The New Jersey gubernatorial race, down to the wire October 30
Hour 1 Leading off the last weekend before the election, we'll take a look at the New Jersey gubernatorial race with Newark Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran and Jonathan Tamari of The Philadelphia Inquirer's Trenton Statehouse Bureau. They'll take stock of the increasingly close race between incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican challenger Chris Christie, as well as the vigorous challenge from Independent Chris Daggett.

Philadelphia Spectrum Obit October 30
Hour 2 The Philadelphia Spectrum opened in the fall of 1967 swinging with the Quaker City Jazz Festival and is closing October 31st rocking out with Pearl Jam. Philadelphia's first indoor arena was home to the Flyers and 76ers championships, boxing and wresting matches, monster truck shows, and rock concerts.

A conversation about child abuse October 29
Hour 1 Ten year old Charleeni Ferreira died last week in Philadelphia from injuries related to physical abuse. Her family was the subject of several abuse investigations and she was seen by health care providers over the course of several years. We talk about this case and the challenges facing the child welfare system and the people who work in it.

[REBROADCAST] Neil White – "In the Sanctuary of Outcasts" October 29
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Neil White, a journalist, magazine publisher and family man, was convicted in 1993 for check fraud and sentenced for eighteen months in federal prison. That prison, was also the U.S. Government-sanctioned National Leprosarium. White tells the stories of these people in a memoir, "In the Sanctuary of Outcasts," as well as his story of the transformed, humbler man he had become when he was released.

"The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" October 28
Hour 1 The InterAct Theatre Company's new play, "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity," slams into the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre with an action-packed mix of professional wrestling, race and geopolitics.

Sherman Alexie – "War Dances" October 28
Hour 2 Novelist, poet, film-maker and National Book Award-winning writer, our guest Sherman Alexie grew up on an Indian Reservation fifty miles north of Spokane Washington. "War Dances" is Alexie's latest book, a collection of short stories filled with characters dealing with complex issues as wide reaching as a failed marriage, alcoholic death, hate crime, obituary writing and courtship.

How physicians and nurses really talk to dying patients and their families October 27
Hour 1 In the debate over health care legislation, end of life counseling by physicians and nurses has been reduced to a frightening sound bite - "death panels." In fact these meaningful conversations go on every day.

Phillies vs. Yankees October 27
Hour 2 The 2009 World Series promises to be one for the ages. In one dugout its the returning champions, the Philadephia Phillies. But the guys in the other dugout know something about dynasties: It's the dreaded, hated New York Yankees.

The debate over governmental regulation of Wall Street salaries October 26
Hour 1 Last week the Treasury Department announced a plans to cut the salaries of top executives of the seven companies that took government bailouts; the Federal Reserve also made public its own risk-based guidelines for banking salaries.

New York Times columnist Gail Collins on the contemporary women's movement October 26
Hour 2 In her new book, "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of Women from 1960 to the Present," New York Times columnist Gail Collins explores the determination and persistence that shaped the contemporary women's movement.

Marty talks to Governor Ed Rendell October 23
Hour 1 Governor Ed Rendell joins Marty in the studio to talk about the challenges facing the Commonwealth and his goals for the remainder of his term.

Jeannette Walls October 23
Hour 2 Jeannette Walls is a writer and journalist who rose to prominence as a gossip columnist for MSNBC.com. Her new book, "Half Broke Horses," shares the courageous life story of Walls' maternal grandmother, who died when Walls was only 8, and left her New Mexico home at 15, riding 500 miles alone on her pony to teach in the frontier town of Red Lake, Ariz. She survived everything from droughts to floods to the Great Depression.

Dr. David Nash on health care policy and practice October 22
Hour 1 David B. Nash, MD, MBA is the founding dean of the Jefferson School of Population Health, on the campus of Thomas Jefferson University. The School of Population Health, which welcomed its inaugural class last month, focuses on Health Policy, Public Health and Health care Quality and Safety. Nash also lost his father in the last year, and has written about that experience - and the light it sheds on our health care system - in a recent Jefferson School of Population Health newsletter.

