Where We Live

A content warning to our listeners: today we will be talking about suicide.

United States saw nearly 50,000 deaths by suicide in 2022, and suicide continues to be on the rise. 

Talking openly about suicide and mental health can be a critical part of deterring suicide deaths. But having those discussions can be really challenging and experts say there are specific ways to conduct these conversations delicately.

Later, we hear from Connecticut Urgent Crisis Centers.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can go online to 988lifeline.org or dial 9-8-8.

GUESTS:

• Aneri Pattani: Senior Correspondent for KFF Health News

• Ann Dagle: President and Co-founder of the Brian Dagle Foundation and Tri-chair of Connecticut Suicide Advisory Board

• Dr Laine Taylor: Medical Director for The Village for Families and Children

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

Cat Pastor contributed to this show which originally aired September 29, 2023.

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Whether it's reading more books or eating out less, January is the month of goals and challenges. Veganuary is no exception.

The 30-day plant-based challenge originated nearly a decade ago and has since taken on a life of its own. We’ll hear from three different vegans working in the plant-based space about their journey to becoming vegan and what it means to them.

What do you want to know about the lifestyle?

GUESTS:

• Wendy Matthews: U.S. Director, Veganuary

• Candice Hutchings: Creator, The Edgy Veg

• Mackenzie Sullivan: Co-Founder, Ellie Mae Farm Sanctuary in Storrs

Cat Pastor contributed to this episode which originally aired January 20, 2023.

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There are approximately 2.45 million people who need humanitarian assistance in Gaza. And the entire population is now at risk of famine. That’s according to Save the Children, an international NGO and humanitarian aid organization based in Connecticut.

Today, we hear from Janti Soeripto, President & CEO of Save the Children.

And later, Where We Live has been covering the Israel-Hamas War, and exploring how the conflict and history of this region has been captured through the arts. We hear from Palestinian American poet and community activist Zeina Azzam.

She is the current poet laureate of Alexandria, Virginia and She is also the Author of Some Things Never Leave You.

GUESTS:

• Zeina Azzam: poet laureate of Alexandria, Virginia and author of Some Things Never Leave You
• Janti Soeripto: President & CEO of Save the Children, an international NGO and humanitarian aid organization based in Connecticut

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Each year, we broadcast nearly 200 episodes of programming. As 2023 comes to a close, we are highlighting some of our favorite conversations.

Today, we’re sharing three important interviews on mental health and trauma. Senior Producer Tess Terrible shares her favorite conversations on these topics.

First up, we’re going to listen back to our conversation with Kate Dias: President of Connecticut Education Association. She spoke with us about school shootings, lockdown drills, and how they’re impacting student and teacher mental health.

At the start of the Israel-Hamas War, we zoomed in on trauma in that region — and the ripple effects here in the U.S. In our second segment, we hear from Dr. Julian Ford, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut Health Center. We also hear from Steve Sosebee, President and Founder of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and Rabbi Debra Cantor from the B’nai Tikvoh-Sholom Synagogue.

And later, we hear from Deb Bibbins: Founder and CEO, For All Ages; Connecticut Collaborative to End Loneliness and local efforts to address the loneliness epidemic.

Full episodes:

• Feeling safe or creating trauma? How lockdown drills are impacting our schools
• The trauma of witnessing war, near and far
• 'What's eating at America': Addressing the loneliness and isolation epidemic

Where We Live is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, 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.

As we approach the end of the year we’ve been reflecting on our favorite conversations throughout 2023. Host Catherine Shen chose her most memorable moments, all about music.

First, we discuss the power of nostalgia and the memories music can carry, with John Ondrasik, frontman for Five for Fighting. The soft-rock band topped the charts in the early 2000s with songs like "Superman" and "100 Years."

Eric George Lopez, or ericdoa, has been described as the "face of hyperpop," a newer music genre born out of 2000s electronic music. But in many ways, the "genre-bending" up-and-coming artist defies categorization. He discusses his upbringing in Connecticut, how he developed his sound and what makes Gen Z uniquely powerful in the arts.

Plus, Ashley Hamel discovered her love of music while growing up in Connecticut. The singer-songwriter eventually left New England behind to build her music career in Indonesia. She joined us from Jakarta to talk about her new single, "New England Baby."

