Civic engagement beyond election day

We just witnessed a historic election. People are still feeling a lot of emotions about the change we’ve seen. But change doesn’t only happen on election day— it happens every day. So how can people channel the emotions they are feeling into work that goes beyond the ballot box? This hour, we’re talking about what we can do for our communities on a practical level - after voting ends. We’re joined by a panel of experts who are all involved in civic engagement. GUESTS: Adrienne Billings-Smith: Employee Development & Community Engagement Manager for the Town of West Hartford. Paul Skaff: President and CEO of Connecticut Democracy Center. Merle McGee: President and CEO of Everyday Democracy. You can listen to our interview with Connecticut's 2023 Kid Governor here. Photo Credit: Joe AmonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As far back as Dorothy Roberts can remember, her father’s book on interracial marriage loomed large. He worked on the book for decades, but never finished it. As an adult, Dorothy decided to go through old boxes of her father’s notes. What she found gave her insight not only into her father’s research, but also helped her learn more about parents’ own interracial marriage. This hour, we’re talking to Dorothy Roberts about her new book The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family— it explores not only her parents' research, but also the way it helped her better understand her family. GUEST: Dorothy Roberts: George A. Weiss University Professor of Law & Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, and her newest book is The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family. Photo Credit: Chris CrismanSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw's work as a legal scholar has been massively influential. She coined the term “intersectionality,” which refers to the way multiple interlocking systems of power overlap to shape people's lived experiences. Her work has also faced its share of pushback. She came up with the phrase "critical race theory," a subject that has been widely misunderstood as it has become a flashpoint in the culture wars. But when Professor Crenshaw meets controversy, she isn’t afraid to talk back. Hence the title of her new book, Backtalker: An American Memoir. GUEST: Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw: Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and Distinguished Professor of Law and Promise Institute Chair in Human Rights at U.C.L.A. Law School. She is also Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum. Her new book is Backtalker: An American Memoir. This episode originally aired on July 24, 2026.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Giving birth can have a serious impact on a person’s physical and mental health. Postpartum psychosis has been in the news recently due to the Lindsay Clancy case, but that is just one of many challenges that people can face during and after childbirth. 1 in 8 people who give birth experience postpartum depression. That’s according to the CDC. There are also disparities in the way childbirth affects people— the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black people was three times higher than the rate for non-Hispnaic white people in 2023 and 2024. This hour, we discuss childbirth and postpartum health. GUESTS: Emily Fields: resident of Norwalk, CT. Sujata Srinivasan: Senior Health Reporter for Connecticut Public. Tiffany Donelson: President and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation. Resources Discussed in this Episode: ACCESS Mental Health and Substance Use for Moms Postpartum Support International Maternal health equity: A blueprint for Connecticut Special thanks to our interns Julian Clarke-Dixon and Cooper Formica.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A lot of conversation around AI focuses on it as an existential threat. But if AI has destructive potential, does it also have the capacity to do good? This hour, we're talking about AI and the choice we can make about how we use it. Our guest is Beth Simone Noveck, Director of the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University and former Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House. Her new book is Reboot: AI and the Race to Save Democracy. GUEST: Beth Simone Noveck: Professor and Director of the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University. She is also former Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House. Her new book is Reboot: AI and the Race to Save Democracy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the United States, we talk a lot about discrimination. But one form of discrimination that we don’t talk about enough is discrimination based on body weight. It affects everything from our employment prospects to our medical care. But it actually remains legal in almost every state in the U.S. This hour, we’re talking about the stigma around body weight. We’ll learn about the research on how people are impacted by weight stigma, and we'll talk about how weight discrimination intersects with other forms of discrimination. GUESTS: Rebecca Puhl: Deputy Director for the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health and Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Da'Shaun Harrison: Co-Executive Director of Scalawag Magazine and author of Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The U.S. feels divided. That division is backed up by data. According to the American Psychological Association’s 2025 Stress in America Survey, 62 percent of adults said societal division was a significant source of stress in their lives. So how can we move forward with inclusion rather than division? This hour, we’re talking about building an inclusive future. We'll learn about an effort to bring people together through civic engagement in New Haven. And we’ll from hear legal scholars who explain how to advance DEI in the current political moment. GUESTS: Caroline Tanbee Smith: Executive Director of Civic Works, a new organization that brings people together through civic participation. Kenji Yoshino: Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law and the Faculty Director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. David Glasgow:Executive Director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at New York University School of Law. Book cover image courtesy of Simon & SchusterSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2012, Connecticut voters chose Chris Murphy as a replacement for retiring senator Joe Lieberman. He was the youngest U.S. senator serving at the time. And in the years since, his national profile has grown. He's been a vocal advocate for gun reform and become a high-profile critic of the Trump administration. But most recently he’s been talking about a different kind of crisis. It's the subject of his new book Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America. GUEST: Chris Murphy: Junior U.S. Senator from Connecticut. His new book is Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America. This episode originally aired on July 10, 2026.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Princess Joy L. Perry’s novel This Here is Love tells the interlocking stories of an array of characters in Tidewater Virginia. It’s a complex narrative that takes place in the 1690s as the hierarchies of slavery are still developing. Those hierarchies are complicated by further hierarchies— indentured servitude and gender also shape the way characters are perceived. This Here is Love is a book that isn’t afraid to delve into the messiest questions around how discrimination developed in the U.S. It’s a book about human nature and the moral questions we continue to face today. And above all it’s a gripping debut from an author whose assured voice guides us through a world where cruelty and love seem to coexist. This hour, we’re talking to Princess Joy L. Perry about This Here is Love. We’ll also speak with Casey Grambo from the Stowe Center for Literary Activism. They've awarded the novel with their annual Stowe Prize for Literary Activism. GUESTS: Princess Joy L. Perry: Master Lecturer at Old Dominion University. Her debut novel, This Here is Love is the 2026 winner of the Stowe Prize for Literary Activism. Casey Grambo: Director of Development at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism. You can find more information about the celebration of the Stowe Prize for Literary Activism in Hartford at the Stowe Center for Literary Activism's website.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many Americans can tell you exactly what they were doing 25 years ago when they learned the United States had been attacked. But for a younger generation, the attacks are something they’ve only learned about in history class. With that in mind, it’s time to think about what we want future generations to remember. GUESTS: Jay Winuk: Co-Founder of 9/11 Day, an organization that started in 2002 with the goal of turning 9/11 into a day of service. The group began after Jay's brother Glenn, an attorney, volunteer firefighter and EMT, died at the World Trade Center. Jeremy Stoddard: Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His work connects education, democracy, media and controversial issues. Mary Fetchet: Founding Director and President of the Voices Center for Resilience, an organization she helped create after her son Brad died at the World Trade Center. The group helps individuals and communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from traumatic events. Image provided by 9/11 Day.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.