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Connections

Coming up on Connections: Tuesday, July 18, 2023

The European Parliament will allow vegetarian meat alternatives, like the Impossible Burger, to retain meat-like names.
The European Parliament will allow vegetarian meat alternatives, like the Impossible Burger, to retain meat-like names.

First hour: What will we be eating in 2040?

Second hour: Opera and the LGBTQ+ Experience

It’s true that tons of people are still buying meat at the supermarket and restaurants, but for the same reason that folks are starting to shift to electric cars, the market for meat may be beginning to shift to ways of eating that don’t cause so much environmental damage. For many, that means reducing, eliminating, or even – replacing – animal-derived meat. So what are we going to replace it with? We’ll take a look at why the US government approved chicken made from cultivated cells – and what that even means. Guest host Jasmin Singer talks with our guests:

  • Nate Salpeter, co-founder and Executive Director of “climate sanctuary” Sweet Water Farm
  • Rob Nipe, co-founder of GrassFed Butcher, Rochester’s vegan butcher shop 
  • Dustin Peterson, director of operations for RIT Dining
  • Bianca Lê, cell biologist and tech strategist at Mission Barns, a biotech startup in San Francisco “cultivating animal fat without the animal”
  • Dorrie Nang, the food and nutrition coordinator at The Humane Society of the United States

Then in our second hour, opera has always been inextricably linked to the experience of LGBTQ+ people. From its beginnings in the Renaissance and Baroque traditions and the use of castrati to the important operas of gay composers Tchaikosky, Poulenc, and Britten, to the increased visibility of transgender opera singers such as Lucia Lucas and Holden Madagame, the relationship between opera and queer identity is an intimate and complicated one. Guest host Daniel Kushner delves into this relationship — and what opera can tell us about the LGBTQ+ community — in conversation with two prominent opera artists.

  • Anthony Roth Costanzo, Metropolitan Opera star and Glimmerglass Festival artist-in-residence
  • Ricky Ian Gordon, composer and previous Eastman Opera Theatre collaborator
Connections
Jasmin Singer is the host of WXXI’s Weekend Edition and Environmental Connections, as well as a guest host for Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Connections.
Arts writer Daniel J. Kushner began writing for CITY in 2015 as a contributing writer before joining the staff full-time in 2018.

Connections with Evan Dawson

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