This hour, we’re taking a look at how gambling has changed since then. We'll talk about how sports betting companies think about the work that they do and the way people are impacted by gambling addiction. We'll also discuss the the effect gambling is having on college students.

GUESTS:

• Danny Funt: Reporter who’s covered the sports betting boom for publications like The Washington Post and The New Yorker. His new book is Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling.

• Brian Hatch: Community Engagement Manager for the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling. He’s also the host of All in: The Addicted Gambler’s Podcast.

If you or someone you know is being adversely affected by gambling, there is help available. You can reach out to the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling’s helpline at 888-789-7777. You can go to their website at ccpg.org. You can also reach the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-MY RESET (1-800-697-3738).

Here are some of the other resources mentioned in the episode:

• To find treatment programs in Connecticut, you can contact a Bettor Choice Program.

• You can find a local or virtual Gamblers Anonymous meeting through their website

• You can also listen to Brian's podcast, All in: The Addicted Gambler’s Podcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plus, in the 1970s, a wave of arson swept U.S. cities. The arson has long been attributed to the Black and brown residents of apartment buildings, but Bench Ansfield argues that the fires were most often set by the landlords who owned the buildings. That's part of the book Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City.

GUESTS:

• Abigail Brone: Housing Reporter for Connecticut Public

• Bench Ansfield: Assistant Professor of History at Temple University and author of Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Dalia Kinsey: Registered Dietician, creator of the Body Liberation for all Podcast, and Author of Decolonizing Wellness: A QTBIPOC-Centered Guide to Escape the Diet Trap, Heal Your Self-Image, and Achieve Body Liberation

• Maryah Gonzalez: Owner of Haus of Vanity in Cheshire, Conn.

• Seryna Simmons: Owner of skin and hair care boutique, Seryna’s Holistiq in Middletown, Conn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we’re listening back to our episode about the power of craft. We’ll hear from a crafter who helped popularize the term "craftivism." It refers to a movement that combines craft with activism. We’ll also talk to a local potter who hopes to spread awareness of the indigenous Wangunk people. They are not recognized as a tribe by the federal or state government.

GUESTS:

• Betsy Greer: writer and maker. She’s editor of the book Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism and author of Knitting for Good!: A Guide to Creating Personal, Social, and Political Change Stitch by Stitch. She helped popularize the term "craftivism."

• Gary Red Oak O'Neil: a Wangunk Elder, potter, and educator. He’s been a member of Wesleyan Potters since 1968. His solo exhibition, Excavations, was on view at the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University in fall 2025, and a current exhibition, The Art of Wangunk Elder Gary Red Oak O'Neil is on view at Wesleyan potters until March 22;

This episode originally aired on August 22, 2025.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we take a look at labor strikes and economic boycotts, when they work, and when they don’t. We discuss what power consumers have, and we explore the history of labor movements and talk about the present moment.

GUEST:

• Americus Reed II: Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School

• Kim Kelly: Labor reporter for In These Times Magazine. She is the author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining us today to talk about both his work with the foundation and his past in politics is Jay Williams, President and CEO of the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation.

GUEST:

• Jay Williams: President and CEO of the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation. He has also served as Mayor of Youngstown, Ohio and worked in multiple roles in the Obama administration.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Krystal Marquis: the New York Times bestselling author of The Davenports. Her short story "Group Project" will be included in the book 13 Little Love Stories: An Anthology Inspired by Taylor Swift Songs.

• Tanisha C. Ford: Professor of History at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Her most recent book is 'Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 31, 2025, the Department of Defense announced it would no longer use official resources to celebrate cultural awareness months, including Black History Month, which began the following day. That announcement came after the Trump administration's rollback of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives within the federal government.

This hour, we listen back to our conversation with a panel of experts talking about Black History Month and what it means today.

GUESTS:

• Kevin Gaines: Julian Bond Professor of Civil Rights and Social Justice and former Interim Director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute at the University of Virginia.

• Christina Greer: Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University

• Michael Harriot: founder of ContrabandCamp and bestselling author of Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America.

In this episode, the guests mention several Black Americans who have made an impact on U.S. history. Here are some of the names if you want to learn more:

Ella Baker, Mary McLeod Bethune, George Washington Carver, James Chaney, Septima Clark, John Henrik Clarke, David Dennis Sr, Fannie Lou Hamer, Steven Henson, bell hooks, Barbara Jordan, Garrett Morgan, Constance Baker Motley, Gloria Naylor, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Gloria Richardson, Amelia Boynton Robinson, Jo Ann Robinson, Cleveland Sellers, Robert Smalls, the students in the court case Edwards v. South Carolina, Ida B. Wells-Barnett

Special thanks to our former interns Angelica Gajewski and Kathy Wang.

This episode originally aired on February 28, 2025.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We also visit Jason Ramos' New Haven dance studio, Baila Con Gusto CT, where dabblers learn how to Salsa, Bachata and Merengue in community with one another.

Plus, Spanish artist Esther Gonzalez reads her essay, “How to Reset Your Artistic Life.”

GUESTS:

• Karen Walrond: Author of ‘The Lightmaker's Manifesto’ and ‘Radiant Rebellion’. Her latest book is ‘In Defense of Dabbling: The Brilliance of Being a Total Amateur’

• Jason Ramos: Founder of Baila Con Gusto CT, a dance studio in residence at St. Paul & St. James Church in New Haven

• Esther González: Artist and author of the essay ‘How to Reset Your Artistic Life.’ Find her artwork on Instagram. And read more of her essays on her Substack, Journal Rash.

Special thanks to the students at Baila Con Gusto CT who spoke to us about what inspires them to dance.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Erik Clemons: CEO and President of ConnCORP (Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program) and ConnCAT (Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology). ConnCAT offers job training and youth programs, while ConnCORP is dedicated to economic development in New Haven

• Ryan Parker: educator, poet and activist. He’s a certified mama’s boy and chocolate chip cookie lover. He works as an educational consultant and has spent more than two decades teaching. He was Poet Laureate of Manchester from 2019 to 2023. He helped create Project Happyvism, which includes a song and a children's book. His upcoming projects include a healing retreat in the Azores and an educational children's program with episodes set to release at the end of February.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We'll also hear from Joe Soss and Joshua Page. Their recent book is Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice. The book explores how the legal system takes resources from marginalized communities. As part of his research for the book, Professor Page spent more than a year working as a bail bond agent.

GUESTS:

• Maysoon Khan: Investigative Reporting Fellow with The Accountability Project at Connecticut Public.

• Joshua Page: Fink Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota and one of the authors of Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice.

• Joe Soss: Inaugural Cowles Chair for the Study of Public Service at the University of Minnesota and one of the authors of Legal Plunder: The Predatory Dimensions of Criminal Justice.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plus, historian Thant Myint-U has a new book out about his grandfather, U Thant, who was the UN’s first non-European secretary-general, and a leading ambassador of peace during the Cold War. Myint-U joins us to talk about his grandfather's role in the history of the United Nations and the lessons we can take from his example for the present.

GUESTS:

• Thant Myint-U: Author of Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, a Senior Fellow at UN Foundation, and he formerly served on three UN peacekeeping operations

• Eugene Chen: Senior Fellow at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research. He is a former UN official

This episode originally aired on October 31, 2025.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

But amidst all the statistics and lofty arguments for and against, it’s important to remember that capital punishment affects real people. It impacts both the people sentenced to death, and the families who’ve lost loved ones to violence.

This hour, we’re listening back to our episode about what the death penalty means to the human beings impacted by it.

Staff Writer at The Atlantic and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Elizabeth Bruenig, has seen the impact of the death penalty firsthand. She’s also lost a family member to violence. While many journalists cover capital punishment, fewer are applying to attend the executions of people on death row.

In a deeply personal conversation, Khalilah Brown-Dean talks with Bruenig about her coverage of capital punishment. Her recent cover story in The Atlantic is, 'Witness: Inside America's Death Chambers - What Years of witnessing executions taught me about sin, mercy and the possibility of redemption.'

Bruenig describes her own family tragedy, the realities of death by lethal injection, and why her feelings about capital punishment have changed over time. Plus, the pair describe the complex emotions victims’ families grapple with in the aftermath of tragedy.

GUEST:

• Elizabeth Bruenig: Staff writer at The Atlantic

This episode originally aired on September 5, 2025. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we’re reflecting on what has changed since the height of the Me Too movement. We'll discuss everything from policy to social media.

GUESTS:

• Nicole Bedera: Sociologist who studies sexual violence and author of On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence.

• Kat Tenbarge: Award-winning independent journalist who covers internet culture, politics and sexual violence and co-founder of Spitfire News.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Student journalists have been in the spotlight in recent years. In 2024, amidst massive on-campus protests, people turned to student outlets like Columbia University’s WKCR for the most up to date reporting. But practicing journalism as a student comes with risks.

Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk was detained in March after the Trump administration revoked her visa. U.S. District Judge William Sessions ordered her release on May 9th, saying the only evidence given for her detention was an op-ed she had written for her school paper.

This hour, we’re talking about the role student journalists play in covering campuses and the communities around them. We discuss the risks student journalists face and they way their role is sometimes overlooked.

GUESTS:

• Gary Green: Executive Director of The Student Press Law Center, an organization that supports first amendment rights for student journalists

• Anika Arora Seth: Editor in Chief of the Yale Daily News from spring 2023 to spring 2024

• Maria Shaikh: Managing Editor at The Retrograde, an independent student newspaper at the University of Texas at Dallas

• Macy Hanzlik-Barend: News & Arts director at WKCR, Columbia University’s independent student-run radio station

This episode originally aired on May 16, 2025.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Megan Greenwell's book, Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream, tells the story of four people whose lives were upended by private equity. This hour, we learn about the business of private equity, and how companies that many people don't understand play a big role in our lives.

GUEST:

• Megan Greenwell: Freelance journalist and author of Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream.

This episode originally aired on June 27, 2025.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Philosopher John Locke helped popularize the idea that learning to read should be fun with his 1693 treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education.

Fast forward 300 years and television series continued Locke’s legacy. Today's adults might remember the joy of reading being touted to young people through shows like Arthur and Reading Rainbow. 

The subjects of books for young people continue to change as well. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin—Madison tracks diversity statistics on the books they receive. 2024 was the first time since they started tracking that over half of the books had “significant BIPOC Content.” That designation takes into account the characters, settings and topics of books.

This hour, we’re talking to authors about representation in young people’s literature.

GUESTS:

• Ainissa Ramirez: Award-winning scientist and science communicator. She has worked at Bell Laboratories. Her latest book is a picture book called Spark: Jim West’s Electrifying Adventures in Creating the Microphone.

• Angeline Boulley: bestselling author of Firekeeper’s Daughter. Her new book is Sisters in the Wind.

If you want to learn more about the Indian Child Welfare Act, you can listen to our interview with Matthew L.M. Fletcher. To hear more from Ainissa Ramirez, you can listen to our 2021 conversation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour— Connecticut biologists tell us how their work helps us see what’s going on in the world around us. We'll discuss everything from how someone growing up in New York City could become fascinated by nature to the impact of federal funding cuts on research.

GUESTS:

• Martha Muñoz: Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Yale Peabody Museum and recipient of a 2024 MacArthur Fellowship.

• Maria Rosa: Assistant Professor of Biology at Connecticut College.

This episode originally aired on July 25, 2025.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To explore these challenges, we're talking to John Maduko, who was appointed Interim Chancellor of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system in June. We'll also hear from Jamal Watson, whose new book is The Student Debt Crisis: America’s Moral Urgency.

GUESTS:

• Jamal Watson: Journalist covering higher education. He’s also Associate Dean of the School of Professional and Graduate Studies and Professor of Strategic Communication and Public Relations at Trinity Washington University. His new book is The Student Debt Crisis: America’s Moral Urgency.

• John Maduko: Interim Chancellor of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system.

If you want to learn more about higher education, you can listen to our recent interview with Beverly Daniel Tatum. You can also listen to our 2022 interview with John Maduko.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Shelly Carter: Fire Chief at the Hamden Fire Department. She is the first woman and first person of color to serve in that role.

• Dawn Leaks Ragsdale: Inaugural Executive Director of the Center for Inclusive Growth, a group created through a partnership between Yale and the city of New Haven that seeks to build opportunities for economic growth for all New Haven residents.

• Shiang-Kwei Wang: Campus President at CT State Gateway. She’s the first person to hold the title of “Campus President” and the first Asian American leader of Gateway.

This episode originally aired on September 26, 2025.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Tracy K. Smith: Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019. Her 2011 collection Life on Mars won the Pulitzer Prize. Her latest book is Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times.

You can find both of the poems Tracy reads on this episode, "Everybody's Autobiography" and "Charity," online.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

These are just a few of the barriers that women of color in leadership deal with. But despite these barriers, Daniel also points out that women of color are also often drivers of change.

GUEST:

• Vanessa Priya Daniel: Principal at Vanessa Daniel Consulting, LLC. She has worked in social justice movements for 25 years, and her book Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning came out in March, 2025.

Vanessa Priya Daniel will be speaking at the Community Fund for Women & Girls' 30th Anniversary Celebration on November 13th in New Haven. You can find out more at this website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plus, historian Thant Myint-U has a new book out about his grandfather, U Thant, who was the UN’s first non-European secretary-general, and a leading ambassador of peace during the Cold War. Myint-U joins us to talk about his grandfather's role in the history of the United Nations and the lessons we can take from his example for the present.

GUESTS:

• Thant Myint-U: Author of Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, a Senior Fellow at UN Foundation, and he formerly served on three UN peacekeeping operations

• Eugene Chen: Senior Fellow at the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research. He is a former UN official

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CNN Senior Writer Matthew Vann tells us about how D.C. journalists are covering the current presidential administration. And former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's new book is Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines. She talks about the challenges she faced as she broke barriers to become the first Black person, first openly queer person and first immigrant to serve as White House Press Secretary. She also discusses why she's leaving the Democratic Party.

GUESTS:

• Matthew Vann: Senior Writer at CNN and Adjunct Professor of Journalism Ethics and First Amendment Law at NYU’s Washington D.C. campus.

• Karine Jean-Pierre: White House Press Secretary in the Biden Administration. She was the first Black person, first openly queer person and first immigrant to hold that role. Her new book is Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience as part of New Haven’s International Festival of Arts and Ideas.

GUEST:

• Jacques Pépin: author, instructor, chef and Executive Chairman of The Jacques Pépin Foundation. He has hosted or co-hosted numerous TV shows including "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home."

For more information about Jacques Pépin's 90/90 birthday celebrations, you can go to CelebrateJacques.org

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Disrupted first aired five years ago this week. Thank you to our listeners for returning week after week and making these five years possible.

GUEST:

• Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum: President Emerita of Spelman College in Atlanta. She recently served as interim president of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She's also bestselling author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race. Her latest book is Peril and Promise: College Leadership in Turbulent Times.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

And coverage can be hard to watch even if it isn’t insensitive. While news about violence against Black people is important for communities to know, it can also affect one’s mental health.

This can be a lot to deal with, so some people are trying to change the narrative by adding another emotion to the mix: joy.

This hour, we’re talking to people who are centering Black joy.

We’ll hear from the the owner of a local woodworking business called Black Joy Creations and the founders of a summer camp that is bringing smiles to campers’ faces.

GUESTS:

• Akeera Peterkin: woodworker and founder of Black Joy Creations. The Connecticut-based business sells hand-crafted wood products and leads woodworking classes. Akeera also runs a business as a therapist and social worker.

• Camille Hollenquest: Executive of Director of Detroit Heals Detroit and Co-Founder of Black Joy Summer Camp.

• Brianna Donald: Co-Chair of Detroit Heals Detroit and Co-Founder of Black Joy Summer Camp.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Shelly Carter: Fire Chief at the Hamden Fire Department. She is the first woman and first person of color to serve in that role.

• Dawn Leaks Ragsdale: Inaugural Executive Director of the Center for Inclusive Growth, a group created through a partnership between Yale and the city of New Haven that seeks to build opportunities for economic growth for all New Haven residents.

• Shiang-Kwei Wang: Campus President at CT State Gateway. She’s the first person to hold the title of “Campus President” and the first Asian American leader of Gateway.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we’re returning to our conversations with two Connecticut residents about the stories they have preserved through oral history.

Author and educator Mary Romney-Schaab talks about her father's experience as a Black person imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. And Amanda Rivera, a PhD candidate in American Studies at Yale University, discusses the history of Connecticut's Puerto Rican communities.

GUESTS:

• Mary Romney-Schaab: retired teacher and author of An Afro-Caribbean in the Nazi Era: From Papiamentu to German. The book details her father’s experience in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II

• Amanda Rivera: PhD candidate in the Department of American Studies at Yale University. Her work explores activism and education reform in Puerto Rican communities in southern Connecticut.

This episode originally aired on April 25, 2025. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Dr. Jonathan Metzl: Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, and the director of the Department of Medicine, Health, and Society, at Vanderbilt University. His most recent book is What We’ve Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms.

This episode originally aired on October 4, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve surpassed that number already in 2025.

Capital punishment can be a contentious topic. And it’s a debate that has been reignited in recent weeks — President Donald Trump has said he wants to seek the death penalty for all murder cases in Washington, DC.

But amidst all the statistics and lofty arguments for and against, it’s important to remember that capital punishment affects real people. It impacts both the people sentenced to death, and the families who’ve lost loved ones to violence.

This hour, we’re talking about what the death penalty means to the human beings impacted by it.

Staff Writer at The Atlantic and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Elizabeth Bruenig, has seen the impact of the death penalty firsthand. She’s also lost a family member to violence. While many journalists cover capital punishment, fewer are applying to attend the executions of people on death row.