Richard Dawkins – "The Greatest Show on Earth" October 22
Hour 2 The wonders of life and the beauty of science are what evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins thinks and writes about. An outspoken Atheist, Dawkins tackles proving evolution in his latest book, "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution."

What the balloon boy hoax says about television, the media and us October 21
What the "balloon boy" hoax says about reality television, the media and us. Our guests are ROBERT THOMPSON, Syracuse University professor of television and popular culture, journalist ERIC DEGGANS of the St. Petersburg Times and writer JAKE HALPERN. [...]

The real and growing problem of human organ trafficking October 21
Last week, the United Nations and the Council of Europe released a report calling for improved monitoring of human organ trafficking by national and international organizations. We explore the real and growing problem of selling and buying human [...]

Iranian American scholar HALEH ESFANDIARI October 20
In 2007, while visiting her mother in Iran, HALEH ESFANDIARI was detained and later charged with plotting revolution. Esfandiari is director of Middle East Programs at the Smithsonian's Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars. She left Iran in 1980 [...]

Comcast eyeing NBC Universal October 20
Comcast is in negotiations to buy NBC Universal, in the Philadelphia-based cable giant's latest bid to acquire content to fill up the airwaves and send over the distribution network it owns. Joining Marty in-studio to talk about the [...]

Black Hair – Good Hair October 19
The first daughters, Malia and Sasha Obama, are wearing their hair 'natural;' radio host Don Imus' popularity hasn't been restored since his 2007 statement about the Rutgers women basketball team as, "Nappy-headed hos;" and comedian Chris Rock has [...]

Free speech, animal cruelty and the Constitution October 19
In its first week of its new term, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a landmark free-speech case, the United States v. Stevens. It involves a law that forbids the buying or selling of any image of [...]

Where the Wild Things Are October 16
The movie version of "Where the Wild Things Are" opens this weekend. We'll talk about Maurice Sendak's Caldicott Award-winning children's book with PATRICK RODGERS of the Rosenbach Museum, psychiatrist RICHARD GOTTLIEB, and Vanity Fair writer BRUCE HANDY. Listen [...]

The politics of health care October 16
Earlier this week the Senate Finance Committee passed its version of health care legislation; we'll talk about the significance of that vote and the multitude of challenges that face Congress in the months ahead. Our guests are The [...]

Would you pay a tax on soda to finance health care? October 15
As legislators on Capitol Hill grapple with ways to pay for comprehensive health care legislation, one idea that has been floated is a tax on sugary drinks like soda. Would you be willing to pay extra for soda [...]

The pros and cons of Marcellus Shale drilling October 15
The Marcellus Shale formation lies beneath much of Pennsylvania, and it's where energy companies expect to find a motherlode of natural gas. But the process and politics of removing it also extracts a cascade of questions. Joining us [...]

Green buildings and biomimicry October 14
Green design and building is all the rage these days, including in the Philadelphia region. Guests DAYNA BAUMEISTER of the BioMimicry Guild and TIM McDONALD of Onion Flats and the Philadelphia Mayor's Sustainability Advisory Council will discuss their [...]

The way forward in Afghanistan October 14
Marty talks to Washington Post associate editor Rajiv Chandrasekaran who just returned from Afganistan and Alexander Thier of the U.S. Institute of Peace. Listen to the mp3

Richard Hughes – Christian American and the Kingdom of God October 13
Last April, President Obama said at a press conference in Turkey, "We have a very large Christian population, we don't consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish Nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation [...]

What's happening in the area when it comes to runoff October 13
HOWARD NEUKRUG, Director of the Philadelphia Water Department's Watersheds office, and prime mover behind a watershed-centric municipal water planning model that's been adopted in many parts of the country, will discuss what's happening in the area when it [...]