Full episodes:

• A conversation with Five for Fighting frontman John Ondrasik

• CT-based Gen Z trailblazers: Musician ericdoa, K-pop dance crew SEOULAR, and designer MINIPNG

• Ashley Hamel takes her music to new heights abroad, plus a look at the ticketing industry

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As we round out 2023, we’re looking back on some of our favorite conversations on Where We Live, with the voices that moved us.

This hour, producer Katie Pellico shares some of her favorite moments, with a focus on history and the efforts to retell or tell a fuller story.

First up, we hear from the team of students and scholars at Yale University working to study the history of eugenics, the role the institution played in developing this pseudoscience, and more. Daniel HoSang, Professor of Ethnicity, Race, Migration and American Studies at Yale University, leads the Anti-Eugenics Collective at Yale University.

We'll also preview our conversation with Chris Newell, Connecticut-based educator and member of Passamaquoddy Tribe, who recently wrote a book for children about the story of Thanksgiving. If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving helps to untangle some of the myths and misnomers commonly associated with the Thanksgiving story, titled.

Later, we hear from Andy Horowitz, the new Connecticut State Historian, about his hopes for his term.

Full episodes:

• Uncovering the history of eugenics at Yale University, and its 'afterlives'

• Rewriting the Thanksgiving story, while centering Indigenous voices

• Andy Horowitz is the new Connecticut State Historian

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We often think of the holidays as a time to gather with family. But the reality might look a little different. It can be a challenging time if you have a strained relationship with your family. It can also be difficult for those estranged from family.

Family estrangement can occur for a number of reasons. And there is a lot of stigma around cutting ties with family. But research says it’s more common than we think.

Family estrangement is complicated. Today, talk to two people who have experienced this first hand.

Have you been effected by family estrangement?

GUESTS:

• Dr. Lucy Blake: Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of the West of England and a leading expert on family estrangement
• Seth Forbes: Founder & Executive Director of Together Estranged
• Aimee Palmer: Founder of Parents of Estranged Adult Children

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Trains may often be billed as a toy for tots, but there are locomotive-lovers of all ages where we live. This hour, go for a ride on the Naugatuck Railroad at the Railroad Museum of New England, and one holiday train tailored for children on the autism spectrum.

Plus, Yale New Haven Children's Hospital is home to a toy train display that sparks joy in children and adults alike.

GUESTS:

• Christine Faressa: Founder and President, Sun, Moon & Stars

• Orion Newall: Passenger Operations Director, Naugatuck Railroad

• Ebony Wright: Registered Nurse; Assistant Patient Service Manager, Pediatric Specialty Center at Yale New Haven Children's Hospital

• Walt Zawalich: Volunteer Trains Curator, Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital and Eli Whitney Museum

Cat Pastor contributed to this episode which originally aired December 21, 2022.

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If you’ve ever struggled driving through Hartford, you’re certainly not alone.

Today, the Connecticut Department of Transportation joins us to discuss the Greater Hartford Mobility Study. Now that it is complete, stakeholders are working to implement some big projects to make Hartford a better city to live in. But it’s going to take some time, possibly even a few decades to implement.

We take a look at a multi-decade plan to improve driving and mobility throughout the greater Hartford area. We learn what could be done to increase walkability, livability and transit throughout this region.

If you’re a resident of this area, we want to hear from you! What would you like to see done to upgrade the greater Hartford area?

And later, we learn about a klezmer band hailing out of New Haven that will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year.

GUESTS:

• Garret Eucalitto: Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner
• Matt Hart: Executive Director, Capitol Region Council of Governments(CRCOG)
• David Chevan: music director and bassist for the Nu Haven Kapelye and producer of their new album, Nu Haven Style

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"An act of translation is always an act of betrayal."

This idea, and the questions it inspires, are central to author Rebecca or RF Kuang’s 2022 novel, Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution.

As the title promises, the book also explores the nature of revolution and the "necessity of violence," in addition to those complex questions surrounding the art of translation.

This hour, we revisit our conversation with the author, which was focused on the award-winning book, during an event organized by local bookseller RJ Julia.

On the importance of student revolutions, Kuang reflects, "The student's weakness is precisely his allure. The fact that the student is so naïve and doesn't have the jadedness of somebody who's been through more; the fact that students are dreamers, that they are romantic idealists; that kind of hope, that kind of ability to imagine an alternate future is beautiful and it matters and I hope we keep seeing that."

GUESTS:

• RF or Rebecca Kuang: Author

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