Connections Podcast

Monroe County party chairs join us to discuss the midterms, as well as their vision for winning in the future.For Democrats, the gains in the past decade have been remarkable. For Republicans, late chair Steve Minarik might have a hard time believing that they’ve lost control of the county legislature, as well as town supervisor positions in Perinton, Penfield, Webster, and Greece. But the midterms tend to favor the party that does not hold the White House, and true to form, Democrats had a huge night.So what’s next? Our guests discuss it.In studio: Stephen DeVay, chair of the Monroe County Democratic Committee Peter Elder, chair of the Monroe County Republican Committee --Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

It’s our weekly news roundup.President Trump is defending his administration‘s deportation policy, rejecting the idea of an amnesty bill. We sit down with our WXXI News colleagues for an update on immigration and high-profile ICE cases in the region. In studio: Veronica Volk, executive producer and director of podcast strategy for WXXI Public Media Brian Sharp, investigations and enterprise editor for WXXI News Jose Sandoval, Latino communities reporter for WXXI News Then, the New York State Board of Regents wants to eliminate the Regents exam requirement for graduation, but there's a delay in executing the plan. What's the holdup? We discuss it. Our guests: Samuel King, Capitol News Bureau reporter for the New York Public News Network Noelle E. C. Evans, education reporter and producer for WXXI News Then, about one-third of older adults in America struggle with loneliness and social isolation. That's according to the U.S. Surgeon General. We talk with the founder of a local organization that assists seniors about how to best support older adults in our region, especially around the holidays. In studio:Phyllis Jackson, RN, community health and wellbeing project manager for FLPPS-Common Ground Health-Rochester RHIO, and founder of SACE: Senior Adult Community Engagement project--Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

Rochester Reads is celebrating 25 years of asking the community to read one book – and then come together to discuss it.This year, Writers & Books has selected two titles — one being Omar El Akkad’s “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.” El Akkad has described the book as a kind of breakup letter with the West. He writes of the devastation in Gaza and the plight of the Palestinian people. Writers & Books says the book “underscores literature’s capacity to bear witness to the lives, places, and issues that are often left in the margins.”We talk with El Akkad and the executive director of Writers & Books about how the novel speaks to the current societal moment. Omar El Akkad, author of “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” Michael Solis, executive director of Writers & Books --Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

Car prices and servicing costs have both surged due to industry shifts, regulatory requirements, and rising ownership expenses. All that makes affordability a major challenge for many households.There's also an automotive technician shortage nationwide.What's being done in the Rochester region to train the workers needed to keep today's more sophisticated vehicles on the road?We sit down with local experts in the automotive industry to discuss the causes of these challenges, along with what it will take to make it more affordable to buy and own a vehicle.Our guests for the hour: Brad McAreavy, president of the Rochester Automobile Dealers Association Kevin Parker, owner of Parker Automotive in Webster Charlie Vita, chief lending officer at Canandaigua National Bank --Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

What tools and technologies should be used to make Rochester's streets safer? Rochester leaders cite a new report that includes a survey of city residents. In that survey, residents said they want action to make streets safer. And a majority of respondents support speed cameras and red-light cameras “in specific circumstances.” It’s not the return of the same red-light cameras from a decade ago. Rather, the new technology would be part of a broader automated traffic enforcement strategy. This hour, we discuss the report, the possible solutions, and how technology would be deployed with safety and residents' concerns in mind. Our guest: Mitch Gruber, co-chair of the ROC Vision Zero Committee and member of Rochester City Council --Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

Why are Muslim voters leaving the GOP?Many American Muslims express culturally conservative views and would seem to be a natural constituency for Republicans. But the GOP saw its Muslim support collapse. The founder of Arab Americans for Trump in 2024 said that he was disappointed with how President Trump has governed. The slurs hurled at Muslim candidates like Abdul El-Sayed have also contributed to the rejection of the party. President Trump has called El-Sayed a terrorist and a jihadist. This hour, we discuss the impact of bigoted language and the decline in Republican support from Muslims. In studio: Sareer Fazili, past president of the Islamic Center of Rochester Louis Sabo, secretary of the Rochester City Republican Committee --Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

Democrats expected a big night, and we discuss how it panned out. This hour, we talk to winners of races at various levels — local, state, and federal. It's a fast-moving hour to examine what happened and why voters made the decisions they did.Our guests:  Rep. Joe Morelle (D, WF), projected winner in New York's 25th Congressional District Assemblymember Jen Lunsford (D, WF), projected winner in District 135 Assemblymember Josh Jensen (R, C), projected winner in District 134 Assemblymember Sarah Clark (D, WF), projected winner in District 136 Assemblymember Andrea Bailey (R, C), projected winner in District 133 Assemblymember Harry Bronson (D, WF), projected winner in District 138 Jenn Townsend (D, WF), Perinton town supervisor  --Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

What can we learn from the allegations of sexual assault at a Cornell fraternity? The legal case could take a long time, but the ripples of the allegations are already forcing new conversations about consent and assault across the country. We discuss how the varying claims could affect the legal investigation. We also talk about why inviting dozens of strangers to join a sexual conquest of a woman has its own ethical problems, regardless of how the legal side plays out.Our guests: Meredith Ouderkirk, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York Sharon Stiller, Esq., of counsel for Abrams Fensterman LLP --Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.

Rochester is becoming a national hub for laser science, thanks to the National Science Foundation and New York State. As reported by WXXI's Brian Sharp, the University of Rochester will take the initial lead on a laser program that's part of a nationwide project called the NSF STELLAR Engine. The work will be based in downtown Rochester's Sibley Square and is expected to expand to the Lake Avenue photonics hub. And speaking of photonics, there has been a slow buildup on jobs and activity. It’s not the next Kodak, but it amounts to thousands of jobs. We discuss what the lasers will do (and no, they will not be attached to sharks, Dr. Evil) and we explore what the research might accomplish. In studio: Sujatha Ramanujan, Ph.D., CEO of the NSF STELLAR Engine of the Rochester/Finger Lakes Region of New York Thomas Brown, Ph.D., director of the Institute of Optics and Wyant Professor of Optics at the University of Rochester Alexis Vogt, Ph.D., executive director of New York Photonics and Barbara and John H. Bruning Endowed Director and Professor of the Optical Systems Technology Program at Monroe Community College Leah George VanScott, executive vice president of business development and strategy for Greater Rochester Enterprise

What does it feel like to live with Alzheimer's? It's a question journalist Greg O'Brien has been answering for nearly two decades. O'Brien was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2009 at age 59. In his book, “On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s,” he chronicles his own disease. O'Brien will be in Rochester for an event at St. John's, but first, he joins us on "Connections" to tell his story and to share what he wants the public to know about living with the disease. We also talk with local neurologist Dr. David Gill about the latest in Alzheimer's research and treatment. Greg O'Brien, career journalist and author of "On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer's" David Gill, M.D., chief of the Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology at University of Rochester Medicine  Tom Harner, director of marketing at St. John's *Note: WXXI is a media sponsor of the event at St. John's. --Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding.---Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email, Facebook or Twitter. Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here.---Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections.