Plan B, politics and parents May 8
Guests:  Jessica Arons and Joan Vennochi Back in 2011, in a controversial decision, Health and Human Services Secretary Katherine Sebelius announced that the morning after pill, known as Plan B One-Step, would be available over-the-counter only to women [...]

"Far from the Tree" with author Andrew Solomon April 17
Guest:  Andrew Solomon In his new book,  Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity, writer ANDREW SOLOMON tells the complicated, sometimes heartbreaking and oftentimes compelling stories of parents who not only learn to cope [...]

Household chores — figuring out who does what and why it's so hard April 2
Guests:  Wendy Klein, Andy Hinds, Emily Oster Let's be honest….no one likes doing chores, but the good news is much has changed at home when it comes to sharing the responsibilities of raising children and maintaining a home.  [...]

Salt, Sugar and Fat March 21
GUEST: MICHAEL MOSS If you eat processed food, how much do you scrutinize the ingredients on the package? Our guest, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, MICHAEL MOSS, has considered the quality of these ingredients, including identifying the 8,500 milligrams [...]

#innovateRT: The Arts Community January 16
“Kids are everything. Poetry is my passion, but PYPM is my purpose,” says our guest, poet PERRY “VISION” DIVIRGILIO, referring to his work with the Philly Youth Poetry Movement. The third part of our PHILADELPHIA INNOVATORS series drums, [...]

Forty years since Roe v. Wade January 9
Forty years ago this month, the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade, the historic case that made abortion legal in the United States. The Roe v. Wade decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could have [...]

Some good news in the childhood obesity battle December 20
This year there’s some good news in the fight against childhood obesity – particularly for Philadelphia. Rates of childhood obesity have declined in Philadelphia along with a few other cities including New York, El Paso, and Anchorage.  Though [...]

Perspective on the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy December 17
In an effort to provide thoughtful perspective on the tragic shootings that killed 20 children aged 6-7 and 6 educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, we’ll turn to three local professionals who study and work [...]

Contraception, sexual health and teens December 11
The American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a recommendation recently to increase teen access to emergency contraception. In a new policy report, the organization advised pediatricians to not only openly discuss contraception with their female patients but [...]

PA Task Force on Child Protection, post-Sandusky December 5
The Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection has been meeting for 10 months with experts in all facets of child care and protection, tasked with reviewing the commonwealth’s laws and procedures protecting children, and where and why they [...]

NPR's Eric Nuzum gives up the ghost October 19
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] NPR’s Vice President for Programming, ERIC NUZUM, in addition to developing and acquiring new programs for public radio, reflects on his haunted high school days in the 1980s. We’ll talk to him about being a [...]

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake with writer Anna Quindlen August 31
Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Writer ANNA QUINDLEN is on the verge of turning 60 and she says that one of the best part of getting older is that she just doesn't care what people think about her anymore.   She's [...]

DHS commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose August 23
Hour 1 A grand jury investigating the shocking 2006 starvation death of 14-year old Danieal Kelly concluded that Philadelphia Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) caseworkers and their supervisors had contributed to her death by failing to [...]

The writers' teacher publishes his first book August 23
Hour 2 The founder and facilitator of the Rittenhouse Writers’ Group, JAMES RAHN, will be celebrating 25 years of helping writers get their stories out – some to big publishing house, and some to the page from their [...]

Philly gun violence, Pt. 3: Youth perspectives August 22
Hour 1 In the third part of our summerlong series (links to Part 1 and Part 2) on the intersection of guns and violence in Philadelphia, we hear from some young Philadelphians whose lives have been touched by [...]

Madeline Levine on how to 'Teach Your Children Well' August 20
Hour 2 According to psychologist MADELINE LEVINE, PhD, 25 percent of students attending Ivy League colleges have symptoms of anxiety or depression. When she wrote “The Price of Privilege” in 2006, Levine says she had to sell the [...]

The Common Core Standards for public education; then PA's voter ID law August 15
Hour 1 When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law in 2001 it promised to improve public education by raising standards and establishing measurable goals for student progress.  While the law was praised for making schools more accountable, [...]

NPR's Eric Nuzum gives up the ghost August 15
NPR’s Vice President for Programming, ERIC NUZUM, in addition to developing and acquiring new programs for public radio, reflects on his haunted high school days in the 1980s. We’ll talk to him about being a part of a [...]

How the recession is affecting children's health August 3
Hour 1 Often lost in the staggering and numbing statistics about U.S. households suffering these hard times is specifically how children in those households are affected by threats like unemployment, hunger, foreclosure and poverty. On today’s Radio Times, [...]

There's no place like home: Why we get homesick July 25
Hour 2 “There's no place like home," said Judy Garland as Dorothy in the 1939 classic film, "The Wizard of Oz," as she clicked her heels and hoped for the return to the comforts of her own bed [...]

Responding to gun violence in Philadelphia & Wilmington July 18
Hour 1 This summer’s heat wave has brought the feared spike in homicides, especially murders by gun. The spasm of violence is both shocking and distressingly familiar, and Radio Times joins the voices searching for new and effective [...]

The Freeh report's damning conclusions about Penn State's Sandusky scandal July 13
Hour 1 Last month, former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, for a reign of terror in his home, in his car and in the locker room of [...]

The statute of limitations in sex abuse cases July 10
Hour 1 A victim of sexual abuse in New Jersey has to report the incident two years from the day they turn 18, or else the statute of limitations runs out, and the abuser can’t be prosecuted. In [...]

Life without parole for juveniles: The Supreme Court decides June 26
Hour 1 The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that states may no longer sentence juveniles under the age of 18 who have committed homicide to mandatory life sentences without parole.  The 5-4 majority ruling in the case called such [...]

The high cost of cheap fashion June 20
Hour 2 Are you a clothes horse? Are your closets and drawers spilling over with shirts, pants, skirts, and shoes? It turns out Americans buy a lot of clothes — around 64 pieces a year — and that's [...]

Girls & women in sports: The 40th anniversary of Title IX June 19
Hour 2 This Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the civil rights law passed by Congress and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on June 23, 1972. It prohibits gender discrimination in educational programs or [...]

Conversation with local child advocates Shelly Yanoff and Joe Carruth June 7
Hour 2 After 25 years as the executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, SHELLY YANOFF is stepping down.  Since the 1980s she has worked tirelessly to increase funding, change policy and improve programming in child [...]

Are hate-crime laws necessary? May 22
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 [...]

Why students drop out of college & what can be done to help them graduate May 15
Hour 1 Until a decade ago, the U.S. led the world in college graduation rates. Now we rank 12th globally in the number of young adults who hold a minimum of an associate's degree, and while almost 70 [...]

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake with writer Anna Quindlen May 10
Hour 2 Writer ANNA QUINDLEN is on the verge of turning 60 and she says that one of the best part of getting older is that she just doesn't care what people think about her anymore.   She's raised [...]

Sexual assaults on college campuses April 16
It is estimated that  20 to 25 percent of women will be the victim of a completed or attempted rape while in college, but fewer than 5 percent of these cases go reported. High profile cases at Penn [...]

A Breeze of Hope & justice for sexual abuse survivors April 6
BRISA DE ANGULO is a student at Rutgers School of Law-Camden and a co-founder of  Centro Una Brisa De Esperanza (CUBE), or A Breeze of Hope Center — the only place in Bolivia specializing in providing comprehensive assistance [...]

Penn professor John DiIulio on politics, religion & government March 26
Hour 1 Penn professor JOHN DiIULIO has long been an advocate for the role of faith-based organizations in the delivery of social services provided by the government.  Over the years, in the Philadelphia area, he has created programs [...]

Hate crimes, cyberbullying & the Rutgers spy cam case March 22
Hour 1 The ruling against Rutgers student Dharun Ravi, who used a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi, provides stern warnings regarding the punishment for bullying by young people and the prosecution of hate crimes. Clementi [...]

Problem-solving as education: Philadelphia's Sustainability Workshop March 15
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 [...]

Problem-solving as education: Philadelphia's Sustainability Workshop February 17
Hour 1 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 [...]

Reversing Philadelphia's high school dropout crisis February 6
Hour 1 In Philadelphia, over half of all students drop out from high school.  In the U.S., only seven of 10 ninth graders will get high school diplomas. Locally, Mayor Michael Nutter has made raising the number of [...]

The controversial decision on Plan B December 13
Hour 1 Last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled a recommendation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that would have allowed the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step to be sold over-the-counter, including to girls [...]

Doing a better job of protecting our children November 29
Hour 2 Several high profile cases in recent years involving the abuse of children have highlighted serious weaknesses in Pennsylvania's child welfare system and the Commonwealth's laws designed to protect them. Charges of sexual abuse at Penn State and [...]

