This year, Michael Morand, director of community engagement for Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, was appointed New Haven's official city historian. We talk with him about bringing New Haven’s history to life and the exhibit he collaborated on at the New Haven Museum. The exhibit includes years of Michael's research as part of The Yale and Slavery Research Project documenting Yale’s historical ties to slavery. The exhibit, which is on view until March, 2025, is called Shining Light on Truth: New Haven, Yale, and Slavery.

Guest: 


Michael Morand: Director of community engagement for Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library and New Haven's official city historian.

Disrupted is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

This year, Michael Morand, director of community engagement for Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, was appointed New Haven's official city historian. We talk with him about bringing New Haven’s history to life and the exhibit he collaborated on at the <a href="https://www.newhavenmuseum.org/">New Haven Museum</a>. The exhibit includes years of Michael's research as part of <a href="https://yaleandslavery.yale.edu/">The Yale and Slavery Research Project</a> documenting Yale’s historical ties to slavery. The exhibit, which is on view until March, 2025, is called <a href="https://www.newhavenmuseum.org/48546-2/">Shining Light on Truth: New Haven, Yale, and Slavery</a>.
Guest: 
<ul>
<li>
Michael Morand: Director of community engagement for Yale's <a href="https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/">Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library</a> and New Haven's <a href="https://library.yale.edu/news/new-haven-mayor-appoints-librarys-michael-morand-city-historian">official city historian</a>.
</li>
</ul>
Disrupted is available as a podcast on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disrupted/id1534163465">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f8967bbf-ebf9-4abe-a31f-9363adaa2383/disrupted">Amazon Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0zWn3s3Wpj3CRbYg6WnHDc">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/Disrupted-p1371247/">TuneIn</a>, <a href="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/disrupted-connecticut-public-radio-Mcm2UfSKxuq/">Listen Notes</a>, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

Disrupted is about the changes we all encounter and the forces driving those changes. Some disruptions spark joy and possibility. Others move us to take action and re-evaluate our world. But the show isn't just about those disruptions; it’s about embracing them, exploring new perspectives, and feeling more connected to ourselves and our communities. Host and political scientist Khalilah Brown-Dean creates a place where changemakers come together to help us see the world differently and challenge us to grow together.

Visit ctpublic.org/disrupted for more! 

Disrupted is about the changes we all encounter and the forces driving those changes. Some disruptions spark joy and possibility. Others move us to take action and re-evaluate our world. But the show isn't just about those disruptions; it’s about embracing them, exploring new perspectives, and feeling more connected to ourselves and our communities. Host and political scientist Khalilah Brown-Dean creates a place where changemakers come together to help us see the world differently and challenge us to grow together.
Visit <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/disrupted">ctpublic.org/disrupted</a> for more!

Disrupted

New Haven’s historian Michael Morand on bringing the city's past to the present

The Disrupted team is welcoming the new year by choosing a couple of the episodes we loved from 2025. We have so many favorites that we couldn't reair all of them, but these are some of the ones that we wanted to listen back to. This week, host Khalilah-Brown Dean chose our interview with journalist and author Megan Greenwell.

Megan Greenwell's book, Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream, tells the story of four people whose lives were upended by private equity. This hour, we learn about the business of private equity, and how companies that many people don't understand play a big role in our lives.

GUEST: 


Megan Greenwell: Freelance journalist and author of Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream.

This episode originally aired on June 27, 2025.

The Disrupted&nbsp;team is welcoming the new year by choosing a couple of the episodes we loved from 2025. We have so many favorites that we couldn't reair all of them, but these are some of the ones that we wanted to listen back to. This week, host Khalilah-Brown Dean chose our interview with journalist and author Megan Greenwell.
Megan Greenwell's book, Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream, tells the story of four people whose lives were upended by private equity. This hour, we learn about the business of private equity, and how companies that many people don't understand play a big role in our lives.
GUEST: 
<ul>
<li>
Megan Greenwell: Freelance journalist and author of <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/bad-company-megan-greenwell?variant=43151012757538">Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream</a>.
</li>
</ul>
This episode originally aired on June 27, 2025.

Our 2025 favorites: Megan Greenwell on the ways private equity upends the lives of everyday people 

The way people approach children’s books in the U.S. has changed a lot over time.

Philosopher John Locke helped popularize the idea that learning to read should be fun with his 1693 treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education.

Fast forward 300 years and television series continued Locke’s legacy. Today's adults might remember the joy of reading being touted to young people through shows like Arthur and Reading Rainbow. 

