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Connections

Coming up on Connections: Monday, June 14

Shamseer Sureach Kumar
/
freeimages.com

First hour: Can technology predict if relationships will be successful?

Second hour: How Me2/Orchestra is working to eliminate stigma tied to mental illnessWhat does the future of dating look like? Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara think they have an idea. A project at the Computational Mate Choice Lab at USCB involves uploading personalities and relationship ideas and then allowing simulated characters to play out their relationships in the virtual world. Assistant professor Daniel Conroy-Beam says what happens in that virtual space could predict what may happen with couples in real life. His goal, he says, is to help people build happier relationships. Would you put your relationship to this kind of test? If you're single, would you trust this kind of technology to help you make dating decisions? Is this all too "Black Mirror"? Our guests discuss it:

  • Daniel Conroy-Beam, assistant professor and head of the Computational Mate Choice Lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara 
  • Shadi Kafi, teacher and writer
  • Nicole Rahn, young professional

Then in our second hour, founders of the Me2/Orchestra say it is the only classical music organization in the world created by and for people with mental illness and those who support them. The conductor, Ronald Braunstein, is an internationally renowned maestro who reinvented his career after struggling with his own mental health diagnosis. Now, the orchestra has branches in several cities around the world. The story of Me2/Orchestra is told in a documentary called "Orchestrating Change." It will be screened as part of the Reel Mind Film Series and the Eastman Performing Arts Medicine program next week. But first, the orchestra's founders, one of the filmmakers, a member of the orchestra, and a mental health professional join us to discuss how a project like this can help break down the stigma tied to mental illness. Our guests:

  • Ronald Braunstein, co-founder and music director of Me2/Orchestra
  • Caroline Whiddon, co-founder and executive director of Me2/Orchestra
  • Marek Lorenc, Me2/Orchestra (Burlington) clarinetist 
  • Margie Friedman, co-executive producer and director of "Orchestrating Change"
  • Laurence Guttmacher, M.D., director of psychiatry residency education, and professor of clinical psychiatry and clinical medical humanities and bioethics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Connections
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.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.