David Leonhardt on the sequester, the debt, the deficit and economic growth February 28
GUEST:  DAVID LEONHARDT Tomorrow is the day the sequester is set to kick in — that's the $85 billion in government spending cuts for the coming year that resulted from the failure of Congress in 2011 to raise [...]

Peter Edelman on why U.S. is 'So Rich, So Poor' February 28
GUEST: PETER EDELMAN PETER EDELMAN has been working to raise awareness about and fighting to end poverty in the United States for four decades.  Touring the Mississippi Delta in 1967 with his boss, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, exposed [...]

The history and legacy of mass incarceration in the U.S. February 27
GUESTS:  KEITH REEVES, JANE SIEGEL, HEATHER ANN THOMPSON As a result of stricter drug laws and more rigid sentencing guidelines enacted in the 1970s, the U.S. prison population has grown by 500 percent over the past thirty years.  [...]

A healthy economy based on a happy country February 27
Guests: ANGUS DEATON and ARTHUR A. STONE How do we measure the health of the economy by how happy we are? Several national leaders and economists are increasingly looking at their countries’ collective happiness. The small Kingdom of [...]

The 'moral hazard' & Sandy relief: Do federal funds invite disaster? February 26
Hour 1 GUESTS: HOWARD KUNREUTHER and SCOTT KNOWLES This morning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is briefing Philadelphia and Pennsylvania leaders about applying for federal aid in response to the storm called Sandy that ravaged the region at [...]

The Past and Future of USPS February 26
Hour 2 GUESTS: RICHARD R. JOHN Will the mail continue to be important as Americans are more engaged in the digital age? The financially strapped United States Postal Service (USPS) will be ceasing their Saturday delivery service, with [...]

What is AVI, and what will it mean for Philadelphia? February 25
GUESTS: ROB DUBOW, PATRICK KERKSTRA and KEVIN GILLEN Philadelphia is in the midst of a massive overhaul of its property tax system. Mayor Michael Nutter’s Actual Value Initiative, known by its acronym AVI, is attempting to match city [...]

The life and art of Horace Pippin February 25
GUESTS: JUDY STEIN, GWENDOLYN DUBOIS SHAW, JEN BRYANT This year marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of African American artist Horace Pippin who was born and lived most of his adult life in West Chester, Pennsylvania.   Entirely [...]

Vow: A Memoir of Marriage (And Other Affairs) February 22
GUEST:  WENDY PLUMP WENDY PLUMP found out from a friend that her husband was cheating on her.  What made it even worse was that he had a child with his mistress and this second family lived a few [...]

85th Academy Awards preview February 22
GUESTS: PIERS MARCHANT, MATTHEW QUICK and SAM FRENCH The 85th Academy Awards are this Sunday, February 24th, and we’re going to listen back to Marty’s interviews with local connections to two nominated films: writer MATTHEW QUICK, whose debut [...]

Nuclear weapons and nonproliferation February 21
GUEST:  WARD WILSON North Korea conducted its third underground nuclear test last week, the same day President Obama addressed the country in his State of the Union speech.  Obama has made reducing the nation’s nuclear arsenal a priority [...]

The Science of Winning and Losing February 21
GUESTS: PO BRONSON and ASHLEY MERRYMAN How can you make the best of your inner competitive spirit? According to our guests, competition must work if the participants know the rules of the game. Author PO BRONSON and journalist [...]

'A Place at the Table' for Witnesses to Hunger: A new documentary February 20
GUESTS: BARBIE IZQUIERDO, MARIANA CHILTON, LORI SILVERBUSH and KRISTI JACOBSON “A Place at the Table” is a new documentary about the crisis of hunger in America today that was an Official Selection of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. [...]

Obama's early education proposal February 20
President Obama wants to provide quality early education for all low to moderate income 4-year olds. Last week the White House provided more details on the proposal which would involve a  partnership with states to guarantee preschool for [...]

Addiction: tightening the gap between research and practice February 19
Are addiction treatment centers prepared to provide the care necessary for sustainable sobriety? And how can we successfully track those suffering from addiction after they have 'graduated' from intensive treatment? We’ll get an update on how the growing [...]

The secrets of happy families with Bruce Feiler February 19
Guest:  BRUCE FEILER For his new book, The Secrets of Happy Families, Bruce Feiler used his experience as an investigative reporter to discover new techniques and ideas to make contemporary family life more functional, more meaningful and more [...]

The complicated, internal secrecy of the Eisenhower administration February 18
[REBROADCAST] President Dwight D. Eisenhower, known for his calm, grandfatherly demeanor, was the first American president that could have destroyed the world, according to our guest, writer EVAN THOMAS. The morning after his election in 1952, “Ike” was [...]

Laughing, sneezing, burping and more: the science of curious behavior February 18
[REBROADCAST] Scientists have sent rovers to Mars and decoded our DNA but they rarely look at the strange assortment of behaviors that we all do everyday – scratching, burping, sneezing, yawning, and laughing.  Psychologist and neuroscientist Robert Provine [...]

Debating PA Gov. Corbett's budget proposal February 15
GUESTS: DONNA COOPER and MATTHEW BROUILLETTE Earlier this month, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett unveiled a budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, and launched an annual battle over dollars and priorities across the commonwealth. The $28.4 [...]

