Hour 1 A few days after Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted in 2005, GERSHON BASKIN got a phone call from a Palestinian professor and colleague asking for his help in negotiating the soldier's release.  Gershon was put in touch with a spokesman for the Hamas government and for five years, as an intermediary between [...]

Filed under: history, journalism, religion, world |

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 1 Vanity Fair editor-at-large CULLEN MURPHY believes there is nothing new under the sun about interrogation. He says ingredients for a modern day inquisition are here today as bureaucracies, information technology, and surveillance keep expanding; and there are still religions and totalitarian regimes fixed on an idea, forcing everyone else to tow the line. [...]

Filed under: author, criminal justice, history, military, religion |

Hour 1 Since its inception in 1980, the winner of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary has gone on to win the party's nomination and, as the first primary in the South, it is often seen as an indicator of how other southern states will vote in their primaries and caucuses.  South Carolina voters are [...]

Filed under: economy, politics, religion, social issues |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Philadelphia writer SUSAN MORSE has been taking care of her mother, on many levels, since she was a child. This role has changed over the years as “Ma,” a former portrait artist who has just turned 90, has survived cancer, endured broken bones, and is a recent Orthodox Christian nun. Morse discusses [...]

Filed under: Philadelphia, author, medicine, religion |

Hour 1 Enrollment in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s elementary schools and high schools has been declining for decades, while the costs of running those schools have increased dramatically. Tuition fees, a decrease in the birthrate among Catholic families, and competition from public, private and charter schools all contribute to the Archdiocese's lower numbers. Furthermore, the [...]

Filed under: Philadelphia, economy, family issues, religion, school issues |

Hour 2 2012 is upon us, and if you thought the end-of-the-world hysteria was insane last year, just you wait for the end of this year. Hollywood helped kick the doomsday hype last year with its disaster movie titled “2012.” And interpretations – experts say misinterpretations – of the Mayan Long Count calendar supposedly predict [...]

Filed under: psychology, religion, science, world |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Philadelphia writer SUSAN MORSE has been taking care of her mother, on many levels, since she was a child. This role has changed over the years as “Ma,” a former portrait artist who has just turned 90, has survived cancer, endured broken bones, and is a recent Orthodox Christian nun. Morse discuss [...]

Filed under: Philadelphia, author, medicine, religion |

Hour 1 If you are a shareholder in a corporation, can you affect its policies of social responsibility? Our guest, SISTER NORA NASH, thinks so. As the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia in Aston, PA, Nash works with a large, interfaith organization that buys shares in companies [...]

Filed under: religion, social issues |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Writer and teacher MICHAEL LEVY describes China to his students as a country exactly like the United States in size, in cities, in the same number of rich and poor people – but add one billion peasants. Levy served two years of service in the Peace Corps in China and saw a [...]

Filed under: author, culture, economy, environment, health, history, politics, religion, school issues, social issues, world |