Connections

Language, race, and accountability

By Evan Dawson,

Megan Mack, Elissa Orlando, Julie Williams

Published October 15, 2025 at 4:10 PM EDT

Two men wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man at left has dark hair and a dark beard and is wearing a brown button-down shirt; a man at right has short dark hair and is wearing a light blue quilted pullover. — Jonathan Rosa with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Wednesday, October 15, 2025

What is the relationship between language, power, and race?

Rochester native Jonathan Rosa is an author and linguistic anthropologist at Stanford University’s Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. He's in town as a guest of the University of Rochester for a talk on the role of language when it comes to the upheaval of DEI.

He joins us to discuss how language is used by people in power and how that translates to our daily lives.

In studio:

Jonathan Rosa, Ph.D., author and associate professor in the Graduate School of Education, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University

Connections

Evan Dawson

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.

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Megan Mack

Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.

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Elissa Orlando

Elissa Orlando is a producer for “Connections with Evan Dawson.” She returns part-time to WXXI News after stepping back from a long career in public media and in translational science.

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Julie Williams

Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.

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