Hour 1 The Obama administration announced last month that it would require religious hospitals, colleges and other institutions, like those affiliated with the Catholic Church, to provide health care coverage for contraception.  The decision has ignited a passionate debate over religious freedom, the conscience exemption and the rights of women to control their own health [...]

Filed under: family issues, health, history, medicine, politics, religion, social issues |

Hour 2 Many people think that our genes tell the story of who we are. But a group of researchers believe that the wiring in our brain may be even more revealing and they’ve set out to make a map of it. Mapping the neural pathways in the brain is an enormous task – a [...]

Filed under: author, health, medicine, science, technology |

Hour 2 Pennsylvania's Geisinger Health System recently announced that starting in February it would no longer hire smokers and will screen for nicotine use among new employees. Pennsylvania is one of 20 states that allow bans on hiring smokers. Around the country more and more organizations, particularly hospitals, are embracing non-nicotine hiring policies as a [...]

Filed under: health, medicine, military, politics, social issues, work |

Hour 1 [REBROADCAST] This March the Supreme Court will review the constitutional challenge to the 2010 health care bill over the provision that requires most Americans to buy health care coverage. EZEKIEL EMANUEL worked on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act when he served as a top health care adviser to President Obama from [...]

Filed under: business, economy, health, medicine, politics, technology |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] 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 book "INCOGNITO: The Secret Lives of the Brain," Eagleman describes the leading role that our unconscious mind plays in our daily lives, commanding our instincts, emotions, [...]

Filed under: author, crime, criminal justice, health, medicine, science |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] If you’re in recovery, kidnapped by terrorists and faced with a drink menacingly put to your lips, what do you do? That’s one of the relapse fantasies our guest SACHA Z. SCOBLIC has had. After about 10 years of hard drinking, she quit the bottle and has written a book about her [...]

Filed under: author, health, journalism |

Hour 2 A number of hazing-related deaths have made headlines in recent months. Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion died within an hour of a hazing ritual, according to the state medical examiner, that involved “multiple blunt trauma blows to the body.” And eight soldiers in Afghanistan have been charged with involvement in the [...]

Filed under: culture, family issues, health, law enforcement, military, parenting, school issues, social issues, sports |

Hour 1 Nearly one in two Americans is poor or low-income, a record number according to the latest census numbers. With unemployment high and social services eroding with budgetary constraints, how can people living in poverty be helped? Social scientists are just beginning to unravel the complicated psychological picture of poverty and are learning that [...]

Filed under: author, economy, family issues, health, psychology |

Hour 1 Pennsylvania's state Senate passed legislation last week that places new restrictions on abortion clinics. The bill is largely in reaction to the horrific case of Kermit Gosnell, who ran an abortion clinic in West Philadelphia and has been charged in the deaths of seven babies and one adult patient.  The bill, which still [...]

Filed under: Pennsylvania, family issues, health, medicine, parenting, politics, social issues |

Hour 1 This week the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that states ban talking and texting behind the wheel, including hands-free devices. Studies have shown that distracted driving plays a role in 8,000 crashes daily in the United States and is responsible for over 3000 fatalities a year. Last month, Pennsylvania became 35th state to [...]

Filed under: Pennsylvania, Uncategorized, author, business, crime, culture, economy, health, history, law enforcement, parenting, social issues, transportation |