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Politics
The Wheelhouse

In Absentia looks at the history of political dysfunction in Bridgeport

By Frankie Graziano,
Chloe Wynne
Published April 24, 2024 at 7:15 AM EDT
Joe Burns, a small business owner in Bridgeport, protests outside of the Government Center where a woman was seen on video putting multiple piece of paper into a ballot box. “Enough’s enough,” he said. “We gotta take the city back.”
Ryan Caron King
/
Connecticut Public
Joe Burns, a small business owner in Bridgeport, protests outside of the Government Center where a woman was seen on video putting multiple piece of paper into a ballot box. “Enough’s enough,” he said. “We gotta take the city back.”

Why does political dysfunction happen? What are the systems that enable it? A new four-part podcast from Connecticut Public looks for answers in Bridgeport, where corruption charges, allegations of absentee ballot misconduct, and machine politics have left some residents wondering if their vote even matters.

Today on The Wheelhouse, catch the first episode of In Absentia. The podcast offers listeners a deep dive into the history of political dysfunction in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Plus, we’ll hear from Connecticut Public’s Lisa Hagen about Connecticut's federal delegation ahead of general elections in November.

GUESTS:

  • Bria Lloyd, Investigative reporter, Connecticut Public
  • Lisa Hagen, Federal policy reporter for CT Mirror and Connecticut Public

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

The Wheelhouse
Frankie Graziano
Frankie Graziano is the host of 'The Wheelhouse,' focusing on how local and national politics impact the people of Connecticut.
See stories by Frankie Graziano
Chloe Wynne
Chloe is a producer for The Wheelhouse and Where We Live at Connecticut Public. She's also the host and a producer of the narrative podcast 'Generation Gilmore Girls.' Before that, she produced and reported for VPM and Story Mechanics on the investigative podcast 'Admissible: Shreds of Evidence.' She earned her master's degree from Columbia Journalism School in 2021. Reach her at cwynne@ctpublic.org.
See stories by Chloe Wynne