WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - State Facts: Connecticut

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Nate is joined by John Paul Peck to talk all about Connecticut.

You're listening to State Facts on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.17 FM. I'm your host, Nate Gallagher, and I'm joined by Hillsdale's resident Connecticut cutter, John Paul Peck. How you doing today, JPM? I'm doing well, but I like to correct you on one thing. First of all, it's not Connecticut cutter. That's not a real term. I don't care what Google says. I don't care what the internet says.

It's not a real term. Okay. The only thing I can tell you, though, is that there is no term for us. We just go by residents of New England. There is no Connecticut. You'll never hear that anywhere else. Okay. I just want to clarify that before we go anywhere else.

Okay. Understood. Okay. So where are you from, Connecticut resident? I'm from Colchester, Connecticut. It's about like 20 minutes out of the state capital of Hartford. It's straight shot down from Route 2. It's nice.

Little town. It's nice. Well, this next question should be easy. What is the capital of Connecticut? Hartford, Connecticut. It's a good city. Did I get that right? Yeah.

You did get that right. It's a nice city. You know, there's better parts. and there's bad parts, you know, the more west you go, the more rich you get, the more New Yorkish you get, there's some nice restaurants you can get. But the more center you go, well, you don't really want to go to that part. It's a cool capital, I guess. When was Connecticut admitted to the union? 1782.

1788. And I think you're the first person that's guessed a year before. Oh, that's pretty good. No, that's good, yeah. Okay, so I get like partial credit. You get a partial credit. Cool. What number was it?

Fifth state. Did I get that right? Yeah. Oh, little ding bell sound? I do. You get the ding. That's nice. I get the ding. Yes, you get the ding.

I get the ding. Those past two answers are 100% guesses. If you ask anyone in Connecticut about their state history, I'd say maybe 25% would actually know a single fact. I am not part of that 25%. Well, maybe some current facts. What's the population? Three million.

Three and a half. Do I get a ding? You get a ding. I get a ding. You get a ding. You get a ding. People in Connecticut always complain about the population. You see there's two ends of the spectrum.

It's kind of like, kind of ironic. They're like, oh, in certain parts it's too big. And other parts, oh, it's too small. And they completely blow out of proportion. They're oblivious to what other states look like. They have no idea about the metro area in D.C. or even New York. They got no clue. There's three million people in one town.

Uh-uh. They have no clue. How about the nickname of the state? Constitution State. Did I get that right? Yeah. Another ding? Let's go.

Let's go. Yeah. People say there's a lot of history in Connecticut, but I think the most relevant thing we've ever done is the Constitution, and it wasn't even ruined with the Constitution. We had no really help other than supporting the Constitution. I think we just introduced something that looked like a couple years prior. How about the state animal? Robin.

Animal is different from bird. Those are two different facts. Are you kidding me? Yes. We have a state animal that's different from the Robin? Are you kidding me? Yeah. What is it?

The sperm whale. All right. It makes sense. No, it doesn't. The Hartford Whalers? The Hartford Whalers. Yes, like a hockey team. What's the Hartford Whale?

I'm pretty sure it's like a hockey team. Are you serious? I don't know hockey that well, but I'm pretty sure there's a sports team called the Hartford Whalers. Like I swear. That may be true. I think I've heard about it once or twice. But you know what I have heard about? What?

The Hartford Yard Goats. It was like this big thing where they put it up. They put up a big. stadium called Duncan Doty. It's Duncan Donuts Stadium. And it was the huge rave because we were moving from the Norwich team up to the Hartford team. And we go there. And there's an experience. People will hype it up and you go there. And the game sucks. Team sucks. They're mid. But I think it's more about the experience. You go sit through 45 minutes of traffic, the commuter traffic, and then you go watch a mid game. But then you go have some mid food after.

So it's cool. How about the state bird? The Robin. There we go. See, that's the Robin. That's the Robin. That's the thing. That's the hell right there.

There it is. Whenever I see a Robin towards the spring season, it always brings me some joy. It knows we're getting out of the long haul of winter. It's kind of like Punks Tawney Phil, but like for Connecticut. How about the state flower? We have a state flower? Oh, I know this. Hang on.

Hang on. Laurel? Mountain Laurel. Mountain Laurel. I didn't think you guys had. You guys had mountains. We have mountains. Are you serious?

I don't know. Come on. I thought you guys were too east for the Appalachians. Well, there's a culture of hiking outside of the Appalachians, kind of like in Connecticut, or maybe in New York or in Maine. You ever heard of Noah Khan? Come on. It's like the half granola lifestyle. Well, I think that's all the time we have.

Appreciate it, Gallagher. Thank you for having me on. I'm not a Connecticut cutter. I've been Nate Gallagher with State Facts on Radio Free Hillsdale, 107, F.A. See you next. Thank you.