The Why Archive

Many people who had COVID-19 are still experiencing symptoms weeks and months after they were infected. Now, a Penn clinic is trying to help these "long haulers" recover.

Meet one of Philadelphia's contact tracers, the city workers who play critical role for understanding where and how fast COVID-19 is spreading — and for saving lives.

The pandemic threatened one of the Philly area's oldest and most celebrated summer theater camps. Hear how they managed to pull it off.

Pa. requires everyone to wear masks when they leave the house — but the state has left business owners, transit agencies and individuals to enforce it, which isn't easy.

With both parties actively courting South Asian American voters, Harris' presence on the Democratic ticket could have an impact in a critical swing state like Pa.

In the Philly area, there's been a bigger push than ever to get everybody counted for the census. They're also facing big obstacles: a pandemic and a shortened deadline.

The NAACP's Rodney Muhammad posted an anti-Semitic meme that caused tensions between Black and Jewish people to rise to the surface. Could honest conversations follow?

As a city commission decides the fate of the Christopher Columbus in South Philly, it's sparking conversations about how the city could do more to represent Native people.

Some people in Philadelphia haven’t had their mail delivered in three weeks. What's going on — and what could it mean for mail-in ballots in November?

A week after Philly unveiled its back-to-school plan, it reversed course with a decision that reflects tough choices between the virus and thousands of students' education.

Drive-ins are making a comeback as the COVID-19 era's socially distant entertainment venue. It turns out their origin story has a big chapter here in 1930s Camden, N.J.

Sidewalks in Philadelphia neighborhoods are covered with plastic bags full of trash that haven't been collected in a week. And nobody know when it's going to get picked up.

"It wasn't really until high school that I started seeing some of the ways in which racism was influencing my own experience."

Several Philly area universities are planning virtual classes while still inviting students back to campus. A Penn prof says schools can't justify that hybrid approach.

In Philly, the same people vulnerable to COVID-19 are also vulnerable to extreme heat. That means they have a difficult choice to make: escape the heat or avoid the virus?