Where We Live

Students with disabilities can experience many challenges in the classroom, from discrimination to a lack of accommodations.

So, how can schools help these students feel like they belong?

That question was the focus of a special summit hosted by the state’s Department of Education in November.

The event brought together students, educators, parents, and more to highlight the experiences of students with disabilities and how we can better support them.

Watch the full panel discussion on CT-N.

Where We Live is available as a podcast 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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Author Scott Shigeoka has spent a lot of time being curious about curiosity. It started with a trip across the country, meeting people with very different views than him and finding ways to build connections across political lines.

In his book Seek: How Curiosity can Transform Your Life and Change the World, Scott describes ways to bring curiosity to our lives and our relationships.

There’s many ways to build curiosity. It may even be contagious! But there are also several deterrents to curiosity, or curiosity killers. But becoming more curious could start with challenging our own thinking.

GUEST:

• Scott Shigeoka: author of Seek: How Curiosity can Transform Your Life and Change the World

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we’re celebrating the New Year. Are you making New Year’s Resolutions this year?

New Year's Resolutions come in all shapes, sizes, and themes. New Year's resolutions are often about making drastic changes, but they don’t have to be.

From fitness and health to relationships, friendships and spirituality, there’s no one resolution that will help you make the most out of 2025.

We’ll share some of our intentions going into the New Year, and reflect on 2024. And we want to hear from you too!

GUESTS:

• Chion Wolf: host of Audacious with Chion Wolf

• Robyn Doyon-Aitken: Deputy Director of Audio Storytelling and Talk Shows

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Poet laureates do a lot more than write poetry.

Since 1985, Connecticut state poet laureates have worked to promote the literary arts and poetry throughout the Nutmeg state, visiting schools, performing spoken word and passing on poetry to the next generation of writers.

There is no straight path to this position. Some of our guests today have been writing poetry all their lives. Others got bitten by the poetry bug a little later.

Today, three poet laureates from around our state join us in the studio.

GUESTS:

• Antoinette Brim Bell: Connecticut State Poet Laureate

• Nadia Sims: Manchester Poet Laureate

• Frederick-Douglass Knowles II: Hartford Poet laureate

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

This show originally aired on August 13, 2024.

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Why do we revisit the things we loved as kids? What’s the lasting power of our favorite TV shows and movies? A new podcast from Connecticut Public looks for answers in a big, purple dinosaur. It’s called Generation Barney. 

This hour, we listen to episode 3 of the podcast – “Love 2 Hate.” 

And later, we’re joined by an expert in anti-fandom, Emily Contois, who explains why people connect over shared hatred. 

GUESTS:

Emily Contois, Media studies professor and faculty in residence, University of Tulsa

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Back in the 90s, Barney the purple dinosaur was everywhere, including in our living rooms. If you were a kid or a parent back then, chances are good that you had a stuffed Barney lying around your home. 

This hour, we listen to episode 4 – “Purple Capitalism” – of Connecticut Public’s new podcast,  Generation Barney. 

And later, we’re joined by an expert in toy studies, Meredith Bak, who explains why merchandise played a big role in the TV show’s success.

GUESTS:

Meredith Bak, Associate Professor of Childhood Studies, Rutgers University – Camden

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As the author of the children’s book My Mama is a Pilot, Saba Shahid says she wants children to feel “represented and valued” through her stories.

Only 1% of commercial airline pilots are women of color. And Saba Shahid’s path to becoming a pilot is a little bit different than most. It actually started as a pandemic hobby!

Saba Shahid is this year’s recipient of the Girl Scouts Legacy of Leadership Award. She joins us for the hour to talk about her remarkable career, and her work as a Lifetime Girl Scout.

GUESTS:

• Saba Shahid: Author, pilot, and recipient of this year's Girl Scouts of Connecticut 2024 Legacy of Leadership Award

• Elicia Pegues Spearman: CEO of the Girl Scouts of Connecticut

• Stephanie Abrams: President & CEO of the New England Air Museum

Where We Live is available as a podcast 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 September 17, 2024.

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Our opinions and ideas, thoughts and feelings, and how our senses are taken in are unique to each of us.

So when the founding scientists of neuroscience first started illustrating and studying the brain, they came to some very different conclusions on how it works.

How we think, how the brain works, and the history of neuroscience is the subject of the Yale Peabody Musuem’s new exhibit, “Mind/Matter: The Neuroscience of Perception, Attention and Memory Launched.”

We hear from the curators of this exhibit. Later, we hear from one arts organization working to empower artists with disabilities.

GUESTS:

• Daniel Colón Ramos: Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology at Yale University and Associate Director of the Wu Tsai Institute

• David Skelly: Director of the Yale Peabody Museum

• Rebecca Maloney: Senior Art Program Manager at Inspire Arts, Connecticut based program supporting artists with disabilities.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Breaking, also known as breakdancing, made its debut at the Olympics this summer. But the sport has an illustrious history. This hour, we take you from the streets of the Bronx to the global stage.

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In 2023, employment in retail increased by nearly 500,000 people from October to December.

Additionally, there is an increased demand for healthcare services during the holiday season. Vehicular accidents, fires and decorating injuries are all too common. That’s according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

If you’ve recently spent any time shopping, or at a doctor’s office, odds are you’ve met someone who will be working through the holiday season.

Today, we hear from retail and healthcare workers and learn about their experiences working during the holidays.

If you'll be working through this holiday season, we want to hear from you.

GUESTS:

• Lucy Sciarretto: Seafood Clerk at Stop & Shop in Southbury, CT
• Audrey Silver: Senior Clinical Operations Manager at Hartford Healthcare
• Ellen Benson: Associate Director of Procedural Services and Manager of the Sterile Processing Department UConn Health

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