Where We Live

While most of Connecticut has seen a low rate of positive COVID-19 cases, the city of Danbury has become a concerning exception.

This hour, we talk to the city’s Mayor, Mark Boughton, to hear more about this local outbreak.

And later, contact tracing is a critical public health tool for containing the spread of COVID-19. But who are the people actually running Connecticut’s tracing efforts?

We hear from one of the state’s regional health directors.

And we check in across the Atlantic with a reporter in Germany, a place many point to as a model for public health response to the pandemic.

Do you have questions about contact tracing or how public health officials work to contain future outbreaks?

GUESTS:

• Mayor Mark Boughton - Mayor of Danbury, CT
• Jennifer Kertanis - Director of Health for the Farmington Valley Health District, which includes Farmington, Avon, Simsbury, Canton, New Hartford, Granby, Barkhamstead, Hartland, and Colebrook. She is also the President of the National Association of County and City Health Officials
• Lenora Chu - Berlin Correspondent for Christian Science Monitor

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you see bats where you live? These flying creatures play important roles in ecosystems around the world, from pest control to pollination.

But bats in Connecticut are in big trouble. This hour: bats in our state have been devastated by White-Nose Syndrome. We learn more about this deadly disease and talk about why we should be concerned that populations in Connecticut have been so hard hit.

Bats in China have made news because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We hear why scientists have looked to these flying creatures to understand the origins of a number of deadly diseases.

And we talk with bat researchers about why--amid fears of a pandemic--bats need our support, not our fear, more than ever.

GUESTS:

• Jenny Dickson - Director of the Wildlife Division for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
• Dr. Kate Langwig - Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech; she’s a disease ecologist who studies bat diseases

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first day of school is just around the corner for many Connecticut students, but “back to school” will look very different for families across Connecticut. 

This hour, we hear from from students, parents and educational leaders.

New Haven’s school board has voted to start the school year fully remote. What impact will that have on families?

We also hear from Bridgeport. Classes will reopen fully for students in grades K-8, but staff in the school district have concerns.

Are you a parent or teacher? What does “back to school” look like for your family? We want to hear from you.

GUESTS:

• Reuben Michtom - Rising eighth grader at King Philip Middle School in West Hartford
• Deborah Roman Madera - Hartford resident; she has a son who is a CREC student in New Britain
• Yesenia Rivera - New Haven Public Schools Board of Education President
• Dr. Iline Tracey - Superintendent of New Haven Public Schools
• Ana Batista - President of the Bridgeport Education Association teachers union in Bridgeport. She worked as a bilingual educator for 36 years.

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

State Representative Jeff Currey is a longtime public servant. Now he’s asking the public to help him. The East Hartford lawmaker is in kidney failure, and he needs a transplant.

This hour, he joins us to talk about kidney donation. We often think of organ donation as something considered after someone’s death, but living donors can give a kidney to a person in need.

Coming up we hear from patients, donors, and medical professionals about this lifesaving transplant.

And we learn about a revolutionary system that pairs matching donors and patients--that allows for multiple kidney transplants. 

Have you considered becoming a kidney donor?

GUESTS:

• Rep. Jeff Currey - State Representative serving East Hartford, Manchester, South Windsor. Learn more about Rep. Currey's search for a kidney donation.
• CJ Zenzick - nurse manager for kidney transplant at Hartford Hospital
• Dr. Peter Yoo - Associate Professor of Surgery, a Transplant Surgeon, and the Program Director of Yale Surgical Residency
• Devon Greenwood - Kidney donor who participated in an 18-person exchange at Yale New Haven Hospital in 2017

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On sweltering summer days, having a house or apartment with air conditioning is important not only for comfort, but also for safety.  The need to cool down will only grow as climate change makes our world  hotter.

But air conditioning itself also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. This hour, we talk about how to make sure climate-friendly cooling options are available to everyone.

Here in Connecticut, not all residents can afford to run air conditioners in the heat of summer because of sky-high electricity costs. We talk about how energy efficient homes are important not only for our state’s carbon footprint, but also for racial and socioeconomic equity.

GUESTS:

• Gabrielle Dreyfus - Senior Scientist at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, and Chief Scientific Advisor for the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program; she was a co-author on a recent UN Environment Program report about cooling technology and climate change. (@getgabbyd)
• Leticia Colon de Mejias- Energy policy expert and co-chair of Efficiency For All Connecticut. She’s the co-owner of Energy Efficiency Solutions, and Co-Chair of the National Building Performance Association.
• Rep. Geraldo Reyes Jr. - State representative for Waterbury; Deputy Majority Leader and Vice Chair of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus in the Connecticut General Assembly

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Businesses have reopened and most schools have come up with plans to see students again, but it’s increasingly clear life won’t truly get back to “normal” until we have a vaccine.

