Keeping the Peace at Thanksgiving Dinner, Ayana Mathis on ‘The Unsettled’, Child Labor Complaints Surge

Child labor violations are surging in Pennsylvania, and while lawmakers work on increasing penalties, fines and a strict system of tracking offenders, employers say the state’s rules can be tricky to navigate. How can we protect young workers at risk, and also allow teens living below the poverty line to earn a reasonable income? Billy Penn investigative reporter Meir Rinde joins us.

Uncomfortable conversations and unwanted comments from family members and loved ones we haven’t seen in awhile are bound to come up at the Thanksgiving dinner table this week. In especially divided times, it can seem impossible to find common ground, and even feel like we’re growing further apart. We’ll talk about making this holiday a peaceful one with conflict resolution specialist Tricia Jones, professor of communication and social influence at Temple University.

Ayana Mathis, the award-winning author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, joins us to talk about her Philly roots and her new novel, The Unsettled. It’s set in racially and politically turbulent 1980s Philadelphia, and a tiny Alabama town, chronicling three generations of family struggle.