The Wheelhouse

How did Connecticut earn the moniker “Constitution State”?

Hint – it’s not the Constitution you learned about in history class!

We’ll travel back to the 1600s to explore how history, conflict and big aspirations helped shape the state’s identity.

GUESTS:

• Thomas Balcerski, professor of history at Eastern Connecticut State University and director of the Center for Connecticut Studies
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Even though some anthropologists believe humans are apex predators, a new book argues we’re actually not.

Author Kurt Gray posits understanding our vulnerabilities – coming to terms with our former reality as prey – could help us co-exist in tumultuous political times.

Today on The Wheelhouse, Gray, a social psychologist at The Ohio State University, discusses his book, “Outraged: W...

It’s 2025 and next year’s congressional races are already heating up.

We’re learning more about U.S. Rep. John Larson’s seat in Connecticut’s First Congressional District. Columnist Dan Haar says the 2026 re-election bid will be Larson’s “toughest challenge” yet.

Are Larson’s age and health a primary factor in a prospective close race?

Today on The Wheelhouse, Dan Haar and const...

Gen Z has grown up in an age of school shootings, climate anxiety, the pandemic and the algorithm.

With all that they’ve gone through, how is Gen Z engaging with media and with politics?

Today on The Wheelhouse, we’re looking at the forces shaping Gen Z in Connecticut and across the nation. We’ll explore how this generation votes at the ballot box and ask what their future role may be in American democracy.

GUESTS...

Legislation seeking to address Connecticut’s affordable housing crisis was vetoed earlier this year by Gov. Ned Lamont. But, the proposal could soon come back in a special session. 

If it does, state lawmakers face a question: can they craft an affordable housing plan that satisfies both the governor and local leaders? 

Opponents of the original bill say it was pushing quotas on cities and towns. Local leaders said ...

President Donald Trump’s massive tax-and-spending package is officially the law.

The legislation provides tax cuts for some Americans. But it could raise costs for some of the country’s poorest households. That’s due to reductions in Medicaid and food assistance. The legislation Republicans are calling the “big beautiful bill" seeks to cut Medicaid and food stamps by more than $1 trillion.

Today on...

Connecticut lawmakers passed some of the most ambitious housing legislation in years this session. The bill looked to address affordable housing, zoning and parking.

But then, Gov. Ned Lamont vetoed it.

The Democrat is now inviting lawmakers to make a new proposal, which he hopes to pass it later this year in a special session.

Today on The Wheelhouse, we’ll speak to the governor live in-studio, asking about that veto. W...

This fall, students at Yale University will take a course called “Bad Bunny: Musical Aesthetics and Politics.”

Bad Bunny, born on the island of Puerto Rico as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, isn’t the first Latino musician to weave activism into his work. Regarding the Yale class, Bad Bunny told Rolling Stone magazine “I have in the back of my mind that I want to do big things and make ...

Connecticut has hundreds of miles of shoreline, extending from Greenwich in the west to Stonington in the east.

Many of these coastal communities have found ways to exclude certain people. There’s actually a long history of segregation on our shores, dating back decades.

This hour, we’ll look at past and present beach access in Connecticut.

Plus, we’ll look at who does — and does no...

Connecticut lawmakers recently cemented their priorities for the next two years with final passage of a $55.8 billion budget.

At the end of the 2025 legislative session, they were able to find money for Medicaid programs and invest in our children’s future, especially young children.

But some – mainly the minority in the state legislature – say that it comes at too high of a cost.

Today on the Wheelhouse...

The 2025 legislative session in Connecticut started with lawmakers facing an uncertain future clouded by potential federal funding cuts.

The end of the session is nigh in Connecticut.

Amid these murky days, we know that local lawmakers have taken drastic measures to shore up state Medicaid funding. But how far are they willing to go to secure a new two-year budget deal?

Today on the Wheelhouse, a previ...

State lawmakers are foregoing budget caps to fund Medicaid.

But with Medicaid relying on two primary funding sources–and U.S. lawmakers poised to pass President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”--the future of low-income healthcare programs is uncertain.

Today on The Wheelhouse, America’s brittle social safety net hangs in the balance.

GUESTS:

• Lisa Hagan, Federal Policy Reporter, CT Mi...

George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in 2020 inspired police reform in America.

Five years ago this week, Americans took to the streets amid a global pandemic to protest Floyd’s murder.

Chants of “Black Lives Matter” reverberated throughout Connecticut. And then, two months after Floyd’s death, Connecticut was one of the first states in the nation to enact police reform legislation.

“I d...

Colleges and universities across the country are facing serious headwinds.

In 2022, college enrollment was 14.8% below peak enrollment in 2010. That’s according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Is a post-pandemic rebound even possible?

Factors like declining enrollment, shifting perceptions of value, and rising financial strain have college and universities in Connecticut and beyond ringing the alarm bell...

According to Pew Research Center, our “trust in government” has eroded over the last sixty years.

While there have been “modest” gains in support, factors like age, race, employment status, educational experience, and more impact how we view our federal institutions.

Today on the Wheelhouse, we journey through age groups, consider experiences, and offer a bit of a U.S. history lesson to shed some light on ho...

Some federal officials don’t want the “X” gender option printed on passports. The “T” – and other letters – were removed from websites with content addressing the LGBTQ+ community.

Since Day 1, the Trump administration has chipped away at the rights of Transgender Americans.

Today on the Wheelhouse, we examine the policies aimed towards erasure.

Plus, gender-affirming care. How anti-tr...

Natural gas and nuclear energy may not be the cleanest and greenest methods of power generation.

Yet with energy bills being so high for Connecticut residents and an administration in Washington that’s prioritizing fossil fuel production, state officials may have to punt on their net zero-carbon goals in order to produce more juice.

Today on the Wheelhouse, the pursuit of climate resiliency in a moment when green energy ...

Outside the State Capitol, Connecticut residents recently protested against the federal government.“Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Trump and Musk have got to go,” they shouted as they huddled in the rain.

There were 2,085 protests like this in the U.S. in February alone, according to the Guardian.

Today on the Wheelhouse, why Americans are speaking out against the Trump administration – and the potential consequences of resist...

Public health officials are sounding the alarm.

In Connecticut, they say the Trump administration is cuttinge $150 million in federal grants allocated to the state –for disease surveillance, childhood immunizations, and more.

Those funds were allocated at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But COVID is still with us. And there’s also cases of bird flu, measles, and other infections in the U.S.

This...