But when will that be? This hour, we get the latest from New York Times science writer Carl Zimmer on the race to develop a COVID vaccine. We hear the status of ongoing vaccine trials and learn more about the research process that ensures a vaccine will be safe and effective.

Later, we talk about navigating the confusing world of health care in a pandemic with a reporter from Kaiser Health News. Connecticut’s Healthcare Advocate also joins us to help answer the complicated questions around health insurance and how this crisis may shape conversations about the future of US health care.

GUESTS:

• Carl Zimmer - New York Times columnist and the author of 13 books about science including A Planet of Viruses; also a Connecticut resident
• Julie Appleby - Senior Correspondent for Kaiser Health News
• Ted Doolittle - Healthcare Advocate for the state of Connecticut

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some Connecticut school districts across the state are getting ready to reopen their doors, but with coronavirus cases rising across the country, more parents are considering keeping children at home, 

Online learning continues to come with a lot of roadblocks and technical issues for parents, students and teachers. So what is the alternative? How can students get a quality education while still staying safe?

This hour, we talk about all the challenges and opportunities that come with homeschooling pods. We talk to a former teacher working to put together homeschool pods for parents in Connecticut. We also hear from a homeschool critic, to tell us what parents should keep in mind if they are opting to keep their child at home this year. 

Are you considering homeschooling your child or joining a learning pod? We want to hear from you.

GUESTS:

• L'Heureux Lewis-McCoy - Associate Professor, Sociology of Education at NYU
• Tia Miller - owner of Youth & Educational Consultant at Creativista Charm LLC.
• Elizabeth Bartholet - Morris Wasserstein Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Child Advocacy Program at Harvard Law

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First July electric bills went through the roof. Then, hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents lost power for days after a tropical storm. Today, ratepayer frustration with Connecticut’s largest electric utility, Eversource, are higher than ever.

After years of paying more for electricity with the promise that some would be used to “harden the grid”, many residents are wondering--where did that money go?

This hour, we talk with lawmakers and the state’s utility regulator about how Eversource responded after the recent tropical storm and what needs to change.

Are you an Eversource customer? How do you want to see the utility respond?

GUESTS:

• State Senator Norm Needleman - Senate chairman of the Energy and Technology Committee in the Connecticut General Assembly
• Marissa Gillett - Chairman of Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA)
• Richard Schmalensee - Professor of management emeritus at MIT Sloan School of Management, and former Director of the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research

Where We Live invited Eversource to join this show, but the company declined to participate.

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Musicians and performing artists around the world have cancelled tours and shows due to the pandemic. 

This hour, we’re talking to musicians from right here in Connecticut. Although local performers especially are struggling to stay afloat, many are still finding ways to put on a show, and make music. 

Coming up, some have even decided to pick up a new instrument during the pandemic. We talk to a music instructor on how they’re connecting with students while keeping socially distant. 

Are you a local performer? We want to hear from you.

GUESTS:

• Sarah Kaufold - Artistic Director at Consonare Chorale Community (@choral_sarah)
• Stephen Cusano -  owner and founder at Parkville Sounds
• John McCarthy - founder and instructor at Rock House School of Music

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the last decade of the twentieth century came the first clinical trials for a biotechnology known as gene therapy. Since then, how far has gene therapy come? And how far has it left to go?

This hour, we consider these and other questions, and we also hear from you. Were you or was someone close to you diagnosed with a genetic disease? What thoughts or questions do you have about gene therapy and its ongoing advancement?

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

GUESTS:

• Dr. Ricki Lewis, Ph.D. - Science writer and geneticist; she is the author of several books including The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It; her weekly blog is called DNA Science (@rickilewis)
• Lori Sames - Mother of Hannah Sames and co-founder of Hannah’s Hope Fund for Giant Axonal Neuropathy (@LoriSames)
• Dr. Robert Burgess, Ph. D. - Professor and director of the Center for Precision Genetics at The Jackson Laboratory, a nonprofit biomedical research institution with several campuses including in Bar Harbor, Maine and Farmington, Connecticut

Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired on June 7, 2019.

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.