In a deeply personal conversation, Khalilah Brown-Dean talks with Bruenig about her coverage of capital punishment. Her recent cover story in The Atlantic is, 'Witness: Inside America's Death Chambers - What Years of witnessing executions taught me about sin, mercy and the possibility of redemption.'

Bruenig describes her own family tragedy, the realities of death by lethal injection, and why her feelings about capital punishment have changed over time. Plus, the pair describe the complex emotions victims’ families grapple with in the aftermath of tragedy.

GUEST:

• Elizabeth Bruenig: Staff writer at The Atlantic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Andy Horowitz: Associate Professor of History at UConn, Connecticut State Historian, author of 'Katrina: A History, 1915-2015'

• Mohammed Ombadi: Assistant Professor in the department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan

This episode originally aired on November 8, 2023. 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we’re talking about the power of craft. We’ll hear from a crafter who helped popularize the term "craftivism." It refers to a movement that combines craft with activism. We’ll also talk to a local potter who hopes to spread awareness of the indigenous Wangunk people. They are not recognized as a tribe by the federal or state government.

GUESTS:

• Betsy Greer: writer and maker. She’s editor of the book Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism and author of Knitting for Good!: A Guide to Creating Personal, Social, and Political Change Stitch by Stitch. She helped popularize the term "craftivism."

• Gary Red Oak O'Neil: a Wangunk Elder, potter, and educator. He’s been a member of Wesleyan Potters since 1968, and his solo exhibition, titled Excavations, will be on view at the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University from September 9th to November 16th.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

August is National Black Business Month, so we are spotlighting some of the Black entrepreneurs right here in Connecticut who have found success despite underrepresentation. We'll hear from the owners of a wide range of businesses— a bookstore, a construction company and a real estate development firm.

GUESTS:

• Karin Smith: co-owner of Kindred Thoughts Bookstore, an independent, Black-owned bookstore in Bridgeport.

• Vincencia “Vee” Adusei: Owner and Founder of VASE Construction, which is based in New Haven.

• Yves Joseph: CEO and Co-Founder of RJ Development, a real estate development company based in New Haven.

For more of CT Public’s coverage of National Black Business Month, you can visit the Black Voices page on our website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

And the impact of the bombs isn’t limited to the people who died. They also changed the lives of survivors and generations of people who came after them.

Dr. Shizuko Tomoda's mother survived the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The documentary film, Memories of Hiroshima through Imagination, reflects on her and her mother's experiences.

GUEST:

• Dr. Shizuko Tomoda: Professor Emeritus at Central Connecticut State University. Her mother survived the atomic bomb the United States' military dropped on Hiroshima. She directed, wrote and narrated the documentary film Memories of Hiroshima through Imagination.

Dr. Tomoda's film, Memories of Hiroshima Through Imagination, is currently available on CT Public's website. It airs ON CPTV on September 23 at 9 p.m. and September 30 at 11 p.m.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plus, Sujata Srinivasan, Senior Health Reporter at Connecticut Public, joins to expound on the benefits of art therapy for patients and their caregivers. And, participants in the Memories @ The MATT art therapy program at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, share their experiences making art at the museum.

Finally, the Director of Public Policy at the Alzheimer’s Association, Connecticut Chapter, details the org’s crucial role in getting HB6771 passed in Connecticut’s 2025 legislative session. The new law mandates insurance coverage of tests for early detection of Alzheimer's.

GUESTS:

• Jon Hamilton: Correspondent for NPR's Science Desk

• Mike and Patty Quirk: Participants in the Collide Art and Memory exhibition

• David Scott Gilbert and Nan Green: Participants in the Collide Art and Memory exhibition

• Sujata Srinivasan: Senior Health Reporter, Connecticut Public

• Christy Kovel: Director Public Policy, Alzheimer's Association, Connecticut Chapter

LEARN MORE:
See more photos from the art therapy program and read Sujata Srinivasan's series on caregivers. And, you can watch the documentary, "Caregiving" on PBS.

Visit the Alzheimer's Association, Connecticut Chapter to connect with local resources or call their 24/7 helpline: 800-272-3900.

The Alzheimer's Association, Connecticut Chapter, and the Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center, are sponsors of Connecticut Public.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour— Connecticut biologists tell us how their work helps us see what’s going on in the world around us. We'll discuss everything from how someone growing up in New York City could become fascinated by nature to the impact of federal funding cuts on research.

GUESTS:

• Martha Muñoz: Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Yale Peabody Museum and recipient of a 2024 MacArthur Fellowship.

• Maria Rosa: Assistant Professor of Biology at Connecticut College.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Photographer Bill Graustein’s exhibition, “Traces,” features vast western landscapes that represent different moments in Bill’s life, but it’s not just about Bill. It also includes question prompts that give viewers a chance to reflect on how the photos relate to their own lives.

Artist Katharine Owens makes life-sized portraits of animals, includes ones that she created with help from the general public. The portraits are made by sewing plastic packaging on to canvas, and they bring awareness to the way pollution impacts wildlife.

GUESTS:

• Bill Graustein: Photographer and community leader. His exhibition, “Traces,” is on view at Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT) in New Haven until July 26th. Bill has also worked as a research scientist.

• Katharine Owens: Artist and Professor in the Department of Politics, Economics, and International Studies at the University of Hartford. Her series of life-sized portraits of animals is called "Entangled and Ingested.”

Special thanks to our interns Coco Cooley and Isaac Moss.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For our third annual summer movie panel, we’re breaking down recent films to see what they say about the world we live in today. We’ll cover everything from politics to artificial intelligence.

GUESTS:

• James Hanley: one of the founders of Cinestudio in Hartford.

• Alissa Wilkinson: Movie Critic at The New York Times. Her latest book is We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine.

• Walter Chaw: Senior Film Critic for FilmFreakCentral.net, author of A Walter Hill Film: Tragedy and Masculinity in the Films of Walter Hill and film instructor at the University of Colorado Denver.

Movies mentioned in this episode:

• Alissa's recommendations: Seek out exciting, funny, exploratory documentaries in your local cinema. (You can find more of Alissa's documentary recommendations in her writing for The New York Times)

• Walter's recommendations: Eephus, Misericordia, April, Sharp Corner

• James' recommendations: No Other Land, Lee, Blitz

• Films that help us think about artificial intelligence: Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, M3gan 2.0, Mickey 17, The Social Network, Soylent Green, S1m0ne, A.I. Artificial Intelligence

• Other films discussed: Sinners, The Phoenician Scheme, Jaws, Superman, 2001: A Space Odyssey

• Every other film mentioned: The Substance, Fatal Attraction, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, The Sugarland Express, The Wizard of Oz, The Exorcist, Star Wars, The Shining, Gattaca, The Truman Show, Friendship, Citizen Kane

For more on Jaws, you can listen to CT Public's piece on its 50th anniversary.

You can also listen to Disrupted's previous summer movie panels from 2023 and 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Megan Greenwell: Freelance journalist and author of Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream.

This episode was produced with help from interns Coco Cooley and Isaac Moss

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It included the assassinations of civil rights leader Medgar Evers and President John F. Kennedy.

1963 was also the year of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Martin Luther King gave his famous “I have a dream” speech that day. Future congressman John Lewis also spoke.

This hour, we’re breaking down a pivotal year in the civil rights movement with Peniel E. Joseph.

GUEST:

Peniel E. Joseph: Professor of History; Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America’s Civil Rights Revolution.

Coco Cooley and Isaac Moss contributed to this episode. 

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alliah L. Agostini is a mom and children’s book author. Her books The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States and The Juneteenth Cookbook teach the history and joy of Juneteenth.

Distinguished Professor Dr. William Darity explains the history of reparations and today's racial wealth gap.

GUESTS:

• Alliah L. Agostini: children’s book author - The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States and The Juneteenth Cookbook

• Dr. William Darity: Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Duke University. Co-author, From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century

This episode originally aired on June 19, 2024. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Martha S. Jones: The Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, Professor of History and Professor at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Her latest book is The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir.

Special thanks to our interns Angelica Gajewski and Kathy Wang.

This episode originally aired on March 28, 2025.

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This hour, we learn how high school students past and present have fought for change in their communities. We talk to two current students at University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford about testifying before lawmakers to increase their access to transportation. We'll also hear about high school activism of the 1960s and 1970s, including how the FBI monitored students.

GUESTS:

• Nariyah Lindsay: High School Senior and President of the Social Justice League at University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford

• Oluwaseyi Oluborode: High School Junior and Vice President of the Social Justice League at University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford

• Aaron G. Fountain Jr.: Historian who researches high school protests. His book High School Students Unite! Teen Activism, Education Reform, & FBI Surveillance in Postwar America comes out in December.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We'll look at the protests in historical context to try to understand the ways they succeeded and failed. We’ll also talk about whether have been changes in the rate of police violence since 2020.

