Back to School with budget cuts August 31
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 [...]

Sapphire's "The Kid" chronicles life of Precious' son August 31
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 [...]

Heidi Cullen and The Weather of the Future August 30
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 [...]

Geraldine Brooks on 'Caleb's Crossing' August 30
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. [...]

Joby Warrick, on 'The Triple Agent' from al-Qaeda who tricked the CIA August 29
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 [...]

The Pun Also Rises: A Defense of the Pun August 29
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 [...]

Politics, policy, the President & the 2012 election August 26
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 [...]

Philadelphia public schools, after Arlene Ackerman August 26
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 [...]

Late-summer update on Libya & the Arab Spring August 25
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 [...]

Political consultants: Theory vs. reality August 25
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 [...]

A pair of Philadelphia public school principals August 24
Hour 1 It has been a tumultuous year for the School District of Philadelphia — at the headquarters  as well as at the school level.  South Philadelphia High School was recovering from a series of racially-motivated violent events [...]

Sex on Six Legs: The Social Lives of Bugs August 24
Hour 2 If you can look past the hard exoskeleton, the antennae and the six legs, bugs and people share some surprising similarities. Although they have a brain the size of a poppy seed, insects have developed many [...]

A conversation with Michael Kelly, executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority August 23
Hour 1 When Michael Kelly arrived in Philadelphia  in December to serve as interim executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the agency was in upheaval after the abrupt dismissal of Executive Director Carl Greene in September.  After [...]

The departure of Philadelphia school superintendent Arlene Ackerman August 23
Hour 2 After a three-year tenure filled with controversy,  superintendent Arlene Ackerman is leaving the School District of Philadelphia. Her departure, which was considered imminent, was made official yesterday in a joint press release from Mayor Nutter, the [...]

Catching up on NJ politics and Chris Christie, then a Libya update August 22
Hour 1 The rumors that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will eventually join the crowded Republican field running for the 2012 GOP nomination for president just won’t die. But do those rumors say more about Governor Christie, or [...]

Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness August 22
Hour 2 Writer and playwright Sholem Aleichem (Shalom Rabinovitz) is considered one of the great, modern Jewish writers who wrote in Yiddish, spinning secular stories using universal themes of unrelenting change, propelled by the Industrial Revolution, conflicting with [...]

The GOP Presidential Race August 19
Hour 1 Texas Governor Rick Perry announced his bid for the presidency last weekend on the same day of the Iowa straw poll shaking up the field of top contenders.  Results from the poll put Representative Michele Bachmann [...]

The Untold Story of American Superhighways August 19
Hour 1 [REBROADCAST] Are you traveling cross-state this weekend and going the fast, efficient route? Have you considered what went on behind the development of America’s interstate system? Journalist EARL SWIFT has written a book about the pioneering [...]

Pennsylvania politics with Baer and Micek August 18
Hour 1 The size and role of government has been on the minds of Pennsylvania lawmakers in recent weeks.  The Commonwealth ranks second in the nation in the size of and money spent on its legislature so there [...]

The Final Days of TLA August 18
Hour 2 TLA video’s last Center City movie rental store is closing this week. 1520 Locust St follows several closings of stores of the TLA franchise– at its height there were seven retail stores, including one in New [...]

Philadelphia youth on violence, jobs, recreation and more August 17
Hour 1 With so much talk about violent so-called “flash mobs” in Philadelphia, many are wondering: Have Philadelphia’s teenagers gone crazy? Or are the media blowing the crimes and misbehavior of a few bad apples way out of [...]

The future of books and the way we read August 17
Hour 2 The closing of Borders raises new alarms for the publishing industry, authors and book buyers alike.  Publishers and authors are concerned they will have to decrease their print runs and readers now have fewer places to [...]

A debate from the left on the Obama presidency August 16
Hour 1 Political psychologist DREW WESTEN wrote a provocative op-ed in the New York Times recently titled, “What Happened to Obama?”   In it he criticized President Obama’s failure to use the power of presidential speech to win over [...]

Travel writing today, yesterday and tomorrow August 16
Hour 2 Half of the guests we’re trying to book on Radio Times these days are away on vacation. So we’re talking today to the people whose work informs our decisions about where, how and when to go [...]

Christian Parenti on 'The Tropic of Chaos' August 15
Hour 1 Parts of Somalia are gripped by the worst famine in 60 years. Conflicts over water, either too scarce or too abundant, are springing up throughout the developing AND developed worlds. Nations like Bangladesh and the Maldives [...]

Women politicians –how we talk about them and what we expect from them August 15
Hour 2 A recent Newsweek cover featuring a photograph of Michele Bachmann with the headline "The Queen of Rage" has created quite a stir. Critics of the Newsweek cover say the image portrays Bachmann as a woman out [...]

Economic news roundup August 12
Hour 1 Concern over the state of the global economy sent the stock market rolling this week.  Investors were worried about the European debt crisis and a double-dip recession.  This week also brought news of the Standard & [...]

Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro August 12
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] If the word “ukulele” conjures visions of slow, sleepy Hawaiian music, that’s just where virtuoso JAKE SHIMABUKURO wants you at the start of a show: He thrives upending the low expectations people have of his [...]

The New Car and Truck Fuel Efficiency Standards August 11
Hour 1 The Obama administration has announced new fuel efficiency standards for the automobile industry and truck makers.  Cars and light trucks will have to get 54.5 mph by 2025.  Big rig trucks will have to improve fuel [...]

David Eagleman: The Secret Lives of the Brain August 11
Hour 2 We like to think we’re in charge of ourselves but neuroscientist DAVID EAGLEMAN says that have a lot less self-control than we think. In his fascinating new book INCOGNITO: The Secret Lives of the Brain, Eagleman [...]

A conversation with the leaders of KIPP Philadelphia and Mastery Charter Schools August 10
Hour 1 KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) and Mastery Charter Schools are considered two of the most successful charter school operators in Philadelphia. Both are college-preparatory, have longer school days and Saturday classes, and both aim to create [...]

Dweezil Zappa's Grammy-Winning 'Zappa Plays Zappa' August 10
Hour 2 What is it like to be the son of a legend? Do you try to create your own identity or embrace your parentage like musician DWEEZIL ZAPPA? Zappa swings through Philadelphia a day after performing in [...]

What to do about violent flash mobs in Philadelphia? August 9
Hour 1 We’ll discuss the “flash-mob” youth violence crime wave plaguing the city of Philadelphia, what’s causing it and the city’s official response, which was announced by Mayor Michael Nutter yesterday [Monday Aug. 8]. In it, Mayor Nutter [...]

Birds and especially their amazing feathers August 9
Hour 2 Feathers don’t just move birds through the air, though they do that exceedingly well. They also move markets, as the trade in feathers has had major impacts on history and bird populations. They also stir passions, [...]

Redistricting in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania August 8
Hour 1 Philadelphia City Council is redrawing the lines of the city’s 10 council districts, and has a September 9th deadline to finish the job. But Council just announced the lone public hearing – scheduled for August 16th [...]

Major League baseball snagger Zack Hample August 8
Hour 2 Our guest ZACK HAMPLE catches Major League baseballs. Not just an errant foul or fly ball at a game – he’s worked at this art for a long time and has created a career for himself. [...]

News roundup with James Fallows, then Actor/Director John Turturro on Passione August 5
Hour 1 The stock market dropped 512 points yesterday, the worst day since the beginning of the recession in 2008.  Concern about European debt crisis and the anticipated July jobs report fueled investors fears of a double dip [...]

Why Sitting is Harmful to Your Health: The Science of Inactivity August 5
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Millions of American workers spend most of their day inactive.  We may spend eight hours sitting at a desk in front of a computer.  All this sitting turns out to be deadly.  Researchers in the [...]

Financial Reform One Year Later August 4
Hour 1 Just over a year ago, one of the country’s most sweeping financial reform acts was signed into law.  The Dodd-Frank Act established regulations to curb the risky Wall Street practices that led to the financial collapse [...]

'Slut Walk': Feminists fight back against rape August 4
Hour 2 Philadelphia will be host to its first Slut Walk on Saturday. It’s the latest in a series of events that started in Toronto in April, when local women took exception to a police officer’s now-infamous comment [...]

Famine, war and chaos in Somalia August 3
Hour 1 Somalia – without a functioning government for most of the last 20 years, devastated by civil war and the insurgency of al Qaeda-affiliated Al Shabab, and one of the poorest, most dangerous places in the world [...]

Men negotiating the work-life balance August 3
Hour 2 The pressures that women encountered when entering the workforce in large numbers – to excel at home and at work – are now being felt more fully by men. That’s the finding of a new study [...]

The Debt Ceiling Deal August 2
Hour 1 The House of Representatives passed the debt ceiling deal late Monday night. Now it's on to the Senate for a vote.  The new agreement raises the debt limit $2.4 trillion in exchange for $900 billion in [...]

Cave Canem Poet Iain Haley Pollock August 2
Hour 2 Poet and teacher IAIN HALEY POLLOCK has won the prestigious 2010 Cave Canem Poetry Prize, a first-book award "dedicated to the discovery of exceptional manuscripts by African American poets." Pollack’s collection of poetry, “Spit Back a [...]

Free Birth Control? Covering Prevention Services for Women August 1
Hour 1 An expert panel for the Institute of Medicine recently released recommendations for improving women’s health.  The Institute identified eight preventive services that could improve women’s lives and that health insurance plans should cover, including contraception, at [...]

The divorce generation with author Susan Gregory Thomas August 1
Hour 2 SUSAN GREGORY THOMAS says that the defining question of her generation, those born between 1965-1980, is "when did your parents divorce?"  Statistics back up her claim.  Almost half of Generation X's childhoods were marked by divorce.  [...]