What's wrong (and right) about college athletics November 15
Hour 2 Over the years , in what he called the Grand Experiment, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno set out to prove that it was possible to build and field a championship caliber football team without sacrificing [...]

Penn State Child Sex Abuse Scandal November 10
Hour 1 In a disturbing and graphic grand jury report (pdf), the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office has provided details of the child sex abuse case against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. The report alleges that while [...]

Twentysomethings & the longer and winding road to adulthood November 8
Hour 2 Today's twentysomethings, particularly those armed with college degrees and facing high unemployment rates, are marrying later, committing  to careers later and perhaps even relying on their parents far longer than twentysomethings of previous generations. Many young [...]

The high cost of college debt November 3
HOUR 1 One of the motivating issues of the Occupy Wall Street Movement is college loan forgiveness, as an increasing number of young people are confronting a mountain of debt once they graduate. That outstanding student loan debt [...]

Youth courts and the value of a jury of their peers October 27
Hour 2 In the last decade the number of juvenile offenders in jail has dropped about 25 percent — welcome news since research and experience show that young people who serve time are more likely to become more [...]

A conversation with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who's up for re-election in November October 3
Hour 1 In his first term in office as mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter has coped with a crippling recession the effects of which has rippled through the city and an already-troubled school system and has impacted a [...]

The '9-11 Generation,' & Rutgers' 9/11 student journalism project September 12
Hour 2 As our last look at how the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, changed our world, we look at their impact on those who were kids then, what some demographers have called “the 9/11 Generation.” This [...]

Parenting Teens September 8
Hour 2 The teenage years aren’t easy for anyone – not for kids or parents.  Teens face dating, driving, social networks, school and peer pressure, and they increasingly long for independence.  Many parents though are conflicted out their [...]

Back to School with budget cuts August 31
Hour 1 It was tough year for schools and teachers across the country as they struggled with their state governments over budget cuts. Here in Pennsylvania public education funding was slashed and in the last few months, and [...]

A pair of Philadelphia public school principals August 24
Hour 1 It has been a tumultuous year for the School District of Philadelphia — at the headquarters  as well as at the school level.  South Philadelphia High School was recovering from a series of racially-motivated violent events [...]

Philadelphia youth on violence, jobs, recreation and more August 17
Hour 1 With so much talk about violent so-called “flash mobs” in Philadelphia, many are wondering: Have Philadelphia’s teenagers gone crazy? Or are the media blowing the crimes and misbehavior of a few bad apples way out of [...]

A conversation with the leaders of KIPP Philadelphia and Mastery Charter Schools August 10
Hour 1 KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) and Mastery Charter Schools are considered two of the most successful charter school operators in Philadelphia. Both are college-preparatory, have longer school days and Saturday classes, and both aim to create [...]

The resignation of Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia July 19
Hour 1 This morning, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will hold a press conference announcing the resignation of Cardinal Justin Rigali as the Archbishop of Philadelphia.  As required by canon law, the Bishop submitted his resignation to the Pope [...]

Is Young Adult Fiction Too Dark? July 6
Hour 2 There’s a debate going on about young adult fiction.  In an article in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago, children's book critic MEGHAN COX GURDON argued that young adult books (or YA for short) [...]

The challenge of preparing students for college and, once they are there, finish June 8
The Obama administration has set an ambitious goal for the nation's students –by 2020, every American should get at least a year of post-high-school education. But many high school graduates now enter college ill-prepared to tackle the coursework.  [...]

Kids and sports — when is it too much? June 1
Hour 2 For parents with kids involved in sports, spring and summer schedules are overflowing with and dictated by Little League, soccer and lacrosse games and swim meets — but could all this focus on athletics detrimental to [...]

Andrew Ferguson's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College May 30
Hour 2                                                                                  [REBROADCAST] The United States higher education system is an international bragging right. Many overseas families send their children off to the States, investing in a commodity that is supposed to have infinite returns. Some brilliant [...]

Teen Driving and Safety May 10
Hour 2 Do you remember learning to drive as a teenager?  Have you recently taught one of your kids the rules of the road?  Teens behind the wheel unnerve a lot of us and for good reason.  Teens [...]

Addressing violence in Philadelphia public schools April 6
Hour 2 Last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a riveting investigative series on violence in Philadelphia public schools. In-depth coverage by five Inquirer reporters focused on the enormous challenges the District faces in creating a safe learning environment [...]

