Where We Live

Today, we talk about how experiences coming of age impact us into adulthood. Melissa Febos, author of the bestselling memoir Girlhood, joins us.

She writes about what she learned about herself, including the ways we begin to understand consent and how this impacts our relationships long-term.

And later, what should parents and educators consider when teaching about consent?

GUESTS:

• Melissa Febos - author of Girlhood
• Kelsey Alexander - Training and Prevention Coordinator at Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence

Cat Pastor contributed to this show which originally aired February 18, 2022.

Where We Live is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

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How does craft deepen your understanding of your history, your community, or yourself? And how can predominantly-white craft spaces better welcome diverse experiences?Textile artist and printmaker Jen Hewett threads the needle on these questions in her latest book, This Long Thread: Women of Color on Craft, Community and Connection. The book includes interviews with 19 fiber artists, and surveys hundreds of creators of color, all of whom draw on their relationship with making. This hour, we hear from Hewett – and briefly, from writer Mia Nakaji Monnier.

Plus, Susi Ryan is an author and social justice activist from Connecticut who co-founded the quilt guild, Sisters In Stitches Joined By The Cloth. Ryan recently wrote a piece about how craft connects her to her ancestors, titled "Cloth Has Given Me A Voice," for Mass Humanities' We, Too, Are America series. She says, "Cloth has given me a voice to recall the memory of my enslaved ancestors.

The quilts that I create visually depict and document in cloth the life journeys of my family, my ancestors, and the many others who lived through the African diaspora," Ryan writes. "The stories my quilts tell allow me to ease into uncomfortable conversations about such critical issues as racism, social and medical justice, prison reform, African American history and literature, farm, food and housing sustainability, climate change, women’s rights, religion, politics, and human trafficking, that sadly still exists today."

GUESTS:

• Jen Hewett: Printmaker; Textile Artist; Author, This Long Thread: Women of Color on Craft, Community, and Connection
• Susi Ryan: Author; Speaker; Fiber Artist; Social Justice Activist; Co-Founder, Sisters In Stitches Joined By The Cloth

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

Cat Pastor contributed to this show which originally aired April 28, 2022.

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Through his art, Mohamad Hafez confronts preconceived notions of refugees and the "baggage" they may carry. He was recently the subject of an Oscars-shortlisted documentary, an intimate portrait of how Hafez's acclaimed UNPACKED series was informed by his own experience leaving Syria.

This hour, we visit Hafez at his studio, just above the location of his latest venture, Pistachio Cafe. Hear about why he opened this coffee shop and "cultural salon" in the heart of New Haven’s Westville neighborhood. Plus, hear how he has adapted his artwork into workshops with Connecticut schools; and preview an upcoming partnership with the Yale Peabody Museum.

"How do you tell these stories artistically? How do you tell that my family or the Syrian family or Iraqi family is worthy of attention?"

Hafez says he is "energized to make artwork that brings people together, that teaches them ever-so-gently about that other that they fear, about that other refugee that they think is uncivilized. There's nothing better than sharing humanity, sharing stories, sharing anecdotes about our lives. Because, you know, that's the human connection amongst all of us.

GUESTS:

• Mohamad Hafez: Artist; Architect; Owner, Pistachio Cafe

Cat Pastor contributed to this show which originally aired March 24.Where We Live is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, 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.

Since purchasing Twitter, Elon Musk has drastically scaled back on the site’s content moderation and staff.

Today, we hear from a former Twitter employee who was recently laid off about her experience working at the company.

And later, we hear from Amanda J Crawford, Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Connecticut, on the real consequences of misinformation on the platform. We also hear from Sharon McMeekin from the Digital Preservation Coalition.

We want to hear from you - are you still using Twitter?

GUESTS

• Melissa Ingle: data scientist, who formerly worked at Twitter
• Sharon McMeekin - Head of Workforce Development at Digital Preservation Coalition
• Amanda J Crawford: Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Connecticut teaching media law

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With anti-trans rhetoric on the rise, one Connecticut family shares their story in the hopes of encouraging understanding. Hear our extended conversation with Oakley and his mom Jess, touching on his experience of coming out as trans, and about the importance of allyship and advocacy. Plus, Jess shares a parent's perspective.

Oakley and Jess are using pseudonyms due to broader concerns about their safety, and in order to speak openly. You can hear more from them in a profile from Health Care Advocates International.

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There are several protections for trans and nonbinary people in our state, including insurance coverage for health care services and, as part of Connecticut's new "safe harbor" law, legal protections for those seeking gender-affirming care from out-of-state.

Still, an increase in anti-trans rhetoric has led to a troubling trend of legislation and litigation nationally. How does this affect trans and nonbinary people where we live?

One Connecticut teenager and his mom are sharing their story in the hopes of encouraging understanding. This hour, we hear from Oakley about his experience coming out as trans, and about the importance of allyship and advocacy. Jess shares a parent's perspective.

Oakley and Jess are using pseudonyms due to broader concerns about their safety, and in order to speak openly. You can hear more from them in a profile from Health Care Advocates International.

We're also joined by The Trevor Project, a national suicide prevention and mental health organization for LGBTQ young people. Their annual survey found that 45% of young LGBTQ people have seriously considered suicide in the last year, and nearly one in five transgender and nonbinary youth have attempted suicide.

Plus, we examine how harmful anti-trans narratives contribute to this crisis with Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog.

