Hour 1 The Presidential election is six months away and the race is heating up. Political ads by the campaigns and Super PACs are popping up around the country.  Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has released two ads that lay out what he'd do on his first day in office if elected — cuts taxes, [...]

Filed under: business, economy, education, politics, world |

Hour 2 An annual survey of Pennsylvania school districts (pdf) found that schools are in financial crisis and are planning deep cuts to education programs. Things like summer school, Advanced Placement classes, tutoring, music, gym, arts education and full-day kindergarten are all on the chopping block in districts throughout the commonwealth.  The survey, conducted by [...]

Filed under: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, criminal justice, education, politics |

Hour 1 Last month, leaders of the School District of Philadelphia unveiled a radical reorganization plan that would transform – or “blow up” – the district’s structure, closing 40 schools over the next two years and more each year after that, slashing hundreds of administrative jobs, and creating entrepreneurial “achievement networks” to compete to lead [...]

Filed under: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, economy, education, family issues, politics |

Hour 2 According to our guest, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist STEVE COLL, ExxonMobil makes over $450 billion a year, the size of Norway’s GDP and about 3 percent of the U.S. GDP, positioning it as the largest company in the world, just ahead of Apple. The publicly traded ExxonMobil’s work in gas and oil exploration, [...]

Filed under: author, economy, history, journalism, politics, world |

Hour 1 JAMES FALLOWS’ new book, “China Airborne,” combines his two passions: flight & China. More than two-thirds of the new airports under construction today are being built in China; Chinese airlines expect to triple their fleet size over the next decade; and China is buying up American companies that manufacture airplanes and their parts. [...]

Filed under: business, economy, journalism, politics, world |

Hour 1 The United States economy isn't recovering from The Great Recession quickly enough for Nobel laureate economist PAUL KRUGMAN. The U.S. unemployment rate is hovering just over 8 percent, when in 2007, the beginning of the financial crisis, according to Krugman, it didn’t spike above 5 percent. The New York Times columnist, blogger and [...]

Filed under: author, business, politics |

Hour 1 We present a recorded and lightly edited broadcast of Marty’s Tuesday interview with Pennsylvania Gov. TOM CORBETT at The Prince Music Theater. Marty asked the governor about cuts he's made to education and public welfare programs, the impact fee for Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction, taxes, gay marriage and gay adoption, among other [...]

Filed under: PA elected officials, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, business, economy, education, environment, family issues, politics, social issues, transportation |

Hour 2 Last week, in a decision that may come with real political risks, President Obama publicly announced his support for gay marriage.  Since taking office, the President had frequently expressed his personal struggles with the issue but at the same time had signaled his support of gay rights through a variety of policies in [...]

Filed under: family issues, history, politics, social issues |

Hour 2 JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS helped The Washington Post win the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 with his coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre, and covered the 2008 campaign. But the heralded reporter isn’t covering this campaign, though he is deeply engaged in the coverage of a key political issue this year: illegal immigration. In a [...]

Filed under: author, crime, family issues, journalism, law enforcement, politics, world |

Hour 2 Historian ROBERT CARO published his first book about Lyndon B. Johnson 30 years ago.  Volumes two and three were published in 1990 and 2002 and the fourth volume, "The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson," was released several weeks ago.  Caro begins the new book in 1958 as Johnson contemplates a run [...]

Filed under: author, history, politics |