The days are getting colder and darker!

Winter has the power to affect our mood. For some, the change of season brings on the “winter blues” and for others, it brings on a form of clinical depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). If you’re a Connecticut farmer, the season also poses unique challenges.

This hour, we think about the ways that the change of season can change our mood and how we might embrace winter as a time to slow down.

Guests:

• Dr. Paul Desan: Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Yale School of Medicine and the Director of The Winter Depression Research Clinic at the Yale School of Medicine
• Becca Toms: Wellness Coordinator at the New CT Farmers Alliance
• Dr. Kari Liebowitz: Health Psychologist and author of the book, “How to Winter”

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It’s election week, and civics are top of mind.

But citizenship is about more than voting or citizenship status. Eric Liu, co-founder and CEO of Citizen University and author of “Live Like a Citizen: 8 Ways to Change Your Mindset and Your Country,” joins us to talk about what it means to be an engaged member of a community.

He shares how growing up as a second-generation American shaped his worldview and explains his formula for citizenship: power plus character. It’s about understanding how decisions get made, learning how to create change and building the habits that help communities thrive.

Guests:

• Eric Liu: co-founder and CEO of Citizen University and was a White House speechwriter and deputy domestic policy adviser to President Clinton. Author of “Live like a Citizen: 8 Ways to Change Your Mindset and Your Country.”

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

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Election Day is here, and voters across the country are heading to the polls.

This hour, we check in with reporters at polling places across Connecticut and take a closer look at key races in battleground states that could determine control of the U.S. House and Senate.

What are the most closely watched contests, and what could their outcomes mean for the country’s political future?

Plus, we examine election integrity and the efforts to ensure votes are counted securely and accurately.

Guests:

• Jennifer Hopper: Associate Professor of Political Science at Southern Connecticut State University
• Mara Suttman-Lea: Associate Professor of Government at Connecticut College
• Gary Rose: Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts & Sciences at Sacred Heart University
• Sujata Srinivasan: Senior Health Reporter for Connecticut Public

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U.S. Senator Chris Murphy is hospitalized after suffering a stroke over the weekend. His office says he is awake and alert, and doctors are optimistic he will make a full recovery.

We bring you the latest on his condition and use this news as an opportunity to talk about strokes more broadly.

What are the early warning signs? What should you do if you or someone around you experiences symptoms? And why are doctors seeing more strokes among younger adults?

Plus, what does recovery from a stroke look like? We'll talk about what everyone should know when it comes to recognizing a stroke, getting help quickly and how to avoid a second stroke.

GUESTS:

• Lisa Hagen: Federal Policy Reporter for Connecticut Public and CT Mirror

• Sujata Srinivasan: Senior Health Reporter for Connecticut Public

• Dr. Catherine Margaret Hosley: Neurologist and Vascular Neurologist and part of the Stroke Center Team at Hartford Healthcare

• Dr. Richa Sharma: Associate Professor of Neurology at theYale School of Medicine and a vascular neurologist withYale Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven.

Dylan Reyes, Gene Amatruda, Chloe Wynne and Casandra Basler contributed to this episode.

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

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Connecticut Public has a new podcast: "Generation: Baby-Sitter’s Club."

It explores the beloved middle-grade series by Ann M. Martin, about four friends who start their own babysitting business.

Since its debut in the 1980s, The Baby-Sitter’s Club has grown into a publishing phenomenon, inspiring spinoffs, TV adaptations and a hugely popular series of graphic novels.

This hour, we explore how the series has evolved for new generations of readers, and why graphic novels are having such a moment.

We’ll talk with a children’s librarian and a graphic novelist about how these books are made, why young readers love them, and what they can teach us.

Guests:

• Daniela Doncel: Connecticut Public's Latino Communities Reporter and host of the podcast, "Generation: Baby-Sitter's Club"
• Kym Powe: Children and Young Adult Consultant, Connecticut State Library
• Maria Scrivan: Connecticut-based NYTimes best-selling author and cartoonist, author of the "Nat Enough" series

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What can the things we leave behind tell us about who we are?

At Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, students are learning archaeology by digging into their school’s history. Meanwhile, researchers are uncovering stories buried beneath the backyard of Two Wrasslin’ Cats Cafe in East Haddam.

And those discoveries helped inspire artist Jac Lahav’s mural, You Never Walk Alone, which brings generations of local history together – from the region’s Indigenous past to figures whose stories have too often been overlooked.

This hour, we explore how digging into the past can change the way we see the places we call home, and the people who helped shape them.

Guests:

• Kim Harris-Thacker: humanitarian faculty and archivist, The Ethel Walker School
• Sarah Sportman: Connecticut State Archaeologist, Office of State Archaeology & Connecticut State Museum of Natural History
• Mark Thiede: owner of Two Wrasslin’ Cats Coffee House & Cafe
• Jac Lahav: artist based in Lyme, Connecticut. Their painting has been featured in over ten solo museum exhibitions and Lahav’s recent collaboration with Samsung brings funny cat drawings to the Frame TV.

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"Gilmore Girls" premiered in October 2000 on The WB network. The series filled a niche at the time: female leads, three generations of women, and witty, fast-paced dialogue. But success was not immediate.

This hour, we listen to "Oy, with the Gilmores already!" It's an episode of Connecticut Public's new podcast "Generation Gilmore Girls."

This episode originally aired on December 8, 2025.

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

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It’s Halloween week, which means we’re summoning Connecticut’s most chilling stories.

From ghostly apparitions to mysterious happenings that defy explanation, this hour will make you think twice about what lurks in the dark.

Historians, tour guides and a psychic join us to share their strangest encounters. Tune in for a haunting hour of history, folklore and a few goosebumps.

GUESTS:

• Christine Jewell: Director for The Ancient Burying Ground

• Mallory Howard: Assistant Curator for The Mark Twain House & Museum

• Chrystyne McGrath: Psychic, founder and owner of CM Paranormal Services and The Guilford Ghost Tours

• Courtney McInvale: Author, historian and founder ofSeaside Shadows Haunted History Tours

• Wesley Broulik: producing artistic director, Time’s Fool Company

This episode was originally aired on Oct. 27, 2025.

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

Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.