GUESTS:

• Alvin Tillery Jr.: Professor of Political Science and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University

• Jamiles Lartey: Staff writer at The Marshall Project. He is primary author of their weekly "Closing Argument" newsletter. His work focuses on the criminal justice system.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Those risks have become even more clear in recent weeks. Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk was detained in March after the Trump administration revoked her visa. U.S. District Judge William Sessions ordered her release on May 9th, saying the only evidence given for her detention was an op-ed she had written for her school paper.

This hour, we’re talking about the role student journalists play in covering campuses and the communities around them. We discuss the risks student journalists face and they way their role is sometimes overlooked.

GUESTS:

• Gary Green: Executive Director of The Student Press Law Center, an organization that supports first amendment rights for student journalists

• Anika Arora Seth: Editor in Chief of the Yale Daily News from spring 2023 to spring 2024

• Maria Shaikh: Managing Editor at The Retrograde, an independent student newspaper at the University of Texas at Dallas

• Macy Hanzlik-Barend: News & Arts director at WKCR, Columbia University’s independent student-run radio station

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

These works have often focused on American soldiers, but not so much on the experiences of everyday Vietnamese people living through the war.

Artist and writer Thi Bui’s 2017 bestselling graphic memoir The Best We Could Do started as an attempt to change that. It tells her family’s story of living through the war and ultimately leaving her birth country to come to the United States.

More recently, Thi co-edited an issue of the literary journal McSweeney's featuring work by artists from the Vietnamese diaspora. She talks to us about both those projects and reflects on her experiences as a mother.

GUESTS:

• Thi Bui: cartoonist, writer and artist. She’s author of the bestselling and award-winning graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do. Most recently she co-edited an issue of the literary journal McSweeney’s that was released to mark 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You need to understand the past to understand the present, as the saying goes. And according to historian Rebecca L. Davis, there are a lot of misconceptions about the past. This hour, we return to our conversation about her new book Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America. She’ll explain the surprising ways Americans have understood intimate relations and even share a touching story that took place right here in Connecticut.

GUEST:

• Rebecca L. Davis: Miller Family Endowed Early Career Professor of History at the University of Delaware and Professor of Women and Gender Studies. Her latest book is Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America.

You can listen to the interview with Jason Stanley that Professor Davis mentioned in this episode on our website.

This episode originally aired on December 13, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we’re talking to two Connecticut residents about the stories they have preserved through oral history.

Author and educator Mary Romney-Schaab talks about her father's experience as a Black person imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. And Amanda Rivera, a PhD candidate in American Studies at Yale University, discusses the history of Connecticut's Puerto Rican communities.

GUESTS:

• Mary Romney-Schaab: retired teacher and author of An Afro-Caribbean in the Nazi Era: From Papiamentu to German. The book details her father’s experience in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II

• Amanda Rivera: PhD candidate in the Department of American Studies at Yale University. Her work explores activism and education reform in Puerto Rican communities in southern Connecticut.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Elizabeth Ito: writer, director and storyboard artist in the animation industry. She is the creator of the series City of Ghosts, which is currently on Netflix. She also worked on Adventure Time.

• Bethonie Butler: author of Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from Soul Train to Black-ish and Beyond. Bethonie is a former reporter for The Washington Post where she covered television and pop culture.

This episode originally aired on February 21, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Terence Blanchard: Executive Artistic Director at SF Jazz and Multiple Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer. He has performed as part of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and composed the scores for dozens of films, including Spike Lee films like BlacKkKlansman and Malcolm X. In 2021 he became the first Black composer to have had their opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera with Fire Shut Up in My Bones. He will be performing selections from Fire Shut Up in My Bones in Hartford on April 24th.

• Julia Bullock: Grammy Award-winning classical singer. She has curated a program that she performs called “History’s Persistent Voice.” It’s a multimedia project that includes poetry, visual art and music inspired by the songs of enslaved people.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Harlem Renaissance saw a boom in the popularity of Black writers, just as the party’s organizers hoped. Writers like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston might get the most attention, but the period was not just about writing— music and visual arts also flourished.

This hour, we’re listening back to our episode exploring the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. UConn professor Erika Williams joins us to explain what the Harlem Renaissance was and to help us understand how people thought about queerness during the Harlem Renaissance.

We’ll also hear from Denise Murrell who curated a recent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called "The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism." She says exhibits like this one can help expand the museum-going public.

GUESTS:

• Erika Williams: Associate Professor of English and Africana Studies at the University of Connecticut.

• Denise Murrell: Merryl H. & James S. Tisch Curator at Large at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She recently curated an exhibit called "The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism," which was on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2024.

• Brandon Hutchinson: Associate Professor of English, Affiliate Faculty of Women and Gender Studies and Co-Coordinator of the Africana Studies Program at Southern Connecticut State University.

• Jonah Craggett: one of Brandon Hutchinson's former students

• John Guillemette: one of Brandon Hutchinson's former students

• Frankie Devevo: one of Erika Williams' former students and former CT Public intern

To learn more about Zora Neale Hurston, you can listen to our interview with Tracy Heather Strain.

This episode originally aired on December 20, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Martha S. Jones: The Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, Professor of History and Professor at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Her latest book is The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we’re talking about COVID-19’s impact on existing inequities. We talk about the diverse experiences of disabled people over the last five years, and take a broader look at the history of health and race.

GUESTS:

• Mara Mills: Associate Professor and Ph.D. Director in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. She is Co-Founder and Director of the NYU Center for Disability Studies. She co-edited the recent book How to be Disabled in a Pandemic.

• Edna Bonhomme: Historian of science. Her new book is A History of the World in Six Plagues: How Contagion, Class and Captivity Shaped Us, from Cholera to COVID-19.

To learn more about public health and COVID-19, you can listen to our episode reflecting on four years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Angela Garbes: author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change

• Kari Adamsons: Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut

This episode originally aired on February 15, 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The reason was property tax foreclosure, and it came as a result of property taxes that were illegally inflated. It’s one of several racist housing policies that shapes who does or doesn’t have generational wealth in the U.S.

This hour, we’re talking about government policies that impact the homes and neighborhoods people live in.

GUEST:

• Bernadette Atuahene: Professor of Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Her new book is Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 31st, the Department of Defense announced it would no longer use official resources to celebrate cultural awareness months, including Black History Month, which began the following day. That announcement came after the Trump administration's rollback of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives within the federal government.

This hour, we’re joined by a panel of experts to talk about Black History Month and what it means today.

GUESTS:

• Kevin Gaines: Julian Bond Professor of Civil Rights and Social Justice and Interim Director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute at the University of Virginia.

• Christina Greer: Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University

• Michael Harriot: founder of ContrabandCamp and bestselling author of Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America

In this episode, the guests mention several Black Americans who have made an impact on U.S. history. Here are some of the names if you want to learn more:

Ella Baker, Mary McLeod Bethune, George Washington Carver, James Chaney, Septima Clark, John Henrik Clarke, David Dennis Sr, Fannie Lou Hamer, Steven Henson, bell hooks, Barbara Jordan, Garrett Morgan, Constance Baker Motley, Gloria Naylor, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Gloria Richardson, Amelia Boynton Robinson, Jo Ann Robinson, Cleveland Sellers, Robert Smalls, The students in the court case Edwards v. South Carolina, Ida B. Wells-Barnett

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Dwayne was released in 2005. Today, he’s a lawyer and award-winning poet. He’s also the founder and CEO of a nonprofit organization called Freedom Reads. It provides handcrafted bookcases full of brand new books to prisons.

For Dwayne, and other incarcerated people, those books can be a lifeline— a connection to the rest of the world.

This hour, listen back to our candid conversation with Dwayne as he reflects on his poetry, the power of books, and life after prison.

We also take a visit to the Freedom Reads workshop and hear from some of the formerly incarcerated people who build the bookcases and bring them to prisons.

GUEST:

• Reginald Dwayne Betts: Award-winning poet, whose books include Felon and the upcoming Doggerel. He's also a lawyer and the Founder and CEO of Freedom Reads

• Michael Byrd: Library Production Assistant at Freedom Reads

• Steven Parkhurst: Communications Manager at Freedom Reads

• James Flynn: Library Production Assistant at Freedom Reads

Special thanks to Kevin Baker and Ivan Dominguez at Freedom Reads.

This episode originally aired on December 6, 2024. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maybe a movie like Love Actually or Love & Basketball. Maybe Dolly Parton or Whitney Houston singing "I Will Always Love You." Love shows up a lot in our pop culture— but what about in our politics?

The relationships we build…the people we love…the way we treat each other…all of that can be political.

This hour, we hear about the importance of love in political organizing and the way even our most intimate relationships can be political.

