on top of it.

We hear about some of the amazing Ice Age creatures that have been preserved in this frozen ground for tens of thousands of years. The frozen soil of the permafrost has functioned for millennia as a deep freezer for these ancient creatures, giving us a window back into the Pleistocene era.

And we talk about how this thawing organic matter trapped in the permafrost itself is a concerning source of carbon emissions. This frozen organic material locked in the frozen soil is now decomposing and releasing carbon. If the planet continues to warm, this incredible icy land may not only become a victim of climate change--but a driver of it as well.

GUESTS:

• Dr. Sue Natali - Arctic program director and scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center (formerly known as the Woods Hole Research Center)
• Dr. Jacquelyn Gill - Associate Professor of Paleoecology & Plant Ecology with the School of Biology and Ecology and the Climate Change Institute at University of Maine
• Dr. Advait Jukar - Vertebrate Paleontologist at Yale University, where he is a Gaylord Donnelley Postdoctoral Fellow in Anthropology

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The pandemic has interrupted a lot of industries, including the arts. Artists and museums have been hit particularly hard by this pandemic, but it has not stopped them from creating and sharing their work with the public. This hour, we hear from artists and curators on how they're sharing their craft with the public, while in quarantine.

Coming up, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT joins us to discuss how the museum has stayed afloat during the pandemic. 

We also hear from the Simsbury Art Trail on the 37 life size sculptures the town is currently hosting. They can be found in unexpected places all over town. 

We want to hear from you. Are you a local artist? Have you picked up a new craft or art project during the pandemic?

GUESTS:

• Trae Brooks - a visual artist living in Connecticut and contributor to the West Hartford Art League Bus Shelter Series
• Cybele Maylone - Executive Director at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
• Morgan Hilyard - Executive Director, Simsbury Chamber of Commerce and the Simsbury Art Trail

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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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