Where We Live

Hartford has long been known as the insurance capital of the world, but will that change now that insurance giant, Aetna, is moving its headquarters out of the state?

This hour, we examine the past and future of insurance in Connecticut — and beyond.

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Coming up: We find out how researchers are working to preserve the world's most endangered languages -- including a look at locally-based efforts to expand fluency of the Mohegan language.

But first: reaction to the weekend’s news out of Charlottesville.

We check in with former Virginia residents and we also hear from you.

How do you interpret this latest incident of racism and violence? Do you worry that something similar could happen here in Connecticut? 

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America’s national parks are experiencing record crowds — and some nature enthusiasts worry about what that means for the protected land. Is the sheer amount of people taking away the rustic experience these parks offer? 

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Unearthing family history -- one saliva sample at a time.

This hour: how low-cost DNA testing helped spawn an industry and, with it, a new wave of genealogical sleuthing.

Ancestry.com, 23andMe, Family Tree DNA -- how far are you willing to go and how much are you willing to spend to better understand your roots? 

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Here's something that might make you might think twice before ordering a bucket of drumsticks: tasty as they may be, those cooked morsels of meat actually come from... dinosaurs.

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Lawmakers in Hartford still have no state budget in place — and that’s creating widespread fiscal uncertainty for cities and towns across Connecticut.

This hour, we hear from municipal leaders about how they’re responding. 

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Coming up, we find out how New Haven's new Elm City Party Bike is motivating some to pedal for their beer.

But first, members of the Hartford-based, '90s-inspired rock band Audio Jane join us live in WNPR’s Studio 3.

We talk about their local roots and listen to songs off their 2017 release -- an album called Naive. 

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During the 1920’s, some Connecticut women took jobs painting watch dials with radium-laced paint. At the time, they didn’t know it was toxic. As these so-called “Radium Girls” began to die, their stories became part of a rallying cry for industrial regulation.

This hour, we talk about the "Radium Girls" of Waterbury with Kate Moore, author of The Radium Girls: The Dark Story Of America’s Shining Women. 

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Within the shadow of P.T. Barnum lies a much quieter tale of Bridgeport prosperity -- a tale involving two nineteenth-century sisters, Mary and Eliza Freeman.

While neither achieved the same level of recognition as Barnum, both established a significant place within the history of Connecticut’s Park City. 

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Hate drives people to do unspeakable things but how often do these stories end in forgiveness and friendship?

This hour, Ted Hakey Jr. and Zahir Mannan join us. The two men met after Hakey shot his rifle into Mannan’s place of worship — the Ahmaddiya Baitul Amman Mosque in Meriden in 2015.

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