GUESTS:

• Dean Spade: Author, activist and professor at the Seattle University School of Law. His latest book is called Love in a F*cked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell, Together

• Terri Conley: Professor of Psychology at University of Michigan. She co-wrote a chapter called “Love is Political: How Power and Bias Influence Our Intimate Lives” in the book The New Psychology of Love

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He's also a director — most recently of Yale Repertory Theatre’s production of Eden. The play takes place in 1920s Manhattan. It focuses on two families living in the same apartment building. Eustace Baylor comes from the south and falls in love with Anetta Barton. Anetta’s family is from the West Indies. Her father, Joseph, does not approve of Eustace.

This hour, we talk to Brandon about the complex racial dynamics in Eden and the power of theater.

GUEST:

• Brandon J. Dirden: actor, director and Associate Arts Professor in the Graduate Acting Department at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He directed Yale Repertory Theatre’s production of Eden, which runs until February 8th.

You can learn more about Yale Repertory Theatre's production of Eden on their website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kyle Bass wrote the play Citizen James, or the Young Man Without a Country, which will be performed in Hartford in February. It portrays a young James Baldwin at an inflection point in his life, before he became a renowned writer.

And Randal Maurice Jelks is the Ruth N. Halls Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. His book Letters to Martin: Meditation on Democracy in Black America started as a talk he gave shortly after President Donald Trump’s first inauguration back in 2017. It puts Dr. King’s ideas in conversation with present-day political questions.

GUESTS:

• Kyle Bass: Resident Playwright at Syracuse Stage and Assistant Professor of Theater at Colgate University. His play Citizen James, or the Young Man Without a Country is being performed by Hartford's Heartbeat Ensemble in February.

• Randal Maurice Jelks: The Ruth N. Halls Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. He is also a documentary film producer and author whose books include Letters to Martin: Meditations on Democracy in Black America.

You can find more information about Heartbeat Ensemble's performances of Kyle Bass' play Citizen James, or the Young Man Without a Country here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up first, Brandon Scott is the youngest mayor of Baltimore in more than 100 years. A new documentary film called The Body Politic, follows Mayor Scott during his first term in office, focusing on his campaign to reduce gun violence. We are joined by that film's director and producer, Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough.

Then, Layla Zaidane is President and CEO of Future Caucus, an organization that brings together young lawmakers to collaborate across party lines. She reframes the idea of civility in politics and tells young people they can have an impact on government.

GUESTS:

• Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough: Director and Producer of the documentary film The Body Politic, which follows Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s efforts to reduce gun violence in the city. The film is currently streaming on PBS's website.

• Layla Zaidane: President and CEO of Future Caucus, an organization that brings together young lawmakers to collaborate across party lines.

Special thanks to intern Frankie Devevo.

This episode originally aired on November 8, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Erik is the CEO of New Haven-based nonprofit Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT), which offers job training and youth programs. He is also the CEO of Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program (ConnCORP), a for-profit subsidiary of ConnCAT dedicated to economic development in New Haven.

Recently, Erik wrote an opinion piece for CT Insider about ConnCORP's plans to redevelop part of New Haven’s Dixwell neighborhood.

In the piece, Erik grounds those plans in his commitment to community. He compares the redevelopment to making a quilt. He writes, quote “By weaving together the stories, experiences, and perspectives of those who live in Dixwell, we aim to create a space that reflects their lived experience, resilience, and unique identity — something far more meaningful than any single piece.”

GUESTS:

• Erik Clemons: CEO of New Haven-based nonprofit Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology, also known as ConnCAT. The organization offers job training and youth programs. He is also CEO of Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program or ConnCORP, a for-profit subsidiary of ConnCAT dedicated to economic development in New Haven.

In this episode, Erik mentions the Harlem Renaissance. To learn more about the Harlem Renaissance you can listen to our recent episode about the movement.

You can also find our previous interview with Erik Clemons on our website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we’re talking to historians and educators to learn what it's like to teach and study the past in all its complexity in today's polarized political climate.

This panel was part of a live event hosted with The Connecticut Forum in November, less than two weeks after the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

GUESTS:

• Andy Horowitz: Associate Professor of History at the University of Connecticut and Connecticut State Historian. His work looks at disasters and the broader implications they have for society.

• Fiona Vernal: Director of Engaged, Public, Oral and Community Histories and Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies at the University of Connecticut.

• Chris Newell: Co-Founder and Director of Education for Akomawt Educational Initiative. He is also Founding Director of the Native American Cultural Program and Instructor-in-Residence at the University of Connecticut. He is a citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township.

To hear more about Professor Andy Horowitz's research, you can listen to our episode on disasters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy is best known for popular novels like The Joy Luck Club and its 1993 film adaptation. The book and movie explore several mother-daughter relationships — some of which were shaped by Amy’s own experiences.

Her latest book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, hits close to home in a different way. In it, she brings the birds in her backyard to life with humor and tragedy through observations and drawings from her nature journals. But the book isn’t just a recounting of wildlife. Amy vividly imagines the birds’ inner thoughts and comes away with piercing observations about nature, humanity and the relationship between them.

This hour, Amy talks to us about that book and offers her insights on a wide range of topics including how birds have led her to reflect on mortality, her changing experience of racism and overcoming her fear of sharks.

Guest: 

• Amy Tan: bestselling author of numerous books including The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Her latest book is The Backyard Bird Chronicles. It collects entries and drawings from her nature journals.

This episode originally aired on September 27, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The United States imprisons more people than any other country in the world.

And Black people bear the burdens of mass incarceration the most. In 2019, Connecticut was one of seven states where Black people were incarcerated at over nine times the rate of white people. That’s according to an analysis done by The Sentencing Project.

These problems aren't new, but they also aren't going away. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Yale law professor James Forman Jr. hopes the new book he co-edited, Dismantling Mass Incarceration: A Handbook for Change, will inspire readers to work towards change. It talks about finding solutions at every level of what he calls "the criminal system," from policing to prisons to courts.

GUEST:

• James Forman Jr.: J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law at Yale University. His book Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018. He recently co-edited Dismantling Mass Incarceration: A Handbook for Change.

You can learn more about the prison system in the U.S. by listening to Disrupted's interview with Reginald Dwayne Betts.

Special thanks to intern Frankie Devevo.

This episode originally aired on October 25, 2024. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Harlem Renaissance saw a boom in the popularity of Black writers, just as the party’s organizers hoped. Writers like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston might get the most attention, but the period was not just about writing— music and visual arts also flourished.

This hour, we’re exploring the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance in honor of its 100th anniversary. UConn professor Erika Williams joins us to explain what the Harlem Renaissance was and to help us understand how people thought about queerness during the Harlem Renaissance.

We’ll also hear from Denise Murrell who curated a recent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called "The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism." She says exhibits like this one can help expand the museum-going public.

GUESTS:

• Erika Williams: Associate Professor of English and Africana Studies at the University of Connecticut.

• Denise Murrell: Merryl H. & James S. Tisch Curator at Large at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She recently curated an exhibit called "The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism," which was on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this year.

To learn more about Zora Neale Hurston, you can listen to our interview with Tracy Heather Strain.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You need to understand the past to understand the present, as the saying goes. And according to historian Rebecca L. Davis, there are a lot of misconceptions about the past. She joins us today to talk about her new book Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America. She’ll explain the surprising ways Americans have understood intimate relations and even share a touching story that took place right here in Connecticut.

GUEST:

• Rebecca L. Davis: Miller Family Endowed Early Career Professor of History at the University of Delaware and Professor of Women and Gender Studies. Her latest book is Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America.

You can listen to the interview with Jason Stanley that Professor Davis mentioned in this episode on our website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dwayne was released in 2005. Today, he’s a lawyer and award-winning poet. He’s also the founder and CEO of a nonprofit organization called Freedom Reads. It provides handcrafted bookcases full of brand new books to prisons.

For Dwayne, and other incarcerated people, those books can be a lifeline— a connection to the rest of the world.

This hour, we have a candid conversation with Dwayne as he reflects on his poetry, the power of books, and life after prison.

We also take a visit to the Freedom Reads workshop and hear from some of the formerly incarcerated people who build the bookcases and bring them to prisons. You can see photos of the Freedom Reads workshop on our website.

GUEST:

• Reginald Dwayne Betts: Award-winning poet, whose books include Felon and the upcoming Doggerel. He's also a lawyer and the Founder and CEO of Freedom Reads

• Michael Byrd: Library Production Assistant at Freedom Reads

• Steven Parkhurst: Communications Manager at Freedom Reads

• James Flynn: Library Production Assistant at Freedom Reads

Special thanks to Kevin Baker and Ivan Dominguez at Freedom Reads.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She talks about all of that in her book Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks. It’s a culinary memoir about how she connects with her Appalachian ancestors through cooking.

This hour, hear our extended interview with Crystal. She joins us to talk about food, family and her relationship to the past. She discusses her appreciation for traditions like Thanksgiving cooking, while learning through her children how those traditions evolve.

GUEST:

• Crystal Wilkinson: Writer and former Poet Laureate of Kentucky. She teaches creative writing at the University of Kentucky and is author of Perfect Black. Her latest book is Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks.