The new Barnes Foundation museum design unveiled October 12
Last week the Philadelphia Art Commission approved the design concept for a Barnes Foundation building on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. We get reaction from architecture critics INGA SAFFRON of the Philadelphia Inquirer and NICHOLAI OUROUSSOFF of the New [...]

David Wessel – In Fed We Trust October 12
When the financial crisis of last year started to spiral down, what did Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his team know and what surprised them as they worked to prevent Depression 2.0? Why were some banks saved [...]

Lorenzo Pisoni – Humor Abuse October 9
When you were a little kid, did you get into trouble by your parents for 'clowning around?' What if the family business you were born into was a circus and your father wore a red nose to work? [...]

Latest developments in the nation's capitol October 9
Radio Times' weekly political roundtable focuses on the latest developments in the nation's capitol. Our guests are Politico's BEN SMITH and CQPolitics.com's CRAIG CRAWFORD. Listen to the mp3

An interview with Max Cleland October 8
Former U.S. Senator from Georgia MAX CLELAND has just published a new book about his life and career. It's called Heart of a Patriot. He joins Marty in the studio in this hour of Radio Times. Listen to [...]

The case against Roman Polaski and what it says about protection laws, international justice and Hollywood October 8
What the case against director ROMAN POLANSKI says about the evolution of child protection laws, international justice and Hollywood. Our guests include law professor MARCI HAMILTON, and writers KATE HARDING and BILL WYMAN. Listen to the mp3

ALEXANDRA HOROWITZ – Inside of a Dog October 7
When you bend down for your dog's kisses, is your dog happy to see you or happy that you may regurgitate some food? Probably the former, but our guest, ALEXANDRA HOROWITZ finds it took dogs a long time [...]

What a October 7
The U.S. economy lost 263,000 jobs in September, with the national unemployment rate edging up to 9.8 percent. At the same time, most economists say the overall economy rebounded about 3 percent over the summer. And that has [...]

MICHAEL SANDEL – Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? October 6
Is it wrong to torture? Is it always wrong to steal? When is it okay to lie? Our guest, Harvard University political science professor, MICHAEL SANDEL, has examined moral reasoning with his students since 1980. His undergraduate class, [...]

The story behind the TARP funds – where did they go? October 6
It has been one year since the U.S. Congress authorized the U.S. Treasury Department to spend roughly $700 billion to stabilize the nation's economy. In an article in the October issue of Vanity Fair, investigative journalists DONALD BARLETT [...]

Historian Joan DeJean October 5
Historian Joan DeJean attributes the comfort and casualness of American homes to the introduction of the sofa, running water and toilets into 17th century Parisian life. DeJean is a professor at Penn and the author of a new [...]

Inside the Clinton White House with writer Taylor Branch October 5
Author and historian TAYLOR BRANCH recorded 79 oral histories with President Bill Clinton during his eight years in office. The conversations are detailed in Branch's new book, "The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the President." He's in the [...]

What Starbucks tells us about America October 2
Chances are, wherever you are listening to this show, you're not far from a Starbucks. And the chances are almost as good that our guest, BRYANT SIMON, an American history professor at Temple University, has sipped a cup [...]

Pennsylvania state budget and politics October 2
As the months-overdue Pennsylvania budget process enters its endgame, we look at the taxes, the process, the lobbying under way, the cuts, the impact on Philadelphia, and the winners and losers. Joining guest host TRACY MATISAK will be [...]

TV football's James Brown October 1
Every Sunday, millions of Americans gather for what is to many a sacred ritual – football on TV. And the friendly man guiding this congregation of sports fans, has been, for many millions of viewers over the last [...]

How Pennsauken, NJ, became one of the most successfully integrated community in America October 1
In the mid-nineties, faced with white flight and declining property values, residents of Pennsauken NJ set out to create a stable, vital and racially diverse community. Local residents HAROLD ADAMS and LYNN CUMMINGS who spearheaded the effort talk [...]