Mitt Romney talks with 6th grader Salina Beattie during a tour of the Universal Bluford Charter School, Thursday, May 24, 2012, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

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, work to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and start building the Keystone Pipeline. The Obama campaign has an ad out attacking Romney’s record at Bain Capital. This hour, we’ll get talk about the presidential from two political analysts.  DICK POLMAN is a columnist and blogger for the Philadelphia Inquirer and writes the “National Interest” blog for WHYY’s NewsWorks.  ROBERT COSTA is a political reporter for National Review and analyst for CNBC.

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[REBROADCAST] South Philadelphia native CHARLIE GRACIE came in earlier this spring to discuss what it’s like making a rock and roll record over 50 years after his 1957 hit, “Butterfly.” The first major artist on Philadelphia’s Cameo Parkway label, Gracie went on to record “Wanderin’ Eyes” and “Cool Baby,” touring world-wide and appearing on "Dick Clark's American Bandstand" and "The Ed Sullivan Show.” ABKCO Records has recently released the CD,  For the Love of Charlie, produced by legendary producer and musician Al Kooper, which includes original songs written by Gracie. Listen in and find out what it is about this early rocker’s technique that influenced and inspired many musicians including George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Van Morrison.

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