This is an extended version of the interview that originally aired on October 18, 2024

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Khalilah Brown-Dean spoke with Anna about the politics of art at a live event in New Haven in late-October. The event was part of the Artistic Congress, organized by Long Wharf Theatre and Yale Schwarzman Center. We discussed doubt, courage and her hope that her art inspires people to take action.

GUEST: 

• Anna Deavere Smith: Actress and playwright. On TV she is known for roles on The West Wing, Nurse Jackie and Black-ish. One stage, she has written and performed in more than fifteen one-woman shows, including the Tony-nominated Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 and the new This Ghost of Slavery: A Play of Past and Present. She is also a professor at NYU and founded the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest: 

• Michael Morand: Director of community engagement for Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and New Haven's official city historian.

You can read about Michael Morand's role as New Haven's official city historian on CT Public's website.

Special thanks to our intern Frankie Devevo.

This episode originally aired on September 11, 2024. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up first, Brandon Scott is the youngest mayor of Baltimore in more than 100 years. A new documentary film called The Body Politic follows Mayor Scott during his first term in office, focusing on his campaign to reduce gun violence. We are joined by that film's director and producer, Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough.

Then, Layla Zaidane is President and CEO of Future Caucus, an organization that brings together young lawmakers to collaborate across party lines. She reframes the idea of civility in politics and tells young people they can have an impact on government.

GUESTS:

• Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough: Director and Producer of the documentary film The Body Politic, which follows Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s efforts to reduce gun violence in the city. The film will be broadcast as part of PBS's POV series on November 25th.

• Layla Zaidane: President and CEO of Future Caucus, an organization that brings together young lawmakers to collaborate across party lines.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

And Professor Anthony Abraham Jack, author of Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality & Students Pay the Price says there is more to making college campuses inclusive than admitting a diverse student body.

GUESTS:

• Dr. Bettina Love: William F. Russell Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. She’s winner of the 2024 Stowe Prize for Literary Activism and author of Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal.

• Anthony Abraham Jack: Inaugural Faculty Director of the Boston University Newbury Center and Associate Professor of Higher Education Leadership at the Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. His new book is Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality & Students Pay the Price.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

And Black people bear the burdens of mass incarceration the most. In 2019, Connecticut was one of seven states where Black people were incarcerated at over nine times the rate of white people. That’s according to an analysis done by The Sentencing Project.

These problems aren't new, but they also aren't going away. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Yale law professor James Forman Jr. hopes the new book he co-edited, Dismantling Mass Incarceration: A Handbook for Change, will inspire readers to work towards change. It talks about finding solutions at every level of what he calls "the criminal system," from policing to prisons to courts.

GUEST:

• James Forman Jr.: J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law at Yale University. His book Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018. He recently co-edited Dismantling Mass Incarceration: A Handbook for Change.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Neema Avashia: Educator and author of Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place.

• Crystal Wilkinson: Writer and former Poet Laureate of Kentucky. She teaches creative writing at the University of Kentucky and is author of Perfect Black. Her latest book is Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This, hour, we look into what is behind these attacks on education. Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley's latest book is called Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future. He argues that restrictions on education parallel the methods of fascist leaders and discusses why some politicians who graduate from selective universities later criticize them.

GUEST:

• Jason Stanley: The Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. His newest book is Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future.

Special thanks to our intern Frankie Devevo.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Dr. Jonathan Metzl: Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, and the director of the Department of Medicine, Health, and Society, at Vanderbilt University. His latest book is What We’ve Become: Living and Dying in a Country of Arms.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy’s latest book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, hits close to home in a different way. In it, she brings the birds in her backyard to life with humor and tragedy through observations and drawings from her nature journals. But the book isn’t just a recounting of wildlife. Amy vividly imagines the birds’ inner thoughts and comes away with piercing observations about wildlife, humanity and the relationship between them.

This hour, Amy talks to us about that book and offers her insights on a wide range of topics including how birds have led her to reflect on mortality, her changing experience of racism and overcoming her fear of sharks.

A note to our radio listeners: Starting the week of September 23, Disrupted moves from Wednesdays at 2:00 PM to Fridays at 9:00 AM and a rebroadcast at 8:00 PM, plus our Sunday at 2:00 PM rebroadcast.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Elizabeth Ito: writer, director and storyboard artist in the animation industry. She is the creator of the series 'City of Ghosts,' which is currently on Netflix. She also worked on Adventure Time.

• Bethonie Butler: author of 'Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from Soul Train to Black-ish and Beyond.' Bethonie is a former reporter for The Washington Post where she covered television and pop culture.

This episode originally aired on February 21, 2024.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest:

• Michael Morand: Director of community engagement for Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and New Haven's official city historian.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Andy Horowitz: Associate Professor of History at UConn, Connecticut State Historian, author of 'Katrina: A History, 1915-2015'

• Mohammed Ombadi: Assistant Professor in the department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan

Special thanks to interns Lateshia Peters and Joey Morgan.

This episode originally aired on November 8, 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why Vote, And How To Do It

The United States is supposed to be a representative democracy. We vote for our leaders, and those leaders represent our interests. But the impact of your vote isn't always so clear. On Civics 101, NHPR's show about the basics of how our democracy works, we talk about why you should vote, and provide wisdom to help you prepare for the polls.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are We A Democracy Or A Republic?

Civics 101 has a tagline: we’re a show about the basics of how our democracy works. And there’s a complaint we get pretty often around here, that our tagline contains the word "democracy," but the United States is actually a republic. So...do we need to make a change? We dig into that question, and talk about how our two-party system compares to other countries.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We also discuss Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy with Higher Heights for America, an organization that supports Black women in politics.

You can also watch Disrupted host Khalilah Brown-Dean's interview with C-Span's Washington Journal about the role of black sororities and fraternities and why they could play a huge role in the election.

Guests:

• Jamilah King: Editorial Director at Mother Jones

• Glynda C. Carr: President and CEO of Higher Heights for America

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NPR National Political Correspondent Sarah McCammon grew up in Kansas City as an Evangelical. Her book, The Exvangelicals - Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church tells her story and the story of others who felt disenchanted by the movement and walked away.

Three Gen Z-ers talk about their relationship with religion and spirituality.

Later in the show, we’ll hear from Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin. She’s the first person of African-American and Japanese descent—and the only American woman—to be fully ordained as a Buddhist priest in the Nichiren lineage.

GUESTS:

• Sarah McCammon: NPR National Political Correspondent and author of The Exvangelicals - Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church

• Myokei Caine Barrett, Shonin: Resident Priest of Myoken-Ji Temple in Houston

This episode originally aired on April 3, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Kersten Stevens: violinist with the nickname “Queen of the Violin.” She’s won Amateur Night and Showtime at the Apollo a total of six times. She plays in a range of styles, but her latest album, Queen Rising, is jazz.

• Qiana Coachman-Strickland a.k.a DJ Q-Boogie: professional DJ, Female DJ Coach and Owner and Founder of Female DJ Association. Qiana is based in Connecticut.

• Andy Billman: director of the upcoming documentary on New Haven music venue Toad’s Place. He has worked on a number of projects for ESPN, including the award-winning series 30 for 30.

• Joe Franco: one of the producers of the upcoming documentary on New Haven music venue Toad’s Place. He worked at ESPN from the very first year it launched and spent over 30 years there doing everything from covering sporting events to working in HR.

Special thanks to Meg Fitzgerald.

This episode originally aired on January 17, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shavana Clarke is the first openly queer and lesbian woman to win Miss Connecticut USA. She shares her pageant journey and her mental health experience through her personal blog.

We also hear from Sally-Ann Fawcett, one of the judges in the first ever Miss AI Beauty Pageant. It’s a competition where teams from around the world digitally create the contestants.

GUESTS:

• Shavana Clarke: 2024 Miss Connecticut USA.

• Sally-Ann Fawcett: Miss AI Pageant judge. Head judge, Miss Great Britain.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Ali Truwit: swimmer from Connecticut who will be competing in the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games

• Les Carpenter: Olympics writer for The Washington Post

• Logan Edra aka "Logistx": one of the four breakers competing for Team USA in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Alissa Wilkinson: Movie Critic at the New York Times. She is also an author who co-wrote the book 'How to Survive the Apocalypse: Zombies, Cylons, Faith, and Politics at the End of the World.'

• Nadira Goffe: Associate Culture Writer at Slate

• James Hanley: one of the founders of Cinestudio in Hartford

A few of the films discussed in this episode:

• 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' (2024)

• 'Inside Out 2' (2024)

• 'Dune: Part Two' (2024)

• 'Challengers' (2024)

• 'Anyone but You' (2023)

• 'Poor Things' (2023)

• 'This is Cinerama' (1952)

• 'Evil Does Not Exist' (2023)

• 'The Idea of You' (2024)

• 'Exhuma' (2024)

You can listen to last year's Disrupted summer movie panel on our website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Marc Stein: Jamie and Phyllis Pasker Professor of History at San Francisco State University; director of the OutHistory; coeditor of Queer Pasts, a digital history project.