Andrew Ferguson's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College March 18
Hour 2 The United States higher education system is an international bragging right. Many overseas families send their children off to the States, investing in a commodity that is supposed to have infinite returns. Some brilliant non-legacy teenagers [...]

Should 16- and 17-year-olds be able to vote? March 9
Hour 2 Should teens younger than 18 be allowed to vote? That’s the finding of new research by Camden-Rutgers childhood studies and nursing professor ROBERT ATKINS and DANIEL HART, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center [...]

Bullying in Philadelphia Public Schools March 3
Hour 1 On Tuesday the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations released its report on bullying in Philadelphia public schools.  The report, “Widening the Circle of Our Concern”, is based on 11 public hearings held in the aftermath of [...]

Is college for everyone? February 28
Hour 2 A new report from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Pathways to Prosperity, has ignited a contentious debate about if we should be preparing all high school students to go to college or providing alternative routes [...]

Wrestling and tough love with actor/director/writer TOM McCARTHY February 25
Hour 2 [Enjoy this archive. There's a Live Radio moment towards the beginning.] You’ve seen New Jersey-born actor TOM McCARTHY as an actor in roles in films such as Palmer Williams in “Good Night and Good Luck” and on [...]

Everything you ever wanted to know about the sexual lives of American men, women and teens October 6
Hour 2 Researchers at Indiana University earlier this week published what is considered to be the most comprehensive national survey of Americans’ sexual behavior since 1994.  The study was funded by Church and Dwight, manufacturer of Trojan-brand condoms. [...]

The crisis in education for Philadelphia’s black and Hispanic boys October 5
Hour 1 The dropout rate for Philadelphia’s black and Latino males has reached devastating proportions. Fifty-one percent of Latino boys and 43 percent of black male students fail to finish high school in six years.  JOHNNY IRIZARRY, a [...]

Anna Quindlen on her novel "Every Last One" September 2
Hour 2 Something horrible happens in Anna Quindlen's new book, "Every Last One." The novel, Quindlen's sixth, is the story of a mother, father, a family, and the explosive, violent consequences of what seem like inconsequential actions. She joins Marty to talk about this book, her career and her take on a range of contemporary issues.

Small high schools in Philadelphia August 10
Hour 2 Of the School District of Philadelphia’s 60 high schools, thirty-three are considered “small schools” with enrollments under 700 students.  While some operate as neighborhood schools and others are opened to students throughout the district, a handful [...]

Chester: Murders, curfews and violence prevention July 13
Hour 1 Parts of the small city of Chester are under curfew in response to a series of murders earlier this summer. Those murders, with victims including a 2-year-old child, competed for headlines with the successful debut of [...]

What Philadelphia parents think of and want from their children's schools June 30
Hour 1 Over the last decade, options for Philadelphia public school students have expanded dramatically.  With the introduction of charter schools, which have replaced Catholic schools as the leading alternative to traditional public schools, and the expansion of [...]

Why do people share overly-personal, sometimes embarrassing information online? June 23
Hour 2 Tweets, facebook status updates, personal blogs now make it possible for our friends and followers to instantly know the most intimate details about our lives. Have we a culture of narcissists, uninhibited, over-sharers. Our guests are Business Insider Nick Saint, Temple Professor Don Hantula, and Jamie Switzer of the Colorado State University.

Are teens who "sext" criminals or just kids behaving badly? June 7
Hour 1 Sexting refers to the distribution of explicit text messages or pictures with nudity through cell phones and courts, legislators and school officials across the country are trying to figure out how to respond to this problematic behavior. While teens may see sexting as flirtatious and harmless fun, some prosecutors charge that sexting involves distribution of pornographic material. And parents are plain worried. We’ll explore the social, psychological and legal issues associated with sexting with State Representative SETH GROVE, the sponsor of a bill in the Pennsylvania legislature that makes sexting a misdemeanor, La Salle professor KATHLEEN BOGLE and Temple University Beasley School of Law professor SARA JACOBSON.

School Lunches: From Mystery Meat to Healthier Fare May 10
Hour 1 What’s for lunch? Frozen pizza, French fries, burgers and chicken fingers. That’s the menu in most school cafeterias. But recently, these fast food-style offerings have come under fire. First lady Michelle Obama, chef Jamie Oliver, even some military generals, have singled out school lunches as a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Congress is also debating a proposal to increase funding and set federal nutritional standards for school lunches. This hour, we’ll look at how school lunches became so unhealthy, the challenges schools face to making them more nutritious, and their effect on children's health. Our guests are Virginia Stallings, a professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Chair of an Institute of Medicine report on school lunches, and Jan Poppendieck, a sociologist at Hunter College and author of "Free for All: Fixing School Food in America."

