Hour 1 Former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi was sentenced yesterday to 30 days in prison for committing a bias crime in connection with the suicide death of his roommate Tyler Clementi.  Bias intimidation laws, also known as hate-crime laws, enhance penalties for crimes committed against protected classes of people and are on the books [...]

Filed under: LGBTQ, New Jersey, crime, criminal justice, education, law enforcement, technology, teens |

Hour 1 The EPA has set the first air pollution rules for natural gas drilling, requiring gas drillers to capture toxic gases, like benzene, that are released during the drilling process. The new rules go into effect in 2015.  The Obama administration has also proposed rules that would force companies to disclose the chemicals used [...]

Filed under: Pennsylvania, business, economy, environment, technology |

Hour 2 What is in your chicken?  A new study found that chickens were eating feed containing a banned antibiotic and the active ingredients for pain relievers, antihistamines, and antidepressants. There’s been growing concern over the use antibiotics in animal farming. Close to three-fourths of all antibiotics are used for farm animals and this overuse, [...]

Filed under: business, economy, food, health, journalism, politics, science, technology |

Hour 1 Americans make a lot of trash, more than any other country in the world. In fact, each of us produces around 7.1 pounds of garbage a day, or roughly 102 tons in a lifetime. And trash turns out to be America’s top export; we ship a lot of it to China every year. [...]

Filed under: author, economy, environment, food, social issues, technology, world |

Hour 1 Days before Pennsylvania’s primary, we step back and check our cell phones for the latest update on how political campaigns are using social media, technology and the “four screens” many of us see every day to get their messages out. Most of the major campaign announcements have come first on social media platforms [...]

Filed under: economy, media, politics, technology |

Hour 1 Nine physician specialty societies are banning together with leading consumer groups to draw attention to the over-use of certain medical tests and procedures.  The “Choosing Wisely” initiative, launched by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and Consumer Reports, is warning doctors and patients of 45 commonly prescribed but often unnecessary tests and [...]

Filed under: economy, family issues, health, medicine, technology |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] 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 – [...]

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

Hour 2 The publishers of the Encyclopedia Britannica announced earlier this month that after 244 years, they will no longer make available print editions of the reference book.  It will however make available its resources online for an annual membership of $70.  Current editions include 32 volumes and cost roughly $1,395. Contributing to the demise [...]

Filed under: author, business, history, journalism, media, technology |

Hour 2 Twenty-eight Philadelphia public high school seniors, who have proven their strengths in math, science and engineering, have been participating in a new alternative project on the edge of the Navy Yard. This pilot program, the Sustainability Workshop, which began last September, is a student-centered, project-based, hands-on learning environment where the students focus on [...]

Filed under: Philadelphia, education, science, technology, teens |

Hour 2 Social networking sites have the ability to put us in touch with old friends, help us meet our soul-mates and even topple governments, but they are also blurring the lines between our public and private selves leaving us vulnerable to invasions of our privacy.  Social network and privacy expert LORI ANDREWS says that [...]

Filed under: author, culture, media, politics, technology |