• Orion Rummler: LGBTQ+ reporter for The 19th News

• Dawn Ennis: journalist, professor at the University of Hartford, author of "What Makes Trans Joy Such a Powerful Antidote to Transphobia" and "Finding Trans Joy: It's Out There"

You can find the original episodes that the segments and clips used in this episode were featured in on our website:

• 'Disrupted' covering the history of LGBTQ+ Pride

• 'Seasoned' covering commuity dinners at the New Haven Pride Center

• 'Where We Live' covering Pride Centers

• 'Disrupted' covering transgender discrimination and joy, which includes an interview with Orion Rummler

The first interview in this episode originally aired on June 28, 2023. The second interview in this episode originally aired on Where We Live on June 13, 2024. The third interview in this episode originally aired on May 10, 2023.

Special thanks to Katie Pellico.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alliah L. Agostini is a mom and children’s book author. Her books The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States and The Juneteenth Cookbook teach the history and joy of Juneteenth.

Distinguished Professor Dr. William Darity explains the history of reparations and today's racial wealth gap.

GUESTS:

• Alliah L. Agostini: children’s book author - The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States and The Juneteenth Cookbook

• Dr. William Darity: Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Duke University. Co-author, From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Medina Jett: attorney, real estate developer and President of Jett Speaks. She’s also a mental health advocate whose newest book is 'Peace Be Still: Navigating My Son’s Bipolar Disorder'

• Michell Clark: mental health advocate and author of Eyes on the Road

If you or someone you know is struggling, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration national helpline is 1-800-622-HELP (1-800-622-4357).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Rhaina Cohen: Producer and editor for NPR. Author of 'The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center'

• Elise Maiorano: grad student at Quinnipiac University studying occupational therapy. Elise spent her first year of grad school living at Pond Ridge at Ashlar Village, a retirement community

• Annemarie Allen: grad student at Quinnipiac University studying occupational therapy. Annemarie spent her first year of grad school living at Pond Ridge at Ashlar Village, a retirement community

• Ben Paige: Resident of Pond Ridge at Ashlar Village

• Eunice Lin Nichols: Co-CEO of CoGenerate, an organization that brings people from different generations together to solve problems

This episode originally aired on February 14, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Caitlin Dickerson: Staff Writer for The Atlantic. In 2023 she won a Pulitzer Prize for her work on the U.S. policy of separating migrant children from their families.

• Barbara López: Director of Make the Road Connecticut

• Mae Ngai: Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of History at Columbia University. Her most recent book is The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics.

For more on the history of U.S. immigration policy, you can listen to our episode on Chinese American exclusion and resistance.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Then, Jacqueline De León, Senior Attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, talks about a 2020 report on barriers to voting access that Native Americans face and how those could impact the 2024 elections.

GUESTS:

• Charles Coleman Jr.: MSNBC Legal Analyst, Civil Rights Attorney and Co-Host of 'Black Men in America: Road to 2024,' which aired on MSNBC in February

• Jacqueline De León: Senior Attorney with the Native American Rights Fund and co-author of the report Obstacles at Every Turn: Barriers to Political Participation Faced by Native American Voters. She is an enrolled member of the Isleta Pueblo.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We speak with the Executive Director of a youth development organization in Hartford working to close education opportunity gaps.

And later, we talk about the legacy of Ellen Peters, the first woman appointed Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. She wrote the opinion in Sheff v. O’Neill, a landmark school desegregation case here in Connecticut.

GUESTS:

Kathy Trusty: Independent historian and children’s author.

Andrea Williams: Executive Director, ConnectiKids.

Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson: Chief Justice, Connecticut Supreme Court.

Richard Palmer: Former Connecticut Supreme Court Justice, Chairman of the state Public Defender Services Commission.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Lil Miss Hot Mess: Board member with Drag Story Hour, a nonprofit that organizes events where drag performers read to kids. She is also a University Professor and children’s author whose books include 'The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish'

• The Reverend Dr. Greg Gray: President of Enfield Pride and Pastor of Enfield United Church of Christ

• Erica Ciallela: Exhibition Project Curator at the Morgan Library

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Students are demanding their schools divest from Israel over its war in Gaza. Some colleges have allowed protests with police presence, while others have forcibly removed demonstrators. There have been allegations of antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian speech at some protests — and that’s left many wondering how to address harmful speech without curbing free expression.

First Amendment Specialist Kevin Goldberg explains the five protections covered in the amendment. Wesleyan University President Michael Roth talks about his role as a university administrator and how to provide safe spaces for students.

GUESTS:

• Kevin Goldberg: First Amendment Specialist, Freedom Forum.

• Michael Roth: President, Wesleyan University and author of Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness.

This episode originally aired on February 7, 2024.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For more information on Soul Fire Farm, you can visit their website.

You can read Dorceta Taylor's research on disparities in environmental grantmaking through ResearchGate.

GUESTS:

• Leah Penniman: Co-Executive Director and Farm Director at Soul Fire Farm, author of Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists.

• Dorceta Taylor: Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Yale School of the Environment. She was interviewed for Leah Penniman’s book Black Earth Wisdom and is author of multiple books herself, including The Rise of the American Conservation Movement:  Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection.

This episode originally aired on April 26, 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr.: James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. He is a frequent contributor to MSNBC and a bestselling author. His newest book is 'We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For.'

You can listen back to the first episode of Disrupted, which also features Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. and was mentioned in this week's interview, on our website.

You can read the piece in Time that Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr. wrote that was discussed in this episode on Time's website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Alice Randall: Chart-topping songwriter whose hits include “XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl),” which was first recorded by Trisha Yearwood. She is a bestselling novelist and Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies and Writer-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University. Her newest book is a memoir titled 'My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future.' A new album called 'My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall' features her music recorded by Black women.

You can learn more about the interview with Leah Penniman that was mentioned in this episode on our website.

Special thanks to our interns Scout Raimondo and Sajina Shrestha.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NPR National Political Correspondent Sarah McCammon grew up in Kansas City as an Evangelical. Her new book, The Exvangelicals - Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church tells her story and the story of others who felt disenchanted by the movement and walked away.

Hear from three Gen Z-ers about their relationship with religion and spirituality.

Later in the show, we’ll hear from Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin. She’s the first person of African-American and Japanese descent—and the only American woman—to be fully ordained as a Buddhist priest within the worldwide Nichiren Order.

GUESTS:

• Sarah McCammon: NPR National Political Correspondent and author of The Exvangelicals - Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church

• Myokei Caine Barrett, Shonin: Resident Priest of Myoken-Ji Temple in Houston

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Angela Garbes: author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change

• Kari Adamsons: Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut

This episode originally aired on February 15, 2023.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Tanisha C. Ford: Professor of History at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Her most recent book is 'Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement'

• Connie Royster: retired attorney, former director of development at the Yale Divinity School, and the niece of Constance Baker Motley

• Tomiko Brown-Nagin: Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and Professor of Constitutional Law and History and author of 'Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality'

   

  Special thanks to our interns Scout Raimondo and Sajina Shrestha.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw: Class of 1940 Bicentennial Term Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, she was the Senior Historian and Director of History, Research, and Scholarly Programs at the National Portrait Gallery

• Jennifer Piscopo: Professor of Gender and Politics at Royal Holloway University of London and Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College.

Click here to see more images from the First Lady Exhibition.

This episode originally aired on July 27, 2022.

Special thanks to our 2022 summer interns, Anya Grondalski and Mira Raju.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health policy expert Scott L. Greer analyzes the U.S. government's response to COVID-19. And critical care and infectious disease physician Taison Bell talks about health equity in addition to his experience of the early days of the pandemic.

GUESTS:

• Scott L. Greer: Professor of Health Management and Policy and Global Public Health at the University of Michigan and one of the editors of the book 'Coronavirus Politics: The Comparative Politics and Policy of COVID-19'

• Dr. Taison Bell: Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia

You can see the full video of the CT Public event with Uché Blackstock that was mentioned in this episode on CT Public's recorded events page: https://www.ctpublic.org/community/live-recorded-community-events

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Andre Rochester: fine artist, curator, and arts advocate in greater Hartford.

• Stanwyck Cromwell: visual artist based in Bloomfield and Andre Rochester's mentor

• Busayo Olupona: creative director and founder of Busayo, an apparel and accessories company that uses hand dyed Nigerian prints and textiles

Andre Rochester was a featured artist on Connecticut Public's series Where ART Thou? in 2023, see some of his artwork and listen to his conversation with host Ray Hardman here: https://cptv.org/programs/where-art-thou-east-hartford-wethersfield/

Special thanks to our interns Scout Raimondo and Sajina Shrestha.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Elizabeth Ito: writer, director and storyboard artist in the animation industry. She is the creator of the series 'City of Ghosts,' which is currently on Netflix. She also worked on Adventure Time.

