Editor’s Note: After five years on air, our weekly radio program
NEXT is coming to an end. The show focused on New England at a time of change and featured stories from journalists across the New England News Collaborative.
The good news is that these powerful stories aren’t going away. We will showcase our collaborative journalism on this website, NENC.news, and we are ramping up our next phase of New England reporting to bring you more news and conversations from the region.
Still, sunsetting the show wasn’t easy.
NEXT fan Alvaro Castro Rivadeneira left us a voicemail this week praising our thoughtful journalism.
Racism is the idea that one racial group is inferior or superior to another, and has the social power to carry out and benefit from systemic discrimination. This applies to most, if not all, institutions in this country, including public media. Anti-Blackness and white supremacy shape both the institutional policies and practices of society and shape the cultural beliefs and values that support racist policies and practices.
White supremacy is the political and socio-economic system that allows white people both at a collective and individual level to enjoy structural advantage and rights that other racial and ethnic groups do not.
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In a pre-sentencing document one of Ritter s victims, who had recently been released from the Grand Traverse County jail and was on probation, outlined a trip she took with him to Lansing. Ritter paid for it with his county credit card. She said Ritter also told her intimate details about what happened in the jail.
Ritter’s Attorney Shawn Worden argued that the victim was a “consenting adult” who began a sexual relationship with Ritter over a dating app after her release from jail. 13th Circuit Court Judge Kevin Elsenheimer disagreed, saying the victim’s statement would influence his sentence.
Premieres: January 14, 2021
“By mid-century, if we don’t have a significant cut in heat trapping emissions, we can expect extreme heat to rise here in the Northeast,” said Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Those impacts would worsen inequities of climate change that disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color, Cleetus said. “This is one of the most insidious and unjust aspects of how climate change is coming to bear.”
And we heard from listeners and residents across New England who told us how climate change has already affected their lives.
“I prefer the term ‘climate chaos’ to describe what I am experiencing as a certified organic farmer in Western Massachusetts,” Dan Pratt wrote. “Increasingly unpredictable and severe first and last frosts, more aggressive precipitation events and wilder temperature swings within any growing season make it increasingly difficult to grow food in our region.”
Published January 12, 2021 at 9:57 AM EST
Public school enrollment in New England is down during the pandemic. But even when kids are enrolled, it can be a struggle to get some to show up. This week on NEXT, how one district is tackling absenteeism and why doctors are increasingly concerned about youth mental health. Plus, Massachusetts school districts try to cope with a teacher shortage. And when a Vermonter’s business plummeted after COVID hit, she donned an inflatable T-Rex costume and started dancing.
Guests:
Jennie Weiner, associate professor of educational leadership at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education.