'Eslanda,' a new look at Paul Robeson's remarkable and underappreciated wife February 15
GUEST: BARBARA RANSBY Paul Robeson, one of the most interesting figures of the 20th Century, has been the subject of dozens of books. Not so his remarkable life partner, Eslanda "Essie" Cardozo Goode Robeson, an unsung heroine of [...]

Cybersecurity and the growing threats February 14
Guests: SIOBHAN GORMAN, ALAN PALLER and JAMES LEWIS On Tuesday, President Obama signed an Executive Order to protect the country’s critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.  As he announced Tuesday night in his State of the Union address, the [...]

Learning about love from arranged marriages; then the science behind online dating February 14
Guests:  ROBERT EPSTEIN, REVA SETH and BENJAMIN KARNEY The notion of an arranged marriage (by choice) seems odd to most of us but several recent studies have found that such unions are just as likely, if not more [...]

Analyzing the State of the Union address and the Republican response February 13
Guests:  Ben Berger, Lara Brown and Imani Perry Last night, before Congress and the nation, President Obama addressed the state of the union and outlined his second term agenda.   He focused on the middle class, pledging action on [...]

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom on 'Citizenville' February 13
GUEST: GAVIN NEWSOM You may recognize the name GAVIN NEWSOM from his historic 2004 decision as San Francisco Mayor to allow same-sex marriages. He is now the lieutenant governor of the State of California, following his two terms [...]

How to predict the next financial crisis, with Steve Clemons & Richard Vague February 12
GUESTS: STEVE CLEMONS and RICHARD VAGUE Are we missing the forest for the trees by focusing on government debt and not private debt? According to a recent report, “How to Predict the Next Financial Crisis” (link to pdf),  [...]

Separating fact from fiction on weight loss and obesity February 12
GUESTS:  DAVID SARWER and STELLA VOLPE An article in last week's issue of The New England Journal caught our attention. It's authors identified seven commonly held beliefs about obesity and weight loss that actually have never been scientifically [...]

Guns and politics February 11
GUESTS: RICHARD FELDMAN and ROBERT SPITZER Vice President Biden is in Philadelphia today to hold a roundtable discussion on gun violence with law enforcement officials. He’s been leading the White Houses effort for tougher gun laws including a [...]

Black Media in the 21st Century February 11
GUESTS: SARA LOMAX REESE, IRV RANDOLPH and LORI THARPS What is the role of Black Media today? As the landscape of journalism is exponentially changing, and those working in the field are taking inventory of how they cover [...]

Obama's drone strike policy February 8
The Obama administration’s use of drones for targeted killings has been drawing increasing attention and criticism from some.  In his confirmation hearings yesterday, John Brennan, Obama’s nominee for CIA director and current top counterterrorism adviser, faced questions and [...]

Opera Philadelphia premieres Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night February 8
On Christmas Eve, 1914, in the midst of shelling on the Western Front of World War 1, lower-ranking troops spontaneously created a truce, taking a break from the horrific trenches, singing Christmas carols with their enemies and burying [...]

'Soul Food Junkies': Filmmaker Byron Hurt examines African American foodways & health February 7
In the new PBS film “Soul Food Junkies,” Newark, NJ-based filmmaker BYRON HURT sets out on a historical and culinary journey to learn more about the soul food tradition and its relevance to black cultural identity. Hurt’s exploration [...]

School closures and safety February 6
The Philadelphia School District’s proposed plan to close 37 public schools by the end of the school year has some people worried about safety. Under the new plan, 17,000 students will be relocated and will have to find [...]

Philly Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey; then Barbara Laker on 'Tainted Justice' 4 years later February 6
Philadelphia Police Commissioner CHARLES RAMSEY joins us to brief us on his contribution to the Gun Violence Panel convened by Vice President Joe Biden and appointed by President Obama. That panel’s work culminated in four ambitious legislative proposals [...]

Al Gore on 'The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change' February 5
Former Vice President AL GORE has a new book out, inspired by his restless quest for understanding of the factors reshaping our world. It’s called “The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change,” and it ties together global climate [...]

Cats and their impact on wildlife February 5
A new report says that outdoor cats are a major threat to wildlife.  Free-ranging cats, including pets that go outside, stray and feral cats, are the leading cause of death for birds and small mammals, killing billions each [...]

A history of the financial crisis from economist Alan Blinder February 4
In his new book, After the Music Stopped, economist ALAN BLINDER offers a history of the financial crisis — its causes and the government efforts to fight it — and provides his prescription for the work that needs [...]

The Genius of Dogs February 4
If you've ever had a dog, chances are you’ve wondered what is going on in their head.  Scientists have been thinking about this too, probing the canine mind to figure out just how smart dogs really are.  And [...]

Assessing Hillary Clinton's legacy February 1
Hillary Clinton officially departs the State Department today after logging nearly 1 million miles and visiting 112 countries during her four years of service to the Obama administration.   While the public adores her (according to a Wall Street [...]

Jacob Tomsky's reckless memoir of hotels, hustles, and so-called hospitality February 1
[REBROADCAST] Our guest, JACOB TOMSKY, who has worked in many capacities in hotels for over 10 years, lets us in on how to get the best out of a hotel stay. Do: check in with the proper kit: [...]