• Bethonie Butler: author of 'Black TV: Five Decades of Groundbreaking Television from Soul Train to Black-ish and Beyond.' Bethonie is a former reporter for The Washington Post where she covered television and pop culture.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Rhaina Cohen: Producer and editor for NPR. Author of 'The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center'

• Elise Maiorano: first year grad student at Quinnipiac University studying occupational therapy and living at Pond Ridge at Ashlar Village, a retirement community

• Annemarie Allen: first year grad student at Quinnipiac University studying occupational therapy and living at Pond Ridge at Ashlar Village, a retirement community

• Ben Paige: Resident of Pond Ridge at Ashlar Village, the retirement community that Elise and Annemarie stay at

• Eunice Lin Nichols: Co-CEO of CoGenerate, an organization that brings people from different generations together to solve problems

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College campuses are in the spotlight as students have continued to hold protests since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. There have been allegations of antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian speech at some protests — and that’s left many wondering how to address harmful speech without curbing free expression.

First Amendment Specialist Kevin Goldberg explains the five protections covered in the amendment. Wesleyan University President Michael Roth talks about his role as a university administrator and how to provide safe spaces for students. Connecticut college students will share their thoughts on free speech.

GUESTS:

• Kevin Goldberg: First Amendment Specialist, Freedom Forum.

• Michael Roth: President, Wesleyan University and author of Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Approach to Inclusion, Free Speech, and Political Correctness.

• Elle: Student, Yale University

• Thomas: Student, University of New Haven

• AJ: Student, University of New Haven

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST:

• Ayesha Rascoe: host of NPR’s 'Weekend Edition Sunday' and one of the hosts of 'Up First.' She edited and wrote the introduction to the new book 'HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can learn more about Capital B at their website here or sign up for their newsletter here.

You can learn more about Northend Agent's at their website here.

GUESTS:

• Trevy A. McDonald: Associate Dean of ABIDE (Access, Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity); Associate Professor of Broadcast and Electronic Journalism; Author; owner of Reyomi Media Group, an independent book publishing and consulting company based in Durham, N.C.

• Akoto Ofori-Atta: Co-founder and Chief Audience Officer at Capital B

• Sasha Allen Walton: Editor-in-Chief at Northend Agent’s

• Endera Allen Stevens: Growth Manager for Northend Agent’s

This episode originally aired on June 7, 2023.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Kersten Stevens: violinist with the nickname “Queen of the Violin.” She’s won Amateur Night and Showtime at the Apollo a total of six times. She plays in a range of styles, but her latest album, Queen Rising, is jazz.

• Qiana Coachman-Strickland aka DJ Q-Boogie: professional DJ, Female DJ Coach and Owner and Founder of Female DJ Association. Qiana is based in Connecticut.

• Andy Billman: director of the upcoming documentary on New Haven music venue Toad’s Place. He has worked on a number of projects for ESPN, including the award-winning series 30 for 30.

• Joe Franco: one of the producers of the upcoming documentary on New Haven music venue Toad’s Place. He worked at ESPN from the very first year it launched and spent over 30 years there doing everything from covering sporting events to working in HR.

Special thanks this week to Meg Fitzgerald.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week is the last of our "2023 favorites" episodes. Producer Kevin Chang Barnum chose our episode on Chinese American exclusion and resistance not only because of how it highlights the discrimination that Chinese Americans face, but also because it shows something that isn't covered enough in the media— the way Chinese Americans have fought against that discrimination.

This hour, Ava Chin discusses how the Chinese Exclusion Act continues to impact people today as we interview her about her book 'Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming.' And Russell Jeung, one of the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate, talks about the historical precedent for the current wave of anti-Asian racism and how people who oppose it can take action.

GUESTS:

• Ava Chin: Professor of Creative Nonfiction and Journalism at the City University of New York Graduate Center and College of Staten Island. Her most recent book is Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming

• Russell Jeung: Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and a Co-Founder of Stop AAPI Hate. In 2021, he was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World along with his fellow Stop AAPI Hate co-founders

This episode originally aired on September 13, 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Producer Wayne Edwards chose our episode on media literacy. We look at how media is understood across generations and why media literacy is more than just identifying misinformation on the news or social media. Global media literacy educator Dr. Belinha De Abreu talks about the evolving relationship between people and the platforms they use. She also explains Connecticut's policy surrounding media literacy education. Later in the show, we hear a roundtable discussion with college journalism students as we learn how they approach finding accurate news.

GUESTS:

• Dr. Belinha De Abreu: President of the International Council for Media Literacy and professor at Sacred Heart University; author of over 13 books including, most recently, “Media Literacy for Justice: Lessons for Changing the World”

• Tyler Wells: senior journalism major at the University of New Haven, Editor-in-Chief of The Charger Bulletin campus newspaper

• Faith Arcuri: junior at the University of New Haven majoring in journalism who writes for The Charger Bulletin

• Julie Dunn: junior at Sacred Heart University majoring in media arts with a concentration of TV, film and media

• Colin Moura: sophomore at Sacred Heart University majoring in media arts, Photography Editor of campus newspaper The Spectrum

Special thanks to our interns Melody Rivera and Elizabeth Van Arnam who hosted the roundtable discussion.

This episode originally aired April 5, 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leah Penniman, Co-Executive Director and Farm Director at Soul Fire Farm, talks about her new book Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists. The discussion touches on everything from Leah's childhood to how the creation of some of the most prominent national parks in the U.S. is linked to the eugenics movement. And Dr. Dorceta Taylor, a professor at the Yale School of the Environment, explains what environmental justice is, and why we need to think about marginalized communities when we think about the environment.

For more information on Soul Fire Farm, you can visit their website.

You can read Dorceta Taylor's research on disparities in environmental grantmaking through ResearchGate.

GUESTS:

• Leah Penniman: Co-Executive Director and Farm Director at Soul Fire Farm, author of Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists.

• Dorceta Taylor: Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Yale School of the Environment. She was interviewed for Leah Penniman’s book Black Earth Wisdom and is author of multiple books herself, including The Rise of the American Conservation Movement:  Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection.

This episode originally aired on April 26, 2023.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can find the report, "Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis," on Dalio Education's website.

The panel discussion clips in this episode are from a public awareness campaign organized by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM). You can watch the full panel discussion featuring Joshua Brown from Domus and Mayor Luke Bronin on CCM's Facebook page.

GUESTS:

• Andrew Ferguson: Co-CEO of Dalio Education. Dalio Education is the organization that commissioned Boston Consulting Group to create the report "Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis." He has also worked as an elementary school teacher in New Haven.

• Yaismely Segura: student at Stamford High School. Since fifth grade, she has taken part in programs at Domus, a Stamford-based organization that works to engage and support youth.

• Diego Felix: grew up in Hartford and was part of the Youth Service Corps at Our Piece of the Pie (OPP), a Hartford-based non-profit that educates and trains young people

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Mr. Chazz: teacher; social media content creator and host of 'Mr. Chazz’s Leadership, Parenting & Teaching Podcast.'

• Nandita Chaudhary: independent scholar and visiting professor at the Federal University of Bahia in Brazil. She studies cultural development psychology.

Our intern Lateshia Peters helped produce this episode.

Special thanks to our intern Joey Morgan.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are the more recognizable holidays of this season, but have you heard of or celebrated Bodhi Day or Pancha Ganapati? Dr. Aaron M. Gale educates us about religious holidays celebrated worldwide during the winter months.

According to people.com, 2023’s holiday-themed film lineup will feature over 100 movies on broadcast and streaming platforms. Journalist Philiana Ng joins us to discuss this season's “must-see” holiday movies. You’ll even hear host Khalilah Brown-Dean share her go-to holiday classic.

GUEST:

• Terri Bryant: Lifestyle and Etiquette expert. Owner, The Swann School of Protocol - Bridgeport

• Dr. Aaron M. Gale: Associate Professor of Religious Studies, West Virginia University

• Philiana Ng: Entertainment and Television Journalist

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The report was created by CTData Collaborative and funded by Aurora Women and Girls Foundation and The Community Fund for Women and Girls of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. To read the report, you can go to CTData Collaborative's website.

GUESTS:

• Michelle Riordan-Nold: Executive Director of CTData Collaborative

• Jenny Steadman: Executive Director of Aurora Women and Girls Foundation

• Karen DuBois-Walton: President of Elm City Communities

• Emily Byrne: Executive Director of Connecticut Voices for Children

• Karen Lott: Executive Director of the Women’s League Child Development Center. She is also on the board of Aurora Women and Girls Foundation.

Special thanks to our interns Lateshia Peters and Joey Morgan.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUESTS:

• Matthew L. M. Fletcher: the Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law and Professor of American Culture at the University of Michigan and a citizen of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. He is appointed to the appellate court of several tribes

• Ned Blackhawk: Professor of History and American Studies at Yale. His most recent book, 'The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History,' just won a National Book Award