Hour 1 It was tough year for schools and teachers across the country as they struggled with their state governments over budget cuts. Here in Pennsylvania public education funding was slashed and in the last few months, and districts have had to make some difficult decisions about what to keep and what had to go. [...]

Filed under: Pennsylvania, education, politics, social issues, teens, work |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Do you want to know what happened to the tragic character, Precious, from the 2009 film of the same title and the book Push? Well, her son is the protagonist of a new novel by our guest, SAPPHIRE. The author came up in New York City in the '80s – the beginnings [...]

Filed under: author, family issues, social issues |

Hour 1 August 2011 will go down in the books as the wettest month on record in the Philadelphia area – this is before the rainfall still being counted from this weekend’s Hurricane Irene. Every state of the country tied or set daily records in this July's heat wave. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [...]

Filed under: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, environment, politics, science, world |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] “It’s the strong emotions that shape us, and I don’t think they change no matter what race you are and no matter what period you live in,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist GERALDINE BROOKS. Brooks returns to Radio Times to discuss what she calls a ‘book of the imagination’ based on [...]

Filed under: author, culture, environment, history |

Hour 1 On Dec. 30, 2009, a team of the CIA’s top terrorist hunters were waiting at a secret, fortified base in Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan. They were about to meet one of their most prized moles inside the al Qaeda terrorist network, a Jordanian doctor named Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who the [...]

Filed under: author, military, politics, world |

Hour 2 Are you a punster?  Do you appreciate a good pun or do they simply make you groan?  Well, today we’re paying homage to beloved and sometimes reviled pun and the important role it’s played in our language, culture – even in our politics.  Our guest, former presidential speechwriter (under Bill Clinton) and world [...]

Filed under: author, culture, history, politics |

Hour 1 While President Obama is on vacation, Republican contenders for the Republican presidential nominee continue campaigning across the county.  A recent Gallup poll found the President's approval rating at an all-time low of 40 percent, and, were the election held today, Obama would be running neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul and [...]

Filed under: economy, military, politics, social issues, world |

Hour 2 Though the Arlene Ackerman era at the School District of Philadelphia is officially over, the reverberations and repercussions go on. Boos, jeers and crowd protests punctuated Wednesday’s School Reform Commission meeting, at which the ousted superintendent’s $900,000 buyout was approved by SRC commissioners. Dr. Ackerman upped the ante Thursday morning on WURD, blasting [...]

Filed under: Philadelphia, education, politics |

Hour 1 The 42-year reign of Col. Moammar Qaddafi in Libya appears to be over, or at least under immediate mortal threat, depending on how this week’s surprising storming of Tripoli by the Libyan rebels shakes out. Unlike in Egypt and Tunisia, the despotic regime in Libya did not yield to nonviolent protests, but moved [...]

Filed under: media, military, politics, world |

Hour 2 Forget what you learned in poli-sci; that won’t help you much in understanding modern political campaigns. In his new book, Political Consultants and Campaigns: One Day to Sell, JASON A. JOHNSON explores the difference between how political science theory suggests campaigns should be run and how political consultants actually run campaigns. Based on [...]

Filed under: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, politics |