The challenges and realities of adopting a child from overseas May 6
Hour 2 The recent, sad story of an American mother who sent her seven-year old adopted son back to Russia unaccompanied focused attention on the complicated issues surrounding foreign adoptions. Last year, American families adopted over 12,000 children from countries as culturally and politically diverse as China, Ethiopia and Russia. We'll talk about the realities of foreign adoptions with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia adoption medicine specialist SUSAN FRIEDMAN and University of Delaware researcher whose work focuses on the psychological and developmental issues of infants in foster care and institutions.

Anna Quindlen on her new novel "Every Last One" April 29
Hour 2 Something horrible happens in Anna Quindlen's new book, "Every Last One." The novel, Quindlen's sixth, is the story of a mother, father, a family, and the explosive, violent consequences of what seem like inconsequential actions. She joins Marty to talk about this book, her career and her take on a range of contemporary issues.

What's Behind the Flash Mobs March 26
Hour 2 Last Saturday, hundreds of kids gathered in a flash mob on South Street in Philadelphia, disrupting traffic, damaging property, and occasionally assaulting pedestrians. On Wednesday afternoon, the police foiled another attempted flash mob in West Philadelphia. In recent months, a number of flash mob incidents have wrecked havoc in Center City and South Street, scaring residents and damaging the city’s reputation. This hour, Everett Gillison, Philadelphia’s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, and Howard Stevenson, Associate Professor and Chair in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, discuss what’s behind these flash mobs, why they turn destructive, and what the city is doing about it.

Tackling Childhood Obesity February 16
Hour 1 Last week Michelle Obama announced a new initiative to combat childhood obesity called "Let’s Move." Since 1980, childhood obesity rates have increased threefold. Today, close to one-third of children in the United States are overweight or obese. The First Lady’s plan calls for healthy school lunches, increased physical activity, healthier eating at home, and improved access to nutritious foods in rural areas and inner cities. This hour, GARY FOSTER, Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University, and SHIRIKI KUMANYIKA, a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, discuss the Let's Move campaign and some of the challenges to tackling childhood obesity.

And the debate over abstinence education continues February 9
Hour 1 In an article published last week in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Penn professor John Jemmott reported that teaching abstinence education to inner city youths can delay the start of sexual activity. The study re-ignited the debate over abstinence education giving fuel to both proponents and opponents of such programs. Today, on "Radio Times" we get perspectives on the study and what it means for the field of sex education from its author University of Pennsylvania professor JOHN JEMMOTT and ELIZABETH SHROEDER, director of Answer a national organization dedicated to providing and promoting comprehensive sexuality education housed at Rutgers University.

Keeping teens safe behind the wheel January 5
Hour 2 We all know that teenagers are among the most dangerous drivers on the road, and that was true even before cell phones, text messaging and GPS navigation systems greatly increased the potential distractions for drivers. As we learn more about the special challenges facing teens behind the wheel, including biological as well as social differences that make them more susceptible to driving distraction, states are moving to pass stricter laws regulating teen drivers. Joining Marty in-studio today is FLAURA KOPLIN-WINSTON, M.D., Ph.D., Founder and Co-Scientific Director of The Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. And we’ll call out to Bucks County Republican State Rep. KATHARINE WATSON, author of Pennsylvania House bills seeking to tighten rules for teen drivers. Then we’ll hear from PAMELA FISCHER, Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, about the Garden State’s laws attempting to protect teen drivers.

The debate over Precious December 9
Hour 2 The new movie "Precious" is the story of a 350 pound, illiterate, mother of two, sexually-abused, 16 year old black girl from Harlem. It's raised some complicated issues about race and class - in filmdom and the real world. We talk about Precious with writers ERIN AUBRY KAPLAN whose commentaries on the film were published on Salon.com and Chicagotribune.com and RAINA KELLEY of Newsweek.

Psychology professor Laurence Steinberg on his research on teens and their behavior November 24
Hour 1 Temple University professor Laurence Steinberg studies psychological development during adolescence and his research surrounding risky behavior has been integral in the development of public policy related to children and youth. He is the recipient of $1 million award by the Jacobs Foundation to compare his U.S. findings to youths in other countries. He joins Marty in the studio.