GUESTS:

• Oakley and Jess: Connecticut teenager and his mom
• Troy Stevenson: Senior Advocacy Campaign Manager, The Trevor Project
• Ari Drennen: LGBTQ Director, Media Matters for America

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On Election Day, Connecticut residents voted in favor of early voting – meaning Connecticut will no longer be one of just four states that doesn’t allow at least a day of in-person voting prior to Election Day.

Support for early voting is one thing; implementation is another.

Today on Where We Live, we talk about what early voting might look like in our state, and hear from Secretary of the State Elect, Stephanie Thomas.

We also hear from John Hudak, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution who will explain what early voting looks like across the country.

Do you vote for early voting? And what about something Connecticut doesn’t have yet, no-excuse absentee balloting? We want to hear from you.

GUESTS

• Representative Stephanie Thomas: 2022 Secretary of the State Elect of Connecticut
• Bilal Sekou: Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Hartford
• John Hudak: Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution

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In 2018, New London was designated a "site of memory" on the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization's slave route project, an effort launched in 1994 to "break the silence" around the history of slavery.

New London Landmarks held a ceremony in July to recognize the designation, installing a plaque at Amistad Pier. The site is considered the sixteenth stop on the New London Black Heritage Trail, which was unveiled last year.

The "Middle Passage to New London" plaque explains that in 1761, the Speedwell, a large schooner, arrived in New London from the west coast of Africa transporting 74 captive people. 21 people had not survived the harrowing voyage.

"The Speedwell docked in New London for several days before sailing to Middletown." New London joins Middletown and 51 other ports, or "sites of memory," in North America.

The plaque, and the designation itself, are meant to honor those who died during the Middle Passage, "and the enslaved people whose forced labor created much of New London's early wealth and led to disparities which still exist today."

This hour, we hear from local historians about their research, showing the Speedwell represents a small part of the city’s links to slavery. Plus, the Hempsted Houses are prominently featured on the New London Black Heritage Trail. We'll hear from assistant site administrator Nicole Thomas.

Do you want to learn more about Connecticut's history with slavery? Historian Lonnie Braxton II recommends the following reads:

Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited from Slavery by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang and Jenifer Frank

The Logbooks: Connecticut's Slave Ships and Human Memory by Anne Farrow

Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England by Jared Ross Hardesty

The Ledger and the Chain: How Domestic Slave Traders Shaped America by Joshua D. Rothman

Reckoning with Slavery Gender, Kinship, and Capitalism in the Early Black Atlantic by Jennifer L. Morgan

GUESTS:

• Tom Schuch: New London Historian; Researcher, New London Black Heritage Trail
• Lonnie Braxton II: Historian; Researcher, New London Black Heritage Trail
• Nicole D. Thomas: Historian; Researcher; Assistant Site Administrator, Hempsted Houses

Cat Pastor contributed to this show which originally aired August 12, 2022.

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As non-profit, tax-exempt institutions, colleges and universities are often seen as a source of public good. For example, a recent New York Times Magazine article celebrated a bustling New Haven arts scene that has arisen "both because of and despite its association with Yale."

Author and historian Davarian L. Baldwin describes a "public good paradox," calling for a "broad examination of higher education's growing for-profit influence on our cities."

This hour, the Trinity College professor joins guest host John Henry Smith to discuss his latest book, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities Are Plundering Our Cities. He touches on Yale University in New Haven, as well as his own employer, noting its "ambivalent relationship with its location" in Hartford.

Baldwin writes that Yale is one "extreme" example of how "colleges and universities come to significantly dictate the terms of urban living, from a city’s housing costs and wage ceilings to its health-care standards and even policing practices."

Baldwin discusses his work organizing around various institutions of higher learning through the Smart Cities Lab he founded and directs at Trinity College.

He tells John Henry Smith, "We're talking about suppressed wages of faculty, service workers, graduate students. We're talking about tax exemptions; we're talking about unaccountable policing; we're talking about questionable health care practices. So for me, higher education, the notion of the 'ivory tower,' is dead. Some of the major struggles over the future of our democracy are being played out in concentrated form on our America's campuses."

We also hear from Eddie Camp, an organizer and research director with UNITE HERE Local 34, who has worked with community organization New Haven Rising to push for Yale to "pay its fair share." He discusses Yale's recent commitment to increase its voluntary contribution to the City of New Haven.

Camp helped to research segregated development in 2020, finding "striking" overlaps between mortgage rates, life expectancy, unemployment, foreclosures and COVID-19 rates in New Haven. Find out more about that research and campaign.

GUESTS:

• Davarian L. Baldwin: Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies, Trinity College; Founding Director, Smart Cities Research Lab; Author, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering Our Cities
• Eddie Camp: Research Director, UNITE HERE Local 34

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

From 1872 to 1881, 120 young Chinese boys were sent to America on an educational exchange program.

Today, we hear the stories of these boys and what their lives looked like around New England.

We hear from the Connecticut Historical Society and learn about an exhibit honoring the Chinese Educational Mission.

Later, we hear about Connecticut’s efforts to implement a robust AAPI curriculum in our schools.

If you’re an Asian American living in our state, we want to hear from you.

GUESTS:

• Karen Li Miller - Research Historian at the Connecticut Historical Society
• Chris Lee - descendant of one of the participants of the Chinese Educational Mission
• Henry Qu - Data Scientist based in Boston. He worked on translating these letters.
• Jason Oliver Chang - Associate Professor of History and Director of the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute at UConn

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