The subjects of books for young people continue to change as well. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin—Madison tracks diversity statistics on the books they receive. 2024 was the first time since they started tracking that over half of the books had “significant BIPOC Content.” That designation takes into account the characters, settings and topics of books.

This hour, we’re talking to authors about representation in young people’s literature.

GUESTS:


Ainissa Ramirez: Award-winning scientist and science communicator. She has worked at Bell Laboratories. Her latest book is a picture book called Spark: Jim West’s Electrifying Adventures in Creating the Microphone.


Angeline Boulley: bestselling author of Firekeeper’s Daughter. Her new book is Sisters in the Wind.

If you want to learn more about the Indian Child Welfare Act, you can listen to our interview with Matthew L.M. Fletcher. To hear more from Ainissa Ramirez, you can listen to our 2021 conversation.

The way people approach children&rsquo;s books in the U.S. has changed a lot over time.
Philosopher John Locke helped popularize the idea that learning to read should be fun with his 1693 treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education.
Fast forward 300 years and television series continued Locke&rsquo;s legacy. Today's adults might remember the joy of reading being touted to young people through shows like Arthur and Reading Rainbow.&nbsp;
The subjects of books for young people continue to change as well. The Cooperative Children&rsquo;s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin&mdash;Madison tracks <a href="https://uwmadison.app.box.com/s/rn4ccrdx8f8a2nbbqb6spx16kxcy52r1/file/1802253109720">diversity statistics</a> on the books they receive. 2024 was the first time since they started tracking that over half of the books had &ldquo;significant BIPOC Content.&rdquo; That designation takes into account the characters, settings and topics of books.
This hour, we&rsquo;re talking to authors about representation in young people&rsquo;s literature.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>
Ainissa Ramirez: Award-winning scientist and science communicator. She has worked at Bell Laboratories. Her latest book is a picture book called <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/787550/spark-jim-wests-electrifying-adventures-in-creating-the-microphone-by-ainissa-ramirez-illustrated-by-setor-fiadzigbey/">Spark: Jim West&rsquo;s Electrifying Adventures in Creating the Microphone</a>.
</li>
<li>
Angeline Boulley: bestselling author of <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250766571/firekeepersdaughter/">Firekeeper&rsquo;s Daughter</a>. Her new book is <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250328533/sistersinthewind/">Sisters in the Wind</a>.
</li>
</ul>
If you want to learn more about the Indian Child Welfare Act, you can listen to our <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/disrupted/2023-07-05/ned-blackhawk-on-how-native-peoples-have-shaped-u-s-history">interview with Matthew L.M. Fletcher</a>. To hear more from Ainissa Ramirez, you can listen to our <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/disrupted/2021-12-15/author-and-scientist-ainissa-ramirez-is-teaching-science-through-stories">2021 conversation</a>.

Authors like Angeline Boulley and Ainissa Ramirez help young readers see a wider range of representation

Studying oysters can help us understand how Connecticut’s shoreline is changing. Studying lizards can help us understand the history of life on our planet. Biologists research living organisms. And in doing so, they help us understand not only ourselves, but also the way our lives are intertwined with those of every other species.

This hour— Connecticut biologists tell us how their work helps us see what’s going on in the world around us. We'll discuss everything from how someone growing up in New York City could become fascinated by nature to the impact of federal funding cuts on research.

GUESTS:


Martha Muñoz: Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Yale Peabody Museum and recipient of a 2024 MacArthur Fellowship.


Maria Rosa: Assistant Professor of Biology at Connecticut College.

This episode originally aired on July 25, 2025.

Studying oysters can help us understand how Connecticut&rsquo;s shoreline is changing. Studying lizards can help us understand the history of life on our planet. Biologists research living organisms. And in doing so, they help us understand not only ourselves, but also the way our lives are intertwined with those of every other species.
This hour&mdash; Connecticut biologists tell us how their work helps us see what&rsquo;s going on in the world around us. We'll discuss everything from how someone growing up in New York City could become fascinated by nature to the impact of federal funding cuts on research.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.marthamunoz.com/">Martha Mu&ntilde;oz</a>: Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, <a href="https://peabody.yale.edu/news/munoz_award">Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology</a> at the Yale Peabody Museum and recipient of a <a href="https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2024/martha-munoz">2024 MacArthur Fellowship</a>.
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.conncoll.edu/directories/faculty-profiles/maria-rosa/">Maria Rosa</a>: Assistant Professor of Biology at Connecticut College.
</li>
</ul>
This episode originally aired on July 25, 2025.

New Haven’s historian Michael Morand on bringing the city's past to the present

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